Re: What happens with Gomes? I'm not down on Babbitt (and I don't think Ed is)...I was just responding to the idea that it's silly to even factor in age. Babbitt would be an even better prospect if he were just as good but currently only 18. Obviously, that's not something he can control, and I'm fine with what he is at his current age. But all prospects should be evaluated relative to their age (and, I agree, years in organized basketball). A player who may not currently seem impressive may actually be doing quite well when you consider that they're only 18 and was almost entirely competing against players older than him. A player who's a 23 year old college senior (for whatever reason) should be viewed in context that he was competing pretty much entirely against players younger than him, who were less developed than he was. Babbitt is at neither extreme, so shouldn't have his performance adjusted particularly extremely when projecting him...but his age should still be a factor in evaluating how he performed and predicting how good an NBA player he'll be in his prime.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Back to the topic for a moment...... I predict that Gomes either gets traded before next Wednesday OR will be waived by us. He is redundant. He will take minutes away from Cunningham and Babbitt if he stays.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I never said age wasn't relevant. Why do you make up strawmen so often? Of course Favors was drafted for potential, but production does matter as well. Turner was much more productive than Favors, and I imagine he'll be a much better production value on his rookie contract than Favor will be, and possibly even Wall.
Re: What happens with Gomes? If he's a better player than Cunningham, does it make sense to get rid of him to clear up minutes? And if he's not better, then why would he get minutes? If we don't use him as a trade chip then I could see us cutting him to save millions of bones, but not due to a minutes crunch. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I totally agree production is critical. It's more important than age, because a supremely productive 27 year-old is a more valuable "prospect" than an average 19 year-old college player. I don't understand why you are mocking my position and debating with Minstrel if you don't disagree with us that age is a consideration. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Yet Babbitt was much more productive in college, at one year older, than many of the players drafted ahead of him. Plus, his shooting stats translate regardless of competition. He's a 42% collegiate 3-point shooter, and an 88% FT shooter who gets to the line nearly 7 times a game. Paul Millsap was similarly productive in college, and played his first season at 21, which Babbitt will be as well. The guy turned 21 on Sunday. I think you're overvaluing the age thing. At some point, production must be realized, especially when you're picking at #16 as opposed to #1, 2, or 3.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I do agree, but not to the level that you do, at least in terms of productive players. Brandon Roy was productive at UW and was old when drafted. I think Babbitt, much younger than Roy, has proven that at the very least he will be able to shoot the ball. I don't see him being barely 21 as a negative. A shooter is a shooter. Rarely can you take a bad shooter who is 19 and make him a great shooter at 21, if that is what you are seeking for your roster.
Re: What happens with Gomes? He hasn't proven to be better than Cunningham, and they play different positions. May as well pay Cunningham 2nd round money than Gomes' deal to battle for 10th man in the rotation.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I'm not arguing we made a bad pick. I'm not saying he's not a good prospect. I just initially said that 21 is a bit old for my tastes. That led to another poster taking some sort of issue with that and not letting it go, and you jumping in, too, in spite of us not disagreeing about this as far as I can tell. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Based on what parameters? He's a 6'9" shooter who can handle the ball if needed. We had all heard going into the draft that the Blazers wanted outside shooting. Would you instead draft a 19 year-old who can't shoot as well, and hope that he develops into a better shooter than old man Babbitt (who turned 21 5 days ago) is right now? How many 50/40/90 shooters who play SF are available at any age? If the guy becomes a poor man's Kyle Korver, I'll be thrilled, but I think his ceiling is higher due to his explosive vertical and larger size.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Gomes and Cunningham play the same position, IMO. Gomes played about a third of his minutes at the power forward spot and the rest at the small forward spot... on a team that lacked many good options at the 3. Cunningham played almost exclusively at the PF on a team that had a lot of swing men. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I don't understand how your question relates to the bolded part. Why are you trying to argue with me when we agree? It's weirding me out. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? And outside of mediocre 3 point shooting, Cunningham outplayed Gomes last year by comparison.
Re: What happens with Gomes? OK. That's not relevant to my point, but OK. My point was that IF Gomes is good enough to play ahead of Cunningham, he's worth keeping. If he's not, then he won't steal minutes. So cutting Gomes BECAUSE OF PLAYING TIME MATTERS doesn't make sense to me. Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Yeah, I totally misread the part I bolded. We disagree on how much age matters, but it appears to be an issue as to what degree it matters. Probably not worth spending the rest of the afternoon debating.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I don't think Gomes will get the chance to show if he's a better option than Cunningham, but if he does get the chance, then definitely he should play if he proves to help the team win more games.
Re: What happens with Gomes? If Blazers waive Gomez, was this move to cut salary costs? BTW-I'm one of the few who does not like the move.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Martell disappeared against Phoenix. He failed in his biggest test. Why don't you like the deal?
Re: What happens with Gomes? Only one of us is still going on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it.
