I don't see that stated anywhere. But Dame/CJ play the highest minutes on the roster and will continue to do so and I would submit he's not going to be first off the bench behind either of those players. Could be a nice player. Just is going to be a while and there is SO MUCH of a need in other places.
It is difficult/impossible/stupid to even try to "address you needs" with pick #24. BPA. Simons already has the SKILLS to play right away. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the strength or stamina to do so. My guess is that he'll be completely spent just playing summer league. He also is clueless about nba basketball. He referred to himself as a "good defender". When the press pressed him for specifics, he couldn't give any. He seemed to have no idea what good defense involves. So, he's not ready physically, and he has a steep learning curve to understand the Blazers offense and defense. Hopefully, the Blazers will implement the following plan with Simons: 1) "Gary, we want you to continue your weight room regimen your dad put you on. Oh, and whenever you go to the weight room, take Simons with you and make sure he does all the stuff you do." 2) "Baldwin. We want you to spend time guarding Simons every practice. Introduce him to the nba for us...." I think he'll be ready physically and mentally to play 20 mpg in a year, but I tend to be optimistic about these things.
Neil straight up said he wanted vets playing those minutes, he wasn’t looking for rookies to fill rotation spots.
For the pro tank crowd who wants us to lose our way into the lottery, we just got a lottery pick in next year's draft, and we didn't have to suck to do it. The pro BPA crowd say you always take the best player available, regardless of position. Now people are bitching that Simons plays the same position as Dame and C.J. In every draft there are 1, 2, sometimes 3 players taken at 24 or below who end up being better players than half, or more, of the guys taken in the lottery. Will Simons end up being one of those guys? It's impossible to predict. If it was possible, those guys wouldn't be available at 24 and lower. Everything I've read about this guy says he's a five star recruit that would have gone in the lottery next year. So, kudos to Neil for swinging for the fences and not just making a safe pick. BNM
Who would you have taken at 24 that would have addressed our needs sufficiently to vault us ahead of GSW and HOU in 2019, 2020 or 2021? I can't think of anyone, outside of LeBron who would get us there. So, if no one is available where we were picking that would have gotten us there, why not go for the long play and pick the guy with the most potential to help us out further down the road? BNM
What small forwards could the Blazers have picked that could have provided any significant help this season? The Warriors took Jacob Evans at 28, but his 6’6”/200 lbs size projects more as a SG than a SF and he certainly isn’t going to get many minutes this year. Brooklyn got Dzanan Musa, a 6’9”/195 lbs string bean from Croatia at 29. He doesn’t look to be ready for immediate contributions this year. Trading up would have probably cost CJ, and if NO has decided to do that I would far prefer to have him used to acquire an experienced wing. The Blazers need wing help, but I don’t think the draft is where their looking to get it. Simmons seems to be a guy who if he had played a couple years of college may have been a lottery pick. I’m okay with taking a shot on that kind of future return on a 24 pick.
So, I'm not gonna read through this whole thread, but I suspect we drafted Simons so we can trade CJ. I suspect that many people have also made a similar post.
My car has those! I love 'em! (Especially because I need to fix the window switches for the main front windows...)
ESPN 100 ranked Simons as #9 in the 2018 class. They also ranked Trent as #8 in the 2017 class. These are rankings among high school seniors. I have no problem with them as prospects. But they are absolutely not going to contribute anytime soon.
There were so many available. And yet again we stick to our drafting tenet of undersized scoring guards or clumy big men.
He isn't? This is yet another instance with Neil collecting so-called assets instead of actually building a team.
Right. Unless Neil thinks Turner can be our starting SG until Simons is ready. Which, unfortunately, seems like something he'd think.
