All of the beatwriters for this team have said that if Neil makes a trade it will be for a young backcourt mate for Lillard. Does he not see Wes as a long-term answer next to Lillard or does he view Wes as instant offense/shooting off the bench in a 6th man role? Looking at his numbers it's hard to find any young(er?) SG out there that would be an "upgrade."
Pair him up with a defensive stud? [video=youtube;MgWJGiJJAwk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgWJGiJJAwk[/video]
I think Wes is a pretty middle of the road starting two guard, but he fits in OK next to Lillard because he doesn't need to dominate the ball to be effective and is probably at his best on the catch and shoot ... is there somebody out there better that's available and that would compliment Damian? Nobody immediately springs to mind.
I haven't watched Oladipo, but from what little I know wouldn't he sort of duplicate a lot of what Wesley does? That is, shoot threes, play D, but not much of a ball-handler.
Wessy is the perfect fit next to Dame. The guy can move off the ball, shoot lights out, and play tough D. Annnd, he's become the heart and soul of this team. This repeated notion that a lot of people on this forum have of how we need to upgrade our SG makes no sense to me at all. My God, the guy is putting up 15+ppg and shooting near 40% from 3 for his career. Victor Oladipo is NOT an upgrade. If you're looking for need, look at our 6th man. I think it's Will Barton now, who averages a scorching 3.1pts per game.
Oladippo reminds me a lot of Iguodala. Over-shadowed big time by Zeller, but he can ball. Ferocious attacking the hoop.
I'm all for drafting more talent for the future, but I am happy with all 5 starters right now, and 4 starters over the long haul. I do think we need a defensive center, but pg, SG, SF and PF all seem to fit extremely well together.
We had this discussion in another thread earlier today and Tyreke Evans' name came up. Maybe a guy like that is the way to go? Not a guy to push Wesley out of his starting role per se, but a guy who can play 25-30 minutes a night in a three guard rotation with Damian and Wesley. Tyreke has his baggage and his short-comings and there's no telling if he'd be content to come to rain soaked Portland to be a sixth man, but I can sort of see it working -- or failing spectacularly too I suppose.
I'm as big of a Matthews fan as the next guy. But, lets face it, he needs to be back where he belongs as a 6th man coming off the bench and sparking a 2nd unit. If we can upgrade the 2 spot you have to do it.
My wish list, in order: 1. Defensive and Rebounding Starting Center 2. Veteran Backup PG 3. Backup PF (assuming Hickson is gone) 4. Defensive minded SG/SF for the bench 5. Then address the SG. I think Wes is fine. He works hard, is a great team player, not overly flashy and does the little things in games to win. I mean if Toronto wanted to give us DeRozan for a bunch of bench scrubs, fine. But upgrading the position is't that big of a concern for me since the position is fine to begin with.
I wouldn't want them next to each other in crunch time because of spacing issues that's for sure. I guess I'm just trying to figure out who is out there that would be a compliment to Lillard? 24 year old Rip Hamilton aint walking through that door.
I was thinking the same thing and was having a hard time coming up with that player. An elite shooter that isn't completely a boob on defense would be nice Not too many of those guys out there anymore. Wonder if we can talk Dale Ellis out of retirement.
I like Wes. A 6th man of the year candidate type. Perfect spark off the bench. I've been a Matthews fan since his rookie year in Utah. I just think he'd be ideal sparking a bench unit.
Isn't Kevin Martin a free agent this summer? He fits the Rip Hamilton mold that someone was talking about in another thread. Obviously he has the injuries though.
