He's 22 years and 3 months old... 6 months older then Keegan Murray. Yes he's struggled with injuries and flashed some potential when he wasn't. Big year for him coming up. STOMP
Nas is a big time talent. He's going to be a huge contributor should he stay healthy. Why I'm not tripping myself to trade 7. Stick Sharpe or Daniels behind him and we're good.
Let Sharpe, Daniels or Sochan (trade back) compete with Nas for the starting spot and we're good. All three of those guys look more comfortable putting the ball on the floor and passing than Nas; two of them might be able to rival his D, the other is on a whole different plane of existence on O.
I don’t think there’s any way Sharpe starts over Little at any point during next season. I can easily see Sochan being able to start if he proves he can guard on the perimeter well all game long and shoot a decent percentage on his catch and shoots. I think I would bring in Daniels at the backup PG behind Dame if we draft him. If we signed Jalen Smith, a bench unit of Daniels/Ant/Hart/____/Smith should routinely outscore the opposing bench. Bring in a shooter, and the only unknown would be Daniels.
You think Sharpe will take longer to develop than I do and that's totally possible. I think Daniels will be able to play the role that was envisioned for Evan Turner and I think he'll be able to do it pretty quickly but I could be wrong about that. The one thing I would definitely disagree with is this notion that people say about a bench unit. Nobody platoons their team in the NBA. This isn't hockey, there aren't line changes (except in garbage time but that's not your 6th-10th guys) but basketball fans still talk about this mythical bench unit but that's not really about Nas. I don't know for sure that any of the guys I mentioned would beat Nas out for a starting spot but I'm definitely not ruling that out and I'm hoping if we use that second pick that the person we pick will beat out Nas and that Nas will have gotten better than the last time we saw him.
I guess you’re right, in that there aren’t line changes. But I’m saying if for some reason Chauncey subbed out everyone but Simons, we’d be just fine.
I'm not Nas's biggest fan ever, but... I don't see how he'd bring much excitement on the trade market. Assuming no team would actively seek him out, the Blazers are much better off keeping him and letting him try to find his health and game. Worst-case scenario is a Collins-like "walk after his rookie deal" situation there, as opposed to a Jermaine O'Neal-like "explode into an all-NBA player elsewhere" situation that is the worst-case if he's traded away. And at least Jermaine got us Dale Davis, a veteran who played an important role on good (if ultimately flawed) teams, and I don't see Nas bringing anything like that back.
SF of the future -- as much as i like him I am just not sold on him -- I want to be wrong but I say trade him now