They lack shooting. Can't succeed in the modern NBA without shooting. 20 in the league in 3P attempts, 28th in percentage. In comparison, the Blazers with their lackluster defense are 10th in attempts, 6th in percentage For the record, the Raptors are also 28th in the league in 2P% If they had any sense they would look to upgrade from FVV to someone that can shoot and distribute. They would love to have someone like Ant. Don't believe the nonsense about missing a Center. That's not their real problem (it would help to have someone other than Koloko to protect the basket, but that's not the big issue).
1. I didn’t offer any value or insight other than to tell people to look at the age-22 and age-23 seasons. Doesn’t matter the competition, you can still grow at that age, like Dame did and like Ant likely will. 2. I otherwise have no idea what on earth you said in your post.
Pascal is a really good third wheel - 100% on that LMA tier. And he’s not as good as a prime LMA. The price tag for him is offensive. Easy pass.
It seems like it will be minor moves. A major one will cost Ant and/or Sharpe. It doesn't feel Portland is ready to do that.
This is the kind of thinking that brought us RoCo and Nance because Dame needed immediate help 3-4 years ago and guess what, he's having as good a season as he's ever had and those young guys we could have had helping him now are seasoned enough to help other teams. Blazers fans need to stop thinking about winning a championship with Dame and be more concerned with winning a championship period. Dame might not be as good 3-4 years from now as he is now, but Dame, Sharpe and whoever the picks are they don't trade away for a role player might make the Blazers a considerably better and dangerous team in terms of title contention. That needs to be the focus.
Not sure obviously? Seems like people are way too attached to Sharpe? He's good yes. How good? His type that is a high flyer gets injured. I think you get a straight swap chance at a player you know is good and will fit you do it. Same kind of thinking goes with Ant. That kid is really really good and will continue to improve? Bunch of people wanted him gone two years ago. I also have been really paying attention to both Dame and Ant on defense. The "Dame can't play D" talk isn't working any longer. Dame has had a bunch of possessions where he locked guys down in the last few games. Simons is Improving a bunch as well. Sure guys get by them at times. In this league every defender gets burned. It isn't "Awful" like it used to be. They are really working very hard now. When i watch them i also try to look at who is defending them. I think they get by their defenders much easier as well. Who in this league can honestly guard Dame? Goes for Simons as well. That guy is OG. It isn't Sharpe.
Aside from disagreeing on a number of suppositions (he flies high so he's at a risk of getting injured? Wha?), I'm going to once again go back to my post that you're commenting on ... we traded unknowns for knowns who turned out to be EXACTLY what we thought we were and that wasn't good enough, while players we could have picked in their place have surpassed them. We wasted several of Dame's prime years by doing the exact thing we supposedly were trying to maximize. Sharpe's a rare talent. He's shown that already, despite not playing in a year, despite being young for his draft class. Playing for an NBA all-star and champion and alongside an NBA top 75 all-time player increases his chances to live up to that potential. OG Anonoby is a good player, like RoCo, like Nance. He's not worth the asking price. Making deals like that aren't getting Dame an NBA title this year and isn't getting Dame or the Blazers closer to an NBA title next year or the 2-3 years after that. Making deals like this are going to keep the Blazers in the lottery ... if the Blazers don't trade those lottery picks in the first place to get guys like this.
Right now, if the Blazers asked me what they should do, I'd say to pretty much stand pat. The only guys I'd be openly shopping are Nurk and Justice, and I'd probably only trade Nurk for a similar talent who was a better fit. I'm not saying anyone else is untouchable ... if trading Sharpe brings you Kevin Durant, of course you do that ... but let the buyers come to the Blazers and send Portland a sweetheart deal. I'm not even inclined to trade Hart right now unless you get back something you're at least 75% sure is an upgrade and the other 25% is break-even. I'm looking at production and fit, not height and wingspan. If you're trading Josh Hart right now, you better be getting back a top-10 pick or a young player who gets close to 10 rebounds and 3-4 assists per game and can defend on the perimeter. Let Josh Hart be some other team's Robert Covington. Otherwise, go with what you have, if you roll the dice and end up in the lottery, fine ... use that resource to add to your talent base either by picking or making a smart trade (i.e. not a trade for Larry Nance Jr.).
So trading the pick before it's taken is okay but once we have the player trading it is no good? Obviously that is very sketchy at best but we all know he will have to calm that down. You simply don't continue that kind of play in this league and last. He is putting his shoulder at 10+ feet. It's only a matter of time before coaches tell him to take care of his body. Trying to compare OG to RoCo seems like a very poor example at best. Nance? Really?
