Does the debut of Payton get us over the hump? (Personal Season Review)

To recap, here is what I have liked and not liked thus far.

Liked

Looking at it blindly, you have to like the road record to start the season. We have given away winnable games though.

Lillard has looked pretty good in his return.

Even though he has cooled lately, getting Sharpe minutes should pay huge dividends.

Grant has looked like the best PF we have had since LA.

Not liked

Our home record. Again, given away winnable games.

Little signed an extension for what he has shown thus far. We continue to wait for him to finally break thru.

Simons and Nurkic have played decently but definitely not at the levels at the end of last year.

Only so many minutes to go around but think we have to get production from our end of the bench guys like Walker and Watford to become a contender. Watford has gotten some here lately but Walker usually only plays garbage time.

We tried for years to build a team with two small guards. Replacing CJ with Simons thus far has yielded similar results.

To my point, does this change with the debut of Payton and/or a trade of Simons?

Hopefully I have made myself clear, I do not think Simons is going to be any better at matching up with Lillard than CJ was. When Payton is healthy, are we going to see a huge change?

Right now, Lillard and Simons are averaging 35 minutes a game. That leaves 26 minutes that they do not have to be on the court at the same time and they should never be there defensively in crunchtime. With Payton, I love what we could do with our lineups.

Personally, I would bring Simons off the bench and start

Nurk\Grant\Winslow\Hart\Lillard

first subs would be Payton and Simons for Hart and Winslow

Then sub Lillard for Sharpe.

The main goal would be to minimize the time Lillard and Simons are on the court together. I think this is very possible and likely.

Of course, easiest way to minimize this would be to trade Simons.

With teams seeing how CJ is playing in New Orleans, they see the same with Simons. He is also on a very affordable deal and young. Could trading Simons get us into the running for OG or Zach Levine?

 

When is this debut you speak of?

 

Multiple sources are saying the 26th but I have not red this from the Blazers.

 

He's still 2 weeks away.

 

Dame D.O.L.L.A drops is next album Ft. GP2Weeks before we see him, I bet.

 

Simons aint coming off the bench. He's tradable but you lose the only proven young star the team has to help a guy past his prime. Portland should have 1-2 draft picks to go alongside Ant but Oshley was a fucking idiot. Zach Collins, Biggie, Nas, didn't pan out at all. I believe the mistakes Oshley made, including signing Crabbe, Evan Turner, and Nards for huge paydays are the reason why the team is in the state it's in. Dame is not getting a ring, at least in Portland. It just doesn't seem possible. I really wish it were possible but the numbers just don't add up. Portland has to draft it's talent and Oshley blew a lot of picks. Oh yeah, two FRP for Covington...WTF was he thinking! He had to be on glue when he dealt two picks for Roco. Roco plays like 15 min a game.

I think it was a mistake to re-sign Nurk and sign GP. They certainly aren't playing like a almost-a-contender with this roster. So wholesale changes would be needed to save Dame's last couple of years, provided he can stay healthy.

I wouldn't trade Ant. Maybe Ant isn't a face of the franchise type guy but he is a great scorer. He would be best next to a long, playmaker, defend-first point guard, Lonzo Ball type. Two small, ball dominant, zero defense guys as your starting backcourt doesn't work all that well.

 

You don’t want Simons but you would want Zach LaVine? LaVine is older, more expensive and not as good.

 

Of October?

 

The past cannot be changed.

Lillard is not getting traded.

It has to be Ant or the time both are on the court together has to be minimized.

 

If I am building a team from scratch, I take Simons. If I am looking for someone to pair with Lillard, I atleast kick the tires on Lavine. Who knows how bad his medicals are.

 

Lavine = now way

 

Definitely. Billups should find a way to maximize two elite scorers.

 

His way will take time. Teaching Defense and having it come to fruition on the court will not happen overnight.

 

I will admit to not being an Ant fan. Was not happy with the signing.

Has some good offensive skills but what else do he bring? Not a PG and doesn’t really generate much by way of assists.

Rebounding? Not so much.

Defense? We wish.

I was cautiously hopeful that we wouldn’t see CJ 2.0 but this team doesn’t win without Dame and Ant isn’t a leader.

If we can get a decent trade, I wouldn’t hesitate. Just don’t see long-term success with him.

 

Moon..... Blood Moon!

 

You want more Winslow ? Ugh.

 

If you want a Jimmy Butler or Jrue Holiday you have to move a guy like Ant to get them. Nas isn't bringing you a game changer at all ..I agree that Ant and Dame seem to cancel each other out when on the court together. We need a backup big and a big two way guard. Backup big would be cheap....two way guard would cost you a guy like Ant.

 

I would consider trading Simons for Brooks & Green. Brooks is a very solid two way scorer and Green decent off the bench. works in Jan

 

Or Zach Collins and a pick?

 

The good news is NO team is playing like a contender right now. Win 5 games in a row and we’re challenging for #1 seed. Upcoming schedule is light. After Denver tomorrow, we don’t play a team that currently has a winning record til like January 12th, I think.