I'd be ok with bringing back Mo using nonBird rights. Its not that I think he'd be bad, just that he's not worth a full MLE multi-year deal for $16-20million like he wants. With the full MLE we should target other options first. As Neil referenced the team having two open roster spots to work with (Earl & Mo) in exit interviews I tend to believe he thinks similarly.
At this point Earl Watson and Allen Crabbe are the obvious misfits. Replace them with someone of different talents/skills, because we never needed what they bring. I'd hold pretty tightly to everyone else, unless you can get a serious upgrade, because these guys are jellin".
All pgs dribble dribble dribble... That's kinda part of their job. The fact that he lead the league in assists off the bench should be some indication that he's not exactly being a ball hog. If he dribble less and shoot more people would complain that he shot to much. Sure many of the names people are throwing out might be an individual upgrade over Mo, most would cost us our MLE if that is even enough. To me though Mo + MLE Player + BAE Player >>>> MLE Player + BAE Player alone.
Mo helped the Blazers this year. And if he comes back......fine. But if he doesn't I think it is possible to get a player who will fit better with Damian and thus upgrade the team IMO. I doubt they will find a better scorer than Mo at that position, but get a pg who can guard a sg and he and Dame can be more effective than Dame and Mo. That type of player would also fit well with CJ. Mo and CJ is not a good pairing. That is not Mo's fault but none the less true.
And how many lights out all stars come off the bench? Completely meaningless bringing thst up, we need bench production...
And this is exactly why we are better to keep our current most productive bench player and adding additional productive players to the bench.
I don't see giving Mo the 3 year deal he's looking for given that there are young guys on the bench who need to be developed. I think that Dorrell Wright needs to be moved. He's too one dimensional. I'd like to get a backup SF who can do a little slashing as well as hit the outside shot. I'd be okay with getting a guy like Steve Blake as insurance and letting CJ and Barton see what they can do together. CJ isn't a pure PG, but he's a scorer and he handles the ball okay. A new more balanced scoring SF, CJ and Barton should be a group who can put up way more points than we got from the bench this year. Defensively, they'd be challenged, but Stotts has proved adept at balancing his rotations to keep a starter or two in when necessary. Mo, Watson, and Wright should be playing elsewhere next season, IMO.
from another board and I totally agree" "Our problem, right now, is not that our starting 5 eat up too much capspace. It is that our bench players are being overpaid. Let me break this down. Our terrible bench is paid this much next year: Robinson - 3.7 Wright - 3 Freeland - 3 McCollum - 2.4 Leonard - 2.3 Claver - 1.3 Crabbe - 0.9 Barton - 0.9 Total = 17.5 million What we need are those cheap veterans who are not paid very much but know how to produce in the role they are given. You can look at contending teams and find 3-4 vets who are more productive and cheaper than the top 5 names. Some asking the Blazers to dump a starter, so that we can afford a bench BECAUSE we are carrying too much dead weight on the bench. The first step should be to cut the deadweight off the bench before cutting into the core of this group. Secondly, we should use our exceptions and ancillary assets before cutting into the core. Cutting into the core is a drastic, last ditch option."
That does not seem very high to me. 8 players for 17.5? That comes out to 2.1 mill per player. Sure there are a couple of players on that list that need to be swapped , but overall their salaries are pretty low.
Here's my self-declared "realistic" answer to the OP. I'm assuming no "big" moves are made, which is most probable. Likely gone (any deal will include these guys as a 1st option): Claver (though I like him, the fact is the coach won't play him), Wright (coach has lost any confidence in him), Watson (his mentoring worked, but he's definitely done now) Possibly Gone: Mo (The owner is the biggest nerd on the planet and Mo's advanced stats suck, Mo wants 3-year contract) Olshey's not going to cut loose a player he just drafted. Leonard's going to be giving one more chance to at least head in the right direction. Crabbe and CJ will be given 2 more years to show. McCollum hasn't even had a full training camp yet. Coach has given Barton a big endorsement, and Robinson is our biggest reason to hope right now. Freeland has shown that he can play competently with the starters.
I think that is a pretty good assessment of the situation. Although I would prefer if they did get get rid of Wright they keep Claver. Then there is no reason to get another SF. I think they have a lot of SG options in addition to Wes. So even if you start Wes at SG he could use some minutes at SF while Will, CJ and Damian get minutes at the 2. This is assuming they get a PG who can play with Damian.
If we get rid of Wright and Clavier then one of our additions would almost for sure be a SG or SF so we'd be fine letting both guys go.
