Trades that "move the needle"

Has to be injuries and just flat out being a knucklehead off the court. 17 minutes a night after getting a big pay day just don't look right considering he was a defensive beast last season.

 

I am really liking what Robinson is bringing this team. Ryan Anderson, although good, is more of what we have. I would rather give the minutes to Robinson and Joel.

As far as Sanders is concerned, I am looking forward to Wednesday's game. If he does not destroy our front line, then I don't want him.

 

Sanders is out for 6 weeks.

 

Hmm not sure how I missed that. Thanks. Although I wanted to watch him, this does not totally bum me out.

 

1- Don't see the incentive for the Knicks here. If they want to move Melo, they'll be asking for young talent and picks, which we really don't have.

2- Melo brings offense. That's it. We don't need offense. We have plenty. What we need is a lock-down defender, preferably on the wing. And no Shump isn't worth it.

 

I'd probably do it. Acquire as many all-stars in their prime is my general philosophy. You have to have a big swinging dick in the league to get ahead and this move does move that needle.

Carmello is an incredible offensive talent, one of the top scorers in the league, one of the most brandable players. Lillard-Mello-LA? I mean overall that's better right now than Miami's big 3 and with a great bench.

That is just stacked as fuck, and having Dorell Wright off the bench or for defensive purposes, we're all good. Sure, Nic is a great passer and Wes has the heart of a champion, but you just don't turn down top 5 players in the league for nothing. Can you imagine Lillard and LA with less ball pressure than they already have? Sure they'll get less touches but probably more quality ones.

Plus he's Team Jordan, yo.

The knicks are totally fucked, they need to cut their losses with the team they have and try to dump it all and hit the reset button.

 

I'd argue Melo is more Top 15 than Top 5

 

I have this hope that McCollum will look like Lillard-lite when he gets healthy and somehow we can parlay him into Asik. Adding Asik moves the needle significantly.

 

Move the needle? Are you fucking kidding me? How do you figure the needle ain't pegged after winning seven straight?

 

Perhaps. He's an elite player in the league still, despite how much the Knicks suck. All star. Olympian. Its a big ballsy move to do something like that and trade away great role players, but you always have to go for the all stars.

 

If McCollum looks like Lillard-lite then that alone moves the needle significantly.

 

Melo is almost as good as Cedric Ceballos in his prime, but with slightly worse defense. He is not a top20 NBA player right now. He's not even the best player on his own team. The Knicks were better when he was injured and Jeremy FUCKING Lin was running the show! If Melo had played in Minnesota his whole career instead of New York FUCKING City where every player is hyped like Telfair and Kenny Anderson; well Melo would be a black Wally Szscerbiak.

Hell no I don't want Melo on my Blazers team. I wank him on the Lakers or Knicks or Nets or whatever stupid team is mesmerized by big names.

 

And I'd rather keep CJ -- Lillard-lite, as in a good shooter who is also a capable passer, is the perfect backcourt mate for Damian.

 

We have a whole roster of role players, the only moves that will move the needle is to acquire allstars. We are one guy away from being a contender, look at the past 2-3 years of NBA allstars and pick one to get on the team and that's called moving the needle.

Yes, that includes Carmello Anthony. It either works or it doesn't, this team isn't finished evolving to a championship squad. I said it before, I'll say it again, this team reminds me of the pre-WCF team of the early 2000s, when we had all the danger, excitement, and balance. Just need to get that star power on the team to push us over the edge (move the needle). And that's not Omer Fucking Asik or Ryan Fucking Anderson.

 

Ya but he will always be an all star because of his big name and like it or not you need that especially in a small market city.

 

I wouldn't make any trades right now. Let them play. They are a nice team.

 

You were like this a few years ago with Iggy -- you like stars that you really shouldn't build around.

If you want to go that rout, look at: .......

Damn, I drawing a blank. Nobody realistic really. We're not going to land a Paul George or a Kevin Love.

 

Few years ago was last summer when we were trying to argue whether or not to keep Batum. There are maybe 10-12 stars you can build around in the league.

Yes, all of them are all stars and when you're talking about moving the needle, they are the only ones who should be in the discussion. In absence of that, generally the train of thought is to try to acquire stars and build superteams versus tweaking very good teams with incremental upgrades over several years.

Iggy would be nice, he seems to fit quite well in Golden State when there are other good offensive options.

Like others, I'm happy with this team. But the question is, does this Trailblazer team, as constructed, compete for an NBA championship? Without acquiring a "move the needle" type player (i.e. allstar)? I'm not sure it does. Its a fun team to watch and we may have a good playoff run. But in a 7 game series you'll need that marquee player when the rest of the non-alpha players get afraid to shoot the ball.

 

Bottom line is right now no moves should be made. Honestly I think we have 4 all star level players in the west on our team right now in LA, Dame, Batum, and Wes. We also have a 6th MOY candidate in Mo. The only real players that are tradeable that makes sense for the team as currently constructed are Leonard, Barton, Crabbe, Claver, and MAYBE Freeland (would not like to move him at this point unless it were for a shot blocker). Those players aren't getting you much... Maybe a 2nd rounder and Ricky Davis' corpse.