I hope this added depth is going to allow us to play Dame and CJ less minutes, but I'm not betting on it, considering how our team just falls apart without Dame on the floor. Also, Covington is going to want to blow his brains out covering for all the defensive mistakes he's going to be playing next to.
I look at Kanter like this: Nurk insurance without being a fixture in the rotation. There are a group of big, traditional, centers that Collins just can’t bang with. So when Nurk is in foul trouble or unavailable, you roll with Kanter. But Collins is the center on the second unit because there are even more teams Kanter is unplayable against.
Rotations are gonna be tricky. Guys will HAVE to sacrifice minutes and touches, but if we stay healthy, this is one of the deepest rosters Dame has ever had here. Plenty of guys to keep our main dudes fresh for the playoffs where the rotations can tighten. Minutes breakdown I can foresee: Dame (33)/ Ant (15) CJ (33) / Hood (10)/ Trent (5) RoCo (12)/ Hood (12)/ Jones (12)/ Trent (12) Melo (15)/ RoCo (15)/ Collins (10)/ Jones (8) Nurk (28)/ Collins (10)/ Kanter (10) So that comes to: Dame -- 33 mpg (has to come down from where he was, now in year 9) CJ -- 33 mpg Nurk -- 28 mpg Roco -- 27 mpg Hood -- 22 mpg Zach -- 20 mpg Jones -- 20 mpg Trent -- 17 mpg Ant -- 15 mpg Melo -- 15 mpg Kanter -- 10 mpg Obviously, Terry won't regularly play an 11 man rotation, but this is the general framework I foresee. The guy I wish can land more minutes is Trent. Think he beats Jones out for minutes.
Okay, help me out. We've added RoCo, DJJ and Kanter and brought back Melo and Hood. So I have a question.... Who in the hell is passing the ball on this team? RoCo, DJJ and Kanter do nothing to improve that little problem nor to any of those 3 do anything to help the lack of playmaking on on this team when inevitably, Dame gets trapped.
Bring back Batum to play the backup point guard spot. He knows the offense, he knows Dame. We don't need him to score or be a star. Dame/Nic CJ/GTJ RoCo/DJJ Melo/Collins Nurk/Kanter I still wish we had a better power forward. I would love to move CJ/Collins for a legit star power forward.
ya but how many of them come with no-trade clauses? I want to keep the depth. We are Portland. Injuries are inevitable.
CJ and Collins for __________ Those two players stick out like a sore thumb on this team honestly. Collins is clearly a center at this point and we don't need a center. CJ is CJ.
Where is Hood? I like signing for Nic too but I see the opening-day lineup being Dame/Batum CJ/Trent Hood/Jones Covington/Melo Nurkic/Kanter
So this is my thinking when everyone is healthy and if we re-sign Wenyen and a bench filler Dame 36, CJ 12 CJ 20, Gary 24, Ant 4 Hood 18, DJJ 18, Roco 8, Nas 4 Roco 20, Zach 14, Melo 10, Wenyen 4 Nurk 30, Enes 14, Zach 4 This gives us little to no time to develop our young guys but look at the vets we have and the fact that we're trying to win. Without injuries this should be our minutes breakdown. I realize that a ten man rotation is a lot of guys playing but this team is really deep and I don't see any of these guys getting less minutes. I don't think that this roster needs a backup point guard that gets minutes when healthy or at least I don't think Stotts will think so. If CJ or Dame do get injured I think the initial response depending on how he's practicing might be to just plug Ant in as backup PG. Elleby will not play if there aren't injuries and whoever else we pick up should be on two-way contracts and also won't play barring injury.
If Hood is healthy I don't see him only playing 18 minutes. And I think RoCo is playing more than 28.
What Hood are we talking about? This factors in that he will still be an effective player but not as effective as before the Achilles.
RoCo's defense is going to keep him on the floor. A lot. At least 30 minutes. Hood is a huge questionmark. How healthy is he? Is he even going to start right away? I would put money on our opening day lineup being Dame CJ RoCo Melo Nurk With a bench rotation of: DJJ GTJ Collins Kanter Hood Dame - 36 minutes CJ - 36 minutes RoCo - 30 minutes Nurk - 30 minutes Melo - 20 minutes Regardless of what positions they play, I think that's how the minutes should most likely break down for those players. That leaves: PG - 12 minutes SG - 12 minutes SF - 18 minutes PF - 23 minutes C - 18 minutes That leaves 88 minutes to distribute through the rest of the team. GTJ - 25 DJJ - 16 Kanter - 18 Collins - 18 Hood - 11 I think this is an okay rotation to start the season and then once we know how healthy Collins and Hood are, we can switch things up. I'd like to see Melo's minutes reduced and for him to move to the bench after Hood returns to form. There's also a possible opening day lineup of: Dame CJ GTJ RoCo Nurk I'm not really in love with that lineup though. I guess they could also play around with having DJJ start at small forward and RoCo at power forward. Or Collins starting. It's going to be interesting to see how the rotation fills in. Either way, I don't see Ant or Little getting much burn this year.
if it's true Portland is avoiding the tax, then maybe one of these PG's for a minimum: Jeff Teague Michael Carter-Williams Raul Neto Brandon Knight Yogi Ferrell Quinn Cook Shabazz Napier Shaquille Harrison Reggie Jackson Jerian Grant Napier ain't a PG though.....pretty slim pickings Olshey made a bad bet last off-season that Zach and Simons were ready for major roles. He might be making a similar bet now
Achilles injuries are the hardest to come back from in basketball. The younger you are the easier to comeback near your old self. I think the Blazers and Stotts will be careful with Hoody. They need him to be at his best by playoff time. I see 10 to 15 minutes the 1st half of the season. The Blazers have depth for a change. Real quality. It would be nice to see Dame and CJ under 35 minutes. The 1 player i see having an increased roll, and minutes, is Trent Jr. Nate nice job on minute speculation.
Shaq isnt a PG either. I really liked the rumor of Ky Bowman. Gritty, playmaker and can score as well . Thats what we need, as evidenced by the teqm struggling when teams picked up Dame with at least a double team at half court. Rest of the team has a hard time relieving him.
