I don't think you realize how good Nurk is. I think he was one of the top 3 centers in the league when he went down. There is no question in my mind that we would be worse if we made that trade.
That's interesting, because I love Nurk, but I think you overestimate him. I think I am just being realistic. I think you just love the guy and it's blinding your objectivity. There are a greater number of guys who would contribute to a similar level to Nurk than there are to Harden. It's kind of mind-boggling to me that anyone wouldn't concede that point. And I am not even a Harden fan. I feel like I'm in Bizarro World.
Look at their PER and win shares for the year. Consider that Kanter played most of his time with Portland in limited minutes until the last few when Nurk went out. Compare their stats as starters.
OK, so tell me which of these bigs is NOT on a par with Nurk ... Embiid KAT Jokic Drummond Gobert Vukevic Adams Whiteside Boogie Can you say any of them aren't comparable to Nurk? I think, before this year, people on this board even discussed Vukevic and Whiteside as possible trade targets at center, and there still are people who wish we could have drafted Drummond. How about if we add power 4s, since we are in an age of positionless basketball? Which of these aren't in a discussion with being close to Nurk in ability and production? AD LMA Giannis Capella Maybe even Ayton deserves mention, too. Now, how many guards could you say are in the ballpark with Harden in ability and production? Realistically?
Get back to me when you check Enes Kanter's ejections. Nurk has been ejected from 1 game. WTF are you talking about?
No, I'm not saying CJ is a creator for other players. I'm saying Dame & Harden are both creators and because of that, together they duplicate a function and have diminishing returns. There is only one ball. Together, of course they are better than either one by himself, but not nearly as much better as you'd expect on paper. In contrast, Dame + Nurk compliment each other.
They are both very athletic. But Simons is more mature and more skilled than Simons. He seems to understand the NBA game better, too and he plays with more poise.
If they were ball-dominators, I might think that's a more valid argument. But Dame isn't a ball-dominator, and, while Harden's game is very much like Brandon Roy's, he's shown the ability to play with another ball-dominator, Chris Paul, very effectively.
How many games has Enes been ejected from with the Blazers? How many games has Enes fouled out with the Blazers? You guys can try to bog things down in minutiae all you want, but it doesn't change the premise, which is that the Blazers would have a better chance to replace Nurk with a comparable player than anyone would of replacing Harden. You eliminated a whole four players from my list and I doubt you'd get anywhere universal agreement on those four. If you replaced Nurk and CJ on the Blazers with Harden and Karl-Anthony Townes, you honestly think the Blazers wouldn't be a better team? You don't think KAT would thrive playing with Dame as much as Nurk does?
Nurk played against a lot more good teams than Kanter has for us. And we finished ahead of Houston in the standings. You know? The team with Harden?
Fair enough. But you kind of moved the goalpost in qualifying your answer. The question wasn't who is out and out better (and it amazes me that you don't think Giannis is, but OK), the question is who is comparable. Who would be good enough and a good enough fit that the Blazers could expect similar production and a similar number of wins. So you're effectively saying you think none of those other guys even are on a par with Nurk; I respectfully disagree with that, and I think the majority of us would.
Two things that prove nothing. Kanter doesn't make the schedule. He performed well against who he had to perform well against, just like Nurk did. Both the good and bad teams. And where the teams finish is a ridiculous argument. Taking that, we could say that there are 10 teams in the Western Conference with better players than LeBron James. Do you really want to make that argument?
So now not only does CJ and Nurk get us Harden somehow we miraculously get KAT too? Kat plays no D and he's soft. He's putting up empty numbers on a team that didn't make the playoffs. And Nurk eats his LUNCH almost every time they play. He is one of if not THE most overrated player in the NBA. Nurk is better. Insinuating Kanter isn't as susceptible to being ejected simply because he wears a Trailblazer uni is bad logic. Bring that argument to a complete stop. Finally, the insinuation that I'm trying to "bog things down in minutiae" because I disagree with your argument is weird...
The question is and always has been about making that trade. You're the one moving goalposts now. You are making an odd argument that somehow the difficulty in replacing Harden on the Rockets makes it a good trade. That makes no sense to me.
