Exclusive 2022-23 Portland Trail Blazers Roster

Gonna be funny when we find out hes actually underpaid.

 

If Eubanks is a serviceable backup big and Trendon can be an effective smallball C at times then I think Dame, Ant, Hart, Grant, Nurk, GP2, Nas, Justise, Eubanks, Trendon is the best rotation that we've put around Dame given the lack of a bench and moreso where Dame was at when he had Wes, Nic, LaMarcus and RoLo. I think it's better than '18-'19 again if Eubanks and Trendon can make meaningful contributions. That's not taking into consideration the very real possibility that Shaedon is an impact player at some point this season because there is also a very real possibility that he isn't.

 

If he can be as effective at SG as he was dominating the ball at PG and if his defense has improved, then yeah he'll be underpaid. Those are some big ifs though.

 

Here are all the players that averaged 20 points a game last season. The only guy on a non rookie contract that has an AAV equal to or less than Simons upcoming one is Murray. Most the others average over 30M a year.

Joel EmbiidPHI
LeBron JamesLAL
Giannis AntetokounmpoMIL
Kevin DurantBKN
Luka DoncicDAL
Trae YoungATL
DeMar DeRozanCHI
Kyrie IrvingBKN
Ja MorantMEM
Nikola JokicDEN
Jayson TatumBOS
Devin BookerPHX
Donovan MitchellUTAH
Stephen CurryGS
Karl-Anthony TownsMIN
Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC
Zach LaVineCHI
Paul GeorgeLAC
Damian LillardPOR
Jaylen BrownBOS
Bradley BealWSH
Anthony DavisLAL
De'Aaron FoxSAC
Pascal SiakamTOR
Brandon IngramNO
CJ McCollumPOR/NO
James HardenBKN/PHI
Darius GarlandCLE
Jimmy ButlerMIA
Anthony EdwardsMIN
Dejounte MurraySA
Tyler HerroMIA
Klay ThompsonGS
Fred VanVleetTOR
Kristaps PorzingisWSH/DAL
Miles BridgesCHA
LaMelo BallCHA
Julius RandleNY
Khris MiddletonMIL

 

So you’re making a case for him to come off the bench?

 

how did you arrive to that conclusion

 

And Norm Powell was so close at 19 PPG. He was at 21.4 in the 5 games he played for the Clippers at his natural position (could have been adjusted based on other players not playing at that time, of course). He gets paid around 17 million per year. Yet, some want to say he was really overpaid.

He wasn't overpaid.

 

But Simons has never done this. You want to pay him for production he might improve to when there were no teams giving him an offer? And we only got a ~$5 million discount from the max? Seems like it would've been much better roster management to just offer him 4/80 and let him shop for more if another team would give him that which appeared very unlikely.

Sure you can say the $20 million isn't worth nitpicking for, but then you combine that with a similar overpay for Nurk, setting a precedent for a Grant extension, and finally Hart/Little free agency next summer. The Blazers are locking in huge contracts to non-allstars bidding against themselves just as Olshey did. We saw the failures of that strategy, but are driving the bus down the same damn road.

 

he’s never done what? Avg 20? He averaged 22ppg in 30 starts.

 

you need to account for combo players...you lump guards into a point guard category and ignore the guards that can play 3 positions....same with the centers...we have a lot of swiss army knife players that don't fit your breakdown much

 

So your list of all other players in the NBA is only for the games they started?

 

Are you suggesting Ant won’t average 20 in a full season? Is that your argument?

 

To stay on the floor with Lillard and make his 20 he has to be much better defender. If not, we're coming back to Dame/CJ problem. Was his 22ppg with or without Lillard?

 

Lillard finds the open man. If Ant continues on his current path, he won't have any trouble avg. 20 + per game. Take that to the bank.

 

The bigger question is whether we can keep Grant happy. I remember hearing that he wants to be the man, which I’m sure he understands coming to Portland he won’t be. But can we get him enough shots to stay happy? Nurk also has an ego.

 

Lillard is a leader, and will do just that. I think the guys will all buy in to Chauncey's plan. It's about winning.

 

Would having Hart in the starting lineup help?

 

Almost every team that went far in the playoffs used an undersized forward as backup center. It's all about switchability. I assume Watford will get backup PF and backup C minutes.

 

I love that idea, and having Ant be like our John Havlicek. But most seem to poo poo that idea. Ant would still avg. 20 in that position.

 

Yeah, he shot 47.8% from 3P on catch and shoot per NBA.com - and did it on 4 attempts per game, so this is not a small sample size