What a difference - Bear Nurkic making a BIG impression

I posted about this yesterday....if we can fix Ezeli and bring him off the bench behind Nurkic we're in good shape...I wondered if that's the plan now.

 

I agree the warriors are an excellent passing team, but they still take a lot of 3 pt shots. It's just that they are all good shots when 4 of your 5 starters are good 3 pt shooters. Green shot 39% last year from deep. He is down this year to around 33%, but still every shot is a good shot for Steph, Klay, and Durrant. I am sure Terry would love to have 4 good outside shooters surrounding Nurk.

Also I am not sure CJ is struggling because of Nurk. Two games ago he went for 25 on 59% shooting. His turnovers are up but I don't think it has to do with Nurk, and if it does, it will only get better as they play together more.

 

Which is why I'd love to see Crabbe traded, perhaps combined with one or two of our picks for an upgrade at one of the forward positions, and if that happens to be a SF, I'd be fine moving Turner back to the bench. Turner is better than Crabbe at everything, but shooting, and it's not close. Crabbe stands around a lot and is very passive. Turner needs to be paired with guys who move well without the ball and dive to the rim. That's not Crabbe.

BNM

 

Agreed. C.J. is a smart player and a student of the game. The guy watches a lot of film. He'll adapt.

BNM

 

Crabbe seems to play well with Nurkic though. With his ability to pass the ball, we're going to need shooters....... just not shooters making that much money.

 

I don't think they can afford to keep Ezeli. There are a few contracts that will help with the luxury tax, and his IMO is one of them. They can pick up a rookie or a journeyman a lot cheaper and keep Ed Davis as well.

 

It would be great if we could, but given Ezeli's history you just can't depend on him being available to play. If we make the payoffs, I wonder if we'll see Ezeli. Wasn't that the rumored plan all along - to save him for the playoffs? With Ed out, we could certainly use an extra big man - if we make the playoffs.

It would be somewhat ironic if we face Golden State in the 1st round and Ezeli is available, but Durant isn't.

BNM

 

Yeah I think Crabbe will be traded as well. I still do not think we had that much to lose by matching the contract last summer. But either way once he received the offer, he was not destined to stay a Blazer long term. If they get anything for him then it is a win.

 

Been saying this all year. They even got another good one in Hernangomez last draft (with our pick)

 

This dude is my favorite big man we've ever had (that I've personally seen). I'm about to buy his jersey. What a steal of a trade.

 

Yes... for only one full season. I'd rather take my chances on whatever CJ could provide or yield in return for another top talent aside from Paul George.

 

They completely nailed that 2014 draft, didn't they? To get not one, but two, great big men outside of the lottery is pretty damned impressive.

BNM

 

His older (just 22) brother is even more impressive. He was drafted in the second round by PHI in 2015 and, in a typical PHI move, immediately traded to the Knicks for 2nd round picks in 2020 and 2021. Just be patient 76er fans. Trust the process. I swear to you, by the year 2030 we believe we will have an outside chance at having a winning record. Just bear with us for another 10 or 15 years, we'll get there. We promise. Not really, but kind of...

BNM

 

Ah, youth...

 

They got Malik Beasley with our pick, but I agree, the hernangomez brothers are legit. I think a lot of teams tend to fall in love with athleticism, and have trouble buying into an average athlete translating to the NBA on pure fundamentals. That's how we see all these euros fall in the draft.

 

Honestly, yes. I didn't get to watch Sabonis like you old ass geizers lol.

I remember the days of Ha Seung Jin and Brian Skinner though. And since then, he my favorite big man.

 

We've had some pretty amazing bigs over the years.

Sheed
Brian Grant
Sabonis
Jermaine O'Neal
ZBO
Hewhoshallnotbenamed (fuck that guy)
Buck
Duckworth

Before my time was Walton and Lucas.

For me, my favorite was probably Brian Grant. I loved that guy. Definitely not the most talented, but the hardest damn working big man I have ever seen.

 

Definitely.

I guess I should have said "my favorite Blazer big man that I've ever seen play."

 

Shout out przybilla, he would be the perfect backup right now. What's he up to anyway? I bet he'd be a good coach.