Between Philly, Milwaukee, and New York one of these teams has to convince themselves that CJ is better than the shot creation options that are currently on their rosters, right?
CJ: TS% .553....assisted FG rate 40-45%....assist rate 17.5% (21% last 2 seasons)....33M/year for 3 years
Tobias Harris: TS% .565....assisted FG rate 45-55%%....assist rate 11.5% (16% 2 seasons)....38M/year for 3 years
Ben Simmons: TS% .579....assisted FG rate 45%....assist rate 34.5%....35M/year for 4 years
Khris Middleton: TS% .572....assisted FG rate 45%....assist rate 17.6% (22% last 3 seasons)....37.5M/year for 3
years
obviously, kind of a crude way to gauge it statistically, but it does drive home that CJ's '
shot creation' ability isn't really any better than Harris or Middleton, not for himself and not as a facilitator. He might have a little better PG skills than Harris, but not Middleton. Simmons is kind of an impossible comp. He has skills far above CJ's, but he has that giant major flaw in his game, and perimeter shooting isn't getting less important each year
what those numbers don't show is size or defense. CJ is way behind the others in those areas
I don't see any reason why Philly would trade Harris for CJ, or the Bucks would trade Middleton for CJ. In both cases, the teams would be losing a lot more than they are gaining. And I have a hard time seeing the 76ers willing to trade 3-time-all-star and two-time all-NBA-1st-team defender Simmons for CJ. I think those are all pipe-dreams
now obviously, if Portland is adding attractive assets to the package, that might make a difference
Blazers might have a better shot at landing Jrue Holiday than Middleton in a one-for-one trade, and even that shot seems kind of remote
I think Blazer fans are working really hard to convince themselves that some other team will see CJ as the missing piece (when he hasn't been in Portland) and be willing to pay him 2nd option money. Aiming at targets that are too high. Need to lower the scope and adjust the sights