Say what you will about Carmelo, but the guy works. And he's as experienced as they come. And he has a good rapport with everyone. My point is, I think it's worth it to see if Dame and Melo can help get Simmons' head right. I'd take that chance.
Speaking of Ben Simmons polls there's this one on OLive https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...immons-cj-mccollum-swap-vote-in-our-poll.html The question is simply "Should the Blazers explore a trade for Ben Simmons?" Shockingly just over a third of the 2100+ people that have voted have voted "no". So the team shouldn't explore a trade for Simmons. That's crazy to me. A guy like Ben Simmons and we shouldn't even explore a trade?!? Some strange folks that are supposedly fans of our team.
Go listen to some of the bozos that call into the Chad and Travis show. Casuals who know basically zip about the NBA. It’s actually painful to listen to them stammer out their dumbass opinions.
If you listen to sports talk... to me that would imply a level of interest that would make these guys more knowledgeable. Then again you can never really underestimate the population at large. Regardless, I hope Olshey wasn't one of the 700+ that voted "no".
I think a lot of people are confused by Simmons because of his handle and his passing. He can do those things like a guard, right? So he should be able to shoot free throws like (at least) a center. He can't and he probably never will. But maybe he's still pretty useful. Imagine Ben Wallace with passing and a handle instead of elite rebounding, and suddenly Ben Simmons looks pretty good. Unless, of course, you started him next to Embiid. Simmons is paid like a franchise guy you build a team around, but they never really built a team around him. Wherever he winds up, the team that acquires him will go all in with eyes wide open, and will structure everything to make him work. I hope he comes here.
So either a third of the people can't ready, because it doesn't say, 'Do the trade', it is simply exploring the possibility, or this is perhaps part of the #CancelCulture crowd that you can't even question some things and just have to accept their thinking. Either way, that doesn't look very good for the intelligence of a large block of Blazer fans.
This forum does that too. But on the plus side, the vast majority of Blazer fans don't post here, or on Oregonlive, Twitter, etc. We're a small, loud (and at times) ignorant group.
Expect the unexpected....we have on what used to be called the IR list, a player that if he gets healthy and stays healthy could help us especially on defense. Im not so sure the ZMan wouldn't be a decent, current era bu 5 much like Saric does for the Suns.
I mean I guess most of the thinks you mention are true. He is a real good player and maybe he can be (real) useful and help us. But is he good enough to give away valuable assets? Is he the last puzzle needed? I do not know, maybe it is worth a try (especially if Dame wants him on the team). And maybe Simmons also just need to some fresh air and new colleagues to adjust his game. A lot of maybes, yeah, but Blazers have to do something anyway - so at least it is worth some discussions.
The new (since Andrew Berry took over) motto of the Cleveland Browns is smart, tough and accountable. They don't sign or trade for players unless they are all three. I would like to see Blazers adopt that policy. "Doesn't work", "doesn't listen" doesn't seem to fit.
