It really is amazing how much better and how much younger our front court has become in just 8 months.
Of course, it started with the Nurkic trade. Nurk is four and a half years younger than Plumlee and an obviously much better fit and much more impactful at both ends of the floor. That move, trading the 27-year old (almost) Plumlee for the 22-year old Nurk immediately widened our window.
I said it at the time, and many times since, extending our window was the best move Neil could make. Neither Dame nor C.J. rely on exceptional athleticism. Both are just entering their primes and should have at least five more seasons of performing at peak levels. Their games, especially C.J.'s, should age gracefully. Just look at how effective and efficient Chris Paul has remained into his mid-30s. C.J. doesn't have the court vision and passing of Steve Nash, but he has become a Nash level shooter. Nash didn't even peak until 32 and continued to play at all star level until 37.
Last November 21, I started a
thread about the fact that we had five players in our rotation with single digits PERs. My initial conclusion was that our play at the power forward position was our biggest weakness:
Of course, at that time, the draft was over seven months away. So, I was advocating a trade to address our weakness at power forward. Well now, almost 11 months later, it is obvious Neil has addressed our needs at power forward, both current and future, through the draft (although getting that additional first round pick in the Nurkic trade was a big part of that).
Both Collins and Swanigan look like they are ready to contribute this season. Oh sure, there will be tons of rookie mistakes, but I'm willing to live with that for all of the good things these two will bring to our formerly weak front court play. We aren't winning a title this year. Let the young guys play and develop.
Both are obviously years away from reaching their peaks, but in this case, that's a good thing. Our young front court combined with our great back court, who are just entering their primes, definitely gives us a very wide window. Given that we aren't beating GSW this year, that is a good strategy and a good place to be. We will continue to rise as GSW, and HOU, OKC, SAS, CLE all begin to decline.
Our best shot at a title is likely 3 - 5 years out, but in the mean time it will be fun to watch this team grow into contention, from a borderline play off team, to a top four team in the West with HCA in the first round, to conference finalist and, hopefully, eventually NBA finalists and NBA champions. If we get there, thanks to our youth, we should remain contenders, or at least a top 4 team in the West, for multiple seasons, even as Dame and C.J. gradually slide past their primes.
Only one team a year wins the championship. I hope this group eventually gets there, but even several years of serious contention is fun for me as a fan. Remember how exciting it was to be a Blazers fan in the early and late 90s? Neither of those groups won a title, but with multiple finals and WCF appearances, those were still exciting times to be a Blazers fan.
BNN
