My take is Wes let it known he wanted and expected a much bigger contract than the Blazers would even consider offering. Why would they make him some low ball offer?
He made it abundantly clear he wanted 15+ before free agency started. We weren't gonna pay that. It sounds like he was upset that he wasn't one of Neil's first calls on July 1st. So Neil was supposed to call him up and say Wes wasn't a priority? Fuckin delusional. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the comparatives. No doubt Wes was a stud from long distance. (and his 2 pt % was excellent as well-which surprised me) Wes played about 5 minutes more per game. Looking at the Per 36 minutes stats, Hendo's compared slightly better in rebounding, assists, and blocks. Wes had slightly more steals Nice to see that Hendo compares well at the line at around 85%, (Wes at around 75%)
Henderson is a solid vet replacement, but his 3pt shooting is significantly worse at .331 last season and .309 for his career. I don't expect him to become a great 3pt shooter all of a sudden.
However, he's over 44% from the corners over the past two seasons, and shooting a greater percentage of his three's from those spots each year. As long as he lets Dame, CJ,and Meyers handle 3's from above the break, he'll likely be quite serviceable.
Yes, because offensive and defensive schemes in the NBA are that simple. I'll tell you the same thing I tell my 9-year-old: playing dumb doesn't accomplish anything but irritating the people with whom you're speaking.
I'm glad they didn't, can you imagine paying him 15 mil with this current roster? That much money to a guy on a treadmill team? At least we don't have any bad contracts for the rebuild.
Are we talking about Henderson? He'll give you a cold cutting past you to the basket and dunking on people's faces.
Ah, so maybe my memory may have over exaggerated my embellishment of his comments. I thought he was plenty involved in the offense. He thought different. He thought he was worth $15mil on a rebuilding team. Olshey/Allen thought different. I don't think he should be mad or offended. He no doubt cares not what I think.
I'm struggling with Wes thinking he wanted to be more of a main cog in the offense. I loved what the guy brought every night but I think his skills were pretty much maxed out. He was a terrible (by NBA standards) ball handler, and his decisions on the fly usually ended up with a turnover or an ugly, forced shot (that usually never came close). And I thought he did a very poor job of looking up the floor when he had the ball in transition. He was a three and D guy without a whole lot in between. Actually I thought he was in the perfect place for a guy with his skill set. Unfortunately, that place no longer exists.
Wes is a guy that thrives on motivation. He doesn't need much of it, and he'll find a little of it somewhere and it will carry him great distances. Did we see an unmotivated Wes Matthews in Portland? Of course not. He's going to be the same guy he always has been (if he recovers from the injury). As far as the Blazers go, they were in a no-win situation as far as Wes was concerned. He's not worth a max-deal, especially on a team that doesn't have LA or and LA-level player, but if you offer him something less and he gets the kind of offer he eventually did from the Mavs, he's going to say he was disrespected by the Blazers low-balling him. Plus, he might be splitting hairs about the team not talking to him ... I suspect there was some dialog with the team and his agent, just maybe not much directly with the player. I still say I appreciated what Wes did for this organization and wish him well in the future. Business is business, though, and Olshey played this about as well as I think he could have.
Yep, and talking to Wes's agent would probably be leaked. You saw how just the assistant coach saying "Aldridge is gone", then immediately after Monroe signs elsewhere. It was best for us to stay quiet until the dust settled. Olshey publicly said they informed the other player's agents that they come in a package deal. That's why Aldridge's situation fucked us so badly
