To me the focus , after watching the improvement/ potential in Rayan Rupert last night, is to get major minutes specifically to the 4 youngest players on the roster. Rupert, Clingan, Henderson, and Sharpe. If these guys got big minutes every game all season long, I would not mind a bit losing every game. By stinking the last 3 seasons, it looks like the Blazers have acquired 3 good players. Getting Rupert / Clingan / Henderson / Sharpe big minutes and losing without intentionally losing is a win-win. If you don't know much about Rupert, he works his ass off. In Australia he showed up so early after a game the night before to the practice facility that the coaches thought it was a prank at first reaction. 2nd reaction was that Rupert is nuts. He reminds me of Wesley Matthews that way.
Add Camara, Avdija and (to a lesser extent) Murray to the list of players who should get big minutes, and I'm right there with you.
100%. It's very clear that Grant and Simons are in the way. Maybe even Ayton, but I'm still not sure one way or the other on him. Get rid of them please.
I initially thought I wanted to move Simons over Grant(sure, both, but ranking the two), because of blocking Scoot. But I like what I've seen in a minimal sample size off the bench for Scoot. He's still able to play with the starters, but can also go against other team's benches to gain some confidence. When Sharpe comes back, I want to see Camara and Avdija and him as our starting wings. I want Rupert to get developmental minutes, and I want Murray to get developmental minutes. And hell, I'd like to see Walker get some as well, and wouldn't turn my nose up at an occasional RW3 at the 4. We came in to the season thinking Grant wasn't necessarily blocking anyone, and I don't feel that to be the case. Meanwhile, there's plenty of minutes for Ant and Scoot to share. That says nothing of Ant's game, and his taking shots away, and yadda yadda. But he's at least a player(if we move Grant) who could get his own bucket for us when needed. Yes he's a crutch for Billups, but he also helps to spread the floor better than other options. So for this season, I want Grant moved asap. Not dumped, but I want his minutes all young. I want Clingan to play as much as possible, but he's not ready for 28 a night, so while I dislike Ayton, I don't see him "blocking" Ant/Scoot Sharpe/Ant Camara/Rupert Avdija/Murray/Walker Ayton/Clingan
I want Simons and Ayton gone but not sure about Grant. None of our young guys replace his minutes. A Scoot/Sharpe/Avdija/Grant/Clingan works for me.
Whatever their value is. They are actively hurting us at this point, as far as I can tell. They certainly aren't helping anything.
We can draft someone. We don't need his chucker mentality or is unwillingness to rebound. We're far better off without it. He can't help us.
I really just want Grant gone right now. Simons maybe at the deadline if we continue to see progress from Scoot. I don't think we move Ayton, nor should we as a salary dump. Move him next offseason as an expiring at the earliest. I like Clingans game but he isn't ready for big minutes in anyway.
Somebody who he can help. A team in a different situation than us. It really doesn't matter to me. If his defense is so great we should be able to get something in return that better fits what we need.
I’ve thought it through and I’ve made up my mind. I’m rooting for us to win unless we’re so set on losing that we sit Scoot and Shae. For now, let’s climb the standings. 2 solid wins already. Let’s get more.
Sitting Scoot and Shae would be silly. We can lose with them both playing a lot and they'll both develop faster that way. And winning with Scoot and Sharpe playing critical minutes would be a good thing. Winning with Simons and Grant chucking the majority of our shots is a huge lost opportunity on many levels.
Can't stand having all 3 of these guys on our roster. If it was ONE of them I could buy into whoever it was giving us that vet presence. But the three of them all think their our best player and try to take turns dominating our offense. The rest of the roster is left with scraps. Maybe one of them is our best player, but the thing they don't realize is that proves how bad our team is not how good they are.
