I applaud your enthusiasm, but that's a pretty bold prediction for a guy who has only played a handful of summer league games since last February. And, in those summer league games, against inferior talent, he only shot 36.6% FG% and 31% 3FG%. He needs to do better than that, against better competition, to immediately be our best bench player. I do think he'll eventually be our best bench player, but it will take him a little while to adjust to the NBA game.
Have you ever played competitive basketball. I'm not being a smart ass, it's a sincere question. I have and I've always found that when it comes to getting in game shape, there is no substitute for actually playing in games. That's one of the big reasons the NBA has a preseason. CJ hasn't played full court 5-on-5 since a few games back in early July. His assignment in Boise will give him a chance to do so. Plus, they play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday and have a Monday morning game in Reno. That will allow CJ a chance to get plenty of full court 5-on-5 under his belt and still join the team in Sacramento (it's a very short flight from Reno to SAC) in time for the Blazer's Tuesday night game against the Kings. He'll get a lot more burn in those 3 D-League games than he would sitting on the bench for the two Blazers games he will miss.
The coaching staff disagrees and I trust their judgement. The two games he'll miss are against Charlotte (second of a back-to-back) and Philadelphia, two games we should be able to win without him.
BNM