Don't know, but his presence could make it easier for Scoot and Shaedon to grow. I'm not saying he's untouchable, I'm just saying that throwing Donovan to the wolves isn't necessarily the best thing to do.
Even if Clingan is too young why does that matter? We shouldn't be trying to win anything. I'd explore trading all of Grant/Ant/Ayton. Once we send out two of them we can demand much more for the third with a much greater chance they play out the season here. So I wouldn't pass on an Ayton deal - could be possible we can't close either Grant/Simons deal and running all 3 back would be a failure.
Would you give up a pick to unload him? I sure wouldn't. He probably doesn't have any trade value until he's proven to be healthy and fully recovered. I don't understand the posters who want Timelord gone to clear minutes but are emphatic he will be injured again. If he's injured, then he doesn't take up any minutes. If he's healthy, he can likely be traded for more at that time than now. There's no good reason for the Blazers to trade Rob now, we are the perfect team to gamble he can recover from his injury as the downside risk doesn't cost us like it would teams trying to win.
Hardly think he has negative value on his discount contract. He might not fetch a first on his own, but I certainly don't think we need to add assets to move him.
Yeah, this is my greatest fear too. I'd prefer we just ship out vets even if we get a lower return but fully commit to the rebuild. Distant 2nd favorite option is just pushing to win now. Ship out Scoot in a package for Garland, maybe ship out a pick for Ingram/Randle/etc and just aim to make a playoff push now. Can't think of a worse option than running back this roster as is though, that both can't rebuild well nor can it win well. Blazers - please pick a damn lane!!!
I know you didn't say this explicitly, but I continue to disagree with the oft expressed notion by fans that the only way for really young guys to get better is PT. Thats all they see, so thats what they equate to developing a player but it's just not so. Clingan is 20 and still filling out his frame. Just time passing will have him becoming stronger and more coordinated. Hiring a personal chef with his millions and getting the right mix in the tank will ensure this physical maturation process goes as well as possible. Right now he has trainers putting him through skills drills and strength/conditioning training and of course there are practices galore where he's going up against other young hungry players. There is a near endless list of Bigs I could name who developed into quality players in this way. I truly doubt that regular PT early in his rookie year has much to do with whether or not Clingan is a starting quality center in 2 years. Yes DC should get plenty of burn in Summer League and pre-season, but if Williams is healthy and good to go he should get pretty much all of the backup 5 minutes to start the year. He's the better player today and proving his health could greatly benefit the team in the big picture. If Timelord has shown to be healthy the first half of the year (big if I know) and is again a springy big cat protecting the rim, the franchise should get back much better then some back of the 1st round pick at the trade deadline. If he's injured again, he sits and comes off Portland's or some other team's cap in 2 years. Little risk for potentially a big reward STOMP
Right, two of the many examples I could point to. Both developed their AS level games in limited minutes/backup roles & not getting big minutes force fed to them before they earned them. STOMP
right....if you look at their career numbers, it's the opposite of what you claim. In fact, they should have benched Jermaine for 9 years instead of 4...can you imagine how good he would have been in his 10th season?
lol, I thought you might be flailing to come up with a counter to my points as thats how you always respond to me... you might note that the only time I ever respond to you is when you've first launched one of these nonsensical responses my way. Prior to my last post I did look at their career numbers but more importantly I paid attention while their career's were happening. Jermaine started his career as the youngest player in the league at barely 18. He developed his body and game mostly off the court going up against established vets Uncle Cliffy, Rasheed, Sabonis, and Grant in practice. He absolutely wasn't developing his talent much via regular NBA PT as the most he averaged in his 4 seasons as a Blazer was 13 MPG but reports started emerging from other players that had him dominating in practices towards the end of his time as a Blazer. He clearly was ready for a bigger role so Portland management sent him out for Dale Davis coming off an AS appearance in hopes he'd be better at guarding Shaq and get them over the top. At the ripe old age of 22 (2 years older then Clingan) O'Neal moved into a starting role in Indiana and hit the ground running.... how in the world does it make sense to say thats something other then what I claimed? In fact, he is a poster child example for my claim that players can develop outside of NBA PT. LaMarcus's development was a different story. He came into the league 3 years older then O'Neal at age 21 and as the #2 overall pick. While he had the high release jumper to contribute right away from the high post, he lacked the strength to bang inside for boards and much was made of that in this very chat site and elsewhere. Nonetheless, following a season ending injury to Pryzbilla, the training wheels were off and he was a starter. He manned the high post while Zach banged inside until an irregular heart beat flared up and ended his season. Dude had a PER of over 17 in his rookie year! While his body needed some strength & conditioning, his skills were good to go from day 1 because they were already developed. Again, my claim is that NBA playing time isn't the ONLY way for young players to develop. Guys can and regularly do develop into much better players via proper nutrition, training and practices. *edit for grammar STOMP
Grant needs to go, there are guys that need minutes in the frontcourt. If 1 first is on table take it.
We have to give Timelord minutes. Run all 3 bigs at pf/c. It's hilarious reading posters argue, "That won't work." Of course it won't, if you think we have a goal of winning games. The point is to run up metrics showing we have one of the top 3 interior defenses in the game but can't stop anyone outside 10ft, nor score. Be awesome in this one area and win 25 games on the way to the Flagg lottery. Then trade Timelord and/or Ayton to a playoff team trying to think of solutions to Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, etc. Seems pretty obvious really. We definitely shouldn't trade Timelord now. You don't try to sell a car with a dead battery. Charge it up and cross your fingers that the car runs long enough to get your bag. Also, don't buy cars from me.
