I definitely think we need a backup point guard. I really want a veteran. Someone that can come in and run the team when Dame is off the floor. I actually love the idea of Rondo or maybe Michael Carter Williams. Someone that plays defense and passes the ball. The main question in my mind is whether RoCo is a small forward or a power forward? If he's a small forward then we need to go out and get a starting power forward. If he's a power forward then we need to go out and get a wing. I want to deal CJ for one of those positions and start GTJ. My dream scenario would be Paul George. Dame GTJ George RoCo Nurk This would be a championship caliber lineup. But the Clips likely wouldn't do it, so who else is out there? I would love to get one of Boston's wings. I'm not sure how steep the price would be though. DeRozan is probably much more gettable, but is he a good fit? Does he play defense? My goals for this offseason is: Backup point guard Starting Wing or Power forward Bench scorer.
Agreed, I just can't stomach the thought of George's personality. I think both of these lineups would be incredibly balanced, as Covington can cover some of the sins of a weak defensive link (but probably not two with CJ). Lillard/Trent/Derozan/Covington/Nurkic; Lillard/Trent/Covington/Love/Kurkic I think CJ should have more trade value than either of Derozan or Love, but I'm not sure that either of those teams would want CJ either.
CJ is getting on the older side and he hasn't proven anything. Never an Allstar. Doesn't play defense. I'm not sure how much value he actually has around the league.
Devin Booker: Only an AllStar once (and then only because Dame got injured) and doesn't play defense. I'm not sure how much value he actually has around the league.
Well, scoring is pretty important in the NBA. And he has proved he can do that during the reg season and in the playoffs. The 50 point night in 29 minutes (18-of-25) was historic. But it does come down to salary. High salaries for non-super stars make them hard to trade for fair value. And of course, fans absolutely HATE it when a player is overpaid.
CJ is a classic tweener. He's not a point guard but he's too short to really be a great two guard. He doesn't play good defense, he doesn't pass the ball, and he's selfish on offense. These are not things most people covet.
These guys didn't think so: https://bleacherreport.com/articles...defending opposing,so poorly in this exercise. But, mainly just giving you some static. I think people are a bit over the top around here about CJ. Your mileage may vary.
Not sure it’s fair to pigeonhole CJ because he’s a completely different player when Dame is out. He looks like he could legitimately lead a team. Teams see that. The problem is Olshey is in love with the pairing and will go down with them before breaking it up, imo.
He is what he is. He won't be changing any time soon and I'm sick of watching the Dame/CJ show get derailed every year because of the blatant weaknesses that everyone in the league is aware of at this point. Pair that with Stotts and let the treadmill continue!
That isn't only from the DameCJ pairing... the other 3 guys in the lineup need to give consistent playoff contributions. The frontcourts DameCJ have had are one way specialists, either defensive (Ed Davis, Aminu, Harkless, Turner), or offensive (Melo, Kanter, Meyers, Crabbe). Those players do fine in the regular season but they get schemed off the floor in the playoffs. The one year DameCJ had a bit of two way productivity with Hood/Collins/Seth Curry they went to the conference finals. Thats without an injured Nurk. Nurk has contributed a single Blazers playoff win, game 1 against the Lakers this year that seems rather meaningless now. Where's the Nurk hate? Dame also can't seem to pass out of a trap in the playoffs. Game 5 I saw CJ do this better than Dame has in years. Dame seems to avoid criticism on passing out of a simple trap, and now prides himself on how he can shoot a 35 footer instead of an easy pass. Mostly I blame Neil, but yes Dame/Nurk/CJ have fault in these shortcomings as well. The hate directed exclusively at CJ here is ridiculous though.
I think PG is the perfect guy to get here, I agree with you on that. I don’t think this is the year to trade CJ though. Realistically, if you use all your available options to improve: - MLE on a guy like Jae Crowder - BAE on a similar guy like Jeff Green - TPE one of the backup bigs from SAC like Rashaun Holmes - vet min on a serviceable pg like MCW like you’ve said (or Napier, who would be a better shooter) your record will immensely improve without a drastic change to your core. I really wouldn’t be surprised if a team of Dame/CJ/Covington/Crowder/Nurkic with Napier/Trent/Green/Collins/Holmes (assuming Hood doesn’t re-sign) gets the #3 seed at the end of the year. And with with Trent now being our FOURTH option to defend the Lebrons/Kawhis instead of our FIRST like this playoffs, suddenly I feel much more confident that we could make the finals lol. Along with one more full year together again will give us more clarity on future options. In a year, we’ll know if Trent is consistent enough to be our full time sg. We’ll also see how other stories develop around the league. On top of that, we’ll get to see another full year of development from Little and Simons. Next summer, PG, Kawhi, and Giannis will all be free agents and maybe if any one of the three become available or opts to find a better situation, we’d have valuable contracts + the young guys + picks we can trade. Say, any of the three demanded a trade this season, a grand package of Crowder’s MLE, CJ’s $29.3m, the young guys, and picks should put us in prime position to enter next playoffs with Dame/Trent/Star/Covington/Nurkic. Suddenly, this scenario sounds too good to be true haha but yeah, I think deciding on whether or not to blow up the Dame/CJ backcourt should be a decision for next summer. Depending on team improvement, CJ’s value should also increase, if not stay the same.
