Zombie Derrick Jones to Portland

[kjironman1]

Been saying for the last two years that this team was too soft. They get pushed around and they don't stand up to guys punking them.

Maybe now we will see some people actually get in a skirmish and respond when the game gets chippy. That was one thing you could depend on ET doing. He was going to have your back on the court.

Tired of watching Dame get thrown to the ground and the rest of the players standing there like nothing happened. Last year without Nurk or Collins on the court was ugly in this regard.

We know Covington will push back. We have seen Nurk and Zach push back. We know Kanter stands in there. Sounds like Jones will be present. Tough defensive wing defender that is young with some room to grow.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Dwight Howard didn't space the floor. LeBron got Tristan Thompson an 80 million deal, I'd expect Herrell returns to prebubble form when talk was of him earning close to 20mil per

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Dwight Howard didn't space the floor. LeBron got Tristan Thompson an 80 million deal, I'd expect Herrell returns to prebubble form when talk was of him earning close to 20mil per

Dwight could actually defend against Jokic. And you think Harrell CAN space the floor?

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Bowman, Jones, and Collins are basically the same age. As 23-year olds, you could almost consider them rookies.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Still no one will beat the Lakers. Shroeder, Trez and Matthews with AD and Lebron.... geee

We shall see. Schröder's first good year was playing with Chris Paul. He was unceremoniously dumped by the Hawks. Harrell is empty numbers - he's a poor defender and he can't shoot. Wes is older and worse than Danny Green.

Lakers are good but they didn't get better. If anything they got worse. They're going to miss Rondo probably most of all. Schröder may LOOK like Rondo but he's no Rondo.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Yeah im more mad about the option than the amount of $

Isn't this what we did with Curry?

 

[kjironman1]

Ok so that’s one end of the floor. If he shot 3% better would everyone be happy? He is a long athletic defender. What everrrrryone has been asking for. “We miss Aminu”. So they get a younger more athletic guy who isn’t out there to shoot threes. He’s there to move without the ball and defend. Why does he need to sit in the corner and miss threes? That’s the scenario you came up with to evaluate the entire deal?

The guy plays above the rim. He will not be sitting in the corner IMO. Unlike the other poster who thinks he will. Jones gives them a huge back door cut and oop opportunity. Anyone cheating will pay at the rim for a dunk. He also will finish when anywhere close to the rim. The drive and dish will be money.
Anyone who thinks Stotts cannot move the offense in those directions isn't paying attention. The Blazers did it with Pat Con, Layman and they did it with Harkless. I agree Jones needs to sharpen up his 3 point shooting though. If he does he will be a steal.

Now do we want to talk about the defensive side? Or are we just gonna bash him for poor three point shooting?

 

[blazerkor]

Bowman, Jones, and Collins are basically the same age. As 23-year olds, you could almost consider them rookies.

Add Nas, Ant and hopefully Wenyen to that group and we have a lot of young talent. Obviously the three that you mentioned have proved more than these three.

 

[Scalma]

hehe

 

[Scalma]

Despite the fact that Jones Jr. is often tasked with guarding the opposing team’s power forwards, the 6-foot-6 player recently stated that he has never felt outmatched.

“None. None at all,” Jones Jr. said when asked if he has ever felt overwhelmed in any of his power matchups.

“They bleed blood just like I bleed blood. I ain’t got no fear for no man.”

 

[kjironman1]

I'll bet he shoots it better than that working with our staff after a few months....probably get it up around 35...most shooters improve from deep working with the Blazers

Anything above 33% would make him worth every penny.

 

[Ed O]

What's the difference between this guy and Kent Bazemore?

Bazemore is 8 years older. That's a big difference in terms of whether a player is fully developed or not.

I don't know much about Jones... but ESPN has his as the #9 free agent available. Harrell was 20 and Crowder was 22, as a point of comparison for guys mentioned earlier in this thread. (Wood, who was also mentioned in this thread and #4 in ESPN's list, got $41m over three years; Gallinari was #8 and got $61.5 over three, so a different level of salary than Jones got and not reasonable either/or examples.)

Also, his 3 point shooting has been bad... t might never get better. But he shot 77% from the line last year, which was a significant improvement over the year before (which was the first year he started shooting 3's)... given his age and that he's a good free throw shooter, him becoming a decent perimeter shooter doesn't seem crazy to me.

Finally: almost everyone other than folks on this board think it was a good (or better) deal for Portland. I hope they're right, and I'm not sure we could have expected much more improvement than we've got over the last week or so. I am much more excited than I was after last offseason, for sure.

 

[kjironman1]

Add Nas, Ant and hopefully Wenyen to that group and we have a lot of young talent. Obviously the three that you mentioned have proved more than these three.

Gary Trent?

 

[calvin natt]

Yeah. He said on numerous occasions how the coaching staff wanted to see him put them up if he was open.

You don't remember?

I thought Stotts was a bad coach though because he couldn’t make guys do things like pass and defend and rebound. But he could make Evan Turner shoot threes? Interesting

 

[Labinot41]

At least this looks very promising

 

[blazerkor]

Gary Trent?

