Eating Crow about Scoot

partly I'm sure

a poster at RealGM who has demonstrated source(s) with the Blazer front office before, said months before the trade was made that Cronin (and Schmitz presumably) were really high on Avdija and trying to land him. So they probably valued him pretty highly and were OK with sending 4 draft picks

I suspect that the FO was really trying to land a forward with play-making skills. Olshey was always looking for that because he knew CJ's weakness as a play-maker and was looking to cover for it. Evan Turner...Hezonja...Nance were the result. I think that's probably something of a repeat with Ant and Avdija

 

It doesn't make sense though, because Scoot needs the ball in his hands.

 

so did Dame

 

True... but Dame COULD play off the ball and shoot.

 

so can CJ and Ant

 

And back to where we began.... Scoot cannot.

 

Yet....

I actually think Scoot has a great shot when he is WIDE open. The question is how long will it take him to be able to shoot like that when under pressure?

 

The sooner he does it more often the sooner he'll get better at it.

Means we probably don't want Simons and Grant hucking all those shots.

 

But he can play Defense.

 

Wow, thanks!

 

This.

 

@cdub503 what up son!!??

 

They need to strap his right arm to his body during practice and make him play left handed.

 

Lol. That would be interesting.

Honestly, it's as simple as making sure he's getting left handed reps (so he's at least using proper technique) and telling him that right-handed scores don't count.

Or tell him he gets an extra 5 minutes of game time for every left-handed bucket he gets during the game.

 

If the Blazers miss out on the top 5 (it's Bailey, Flagg, and three point/combo guards right now), then the next best thing may be to address their lack of shooting with someone like Knueppel or McNeeley. McNeely I like better as a lethal shooter at the SF/PF spots with size. I don't see how Risacher is a better prospect than either guy (although I was very low on Risacher compared to consensus).

 

There is no "next best thing" if the Blazers miss out on a top five pick. It would be malpractice on Cronin's part and he should then be fired. They tanked last season, fell to seven in maybe the worst draft class in 30 years to dick up a chance at Flagg, Bailey, Harper or Edgecombe! They have already fucked up and won two games that should have been guaranteed losses by playing too much Ant/Grant and not enough Scoot and any other young player at the end of those wins. I'll accept the victory if it's Scoot or any other young guy leading the charge. Do not need to see Ant or Grant at the end of games.

 

Ant is 25

 

Could not care less. He has been tutored to be a no defense tweener that is not a great shooter, penetrator or passer. He should be gone. Not worth arguing over though. Moving along.

 

And after seven seasons in the NBA he's still one of the worst defenders...

 

I feel you. But when you grow high school prospects you gotta get value afterwards.