Comparing individual defensive stats for Herro and Ant makes very little sense to me. Miami has elite best of the best wing defense and a DPOY rim protector. It also has a coach that has revolutionized the modern zone. We don't. We have guards and wings that cant move their feet or fight thru screens and a big who can't play the style our novice coach wants him to. Put Ant in Miami and his defensively metrics instantly improve. Put Herro in Portland and his numbers instantly worsen.
I agree with you, but my point is that the perception in the media is Miami feels like they don't have to increase their offer because no one else is in the running. Which is why I was saying at some point Joe might need to say if their offer does not get better we are good with keeping Dame. At that point, Miami will either increase their offer or Dame will have to make it known he is open to being traded to other teams.
I'm interested in learning how Jimmy will react when he finds out his team is haggling over protections of a pick in 2030 instead of just getting Dame. No free agent will ever want to go to Miami again.
Again, though... There is a ton of noise there. Did Herro play in rotations with stronger defensive pieces around him? Do they have a stronger system with greater team discipline to adhere to the defensive gameplan? The question remains that if you were to put Herro and Ant in the same defensive eco-system, how would they compare? Could Herro be incrementally better defensive? Sure, but I just don't think any of those stats are anywhere near conclusive.
I'm waiting for the Press Release stating the Blazers have taken Lillard off the market and look forward to him honoring the four years left on his contract. I think the game of chicken has ended. It can only go on so long. Let Philly set the market with Harden.
I agree with taking Dame off the table but disagree with the notion that Harden should set the market. Dame is much better than James at this point and has a track record of professionalism and leadership that James can only dream of. And Harden is a one yr rental while Dame has 3+1 yrs left. Apples/Oranges.
Wouldn’t that be unprecedented. I’m at the point where I’m okay either way. Trade Lillard only if we get some shiny new toys that we’re excited about. If no reasonable trade materializes, and Lillard is okay with sticking around, I’d love to see him retire as a Blazer. Even with him sticking around, the Blazers are the 3rd youngest team in the league. Keep working on balancing the roster by moving Simons and seeing if we can pickup a starting level big. If Joe is good at his job, he should always have his eye on multiple options and be able to pivot on a moments notice if options present themselves.
Damian Lillard - bad defender as a Blazer CJ McCollum - bad defender as a Blazer Robert Covington elsewhere 1st team All NBA defense Robert Covington - below average defender as a Blazer Norman Powell elsewhere considered a very good defender Norman Powell - below average defender as a Blazer Anferenee Simons - bad defender as a Blazer I'm seeing a theme of a team with poor defense, even when very good to all-NBA defenders are here. Many different players, coaches, GMs, but one superstar leader for one single team. There is much more to the bad Blazers defense in recent years than Ant's individual performance or individual abilities. Switch Ant with Herro is basically irrelevant. Let's see what new leadership and new direction for the Blazers does this year. No I don't expect wins, but we might have a different focus on defense.
I have them all on mute. Idiots. Simons was drafted as an SG. Only reason he isn't there fulltime is because he gets cooked defensively
It sure seems like Miami is trying to play hard ball. If they were offering the absolute best they could this might be done. Maybe not. Even their best and last isn’t very good. But Joe is fighting for his career right now. This is his 0.9. This is his wave moment. If he bricks the shot he will never get another GM position again.
It will have no impact on them as long as they have Dame there by training camp... it might mean that their bench is a little weaker and that will be their fault but I don't think Jimmy or anybody (free agents or any players in the league) cares how these GMs and agents get them what they want as long as they get it. I think that's something that people who are mad at Dame don't get, these players cannot afford to have the fans factor into their decisions. It's them the players who have a short time to make hundreds of millions of dollars against big multibillion dollar companies. These players have to be willing to go scorched earth because they never have the advantage just due to them being a much smaller business entity with a vastly shorter earning window than the teams. Also Dame isn't hurting his brand right now, people that think that are being naive. Damian Lillard, Dame DOLLA and Dame Time are not local brands they are international brands and I just don't see fans around the league killing Dame over this, some think that the one team thing is extreme but they aren't killing him over wanting out and burning the team in the process. Most fans are saying that it's been overdue. Going back to the GMs, they won't be judged for when they get things done this offseason by the players or the fans but what they get done before the season begins or maybe even just by the time it impacts their chances to win. For us it will be judged on our perceived chance to win in the future but for Miami or whoever Dame ends up with it will be a judgement executed pretty immediately, they'll have to start winning more immediately, do better in the playoffs this season and for the next few.
You have to have two interested parties and right now I don't think either side has any interest in patching things up. I actually think the greater interest in staying would be from Dame but it would take a big move from Joe that I'm not sure he was ever truly interested in making and it definitely doesn't seem like he's interested in making now.
I'm not sure where someone is thought to be position wise on draft night should hold any weight to where they are most impactful in todays NBA. Jamal Murray was drafted as a SG and appears to be best off as a PG.
Who's a Goodwin shill? I didn't say anything about trading Scoot or making Ant our mainstay PG. You ok?
That is what Nate Jones is saying we should do. He said guys like Simons are harder to find and easier to build around than guys like Scoot.
