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Rastapopoulos said:
It's cheating to throw Aminu in there, because I'm also a huge Aminu-booster. I think that he's one of the bargains of the league. Plus he plays a different position from Batum.
Yes, of course Batum is overpaid. There's practically no free agent signed in 2016 who isn't (unless Aminu was signed then - in which case he really needs to fire his agent).
Batum was traded. .
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We signed Aminu and Ed Davis in 2015.
 
hoopsjock said:
Thanks for proving my point. Add Chandler Parsons to the list of players you SHOULDN'T sign to a big contract. Whether it's Batum, Parsons, Turner, Deng, Mozgov, Noah, Crabbe, Mahinmi, Biyombo, add whoever the fuck you want to the list but you don't sign those level players to big contracts. We would've been better off with value signings (which had been an Olshey specialty) like Garrett Temple, Dewayne Dedmon, Wayne Ellington, or James Johnson. You don't "HAVE" to overpay players, especially ones that aren't worth it.

Batum was awful his final year here. There is no other way to spin it. He shot 32.4% from 3 and 40% overall. That doesn't help Dame and CJ and certainly disproves your theory that he would shoot better in a different role. Batum is the ultimate tease of a player. Watch a Hornets game and you might think for about 10 minutes that Batum is one of the best players in the NBA. Watch the next 5 games after that and you'll forget he's even on the team since he disappears most of the time.
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Ed Davis, Aminu, and myself were excellent free agent signings. Yes Neil should focus on those type of players. 8 figure per year contracts should be for stars. If stars won't sigh then yes get other bargain value free agents on cheap contracts. Don't overpay mediocre starters or bench players.

With good assets we could improve the roster in trades. Unfortunately we have overpaid Turner and Meyers. If instead they were bargain players on value contracts we would be more likely to pull of a Jimmy Butler type of trade.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
But (again): Olshey turned around and offered CHANDLER PARSONS the same amount he could've paid Batum. And he turned us down! So basically, when you're a Portland, you HAVE to overpay to get FAs, or to keep your good players.
Find me another player (not still on his rookie contract) who is as versatile as Batum (point forward, possible (in Batum's case, actual) 5 x 5 threat) who ISN'T paid obscene amounts. The worst part is that Batum is EXACTLY the right player to play alongside CJ and Lillard.
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Reports in the media said when Olshey saw Parson's medical report, he told him to take the MEM offer. Not sure if it's true, but the fact is Olsehy didn't sign him to any offer, MEM did.

Rastapopoulos said:
And I bet you big bucks that if he WAS on Portland, the three-point % that obsesses BNM would go up. The Hornets don't have the other scorers that we do so Batum has to jack up more bad shots.
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That's a bet I'd take. Batum's last season in POR, he shot .324 from 3-point range, on a team where he was surrounded by proven, veteran scorers (Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews - for the first 60 games of the season). Combine those three with Nic and Rolo and that was a team coming off a 54-win season and the best starting 5 we've had in decades. Nic got plenty of open looks. He just couldn't knock them down.

Just like he hasn't been knocking them down in CHO. You highly overrate his 3-point shooting. The fact is Nic is a below average 3-point shooter and has been for 4 years in a row. For his career, he's at .355 (league average last year .362), in spite of a few good years early in his career when Nate parked him in the corner and limited his attempts to mostly the, shorter, higher percentage corner 3s. Do we really need another .333 3FG% "shooter" jacking up five 3FGAs a game, because that's what Nic is these days.

Plus, you are forgetting he didn't want to be here. He wanted a larger role to go with that larger contract. After he was traded to CHO, he made some snarky comment bout being able to play the way he wanted to for the first time in his career. Evidently "his way" includes being a below average shooter on a losing team.

BNM
 
WesleyMatthews said:
Ed Davis, Aminu, and myself were excellent free agent signings. Yes Neil should focus on those type of players. 8 figure per year contracts should be for stars. If stars won't sigh then yes get other bargain value free agents on cheap contracts. Don't overpay mediocre starters or bench players.

With good assets we could improve the roster in trades. Unfortunately we have overpaid Turner and Meyers. If instead they were bargain players on value contracts we would be more likely to pull of a Jimmy Butler type of trade.
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You have no idea how much I’d like to believe you’re wes Matthews lol.
On the record saying he’s one of my favorite basketball players to watch ever. When he got hurt in that Dallas game, I legit almost teared up.
If Im honest a big part of why I dislike NO is how he handled that situation. I think even wes knew he wasnt going to be back, but the least NO couldve done was called him and thanked him for all he had done for the Blazers. He was what held that team together while LMA clashed with Dame.
 
Scalma said:
Man when we think back on all the players Neil targeted and got rejected/matched by, his resume would look even shittier.

Hibbert
Spencer Hawes
Monroe
Parsons

I feel like I’m missing more but that’s just the ones I remember off the top of my head. Not gonna hold things that didn’t happen against him, but it also doesn’t give me any confidence that he knows what the fuck he’s doing (in free agency)
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Didn't he want Enes Kanter as well?
 
Boob-No-More said:
Plus, you are forgetting he didn't want to be here. He wanted a larger role to go with that larger contract. After he was traded to CHO, he made some snarky comment bout being able to play the way he wanted to for the first time in his career.
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So that last part is your evidence for the first part? Doesn't EVERYONE say that on their new team? Besides that, what evidence is there that he didn't want to be here?

