Game Thread 2024-25 GAME #35 - BLAZERS @ PISTONS - JAN 6, 2024 - 4:00 PM - CHARGE - KUNP - BLAZERVISION

I know this is a game thread but let's not act like Scoot hasn't had solid showings in 3 of his last 6 games because he has. The Lakers game he was nice, he was really good at home against the Jazz and Mavs. I think this is what you expect from a developing player... ups and downs. Hopefully we start to see more ups than downs and then a lot more consistency next season.

The way I look at Scoot now and the makeup of our young core, I think Shaedon, Tou and Deni would be really great starting 1-3, I think we need another starting forward who is a great rebounder and we'll see about the 5 spot. Ayton isn't a bad center, just a really frustrating one. Clingan is just under halfway into his rookie season. I'd like to see us get a floor stretching smallball C who is under 25 and who we could stagger with Clingan.

I think the all around talent that Shaedon and Deni have, gives us the opportunity to play really big and still put a lot of pressure on the rim from the perimeter... while still being able to get a ton of assists. We don't need a traditional PG. The Wolves don't, the Thunder don't and yeah I'm comparing Shaedon's potential with those guys. Both Ant Edwards and SGA were ahead of where Shaedon is by this point in their NBA careers but they both played a full season of college and they both had a way clearer launch pad than what Joe has given Shaedon.

Who knows what our front office will do but I like that there are games that we can call ups to go with games like this one which was definitely a down/bad game for Scoot.

 

If Simons is part of this team when we're done tanking then we have absolutely failed and will probably not even get past the first round.

If we move on from Scoot without giving him the reines (like actually running the point 35 minutes per game) for a season or two we really screwed up with that draft pick.

 

Disagree on both counts. Accept your opinion, but disagree, and here's why.

First, I don't live by the "contending window" thing, but, even if that's true, Ant's definitely in it. If you watch enough Blazers games with the other team's announcers, you get a different perspective at how respected Ant has become as a player around the league. He's not a good defender, but pretty much every team has a guy that's not a good defender in their rotation. There aren't a lot of players, though, that can create and make shots at all three levels, and he can.

Second, everyone mocking the 2024 draft had Scoot in the top three. Yes, I know there were people around here that liked the Thompson twins, but there weren't many if any experts that didn't have the top three as Wemby, and then Scoot and Miller in some order. That's not a screw-up on our part. That means Scoot just didn't have it, and everyone was fooled.

Finally, for everyone that wants Scoot to run the point for 35 minutes and play 40 minutes per game for the sake of developing, if he can't do that, what about all the other players we're trying to develop? This isn't all about Scoot. We don't have a responsibility to Scoot. We have a responsibility to the team and that means developing the best product we can put on the floor.

Do you honestly want Sharpe and Clingan and whoever we draft in the lottery next year learning how to play by being out on the floor 30 minutes per night with a PG that might be turning it over 5-6 times and shooting 2-13 a quarter of the time? How does that make any of them better? Sure, playing Scoot a lot sounds good, but there are problems with it -- for Scoot, as well -- if he's not up to it. It impedes the progress of everyone having a guy running an offense if he can't run an offense.

 

I see it as opportunity cost. Simons isn't it. But he can help us beat bad teams. If we never trade him for draft capital then we've never actually committed to rebuilding and bringing in max talent.

I see no way (aside from lucking into a Wemby/Jokic) that we'll accrue the talent we need without offloading Ant. We just won't be bad enough consistently enough. We're already screwing it up this season and winning too much. Scoot's turnovers help us lose to bad teams.

And Scoot is too good (and too willing) of a distributor to negatively impact anybody else developmentally. I don't see how his turnovers hurt anybody. It's just a bad play you move on from and hopefully learn from. Those turnovers probably lead to a better draft pick and better talent on the team. Once the game slows down for him you'd be better off. That happens from playing a lot and being in every situation over and over.

And if he's playing enough there is somebody who will fall in love with him. He's better than Telfair, and we were able to trade him for a good pick.

But mainly, if you don't make these moves it probably means we've never committed to the rebuild and have been straddling two timelines.

In which case we'll never lose enough to accrue enough talent and we'll be spending Sharpe's career as a bubble team, stuck in purgatory...

I get your points but from my perspective we just don't have enough talent to stick with guys like Simons and Grant if we want to be a legit threat to advance in the playoffs. We have to get value from them and it needs to be young enough that we get a couple more great draft picks from losing as well. Then we need to knock those picks out of the park.