You're the GM. What potential, legit moves can the Blazers make

He's not the best perimeter defender on the planet. My goodness that guys defense has become overrated.

Other-wordly court vision? Huh? He averaged 7apg this year. I don't see how his court vision is "other worldly" when often times he has the pass out of necessity because he can't shoot. Dude should be averaging 12apg if his vision is other-worldly.

Chauncey had a bad year when he shot 17%, but he shot 36% percent the year before and was a good shooter for most his career. Equating his shot to Simmons' makes no sense to me. Simmons will never be a good shooter. Let's just hope he can make 50% of his free throws next time he's in the playoffs.

A bad series for CJ is when he misses shots. A bad series for Ben is because he can't and won't shoot. Big difference. It's also not just "one bad series".

Also, I'm heavily against having a player who you have to run pick n roll with in order to have him be effective off the ball. We saw too many pick n rolls last year.

Also, I want to bet on Nurkic next season. He'll be more valuable to us under Chauncey than he will be in a trade. You can't play Ben with Nurkic.

 

just watch the last 60 sec of the 2nd video, that's when coach speaks.

 

So we get Smart and Simmons for basically CJ and Little? And Philly gets both those. I probably would not do that deal with Philly. Boston would definitely not give Smart away for a late draft pick.

 

every player except for Dame should be on the table.

 

He finished 2nd place for DPOY this year. Nurkic is a footnote compared to Simmons monumental talent. I trade Nurk in a heartbeat if I have a flicker of concern about the fit next to Simmons and Dame. Simmons is THE BEST ON BALL DEFENDER/PERIMETER DEFENDER ON EARTH. This isn't really up for debate it's just a fact based on voting by NBA executives. Not sure how you don't know that.

If you hate Simmons you can harp on one thing, his poor shooting. Literally, all his mistakes stem from that and it is in fact the sole problem with his game. Defensively he's elite and the most switchable defender in the league, able to play 1-5 and dominate. You can harp on Simmons, but give credit where it's due and this guy is the best on-ball defender on the planet.

How many guys on our roster have a defensive highlight reel? Maybe Nurk who has trouble staying on the floor and Covington. Only one of them was on an all-NBA defensive team and it ain't Nurk. Simmons plus RoCo and Powell would be a revelation for this team.

Simmons is fantastic, as is. If Simmons develops a reliable jump shot he's instantly the best player on the team and on the shortlist for MVP. This guy is a jump shot away from being Scottie Pippen 2.0 with better length, speed, and agility.

Do you know who had a broken jump shot and almost washed out of the league after being a Lotto pick? One Chauncey Billups. This guy under Dame and Billups's leadership even if he never learns to shoot will be an absolute renaissance for this team and extends our window by 3-5 years. It's the definition of a no-brainer trade CJ + for Simmons.



and



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If you don't know....well now you know, now you know!

 

Well, you're wrong Boston would.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/marcus-smart-trade-rumors-value/

If the Sixers won't do the trade of CJ plus Little plus a pick for Simmons then see what their better offer is and beat it. Smart's an important bench piece, Simmons is the pillar of the franchise along with Dame.

 

THE BEST ON BALL DEFENDER/PERIMETER DEFENDER ON EARTH, Simmons plus RoCo and Powell would be a revelation for this team.

Great post, but I took some liberties in shortening this post for you.

 

That's the money shot for sure. That said the rest builds the case of how elite Simmons is as is.

It also shows how he'd be other-worldly if he fixed the easiest NBA skill to fix, his jump shot. I truly believe Simmons can and will fix his jump shot to at least decent during his career and I think this summer is a very likely time for it to happen given the media coverage and his series collapse vs. Hawks. This kid is a legit Superstar and his value is the lowest it's been for his peer group since he first picked up a basketball and his dad said "hey, why don't you try shooting left, you'd be harder to guard...".

 

Simmons monumental talent?

You've dranken the kool-aid and are in love with the IDEA of Simmons, not what he actually is. If he was this great, amazing player like you let on, he and Embiid easily dispatch the Hawks... but they lost. They can't even make the Conference Finals in the East.

Simmons will NEVER develop a reliable jumper. His shot is beyond broke. Dude shot a below-average 3pt percentage from the free throw line in the playoffs

You just said the same thing about Chauncey that you said before. I already responded to how silly the comparison was. Are you having a conversation with yourself?

 

Ah ok, you are not willing to accept a consensus on Simmons's talent. That's fine, enjoy your version of subjective reality. Since I believe in Solipsism as a reasonable explanation for reality, I guess that would be a yes, you must be the part of my imagination that refuses to grapple with actual facts like Simmons being the best perimeter defender on Earth according to everyone...except you. As they say, the exception makes the rule. No different here.

If you think CJ for Simmons is a bad trade for the Blazers, well our view of reality is simply so vastly different as to be unable to reach any sort of compromise. I see your opinion, you're entitled to it, and you're entitled to be abjectly wrong about how amazing of a defensive and passing talent Simmons is. Also, your certainty about the future makes me wonder if you're a multi-millionaire since you know future outcomes with certainty, maybe apply that to the stock market instead of letting us know about Simmons's future jump shot woes? Seems a waste of your pre-cognitive abilities. Cheers and have a good one.

 

Except that's not the consensus. People are pretty divided on him. I know you just got out of the groupthink chamber that is BlazersEdge where they listen to Danny Meringue tell them who they should like so I'll give you a pass. Hopefully you'll learn how to have a conversation though instead of the stupid, snarky shit you're pulling.

 

The consensus is Ben Simmons is an All-World defender, driver, transition player and passer. NOBODY debates that. Your position is the mirror image of me saying Simmons has a great shot. It's not based in reality AT ALL. Sorry, but Simmons is godly at all of those skills and he ALSO lacks the most important skill in the modern NBA, shooting.

This is just reality, not sure how you disagree on this rather straightforward and universally acknowledged (except by you) reality that Ben Simmons is an elite talent with a broken jump shot.

 

Who is the best perimeter defender in the league if it’s not Simmons?

 

Sign Otto Porter

 

You're putting a lot of words in my mouth. I don't think he's the best perimeter defender in the league, I think he's a bit overrated defending guards and has a lot of help on the defensive end with Embiid being an elite rim protector behind him when he gets blown by. He's a great defender, just not the the best perimeter defender in the league. That my opinion. Live with it.

The biggest part where you overrate him is with his court vision. It's not "other-wordly" or "all-world". What does that even mean? You seem to love hyperbole and maybe you just have a low bar for your catch phrases. For a PG, 6.9apg isn't anything special, especially when the PG isn't a scorer. Dame has better court vision than him.

His passing, slashing, and transition play is rendered useless when he doesn't even want to touch the ball because he's a wreck mentally. Did you even watch their playoffs this year? I want a guy I know I can count on in those moments, not a guy who's so weak mentally that he might be unplayable.

 

I'd take Jrue Holiday and Marcus Smart over him just off the top of my head.