Josh Hart has acclimated well as Knicks 6th man spark plug role. A position he wasn't able to play in Portland due to lack of size and depth.
I am bothered that Cam is getting so many minutes (31 last night) when Nas (playing easily better than Cam) and Shaedon are getting a lot less.
As I recall he was pretty adamant at the beginning of the season that he wanted to start, but he does seem to be a prototypical 6th man with his energy.
I also want Shae to play more, but I can't deny that he's not actually doing enough on the court in the minutes he's getting to command more PT.
I'm fine with it. Shaedon is going to be here. He has a bright future in Portland. Cam is a free agent after this season. We need to know if he's worth investing in. Both Cam and Thybulle need a good long look before this offseason.
The minutes were a little surprising tonight, but I have no problem starting Cam. I like when Dame tries to get going early rather than making sure everyone else feels "involved". Grant needs his shots too. So saving a couple of shooters (Shae and Nas) for the bench does not bug me because we don't have a lot of options right now......as long as they get their minutes. In 5 games Cam is not shooting that badly (61% from 2, 37% from 3) Not saying he has played great, but he has not played poorly. Small sample size for sure, but I am fine with Chauncey experimenting with him alongside Dame. Once Ant gets back either he or Dame will always be on the floor. SS and Thybulle will fill the rest of the minutes in the backcourt and probably some SF. So we might as well see what Cam can do now before there is a minutes crunch.
Blazers are going to need trade assets, even low-level contracts that can be fillers in larger trades Portland has several free agents this summer: Grant, Reddish, Thybulle, Winslow, Eubanks. Also Knox and Keon although neither appears to have any value. The other side of the equation is that they only have 7 players under contract. Somehow, they have to build a team. Reddish & Thybulle having contracts in the 4-6M/year range could have some decent trade value while adding depth. Winslow? I'm not sold either way because of his injury history. And IMO, Eubanks has earned a contract. They also have an 8.7M TPE and a 2.4M TPE. And perhaps a lottery pick and a mid-first in the draft; plus several 2nd's. all of those can be decent assets this summer and heading into the next trade deadline. And in order to gauge the value of new contracts the Blazers need to see these guys actually play in a rotation
Yeah, we all know that. I appreciate your passion for SS, and you are right to feel that he needs to improve for this team to make a jump. But I doubt that starting him now really makes a difference. Right now we need his scoring off the bench more than we need his scoring as a starter. It's not like Chauncey is burying him on the bench.
Knox has a team option for next year, but Keon's team option was already exercised for 23-24, so not a free agent.
Yes. I like Nas, but the lack of a backup big move tells me this team isn't serious about competing this year, so evaluation of Reddish's fit is the priority over giving time to guys with multi-year contracts. I think there will be a moment later this season where we see plenty of Sharpe. He's been pretty awful in the two games after the break so far, though.
