Here are the PGs we dumped to give Little Scooter minutes. Jrue Holiday-2x All Star, 2x NBA Champ, 6x All-Defensive, 2021 Sportsmanship Malcolm Brogdon-2017 Rookie of the Year, 2023 6th Man of the Year Tyler Kolek-better than Little Scooter Damian Lillard-Cronin turned down his request to return, since we had Scooter But the Scooter adulation doesn't end there. Many on the board say that that's not enough. We also should dump Anfernee Simons, to give Scooter more minutes to lower his trade value. (Banton, not Scooter, will earn those minutes.) When we give up on Little Scooter in about 4 years, they'll criticize the GM and say that like McCollum, they were secretly in favor of trading him all along. And again, they won't post that till the last few months when the approaching trade is obvious.
Be serious. Nobody picked Scoot over Jrue or Dame. He was understood as the most valuable piece on the board so the Blazers picked him. We weren't able to put the pieces around Dame to convince him to stay. Jrue wasn't a fit here. But we should have certainly gotten more out of him. Nobody is picking Scoot over any of those players. Those players don't fit our timeline or our need to develop bring in more talent. Cronin turned down Dame's request to return because Jody was sick of the Dame drama and holding the team hostage. He showed his loyalties had changed. This wasn't because we already had Scoot. I want Scoot to get minutes because that's the best chance for us to get max value. Be it as a legitimate long term PG or by getting a good stretch of play that convinces another team to give good value for him. Worst case scenario we find out that he can't do it and we can move on sooner. None of the other guys we've had is a long term answer for us that allows us to continue accruing top talent.
I haven't had a second round crush like I do on Thiero. I think he's a lot like Anunoby with more athleticism. Very similar size. Tough defender that blocks shots. Aggressive with the ball, sometimes too much and will turn the ball over. Improving jumper with good form. Good passer. Decent ball handler. Good rebounder on both ends. Deceptively athletic, borderline freak. In a situation where he doesn't have to create, I think he could continue to improve to where he's a starter on a very good team.
https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/pacers-waive-tristen-newton Maybe Clingan will put in a word for him https://www.forbes.com/sites/timcas...risten-newton-became-an-all-time-uconn-great/
