I like Mason and Ed on the team for many reasons. They are team players for one. They are affordable. They aren't divas. They still haven't played a whole season together. I don't think Mason has reached his ceiling at all and both he and Ed have improved at free throw shooting. If Meyers and Noah aren't your scoring bigs...you need to plug in a shooter at the 4-5 for matchups. I see a lot of teams with max big guys...Cousins, Howard, Drummond....that aren't having much more success than the Blazers are with our guys. In Cousins case...much less. I think I'd take a chance on Whiteside or Sanders...Sanders could be brought in on a cheap contract...Whiteside will cost a bundle. We can add a big without giving up Ed or Mason but that means Meyers and Kaman are history. If it came down to Mason or Ed...Ed gets my vote to stick around
Yeah, Sanders is the el cheapo "risk" and Whiteside gets a huge payday (20-21 mil per). We do need a scoring threat/shooter at the 4 and given the shoulder issues with Meyers I'd prefer to let him go. If Harkless could just improve his shot I think he could be our 4, he's still only 22. We can keep Ed and Plums for another yr unless we use one in a trade. Bottom line for me is that I think we have to take a few risks to become real contenders, some interesting choices to be made.
With this logic Portland shouldn't have drafted Walton, Roy, LA, Dame or CJ as they all suffered major injuries even before their NBA careers started. Ezeli getting his knee scoped is nothing compared to Walton's inherent foot problems. Pass on Bill to avoid injury concerns... EVERY franchise has had to deal with many major injuries in their past. Most players suffer major injuries in the course of their careers. It's part of the deal and it will happen again and again and again. Team Docs absolutely should have input in player personnel decisions, especially in who not to pursue, but modern medicine truly is amazing in how they're able to repair players from what used to be career ending. STOMP
Injuries have made Howard a shadow of his former self, so bad example. Considering the Pistons and Kings... how many of their other starters would start over whats in place in PDX? I guess I take Tobias over Aminu... 3-4 other guys could be in the rotation mix but nothing to get worked up over. Its still a team game. Add Drummond or Cousins to whats already in PDX and we're looking at a very solid team on both ends. STOMP
