Bazemore, Hezonja, Little vs. Curry, Harkless, Aminu

[BonesJones]

same can be applied back that you are reaching for reasons not to like him and give him a chance. I don't know why that is so hard for you

You say 2 years ago, he was below average and not garbage so what do you consider to be average for a player in about 20 minutes of playing time? Here is a comparison of Hezonja, Aminu and Harkless. We know how Harkless and Aminu improved so why can't Hezonja?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Mario Hezonja&player_id1_select=Mario Hezonja&y1=2018&player_id1=hezonma01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=Maurice Harkless&player_id2_select=Maurice Harkless&y2=2016&player_id2=harklma01&idx=players&player_id3_hint=Al-Farouq Aminu&player_id3_select=Al-Farouq Aminu&y3=2013&player_id3=aminual01&idx=players

Why cant Hezonja? I never said he couldnt.

 

[BonesJones]

Not sure if you're stressing about Hezonja or not, but... Who cares? It's not like we need him. I hope he surprises us and plays well, but he's not going to be the reason we make the WCF or not.

He could be the difference of winning or losing a couple games which could decide seed which could decide how far we go.

 

[CupWizier]

Why cant Hezonja? I never said he couldnt.

You may never have actually said the words (I have no interest in going back and checking) but it has been implied in many of your posts. No reason to go any further with this on my end. I'll happily be a fan rooting my team on and hoping he does well for us.

 

[BonesJones]

You may never have actually said the words (I have no interest and going back and checking) but it has been implied in many of your posts. No reason to go any further with this on my end. I'll happily be a fan rooting my team on and hoping he does well for us.

I've been pretty consistent.

That's a bad gamble for a team trying to contend IMO. He'd have to turn into the best-case scenario of himself in order to keep up with the level of play we're trying to achieve.

And Hezonja would have to mightily improve to be even an average shooter. Again, banking on such sizeable improvement for a team trying to contend isnt good. The expectations for him are far too high.

All the arguments you make were made for Stauskas last year.

 

[HailBlazers]

Nik Stauskas 2.0.

Sure hope you're wrong!

 

[borim69]

Not sure if it was pointed out in this forum or not but Bazemore was traded for Turner straight up and Curry was let go because we signed Hood, and Harkless and Leonard was traded for Whiteside and Kantor was let go for that as well. The Poll cherry picked the worst possible scenario over the entire off season and omitted the real pieces. Hezonja and Little are project players that were acquired through the draft and picked up at vet minimum we did not use Curry, Harkless, and Aminu for any of the pieces mentioned in this poll. It would be like mentioning any players the Clippers lost and draft picks and omitting the pick up of George and Leonard. Not realistic and shades away from the actual truth

 

[borim69]

I am not as high on Curry as some of you guys are. I think he showed ok in the regular season but in the playoffs not so much. I am too lazy to check his stats Regular season vs Playoffs and Hoods Regular season vs Playoffs. I just know that Hood played his way to more minutes in the Playoffs while Curry not so much.

 

[mook]

Why?

Layman especially was a huge contributor last year for 71 games. Just baffling why we let him walk for an inferior replacement who is 10 yrs older.

View attachment 27088

My guess is the Blazers thought both Layman and Hezonja were similar age, same position, same kind of "could be good or could be out of the league in 5 years" kind of talent.

Layman put up slightly better stats, but he's also a year older and has had years to develop in a well-run system. They've seen up close how much he's progressed, and when you look at the trend line maybe it's just not quite as good as they hope. Layman is a high-flying dunker/spot up shooter at his very best. A guy the ball handler has to set up.

Meanwhile, Hezonja put up those crazy last 3 games with the Knicks, he was a top 5 pick, and he hasn't had Portland-caliber coaching/leadership by a longshot. So there's kind of a mystery about how much untapped potential you have there. When at his best he's a scorer who can also handle and distribute. A guy who sets up others and himself.

If I had to guess which guy is out of the league in 5 years, it's a coin toss. More than likely, it's both of them. If I had to guess which could become a borderline all-star and fill a major need on our team if everything works perfectly, I'd go with Hezonja.

Because of his skill set, Hezonja is being compared to Turner. I think it's much more that he's a replacement for Layman.

We went from this:
Small forward continuum
Ready Today --------------------------------------------->Ready 3 years from now
Harkless/Turner----------->Layman------------------>?

To this:
Ready Today --------------------------------------------->Ready 3 years from now
Bazemore/Hood ----------->Hezonja------------------>Little

Better shooting, worse defense, but more likely to show something good down the road. Given how hard it is to play defense in the modern NBA, especially against perimeter players, I'm fine with investing in more offense. It's much easier to be a game-changer as a perimeter offensive player than it is a perimeter defensive player.

 

[ABM]

....It's much easier to be a game-changer as a perimeter offensive player than it is a perimeter defensive player.

Good point.

 

[Voodoo]

I think the fault in the OP is that losing ET is addition by subtraction, so even though he wasn't included in the title or OP you have to consider this team won't have Evan Turner on it and therefore it is substantially improved.