It's certainly true that Stotts didn't make full use of his talents. He treated him basically like Trevor Ariza, which, if you ever saw him play for France, WAS misusing him.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Besides that, what evidence is there that he didn't want to be here?
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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/7...s-portland-trail-blazers-nba-free-agency-2012

Nicolas Batum said:
Anywhere I sign, the Blazers are going to match. But my first choice was, and is, Minnesota. That’s where I want to play and that’s where I want to put my family. I’ve got nothing against the fans (in Portland) and nothing against the city. But this is a basketball decision and basketball wise, I want to be there.
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Of course, that was 2012, but considering that we were starting a rebuild after Aldridge's departure, it's not an unreasonable assumption that the same sentiments existed the summer of 2015, and would have remained in 2016 after he reached UFA status.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Right. Here's an interview with him after that where he seems perfectly happy in Portland. (And there was also talk that that whole Minny thing was agent-driven, too.)
https://www.blazersedge.com/2014/11...lazers-nicolas-batum-interview-all-star-bench
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Sure, and there was another interview in April 2015 where he talked about how happy he was, and it was all because the team was good. Not likely he would have felt the same after the post-Aldridge drop-off.

All this to say, there was plenty of reason to believe that he wouldn't have wanted to stay.
 
Batum has also mentioned missing Portland. I think he would’ve went to minny, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t have stayed. It’s possible to like two places at once.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
So that last part is your evidence for the first part? Doesn't EVERYONE say that on their new team? Besides that, what evidence is there that he didn't want to be here?

It's certainly true that Stotts didn't make full use of his talents. He treated him basically like Trevor Ariza, which, if you ever saw him play for France, WAS misusing him.
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So has CHO also been misusing him? He shot .336 from 3-point range last year, averaged 11.6 ppg/4.8rpg/5.5apg with a PER of 14.4 and a TS% of .523 in 64 games. He had 3.5 WS, a BPM of 1.4 and a VORP of 1.7. A very average player on a max player contract. His best year under Stotts he played in all 82 games, shot .361 from 3-point range, averaged 13.0ppg/7.5rpg/5.1apg with a PER of 15.8 and a TS% of .589. He had 7.9 WS, a BPM of 4.2 and a VORP of 4.6 - all career bests. Are you sure it was Stotts that was misusing him?

When was the last time he played for France? Perhaps he was better then, or perhaps he just plays better against weaker competition. Maybe the 82-game NBA schedule just wears him down. He seems to have suffered from nagging injuries his entire career. He's almost 30 and has been playing professionally since he was 17. He seems to be declining rapidly, while his salary continues to increase with three years left on that max contract. No thanks. He's gone, he's not coming back and it's for the best.

BNM
 
Tim Frazier hit three to send Bucks into OT. Pat Connaughton led the Bucks in shot attempts.
 
Watching Vonleh play vs Pelicans right now. We should not have traded him. Big, strong, great defender, great rebounder, can hit outside shot. Damn.
 
I wish we had Ed and Noah instead of Nards and Biggie...I also wish we had Barton back too, always liked him.

We gave up quick on Noah(at 21), which surprises me.

Ed
Noah
Barton
Wes
Napier

Wish that was our second unit.
 
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LayneStaley said:
I wish we had Ed and Noah instead of Nards and Biggie...I also wish we had Barton back too, always liked him.

We gave up quick on Noah(at 21), which surprises me.

Ed
Noah
Barton
Wes
Napier

Wish that was our second unit.
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Olshey's complete fuckery of the cap is the reason some of those players are gone. HOW DOES HE STILL HAVE A JOB?
 
Vonleh seems to be free in his NY team, Stotts would never let him for this crazy 3/11 night. And I wonder what would happend if he actually did...

Noah Vonleh: 22/13/3/2, 3/11 for 3, age 23, salary 1,6mln,
Aaron Gordon: 22/11/6/1, 2/8 for 3, age 23, salary 20mln.

I was thinking about those players development in their teams. Gordon with his increasing role in Orlando and Vonleh under Stotts (I feel like it were just wasted years for Noah). Maybe next year Noah will be 15/12 player, maybe not. I'm not sure about Gordon's future either.

Basing on that I just can't figure this logic: Dump Vonleh and now trying to trade CJ for Gordon.
 
KingSpeed said:
Vonleh shot 11 threes tonight
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3 for 11 was only .273.

royo said:
Vonleh under Stotts (I feel like it were just wasted years for Noah).
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What doesn't show in his stats is that Vonleh plays defense better than the other Knicks. He learned that in Portland. So Kanter looks bad playing alongside Vonleh, and he's on his way out.

LayneStaley said:
I wish we had Ed and Noah instead of Nards and Biggie...I also wish we had Barton back too, always liked him. We gave up quick on Noah(at 21)
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I'm all for roster turnover, but Olshey can't trade, so he gives pieces away instead of using them to build a team. The direction of Olshey's team history is circular instead of upward.
 
Olshey paid to be rid of Vonleh - gave Hark an 8 figure deal. Stotts wouldn't give Vonleh a fair chance - continues to start Hark despite ample evidence he is physically and mentally unreliable.

Tell me again how these guys are good at their respective jobs! :ughno:
 
My problem with Batum was that he disappeared when you needed him the most when Aldridge/Roy was on he was too when they were off and we needed a spark and someone to step up he ghosted. I actually though Matthews was going to hit him one game. He has no interest in winning anything here in the NBA he just wants a fat paycheck and go home and win it in the Euro league. So I am more then ok with him being gone.
 
oldmangrouch said:
Olshey paid to be rid of Vonleh - gave Hark an 8 figure deal. Stotts wouldn't give Vonleh a fair chance - continues to start Hark despite ample evidence he is physically and mentally unreliable.

Tell me again how these guys are good at their respective jobs! :ughno:
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Stotts started Vonleh a lot and Vonleh rarely delivered.
 
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