First I don't think it makes sense to trade Dame until we see him back on the court. He won't have max trade value until he has proven he has regained his old form either, so to maximize the return we have to keep him. That gives us a chance to also see how Ant has improved and how they play together. Secondly, I wouldn't totally write off the Dame and Ant duo succeeding. Could Ant improve as a defender? Could Dame minutes go down to closer to 30mpg? Could they be staggered effectively? Could Dame lesser workload improve his defensive effort? Could Chauncey create better schemes with more time? Maybe the answer to most of these is no, but maybe there are a few yes'. Time will tell. Remember, the 2017-18 Blazers with DameCJ had the 8th ranked defense in the NBA. That was the best Blazer defense since 1999. The rest of the roster has to be constructed strategically though, and not with Melo/Kanter role players, or a 6'3" small forward. Hart, Nurkic, NAS, Winslow are a good start. It is a huge advantage on offense to have Dame and if he keeps it up Ant's contributions. That frees up the team to have forwards that are excellent defenders without needing to carry a huge offensive burden. If Dame or Ant is gone, we have to get a forward that is a star offensively to contend, we also need another guard to help Dame or Ant create. But with both of them we only need forwards who aren't an offensive liability.
One thing about Ant is he’s still young enough to where Billups can kind of mold him into a two way player. We saw last night how he didn’t take Ant off Jrue, just threw him into the fire and let him figure it out. That’s the only way he’s gonna develop. And he has the want to. Would not be surprised if he turned into an above average defender. Would make the pairing with Dame work because they compliment each other very well on the other end.
I agree that he is young enough that Chauncey can hopefully mold him. Even if he is a better defender, I still think he's undersized for a shooting guard and will struggle if paired next to Dame.
You're gonna see some ridiculous contracts this summer. Beal will get 5 yrs, 250. Harden will get 5 yrs, 270. Dame's 2 yr extension of ~107 mil will bring him to approx 5 yrs, 240. It's in line with the market rate.
I think Winslow is good enough on paper to start, but we cant depend on him to stay healthy for a full season. We should probably look for another four and have Winslow come off the bench.
Yeah, if we could get an upgrade at the 4, that lineup, with Hart and Winslow off the bench is a solid top 7.
After a surgery to correct a health issue that has hampered him for, what, 4 years? I'm sorry, but it's simply unwise to extend prior to demonstrating full recovery.
How serious of an injury is it if he was able to play through it for four years? Has it ended anyones career?
I have difficulty with the notion that Dame is so insecure in his position vis-a-vis the Blazers that he would ask out with 3 years left on his deal if he didn't get an extra 2 added on.
i look at the contract as a way to incentivize him to bear with and support the rebuild. We also don't need anymore noise/drama about him leaving this year while recruiting MLE-caliber FAs.
