I could care less how he plays early in regular season his value is 100% in playoffs when things slow down and become half court game his defense is crucial. He always been a little streaky offensively. I know everyone loves Nances game and I do to but having Nance off the bench makes us even better. Him and Zeller make that 2nd unit very good.
Really on his scoring you can't fault him when play along side Dame and CJ. The forwards in the past was outlet for Dame and CJ. No forward going score a lot playing with these two.
Not just his offense he still haven't figured out the scheme on defense Roco really hasn't play the it very well. Nance play it really well night by basically eliminate the pitch out to the corner 3. Before the younger guys came in the 2nd half they had 3 shot from the corner.
1. Memphis has had a great start with Bane and Melton taking all of (currently injured) Brooks' minutes 2 ....and Tillman strangely out of the rotation. That explains why those two would be expendable. Why would they want Covington? That's more of a question. But maybe they'd LIKE the fact that his contract runs out soon? But either way, it's not like they want for scoring, so they wouldn't worry about his low output, and a guy who can play multiple positions and defend well would definitely help them. I don't really want to trade RoCo (yet). I think everyone is currently feeling their way.
I looked at Rocos numbers in the first month of the season the last three years (including this one) and he’s had slow starts every time. I’d probably wait another month at least before making any grand judgements, but I do see how Nance fits with the starters better. At the same time, he also brings a lot to the second unit, a unit that probably needs his playmaking more.
The forwards in the past that were scoring options was one forward, LaMarcus. And when he was on the team, CJ didn't play for shit. So there has never been a good forward combo ever since LaMarcus left.
for what its worth, there are rumours that either roco or nurk are gone at the trade deadline, given theyre both expiring contracts and blazers can hardly afford to give new contracts to both of them
im curious how much the larry nance jr trade has to do with potential roco departure could he be sort of insurance in case roco gets traded
I don't buy this is a done deal at all... I think the team will explore options especially if one of them is struggling or injured. But if one or both are playing well and the team looks good they will consider keeping one or both. I expect the Blazers will do some trades to duck the tax at the upcoming trade deadline. Just trading guys like McLemore, Elleby, Brown, Snell and signing guys for the last few games of the season will get them below the tax. Most importantly, that would avoid a repeater tax the following season even if there is some luxury tax due. Hell, the way Roco is playing now and the value of centers both guys might only get the tax MLE which the Blazers can certainly match. The team can resign them if it's not an overpay. But they likely can't give them both huge raises and resign Ant. However next summer as long as the team signs all 3 players to tradeable deals, they would have until the 2023 trade deadline to get their luxury tax set. Now if they get a trade offer for Roco or Nurk that puts them in a better position to win; sure go ahead and do it. But this isn't an urgent need that has to be addressed in the next few months.
Having Nance with two years on a good contract was valuable for the Blazers. It could be valuable if Roco isn't on the team, or if he is on the team, so no I don't believe that was a major cause for the Nance trade.
