his current status is a veteran minimum deal. This summer he'll be an unrestricted free agent and the Blazers have early Bird rights now he might get a minimum offer from another team. I'd be a little surprised if the Blazers made him an offer above the minimum, but that's might be a Cronin strategy. 4-5M for a couple of years I guess; I doubt it though personally, I have a hard time seeing him as a rotation player. He is a little unique with his length and ball-handling ability. I can see him as a end of bench player on a minimum with Portland. He appears to be more useful than Reath or Rupert and at least as useful as Murray or Walker he had a good game last night but it was a blow-out and he did appear to have a case of hooplock while making some lower BBIQ plays his ceiling for Portland might be when the Blazers are looking at their 13th-15th players they'll look at Banton and say "why not?"
seems like another pre-draft trade is in order; if they draft into the same position as their current roster, it might signal to another team that they're ready to dump someone in particular. re: banton, I never understood people's dislike for him. he's a fine end of bench guy, as long as his contract matches that level of commitment. oddly enough he seems like the type of player a bunch of different teams would want on a cheapo deal--his archetype is just unique enough for that. we'll see what the market is like. portland has his early bird rights.
I like him more than most on this board - DB Hooper is a great option for a limited minute backup or injury fill in rotational player. I'd give him a couple million over the minimum on a one year deal with a team option for a 2nd. If he wants more guaranteed years I would need to more closely see how he finishes the year. I'd prefer he plays over all of Ant, Grant, Thybulle, Murray, Walker, Rupert. All those players I want off the team except Rupert who has upside but not as good as Banton yet. I want Ayton gone too although he probably would never play Banton's position. Banton just might be a better defensive center than Ayton though.
I used to not like DB but I learned to appreciate his change of pace. Tall guard who can pass, can shoot and drive, and is a decent defender. I have changed my stance and wouldn’t mind keeping him around.
I very much like DB Hooper. He is better than Thybulle, Murray, Reath, Walker, Rupert, McGowens and Minaya - so i wouldn’t call him “end of the bench” rather I would be giving him minutes in quarters 2 and end of the 3rd. He is high energy, not afraid to penetrate nor shoot the ball, and he’s long. 7th or 8th man in my rotation if I were coaching
All good teams have a Vinnie Johnson! And DB Hooper can fill this role! And he can be pretty good at being a spark plug
if he's 7th-8th in your rotation, you're probably not a very good basketball team unless it's like spoelstra at the sticks and the bench is tuned perfectly for banton's game.
i gotta be honest - when we talk about fine tuning ….while I like Clingan, he is just a big, slow, made-for-a-halfcourt-game Center. Doesn’t fit the “tune” of a Sharpe, Scoot, Deni A. Line-up. While DB Hooper is better tuned
I don't think the 8th player in the rotation normally determines if its a great team or not. Put him with 5 allstars and he could be 6th man for a title winner. He's probably a player that ideally you don't want as one of your primary bench players. But he can fill in for an injury or change of pace and not cost the team a win, maybe even help win a couple games on a back to back or such. He's better than a pure scrub like Murray/Walker/Thybulle/Minaya/etc.
