Yeah, they should get the guy that's just been named EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK because he keeps having 40 point games. Jesus, give it up. WE'RE NOT GETTING BRIDGES.
But you know the draft is an absolute crapshoot. Why didn't we draft Jordan....cause our starting SG was an allstar (Paxson), and we had god damn Clyde the Glide ready to take off. We had NO bigs..... #CrapShootFAMS
Well dog gone. I didn't know yous was the Nets GM. Let me look it up. Oh there yous is. Nets GM, Mr. I's "deal in absolutes" Raspy.
It's not, though. That we can point to a few crushing decisions and outcomes (Bowie, Martin, Oden, Webster) while being considered snakebit as a franchise indicates that it's NOT a crapshoot... certainly it's never a sure thing, but if you're picking in at the top of the draft you're in much better shape in terms of a prospect than at the bottom of the draft. Also, good management tends to make good decisions (even if not perfect ones) while bad management tends to make bad ones... which indicates skill is involved, rather than just
I really would love Scoot too, he and Sharpe would probably be most dynamic young backcourt in the league. In that case, I’ll just have to pray Dame wants a new situation so we can get the best package for him.
For some reason, Blazer fans turn into clones of Laker fans, by thinking the team will be able to trade for any superstar out there. And in some cases, people become blinded by their love for said player. Right now, there are about 4 or 5 players that trotted out on the regular. KAT, Bridges, Brown and Embiid are the current crop. It's quite amazing how unrealistic those fans are when it comes to trade scenarios and their weird smugness about what they think will or won't happen. Though not as annoying or smug as the ones who always talk about how a player is "untouchable".
I get that we can’t trade for another superstar, but could we trade for Ja Morant’s ability to carry the basketball? It would be cool to trade for player abilities.
Question is - how would you package Dame to get the maximum value back? I mean he's paid so much that what else would you have to take back to make salaries match? I have no idea myself.
I guess that's what I'm asking though... do we really feel like we know what Ant is as a complete player when not next to Dame? And to callback my original post -- I'm genuinely curious. What I see you saying is we should sell low on Ant now, just to make sure he's not good enough to spoil a larger tank effort but not good enough to build around, which, while wildly specific, I suppose is fair. I guess I see more opportunity to leverage the productivity vacuum if Dame is traded, where presumably Ant's role drastically increases, and trade him at a higher value -- say at the trade deadline -- where it still doesn't affect an overall tank job? I can see those two worlds coexisting...
The Blazers can keep it, give the NYK pick to Chicago to open up future picks and trade those along with players for a second star and keep our pick to boot.
I don't buy it. I don't think NBA front offices are fooled very often by players putting up big numbers on bad teams after their usage jumps. Simons averaged 21 points this season. Other teams know he's at the level of a 3rd option. They won't believe he's 2nd or 1st option material if he averages 25 a game on a lottery team. And his efficiency will likely drop when Dame isn't around to take the defensive focus and that shifts to Ant I think it's a lot more likely what we'd see is Ant going into ball-hog mode more often and that won't impress anybody. we've already seen this movie before. Heard for years how good CJ was going to be if he didn't have to share the back court with Dame. But all of his offensive numbers except assists are well below his career averages. He's not thriving without Dame.
When things are kicking, he should be the 3rd option here...but I don't think Grant really ever had that "dog" in his this year, to be the 2nd guy.
I think Grant is a little better than Ant. Not by much. But I also think, with Dame, it's better to have the next best option be at wing like Grant
Boston, I think? They traded back from #1 to #3 (Tatum) and picked up a 2019 pick that became Romeo Langford and then traded for Derrick White, who is decent.
Regarding Scoot, I think a lot of people just assume he's going to be a defensive liability because of the Trail Blazer experience with small guards. However, Scoot will defend a shooting guard like Devin Booker better than anyone on the roster right now. Maybe defend a small forward better too. He is not a guy that will need to be "hidden" on defense. He's a guy that the other team will try to avoid. Scoot Henderson is a better defender than Anfernee Simons, and way better than CJ McCollum so there's no reason he can't play with Damian Lillard. Scoot is a talent upgrade, just like Michael Jordan would have been a talent upgrade. Would the Trail Blazers not draft Scoot Henderson because of Anfernee Simons? That would be stupid beyond belief. If the Blazers can draft Scoot, they have to. Like Bobby Knight said to Blazer GM Stu Inman about Michael Jordan, if you need a center, play him at center. Just draft him. (No, I'm not suggesting Scoot play center.)
Some Scoot Henderson defensive stops. When watching these, does anyone say "Hey, that reminds me of Anfernee Simons." To me it's more like GPII (when healthy). By the way, GPII and Scoot Henderson are listed as the same height, 6'2".
