Nassir Little

[TBpup]

I'm more okay with a developed Little at SF if Trent is at SG. Agree with @wizenheimer .....if it's Dame, CJ and Little, not thrilled.

 

[PCmor7]

Your choice.

Well, my choice would be Celeste Bright, even though she's not one of the options.

 

[e_blazer]

Well, my choice would be Celeste Bright, even though she's not one of the options.

Maybe, but I bet she has the potential to make you feel both better or bitter.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

one more time: the concern I expressed about Little as the starting SF that got everybody riled was the context of Dame/CJ/Little as three starters. That's really small overall

Green is short for a PF, but he's a DPOY-level defender and excellent at running an offense; and he's usually on the floor with only one player smaller than 6'6.

Boston plays a relatively small lineup, but Kemba is Dame's size while everybody else is generally in the 6'6-6'9 range. Smart is a utility player who doesn't have top-of-head height, as you put it, but he's really strong and a great defender

in both those examples, we're talking about a bunch of 2-way players making those lineups work well (and several excellent ball-handlers and facilitators which Portland doesn't have). But at this point, we have no clue if Little can be a two-way player and we already know Dame and CJ aren't. That's what I'm questioning about Little as the starter, but you'd be right in saying that's not so much about Little as it is about the roster construction

Crowder may be a good comp for Little though

Little is so far away from being a starter I'm not even close to thinking about that yet. Who knows how many years it takes for him to reach that level if he even does. Is CJ and Dame still the back court then? This hypothetical has nothing to do with the 2020-21 season, being such a long range fantasy I really don't see how it can even enter a discussion now. It like worring about what we do if Simons is making the allstar team and keeping him happy with Dame and CJ. Lets worry about these young guys being great starters when they first improve to become even an acceptable bench player.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I'm more okay with a developed Little at SF if Trent is at SG. Agree with @wizenheimer .....if it's Dame, CJ and Little, not thrilled.

How much more rounded....ESPECIALLY DEFENSIVELY.....would our team be moving CJ and Zach for a long athletic forward like Ben Simmons


Dame
Trent
Melo
Simmons
Nurk

is a decent defensive unit


Gabriel
Little

good energy and defense off the bench

 

[SharpesTriumph]

How much more rounded....ESPECIALLY DEFENSIVELY.....would our team be moving CJ and Zach for a long athletic forward like Ben Simmons


Dame
Trent
Melo
Simmons
Nurk

is a decent defensive unit


Gabriel
Little

good energy and defense off the bench

I wouldn't touch Simmons with his knee injury.

 

[Tince]

This is probably a dumb question, but is there a reliable test for how quickly a player can jump? We've all seen big guys who take so long to gather themselves that they lose the ball to smaller, more explosive players.

Not a dumb question. Probably super hard to measure, but certainly someone who can exploded more quickly would of be greater value. Interesting idea!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What if it makes you Buddha?

 

[e_blazer]

What if it makes you Buddha?

Imodium.

 

[BonesJones]

ok then....the grass is getting real tall in this thread. PF morphs into C as much as it morphs into SF. So, not only will NAS defend AD and Giannis and Adebayo and Porzingis, he'll occasionally go against Jokic and Embiid.

that would be the situation if he's a starter



?...how can you tell though?

he had a 9.9% rebounding rate this season. That was lower than Tolliver and Hezonja had an 11% rate. Portland was severely outrebounded when those two were on the floor, especially when Tolliver was PF. Portland had a 45.2% rebound rate when Tolliver was PF. How bad is that? Well, Washington had the worst rebound rate in the league and they were at 47.8%

PF does not morph into C as much as it does SF.

 

[BonesJones]

ok then....the grass is getting real tall in this thread. PF morphs into C as much as it morphs into SF. So, not only will NAS defend AD and Giannis and Adebayo and Porzingis, he'll occasionally go against Jokic and Embiid.

that would be the situation if he's a starter



?...how can you tell though?

he had a 9.9% rebounding rate this season. That was lower than Tolliver and Hezonja had an 11% rate. Portland was severely outrebounded when those two were on the floor, especially when Tolliver was PF. Portland had a 45.2% rebound rate when Tolliver was PF. How bad is that? Well, Washington had the worst rebound rate in the league and they were at 47.8%

Primary starting 4s from Western Conference playoff teams this year:
Anthony Davis
Maurice Harkless / Marcus Morris
Paul Millsap
PJ Tucker / Robert Covington
Danilo Gallinari
Bojan Bogdanovic
Kristaps Porzingis
Carmelo Anthony

Out of those 10 players, 7 of them are basically combo forwards.

 

[blazerkor]

Not a dumb question. Probably super hard to measure, but I certainly someone who can exploded more quickly would of greater value. Interesting idea!

Yeah, a lot of analysts, especially draft experts talk about second jump and analyze it while reviewing film. So they talk about how fast a player can jump again and how high that jump is. They should just add that as a drill at the combine. It would be very useful.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Primary starting 4s from Western Conference playoff teams this year:
Anthony Davis
Maurice Harkless / Marcus Morris
Paul Millsap
PJ Tucker / Robert Covington
Danilo Gallinari
Bojan Bogdanovic
Kristaps Porzingis
Carmelo Anthony

Out of those 10 players, 7 of them are basically combo forwards.

Harkless plays for the Knicks.

 

[TBpup]

Harkless plays for the Knicks.

Was surprised when I saw him listed as a playoff forward as well. @BonesJones doesn't usually miss things like that.

 

[jlprk]

Was surprised when I saw him listed as a playoff forward as well.

Remember the rumors that the Knicks wanted him? There were many trade proposals on this board. The Knicks waited patiently.

 

[BonesJones]

Harkless plays for the Knicks.

Harkless is actually a free agent, Eric. Since you forgot though, he was a starter for the Clippers for a good part of this season, and then they traded him for Marcus Morris.

 

[BonesJones]

Was surprised when I saw him listed as a playoff forward as well. @BonesJones doesn't usually miss things like that.

I didnt list him as a "playoff forward". I was listing the primary starting 4s that the top 8 teams in the West had this year, and Harkless was the starting 4 for the Clippers for a while.

 

[Scalma]

Nas will be next seasons Trent, hop on board.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Damn, I hope you are right. That would be huge for the Blazers. I am hopeful as well.
got to love that 7.1" wingspan. He just needs to keep improving his range..... and it was getting better at the end of the season.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Nas will be next seasons Trent, hop on board.

If Stotts gets out the fucking way. Let the man play!

 

[Pinwheel1]

If Stotts gets out the fucking way. Let the man play!

I think Stotts would have preferred he played in the Bubble. Wasn't he ruled out because of a concussion?

 

[Scalma]

If Stotts gets out the fucking way. Let the man play!

I mean yeah it’s probably gonna take Arizas leg falling off but you know what I mean!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think Stotts would have preferred he played in the Bubble. Wasn't he ruled out because of a concussion?

Yes but obviously that was because Stotts hit him on the head. Wake up, sheeple!!!!

 

[damianlillard]

That shooting form is looking good, at least to me it does. Out of all the young players we have and even the one we will draft I am most looking forward to Little next year. If he can improve to even a rotation type player it will be huge for this team and it future

 

[THE HCP]

My good friend Ryan (whose video was posted above) said he and GT looked great in their runs. Was not a lot of talent playing against them, but good to see they are staying in shape.