What no sense is this? Little is our 3 if he can just stay healthy and while undersized a little Hart can play the 3 at times. I’ll admit things get real thin if Little gets hurt again which seems more likely than not but to say we have no 3 on this team is silly
Oh that's right! I was forgetting that Jody (The owner that goes to almost every game) hates basketball and is trying to run the team into the ground angle. That and Bert Kolde Vulcans with green blood only want to make money and fill seats with gullible fans.
Big if they go with Grant at the 3, Eubanks at the 4 and Nurk at the 5. Drew Eubanks might be a bigger piece than people are giving him credit for.
This roster is a bit more balanced than last couple of years, simply because Grant is a good 2 way wing which we have not had for a while. What it still lacks is size, but it is not as unbalanced as it was before, that's for sure.
From what I can tell, the only other really beneficial target we could have gotten without being fleeced was Randle and 11 for the 7. Which I think would be incredibly helpful. That and some other edge moves (GPII) may have put us in contention this year. But I think I'd rather keep SS.
They pick up another 6-10 to 7-0 player as a buyout and they will be big enough. They are currently stacked with players 6-8 and 6-9. Then they have Nurk and Drew. I just don't see the lack of size?
Grant, Watford, GB3, Walker and Eubanks and only one of these is really a starter caliber player now. So, I would still say they are lacking in length at the starter position. If Watford, GB3 or Walker prove to be starter quality players, it would change, but for now, they are a little short in proven NBA starters with length.
We have no established player at starting SF, at backup SF, at backup PF, or at backup Center. Little has extensive injury history. Our starting SG only has a track record of 20 games playing well as a starter. Hart is one of the most experienced players on the team, but is likely undersized all year at forward and has never made the playoffs. Anthony Tolliver and Nic Stauskas were much more proven as starting and rotational NBA players when the Blazers acquired them. Could one or more of Little, Watford, Brown, Eubanks, Walker, Sharpe, etc perform well in key rotational roles next year? Sure they could. But there is no history of any of them doing that for an NBA season.
If "hard cap" can also be used to define his defensive abilities (eg: "GP2 about to come in and put a hard cap on Curry's big 3rd quarter"), then I'm fully in favor.
It's clear some people expect us to be contenders this year. That was never going to happen after the Sharpe pick.
From the horse's mouth at the deadline: And would Cronin be concerned if Billups next season decides to start Lillard, Simons and Hart? “Size-wise, yes,” Cronin said. “But I’m concerned with putting enough talent on this roster first. Positionally, our trades have solved some of the issues as far as financially/exact position they play. We have to balance the roster, no doubt. But the number one thing is we have to get more talent. We can’t take talent for granted.”
Starter caliber to me is one that would be considered to start on most playoffs contending teams. Grant is a lock here. All the others the Blazers have, at this point, are either unknown (Walker), raw (Watford), super-raw (GB3) or just a career end of the bench (Eubanks). Watford has great BBIQ and thus could certainly become someone that is in the starter conversation on playoffs teams, but he is not there yet, imho. GB3 has the tools, but he is super-raw at this point. Walker, who knows? I have not seen him play once and the fact that he fell to 57 means that not too many people thought that much of him (it does not mean he could not become one in the future, I just don't know).
not really contenders, and i agree that that was the mindset after the sharpe pick. but that still doesn't excuse the fact that this roster construction is wacky, and doesn't really address any of our front court issues.
Oh goodie looks like we have our next nauseating target to pick on all season until he leaves town. Again, this guy was beloved in the Bay Area and plays his ass off. He defends incredibly well, and didn’t ask to be some cap destroyer for the franchise. He will be a fan favorite from Day 1. The team added Sharpe and Grant. Little can flat out play. Are people really upset they didn’t assemble the ‘97 Bulls since May?
lol thank you for making my point. Now what if JG or Nurk also get hurt? we are completely screwed. Yet we have 6 shooting guards. How is that anything but unbalanced?
