The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

[dviss1]

I didn't say he was bad, I said he was inconsistent. Numbers back that opinion up. And Aminu and Turner would both be ahead of him defensively. And if we can include everyone, so would Nurkic.

I disagree here.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Watch him go to the Nets and turn into a more athletic Mehmet Okur.

I'm willing to risk it.

 

[tester551]

I generally assume people know the rule and write it off to a typo, or these days, auto correct.

You're giving the collective IQ of this board too much credit.

 

[andalusian]

Watch him go to the Nets and turn into a more athletic Mehmet Okur.

Okur retired 5 years ago. I think he might be a more athletic Okur right now. Just as efficient as a retired Okur is.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Based on what? He's not a good shooter and his FT % suggests he won't get much better. His defense is inconsistent. That part he could improve on, sure. But I just don't see this high upside you speak of. Yeah he's technically young, but he's going on his sixth season. He's not a prospect anymore.

You see the light on the other side. See ya Mo , good luck!! Besides we have Aminu. We don't need both.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I won't be happy to see Harkless traded, but it's not like he's irreplaceable; he's an OK starting wing, but nothing special. If it means we can somehow unload at least 2 shitty contracts (Crabbe, Meyers, or Turner) then it's just the cost of doing business and getting your cap in order for a Nurkic extension that is looming.

 

[BigGameDamian]

By the NY paper Anthony trade is at the 2 yard line.

 

[RR7]

I won't be happy to see Harkless traded, but it's not like he's irreplaceable; he's an OK starting wing, but nothing special. If it means we can somehow unload at least 2 shitty contracts (Crabbe, Meyers, or Turner) then it's just the cost of doing business and getting your cap in order for a Nurkic extension that is looming.

I'm in agreement with that first line. I don't see him as someone that needs to go, but I also don't see the super high upside with him. I dunno if we have seen exactly what he is, as Denny stated, but he reminds me most of Ariza, who is a decent player, can fit in well as your 5th best starter, but is someone you always kind of have an eye on looking to upgrade, if you can.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I thought Harkless would be traded on draft night. He's our most sought after asset.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'm in agreement with that first line. I don't see him as someone that needs to go, but I also don't see the super high upside with him. I dunno if we have seen exactly what he is, as Denny stated, but he reminds me most of Ariza, who is a decent player, can fit in well as your 5th best starter, but is someone you always kind of have an eye on looking to upgrade, if you can.

You don't agree that losing him would be worth it to unload a couple of MyLe/Turner/Crabbe?

 

[RR7]

You don't agree that losing him would be worth it to unload a couple of MyLe/Turner/Crabbe?

Sorry, I worded that poorly. I mainly wanted to focus my thought on the first line. Should have stated that better than I did. I do agree he'd be worth moving to move Leonard. I quite like the other two.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

By the NY paper Anthony trade is at the 2 yard line.

Hoping it goes down soon, even if we arent involved.

 

[Denny Crane]

Not gonna score that much when you have a backcourt averaging 60 PPG.

He didn't score with Orlando, either.

It's not like Nurk didn't come in and score 15.2 PPG with the same back court.

 

[RR7]

 

[Boob-No-More]

When it comes to Mo, I'm pretty agnostic. I wouldn't give him away as a throw in in a trade, but I also wouldn't hesitate to trade him if we get value back in return.

The pros: he's an average, to slightly below average, starting SF who is only 24 and on a reasonable contract. He doesn't suck on either side of the ball. He's pretty much average at both offense and defense, which makes him the closest thing we have to a 2-way player at the SF spot.

The cons: he's been in the league for five seasons, has started over the half the games he's played, but hasn't really improved much since his rookie year. The only improvement of note was his 3-point shooting last season. He shot just below the league average 3FG%, but only made 68 3-pointers. That's not a huge sample size and I'm not sure it's sustainable. Remember - Aminu made a similar jump in 3FG% the previous year, but on a much larger sample size (126 made 3-pointers) and then backslid last season.

I guess I just don't see where this untapped upside is. He hasn't been lacking for opportunities, either in ORL or POR. He has been a starter and played plenty of minutes in both places, but has never made any big leap forward in his play. At only 24, there could be some continued minor improvement, but I just don't see that he has the tools, or the attitude to become an above average 2-way starter.

Which is what I really want at both forward spots - players who are above average on both sides of the ball. And, if we can get one of those I'd gladly move Harkless. Although average as a starter, he's worse coming off the bench. He seems to sulk when he isn't starting, and that's not a good thing.

But, as I said, for now, he's an average, or nearly so, starter on a reasonable starter. You want him, sure, but you need to blow my skirt up with a trade offer that also makes my team better and doesn't just give you what YOU want.

BNM

 

[Scalma]

He didn't score with Orlando, either.

It's not like Nurk didn't come in and score 15.2 PPG with the same back court.

Yeah, if you can score you will score. No ones holding him back. That's lazy.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

^^ I hate you!!!

 

[Scalma]

FWIW, Harkless' twitter feed has been cleared.

 

[theprunetang]

FWIW, Harkless' twitter feed has been cleared.

Ugh.....

 

[Nikolokolus]

FWIW, Harkless' twitter feed has been cleared.

As in deleted? Please 'splain.

 

[RR7]

As in deleted? Please 'splain.

Looks like all of the tweets have been deleted. Account still there.

 

[Scalma]

Ugh.....

Could've happened awhile ago though, I have no idea. But it's empty..

 

[Nikolokolus]

Looks like all of the tweets have been deleted. Account still there.

"Deal coming soon!!"

 

[Denny Crane]

Last season Mo averaged the most MPG in his career. He had career bests in:

PPG
RPG
FG%
EFG%
FGA
FGM

With the addition of Nurk he was shooting 3s at a 44% clip. Small sample size but still. And he is the BEST on the team at cutting to the basket and finishing. We lose him, we lost that.

Looks to me like he scored .2 more points per 36, less assists, less rebounds, less FTA.

I think the two years in a row of similar stats suggests he's basically the player he's going to be.

I'm not at all saying he's a bad player. I'm just saying I think we can do better at SF - at least starting.

ET is a couple inches shorter, but can do many of the same things as Mo, even better than Mo. Enough so that he's sufficient to replace Mo in the scheme of things here.

82games.com says Crabbe played 43% of the Blazers' total minutes at SF. For lack of a deadeye 3pt shooter at the position. Mo did beat out Ed Davis for PF minutes (he played 37% of the team's minutes at SF, 17% at PF). But we just drafted two guys who should get burn at PF, a real position of need for us.

 

[H.C.]

FWIW, Harkless' twitter feed has been cleared.

What does FWIW mean?

 

[Scalma]

What does FWIW mean?

For what it's worth.


And by cleared I mean his tweets have been deleted.

 

[dviss1]

He didn't score with Orlando, either.

It's not like Nurk didn't come in and score 15.2 PPG with the same back court.

He was a rookie... And comparing Nurk's scoring to Hark's doesn't make sense. They score in different ways and it was completely obvious we needed post and pick and roll scoring. Apples/Oranges.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

FWIW, Harkless' twitter feed has been cleared.

Been like that for a while

 

[Boob-No-More]

He was a rookie... And comparing Nurk's scoring to Hark's doesn't make sense. They score in different ways and it was completely obvious we needed post and pick and roll scoring. Apples/Oranges.

He played three seasons in ORL.

FWIW, Plumlee also scored more points in slightly fewer minutes that Harkless.

BNM

 

[blue9]

Find another SF that shoots 50%.