OP, I love(d) Hicksons game as well, and wished we could have kept him for a utility player, but it just wasn't in the cards. In the end, I would much rather have Lopez and his 7 Blocks than Hickson and his 25 rebounds.
Self-destructive Portland is weirdly biased against experienced, developed players not received through the draft. Blazer media and fans view themselves as adoptive parents. Only rookie players needing years of grooming need apply. Hickson, Juwan Howard, any hero who saves a season but isn't a toddler is immediately thrown out like a hot potato. Thus we are forever letting it bake.
Again...same as with Aldridge...why is it either/or? Why do you create a comparison between a starter and a substitute? I've heard this for years about our substitute, Juwan Howard, who like Hickson responded like a hero when pressed into starting service, only to be forever compared thereafter to our starters. It's like Blazer fans are robots, so inflexible no matter how many times corrected.
He's a perfect center for my "All Grater Team." PG: Damon Stoudamire (Yeah, I know he's out of the league now, but this is his permanent spot) SG: Jamal Crawford SF: Josh Smith PF: Kevin Love C: JJ Hickson A fine collection of guys you think you want on your team until they are and the major flaws in their game grate on you so much that you wonder why you even watch.
You compare 4 guys whose egos expected to be NBA starters, to a guy who wanted to remain a Blazer, in his natural PF position, knowing full well that Aldridge would start at his position. You should have put up a list of all 5 subs.
I like JJ, but the blazers made the right decision to let JJ walk and pursue a starting center. It wasn't possible to keep JJ, and at the same time add Lopez. The blazers now have one of the most well balanced starting units in the league. Good luck to JJ.
I, too, have always been a JJ fan. But you're wrong about his exit from Portland. JJ wanted to be a starting PF in the NBA and all we could offer was a backup role. He was never going to stay here. And he gets abused defensively at center. So Oshley and the team said their goodbye's and he went on to greener pastures.
Baracuda's statement says it all. We needed a starting center and got one. I would loved to of had JJ coming off the bench at PF but that was not financially possible at the time from what I remember. As I said at the time, JJ will eventually realize his role is off the bench as an energy guy, but that he had to go to a few more teams before he figured it out. As for why the Blazers seem to take verbal shots at him? It does seem odd, but I am guessing there is a reason.
I liked Hickson too, he's a capable starter, and a very good backup 4. But they aquired T-Rob, a cheaper contract, so they could spend their money elsewhere on the bench, like Mo/Wright. But I'd rather have hickson coming off the bench that T-Rob, Freeland or Leonard, and Williams/Wright haven't really been great.
This. JJ is a backup. We weren't able to give him what he wanted while upgrading our starting unit. He did what was best for him, and so did the Blazers.
It's an either/or because of the salary cap. We couldn't have kept Hickson while acquiring the players that we did. Would JJ be nice to have at the backup four? Sure. Is have Lopez as the starting center better than having JJ as the starting center? Not sure anyone can argue that with a straight face. The results for this season speak as to why this was a great move. BTW, if the refs had bothered calling over the back he'd have fouled out of that fourth quarter.
Echoing the other posts in here, our choice wasn't Hickson or Robinson. In reality, it was Hickson or Lopez. Hickson wanted to start, wanted to be paid as a starter and that wasn't going to happen here. I like him, I rooted for him as a Blazer and I'll continue to root for him (as long as he isn't playing the Blazers). That being said, we replaced exactly one starter from last year to this year, and it's worked out just great for us. Hickson was paid and it worked out great for him. Win-win.
Looked it up and he's signed to $5m/year for three years. That's a pretty nice contract for a quality backup big. Seems like Denver ought to trade him for young guys if they can, especially with Faried already basically being the same player. For the Blazers I'd rather stick with Thomas Robinson, though. Better defense and more upside. If you look at the stats of both guys in their second seasons, they really aren't that different. Robinson rebounds at a much higher level, but Hickson was a better scorer. Hickson, however, made his way into the NBA playing on shitty-to-mediocre Cleveland, Sactown and Portland teams, and his stat mongering and utter disregard for defense kind of reflect that. I think the way Stotts is managing Robinson's minutes is the right way to try to mold a young big.
Wow. I am a little surprised. JJ Hickson in fact has been playing the center position and it's completely and utterly out of position for him. He should be playing at the PF spot. I really don't understand it when people bash him on his defense when he clearly is out of position. At the end of the day Hickson brings more to his team than he gives up and for 1.6 million more take him over Robinson. I am so tired of hearing terms like "Potential" and "Upside" with this organization because it's been GREATLY over used. I would give my left arm to get rid of that excuse to hear terms like "We brought him on board because we believe he helps us win TODAY" or "RIGHT NOW he makes this team better". To me and clearly IMO, when the team uses catch phrases like "Potential" and "Upside" it's an excuse as why they can't win today. With that said, "RIGHT NOW" Hickson would give the blazers the better opportunity to win compared to Robinson. I am not blasting anyone here but my-god, can we please start to look at how to improve the team right now and today versus 4-5 years down the road considering we haven't won a playoff series in 14 years? Thomas Robinson - Potential Will Barton - Potential Nic Batum - Potential Victor Claver - Potential Allen Crabbe - Potential Joel Freeland - Potential Meyers Leonard - Potential Cj McCollum - Potential Making deep runs in the playoffs and winning championships in the NBA is about acquiring veterans and bringing them in off the bench.
RIGHT NOW, the Blazers can't trade for Hickson since the deadline's passed, and RIGHT NOW, the Blazers can't sign him since he's under contract with another team and they don't have cap space. A conversation for next summer, perhaps?
I don't think you would be all that surprised if you were here last year as we discussed JJ not stop for 12 months. More specifically how we broke down the salary cap rules in detail in order to find a way to either sign a true center or absorb an existing contract. Bottom line if I remember correctly, the Cap Hold on JJ was too much to allow us any flexibility. We would not have Robin if we held on to him. Now JJ could have signed later as a free agent for less money but as I recall he and his agent thought he would get closer to 7-8 mil/year. He over valued himself. Most here wanted JJ as a back up PF. Again discussed for over a year. But at the time JJ did not see himself taking LMA's left over minutes. TRob fell into our lap. But that was after the fact. JJ was good as gone at that time.
