No shit. But at the time Plumlee was starting and playing the best ball of his career while Nurkic was buried on the bench, and they still made the trade, mainly because they knew they weren’t gonna pay Plumlee. Something similar *could* happen with Whiteside. They know he’s not coming back so they gather some future assets.
Everyone on the team was PISSED when he traded Plumlee. They got over that pretty quick. Olshey has to do what’s best for the blazers, not the players. If he knows Whiteside isn’t going to come back as a backup, he should explore his market. If there’s a trade to be made that gives Portland assets beyond this season, he should probably pull the trigger.
Not if it was for a guy who can score like Lillard is this season. Karl Anthony Towns. Imagine having 2 Lillards on offense. That's what I want.
And put an end to the run their on right now? For what? What future assets are we getting? More Mo Harklesses?
What run? The best case scenario for this team realistically speaking is the eighth seed. They are seven games out of the seventh seed. So if the ceiling of this team is a first round matchup against the lakers, the future should be at the forefront of roster decisions.
It's very realistic that the Blazers won't be any better at the end of next season than they are right now. If the Lakers are as good as you believe, what would make the Blazers better than the Lakers next season?? What is a "realistic" trade involving Hassan Whiteside?
He's gotten better the last few games when he hasn't been lazy. Why can't he play like this every night? If he's like this, you can't trade him
After reading Jason Quick's article on The Athletic, i'm having a very hard time to belive that Neil is gonna trade Whiteside
Adding a game changer in Nurk (Whiteside is not on his level) and the return of Collins and Hood also deepens the rotation. You’d also expect the young guys like Nas, Simons, etc to be better a year from now. Those are just the internal improvements.
Welp he wants to stay. Or at least that’s what he says in Quicks latest article. Says he wants to “be on a team for a long time” and thinks he can coexist with Nurk. https://theathletic.com/1577873/202...s-on-the-trade-deadline-the-blazers-are-back/ I asked if he thinks he and Nurkic can co-exist? “I think we could, I definitely think we could, because the way we play, it’s not like the 4-man is shooting a ton of 3s,” Whiteside said. “Melo, he don’t really shoot a ton of 3s … he’s mostly posting up and in the lane 2s …” Hold on, I said. What does a four-man have to do with you and Nurkic? You think you two would play together? “Yeah. I don’t see why not,” Whiteside said. “I mean 77 (double pick-and-rolls) … I don’t see why not. I think it could work. Me and Skal (Labissiere) played together … I think in Stotts’ system it don’t even matter. He likes having two bigs anyway.” Yeah, but Stotts always says it matters what position a player can guard. I don’t see Nurk guarding fours, I told him. “Then I would defend the four,” he said, bringing up Philadelphia using two bigs. “You seen Ingles and what he tried to do tonight …”
Keep Hassan. He's just too impactful and Nurk is no guarantee. If it becomes an issue, you deal with it then. No one is a bigger fan of Nurk than me but even he's no guarantee with his injury prone issues. Hassan won't cost a ton to re-sign either. If the Blazers can add a veteran 1 or 2 like a Darren Collison to this team that would make a huge difference coming off the bench. Could get one in the buyout market ala Enes Kanter last season.
Whiteside and Nurk could in theory work together in doses, or just enough to allow Whiteside to get starter type minutes overall. I also think both those guys have the potential to expand their range beyond the three point line.