Yikes... totally overlooked the best of them.

 

[wizenheimer]

None of those guys space the floor. Aminu sometimes. But at least DJJ defends.

that was his point

and where is the evidence that Jones is a better defender than Aminu or Harkless?

 

[Scalma]

It’s especially devastating in pick-and-roll, when the man guarding Jones — stationed in the corner — has to choose between helping on the big rolling the rim and staying attached off the ball. “They go out to help on the roll, and I step up and get a lob,” Jones says. “They don’t help, my teammate get a bucket. Either way, you gotta make a decision, either you leave me or not. The choice is theirs.”

It’s a snap decision every NBA wing has to make several times a game no matter who they’re playing. The difference with Jones is that his lethal closing speed puts him in the corner and above the rim almost at the same time. Bam Adebayo, the all-star center who has found him for a bushelful of alley-oops this year, described the Jones baseline cut as a blur.

“He’s just one of those guys that can get to the rim faster than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Adebayo says. “You can throw it anywhere above the rim and he’ll go get it.”

It is said that elite three-point shooters have gravity — they receive constant, close attention wherever they go, which spreads the defense for other offensive action. Jones isn’t known as a shooter — he’s made about a quarter of his attempts from behind the arc — so he has deployed his forgettable marksmanship into a kind of anti-gravity. He’s mastered the art of disappearing.

“I can’t give away my tactics, but I just read the defense,” he says.
——

I can already a Nurk and Jones two man game.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

The guy plays above the rim. He will not be sitting in the corner IMO. Unlike the other poster who thinks he will. Jones gives them a huge back door cut and oop opportunity. Anyone cheating will pay at the rim for a dunk. He also will finish when anywhere close to the rim. The drive and dish will money.
Anyone who thinks Stotts cannot move the offense in those directions isn't paying attention. The Blazers did it with Pat Con, Layman and they did it with Harkless. I agree Jones needs to sharpen up his 3 point shooting though. If he does he will be a steal.

Now do we want to talk about the defensive side? Or are we just gonna bash him for poor three point shooting?

Great post think we’ve all fallen into the 3pt shooting but its easy to guard players who just sit at the 3 pt line. Something I liked about Harkless. Movement,passing And offensive rebounding beats defenses that trap!

 

[calvin natt]

At least this looks very promising

Yeah but he can’t make a three so this sucks

 

[B-Roy]

At least this looks very promising

DJ Augustin in a crowd of arms. What the fuck LOL.

Wouldn't mind signing him either.

 

[B-Roy]

This dude is going to feast on backdoor passes from Nurk. Something we really missed was the Nurk --> Harkless backdoor cut.

 

[wizenheimer]

Lol so now Neil isn’t ENOUGH of a salesman.

I think the argument isn't that Olshey works the hell out of the fan-base to sell his snake oil

it's that he can't sell being a Blazer to coveted free agents

 

[B-Roy]

that was his point

and where is the evidence that Jones is a better defender than Aminu or Harkless?

Jones got on the floor for the heat because he plays defense. As far as being better, who knows, he's probably not starting so why does it matter?

Also, it would be nice if he could shoot, but we have guys we can play at the 3 and 4 who can shoot in crunch time. Not to mention we had that last year, and it didn't help us beat the trap. Our problem is still that we don't have a good secondary play maker when guys force the ball out of Dame's hands. That hasn't changed. But at least we are addressing our godawful 29th in the league defense. One step at a time.

 

[kjironman1]

I think the argument isn't that Olshey works the hell out of the fan-base to sell his snake oil

it's that he can't sell being a Blazer to coveted free agents

Winning brings free agents when you are small market and a cold weather climate that isn't really the culture NBA players look for. If you win they will come.

 

[Scalma]

The guy plays above the rim. He will not be sitting in the corner IMO. Unlike the other poster who thinks he will. Jones gives them a huge back door cut and oop opportunity. Anyone cheating will pay at the rim for a dunk.

That’s really the difference between him and a Crowder who’s strictly just an inconsistent set shooter. This will be the best slasher Dame has played with in his career.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

As I see it, it will be up to Stotts as to whether this is a good signing or not.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

We were killed in the playoffs with a lack of swing players. Now, we are swimming with them.

If this does not work out, the only huge contracts we have are CJ and Dame. The others are on affordable deals that are just the right size for a consolidation.

Let's start the season! Super excited!

 

[calvin natt]

I think the argument isn't that Olshey works the hell out of the fan-base to sell his snake oil

it's that he can't sell being a Blazer to coveted free agents

Yeah. Whatever. It’s all dumb.

 

[kjironman1]

But at least we are addressing our godawful 29th in the league defense.

Combination of a couple players and getting both Nurk and Zach back for a full season will do wonders.
People have seemed to forget the Blazers only had Nurk for the Bubble and Zach was only there three games and a portion of the bubble.
Now you start a season with both and add a couple wings that play defense and this team will not be 29th in the league on defense. My bet is top 10 maybe but certainly top 15.