ESPN: Portland among "favorites" for Dwight Howard in Free Agency

Lol, this is true. Almost once a game there is a turnover because Howard is fighting for a rebound with his own teammate. Last time it happened I think that teammate was Beverly...

Also I know there is some advanced stat on this but his rebounds are not impactful rebound. I mean that they are rebounds he gets because he just jumps higher than most guys. He doesn't seem to either like or understand boxing out. I mean if you watch a guy like say...Ben Wallace in his prime and Dwight Howard how they approach rebounds is very different. You are never really impressed by them I mean, I guess you'd have to see it to know. Like Drummond, he snatches them up and wherever he's at in the paint he impacts who gets the rebound.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is the Blazers have enough room for internal improvement that we don't have to do anything desperate, or take any chances on someone who isn't right for the team. With our current roster and all our cap space, and with Olshey at the helm, I'm feeling pretty good about the future right now.

 

Dude. Drop the fucking mic and close this thread!

 

Man..... one more scorer, preferably at the power forward position, and this team will be set.

 

So you're saying Mr. Howard is not only NOT boxing out so he can get the rebound, he certainly is not boxing out so his teammates can get the rebound?

Even with the number of rebounds Plumlee got last night, he was still sealing off opponents so his teammates could get the board.

Teamwork, FTW.

 

I am so excited about a team led by Dame and CJ, and next year's version of Mo Harkless, and the majority of our complimentary players. I still believe Vonleh will be better next season and could be impactful by next year's playoffs, on both sides of the ball. Maybe I'm drunk with playoff success, but I'm in a good place right now.

 

I'll just leave this here...



McHale did say that Dwight has problems getting low nowadays so that could factor into it now. His back could really be shot, it'll be interesting to see if anyone gives him the Max, my guess is it'll be Dallas or Charlotte.

 

Shit. I might just be a super fan of super beard.

 

Ryan anderson is the target i think. And i dont know how i feel about it. Hes definitely a scorer, but his defense is trash

 

Any trade involving Plumdog should be denied. Too much talent/ Basketball IQ to let go. This is his first year of getting starters minutes. He will develop some kind of shot over the summer, he's to intelligent to not put serious work into his weaknesses. As far as Dwight goes he can go to Orlando, or wherever. I'd rather have ZBO back to add some punch to the PF spot. He's not my first choice but I'd rather have someone like him that really wants to win than Dwight.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Based on the past, I can see this being the case - I generally haven't been impressed by Neil's FA targets. Hopefully it works out the same as it has in the past and we don't get him.

 

I think olshey is smarter than all of us combined. If he brings him in I would be very excited. If he doesn't bring him in, I'm going to be happy because that means he didn't think it wasn't a good fit.

 

Concerning the FAs Olshey goes after.

All I can say is, Olshey is going to earn his paycheck this summer. He will have 6 spots to fill, competing against GMs with tons of cap space, in a very weak FA class, with less cap space than most teams.

The issue that is going to hurt the Blazers the most is cap holds, over $36+ million for our 6 FAs, $30 million if you take Kaman out.

With the 5 cap holds, Olshey will only have less than $14 million before he hits the max of $92 million. (per spotrac)

Not sure how accurate the spotrac info is? But it looks about right.
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers/cap/2016/

 

This is why I've thought making the playoffs was so important. The further these guys go the more of Olsheys work they do for him.

Portland is suddenly a much more attractive place to play if other players view it as a winning environment.

Also expect those spots to be filled internally first, only then will Olshey reach out to other FA's

 

That's not a big deal, all they have to do is renounce their rights to Henderson, Kaman, and Roberts, and we'll be 26 million under the cap. Which is plenty to sign a max player. Then we'd still have the rights to go over to retain Leonard(whom I don't want), Harkless and Crabbe.

 

Minimum 2 players in rebounding position for the Rockets... Are you trying to blame Howard for not getting that rebound?
That's a great play by Curry... excellent fundamental boxout... It shows size doesn't matter if you are fundamentally sound.
If there is anyone to blame for that rebound it's Harden... He stands there and watches. That's his rebound 100%. Fuck that's MY rebound 100% and I can't jump anymore.
But this is what rubs people the wrong way about Harden. He only half asses his effort out there and it hurts his team. If I'm Howard in that play and Harden just stood there. After Curry scores I yell at Harden on the court in front of everyone. There is no excuse for that.
But James Harden comes across as a player who just doesn't care about winning. As long as he's getting his numbers.

Defending Dwight Howard.... Never thought it would come to this.


Edit - I just showed this to my girlfriend who didn't grow up doing anything athletic outside of running. But shes learning.
She responded with. "Why is The Beard just standing there?".
If a casual onlooker sees it... Not much more to be said.

 

Yet the Houston media isn't calling for Morey's scalp. That's the difference between the shitty Oregonian and the media in other NBA cities.

 

Well that is an interesting way to see it. Actually, Curry wasn't Harden's man but Terry's. To put the blame on Harden and say it is 100% Harden's board is out there, first time I've heard someone see it that way. I don't even blame Terry for not putting a body on Curry because I think most players in this situation as you can see most of the Rockets guards and forwards are already waiting for the outlet pass so that they can run which is what they are told to do. Lets look at the play in full...



So the NBA labels it as David vs Goliath and all 3 commentators go on about how Howard was boxed out against Curry. Congrats, in all of my time discussing the Rockets you are the first person to blame Harden on this play. Seems like a stretch I think.

Harden is just standing there because he assumes his center can get a rebound one on one against a PG. You know as a Rocket fan I've seen plenty of great big men and that rebound right there is Dwight Howard in a Rocket uniform. I've never seen a a center get punked and schooled like that on a rebound by a PG and then with said PG right under him get scored on so easily.

You want to blame Harden for not playing defense on the layup then that's fine, but to say that was his rebound is a little out there I think. Also the ball is right over Howard and Curry, I guess if you think Harden is going to jump high enough to steal the rebound then that would be his rebound but I'll tell you one thing about Harden is he doesn't jump very high unless he has a really good running start. But I get it I get it. Harden is super lazy and has no fire for the game, I can't imagine then what he'd be capable of if he did. I guess multi-MVPs and finals appearances since he's already accomplished a ton in his short career.

Edit: Also there is a theory that your main guard who handles the ball should not be battling for rebounds with their bigs. Maybe a casual fan doesn't understand this, (but hey, maybe I'm just a casual fan or know less than one) but I've seen Kenny and Charles argue over whether your PG (Which Harden basically is for the Rockets) should be fighting for rebounds or not. Teams that want to run will often have guys leaking out while their big secures the board. It's what you sacrifice if you want to be a full court transition team.

Also again, Dwight would have fought Harden for the rebound even if it meant inadvertently knocking it out of bounds. He does this a lot, it has to have happened more than 10x with Beverly on the court.

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2016/04/dwight_howards_mentor_says_tra.html

 

Ugh...