Gary "Hard Cap" Payton

[SharpesTriumph]

Should this be GP2 nickname the next year?

I imagine every game this year I watch him I will be thinking if his addition is worth a year of the Blazers being hard capped.

Yes its unfair, as its not his fault he is the 7th guard Cronin put on the roster, or that Cronin decided to hard cap the Blazers. But I don't think I'll be able to help but judge Payton in this context.

 

[julius]

No.

 

[B-Roy]

Payton is going to be a fan favorite.

 

[craigehlo]

The fascination with the hard cap on this sub the last week is nuts. Last season the Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Rockets, Heat, Pels, Knicks, Thunder, Spurs, Raps and Wiz were all hard capped for various reasons. Seems like many of them were able to swing big trades.

 

[julius]

The fascination with the hard cap on this sub the last week is nuts. Last season the Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Rockets, Heat, Pels, Knicks, Thunder, Spurs, Raps and Wiz were all hard capped for various reasons. Seems like many of them were able to swing big trades.

"Hard cap" is this year's buzz word.

 

[illmatic99]

don't take out cronin's foolishness on Gary.

 

[illmatic99]

The fascination with the hard cap on this sub the last week is nuts. Last season the Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Rockets, Heat, Pels, Knicks, Thunder, Spurs, Raps and Wiz were all hard capped for various reasons. Seems like many of them were able to swing big trades.

those teams didn't care about the flexibility because they weren't horribly unbalanced like our roster currently is. And most of them did not have payrolls hugging the apron like ours currently is. so we are a team that needs to make some moves, but can't because we have no flexibility under the apron to do so.

 

[riverman]

What we've done this offseason tells me two things...targets fans were drooling over were just not obtainable with what we had to offer or in some cases didn't want to come here and the second being...the front office sees more upside in our young players than fans do in the case of B Williams Watford, Brown, Didi and Keon....also Walker and Sharpe. They also probably didn' t want to move Ant or Hart or Winslow for the same reason and resigning Nurk and Ant with the addition of Grant gave them the feeling they should see what they can get from the guys who are here already and on cheaper deals ..Chauncey wanted a team full of Josh Harts and could be he's got one now.

 

[riverman]

those teams didn't care about the flexibility because they weren't horribly unbalanced like our roster currently is. And most of them did not have payrolls hugging the apron like ours currently is.

I don't get the horribly unbalanced spin you use here...at all or that most of them are not facing cap limitations...they are and if they aren't...they're lottery teams. The cap is to use...we used it. Teams shut down the phone lines with other teams when Durant asked out. No point wasting time chasing after that pie in the sky so I can see why they grabbed Payton when they did, waived Bledsoe and moved on...I think we'll be as usual the underdog going into the season that will surprise some media spin doctors

 

[Fairly-Hard]

"Hard cap" is this year's buzz word.

In the last couple years it was "Scheme". There is always something to complain about and a reason to complain if you look hard enough.

 

[illmatic99]

I don't get the horribly unbalanced spin you use here...at all or that most of them are not facing cap limitations...they are and if they aren't...they're lottery teams. The cap is to use...we used it. Teams shut down the phone lines with other teams when Durant asked out. No point wasting time chasing after that pie in the sky so I can see why they grabbed Payton when they did, waived Bledsoe and moved on

how is it a spin? we have no starting small forwards, six shooting guards (ant, gary, shaedon, hart, keon, didi), and no capable backup power forwards or centers.

 

[riverman]

how is it a spin? we have no starting small forwards, six shooting guards (ant, gary, shaedon, hart, keon, didi), and no capable backup power forwards or centers.

we do have starting small forwards and Nurk, Brown, Watford Eubanks and Winslow can all play the 5 ..Nas .Hart and Payton and hopefully Sharpe are capable starting SFs as well .Sharpe is yet to determine but looks good so far..Walker is a backup PF and we can always mine the G league for a Moses Brown, Skal type big during the season if we need to. ...if it's height you're looking at...I like speed much more in today's game...we just signed the best guy in the league at steals...I'm stoked ...don't see how you can call anything about our roster horribly unbalanced unless you're writing off all our young guys as unplayable. The problem with having an offseason wish list is that many of the guys you think you want here don't want to come here for whatever reason...that's not because the front office doesn't try..it's just the reality of agents and player destinations.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

we have no starting small forwards

Josh Hart, Keon Johnson, Trendon Watford, Nassir Little all listed and sized as Small Forward.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Heck doesn't Jerami Grant bounce between SF and PF?

 

[B-Roy]

how is it a spin? we have no starting small forwards, six shooting guards (ant, gary, shaedon, hart, keon, didi), and no capable backup power forwards or centers.

Realistically, they just need one of Shaedon/Watford/Brown to show they are truly rotation level and the roster immediately becomes more balanced. You need contributors on cheap multi-year contracts.

IF they do make the playoffs, these players are getting 30+ MPG:

Dame/Ant/Little/Grant/Nurk/Hart.

There's only room for one or two more rotation players. GP2 probably there. The other forward is probably Winslow for now, but think Watford has a good chance. Chauncey wants to play like the Clippers on offense, so I expect us to play 5 out a lot.

 

[B-Roy]

If one of our starting forwards gets injured though, good luck lol. I love Nas but knock on wood here. We got no depth.

 

[riverman]

Heck doesn't Jerami Grant bounce between SF and PF?

