Stotts is best as an assistant, balanced with a disciplinarian defensive coach like the one he has now, Jerry Stackhouse.
It's the quickest move. They won't be trading Dame or Giannis to fix this. Players only meeting might get some of it and Kris Middleton returning might help but honestly the offense is pretty bad without a bunch of dudes doing lobs. Remember Lob City?
Yeah, I hope Cronin does not do that. I'm not a big fan of the idea of getting Dame back, but what if it's essentially having Dame replace Simons? The Blazers aren't going to sign any big free agents. There's a possibility they could do a lop sided trade, with their cap space.
Deni is looking like he'll be at least a long term rotation player and likely more then that. 23 years old and under a friendly contract for the next 4 years is a solid return which I backed then and now. Of course they still have the pick swap options with the Bucks in 2028 & 30. In 2028 Dame will be 38, Giannis 34, Middleton 37, Portis 34 & Brooke Lopez 40. They have no young players of note that I can see them building with or around and too good of a current roster for their upcoming picks to be top half of the 1st anytime soon. My guess is that as his teammates age and their window closes, Giannis will be dealt in a couple years for a haul at which point they'll probably be worse off then the current Blazers. STOMP
Yeah I think the best use of cap space soon would be to take on an overpaid contract to acquire a first round pick as the Spurs did and OKC did many times prior to that. As we become more competitive that could shift to where we trade away picks for a starter and that starter will need to use some of that cap space. If we don't get a starter via trade the last option probably is keeping the cap space for free agency. It doesn't have to be a big time star free agent though, but maybe it could be a 5th starter or 6th man like the Magic getting KCP or OKC getting Hartenstein. Those places were never free agent destinations. We signed Wes Matthews for the MLE, Aminu and Ed Davis with cap space. All of the above options are much better uses than giving Simons $80 million or paying a 37 year old Dame a supermax. I would avoid these options. I also doubt Dame would be happy to accept whatever bench role is best for a Blazer playoff team in his late 30s. Star players don't view themselves as aging or declining, the are always delusional. He'd expect a similar role and treatment as when he was the star here.
Sadly, if we're nominating a "most dumpster fire NBA team" - it's not the Lakers, it's the Bucks. Dame and CJ both suffering right now.
For Deni it all comes down to his 3pt%. He is currently shooting 11%. That makes Aminu look like a premier sharpshooter. Deni defense is good but Aminu was clearly superior, and he was a bad option as a starting forward for a playoff team. Yes Deni shot well last season, but in his other 3 years he shot 31% 31% 29%. If he can't hit a shot he isnt worth even his cheap contract and that trade will be a disaster if that 2029 pick is in the lottery. We'll just have to see what happens. Now I agree that the Milwaukee pick in 2029 looks like the best of the the three. But the Celtics will have major cap issues with the 2nd apron by then and very likely need to break up their current team so they could certainly end up in the lottery. I would hope some of the young Blazer talent has them winning by then but thats certainly not a guarantee either. We also just never know what injuries could unexpectedly sink a legit playoff team like the Grizzlies last season. If 2 of these teams end up at the top of the lottery in 2029 which is very possible that Deni trade could go down as the worst since we lost Jermaine Oneal.
I think eventually its kind of inevitable that Giannis will be traded. I don't think it will happen this season no matter what, probably will not happen next season either. I'd bet Giannis wants to give some valiant efforts to win just as Dame did for his last 3 years here. But in 2-4 years there is just no way to improve that Bucks squad as you mention. I'd expect it will be like the Nets trading Bridges where it will extremely likely that we are approached to be a part of the trade to return the Bucks control of their 2028-2030 picks.
If we can get enough assets on very cheap contracts to have a playoff team in 2 years I do think its very possible we could make a run at acquiring BOTH Dame and Giannis. But we must build a team aggressively to win at that time 3 years from now. Not try to win with this stupid Ayton/Grant/Simons trio today.
The biggest problem I had with Aminu was how scared I was every time he put the ball on the floor. Night and day between him and Deni. Granted Deni is struggling right now with his 3-point shot and he needs to cut down on the turnovers. (he and Ayton are just not on the same page with some of the lobs) But he reminds me of a bigger Josh Hart when Hart was with the Blazers. He pushes the tempo, he rebounds, and he plays with an attitude.
My son says Bucks trade proposals are the most common trades in the last 24 hours according on fanspo.
Doc on the hot seat. It's already starting. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nb...S&cvid=572e14a6e84f410ab21ba5d164bcce3e&ei=52
I think the coaching issues are the real problem. Their choice of Doc as the replacement was a head scratcher at best.