So could Winslow actually...we have two way players that can guard 1-4 all over the roster now.....Chauncey wanted a team full of Josh Harts and we got them.....Hart was our trading chip and I'm glad we opted to not trade him ...that was something I'd hate to give up. Put Hart, Winslow, Nurk and Payton on the court you've got a defensive force to be reckoned with

 

[sheed30]

Should this be GP2 nickname the next year?

I imagine every game this year I watch him I will be thinking if his addition is worth a year of the Blazers being hard capped.

Yes its unfair, as its not his fault he is the 7th guard Cronin put on the roster, or that Cronin decided to hard cap the Blazers. But I don't think I'll be able to help but judge Payton in this context.

No, stop finding everything to complain about!

 

[Fairly-Hard]

The way some of these comments read they don't have any trust in the coaching staff to get anything out of the players on this roster. I guess the "Billups Sucks" is the writing on the wall at this point.

 

[riverman]

The way some of these comments read they don't have any trust in the coaching staff to get anything out of the players on this roster. I guess the "Billups Sucks" is the writing on the wall at this point.

either that or Jody hates basketball....another lane I don't understand ...you'd think when she fired Olshey she'd become a fan favorite but she doesn't tweet much

 

[sheed30]

how is it a spin? we have no starting small forwards, six shooting guards (ant, gary, shaedon, hart, keon, didi), and no capable backup power forwards or centers.

What no sense is this? Little is our 3 if he can just stay healthy and while undersized a little Hart can play the 3 at times. I’ll admit things get real thin if Little gets hurt again which seems more likely than not but to say we have no 3 on this team is silly

 

[Fairly-Hard]

either that or Jody hates basketball

Oh that's right! I was forgetting that Jody (The owner that goes to almost every game) hates basketball and is trying to run the team into the ground angle. That and Bert Kolde Vulcans with green blood only want to make money and fill seats with gullible fans.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

What no sense is this? Little is our 3 if he can just stay healthy and while undersized a little Hart can play the 3 at times. I’ll admit things get real thin if Little gets hurt again which seems more likely than not but to say we have no 3 on this team is silly

Big if they go with Grant at the 3, Eubanks at the 4 and Nurk at the 5.

Drew Eubanks might be a bigger piece than people are giving him credit for.

 

[andalusian]

This roster is a bit more balanced than last couple of years, simply because Grant is a good 2 way wing which we have not had for a while. What it still lacks is size, but it is not as unbalanced as it was before, that's for sure.

 

[Phatguysrule]

What we've done this offseason tells me two things...targets fans were drooling over were just not obtainable with what we had to offer or in some cases didn't want to come here and the second being...the front office sees more upside in our young players than fans do in the case of B Williams Watford, Brown, Didi and Keon....also Walker and Sharpe. They also probably didn' t want to move Ant or Hart or Winslow for the same reason and resigning Nurk and Ant with the addition of Grant gave them the feeling they should see what they can get from the guys who are here already and on cheaper deals ..Chauncey wanted a team full of Josh Harts and could be he's got one now.

From what I can tell, the only other really beneficial target we could have gotten without being fleeced was Randle and 11 for the 7. Which I think would be incredibly helpful. That and some other edge moves (GPII) may have put us in contention this year.

But I think I'd rather keep SS.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

This roster is a bit more balanced than last couple of years, simply because Grant is a good 2 way wing which we have not had for a while. What it still lacks is size, but it is not as unbalanced as it was before, that's for sure.

They pick up another 6-10 to 7-0 player as a buyout and they will be big enough. They are currently stacked with players 6-8 and 6-9. Then they have Nurk and Drew. I just don't see the lack of size?

 

[andalusian]

They pick up another 6-10 to 7-0 player as a buyout and they will be big enough. They are currently stacked with players 6-8 and 6-9. Then they have Nurk and Drew. I just don't see the lack of size?

Grant, Watford, GB3, Walker and Eubanks and only one of these is really a starter caliber player now. So, I would still say they are lacking in length at the starter position. If Watford, GB3 or Walker prove to be starter quality players, it would change, but for now, they are a little short in proven NBA starters with length.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

What no sense is this? Little is our 3 if he can just stay healthy and while undersized a little Hart can play the 3 at times. I’ll admit things get real thin if Little gets hurt again which seems more likely than not but to say we have no 3 on this team is silly

We have no established player at starting SF, at backup SF, at backup PF, or at backup Center. Little has extensive injury history. Our starting SG only has a track record of 20 games playing well as a starter. Hart is one of the most experienced players on the team, but is likely undersized all year at forward and has never made the playoffs.

Anthony Tolliver and Nic Stauskas were much more proven as starting and rotational NBA players when the Blazers acquired them. Could one or more of Little, Watford, Brown, Eubanks, Walker, Sharpe, etc perform well in key rotational roles next year? Sure they could. But there is no history of any of them doing that for an NBA season.

 

[Hoopguru]

What no sense is this? Little is our 3 if he can just stay healthy and while undersized a little Hart can play the 3 at times. I’ll admit things get real thin if Little gets hurt again which seems more likely than not but to say we have no 3 on this team is silly

We drafted a legit 3 in Sharpe.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Grant, Watford, GB3, Walker and Eubanks and only one of these is really a starter caliber player now. So, I would still say they are lacking in length at the starter position. If Watford, GB3 or Walker prove to be starter quality players, it would change, but for now, they are a little short in proven NBA starters with length.

Guess the key word there is "Starter". They might start but might never be Starter Caliber?