The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

[riverman]

Eric Gordon hates Neil fwiw.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...eans-hornets-eric-gordon-is-he-happy/1902665/

I doubt he hates Neil as much as he hates backing up Chris Paul in Houston

 

[riverman]

Denny where do you get the, "Mo knows he is going to NY" statement? I had not seen that.....

somebody posted Mo has cleared or deleted his twitter account...sometimes that happens when players know they're moving I guess

 

[Five Second Violation]

Yeah but it kind of changes with how players are used by their team. I mean we depend on Harkless for rebounding as a starter, and he had the exact same TRB% at 8.5. I get that one is a SF and one is a PF but in today's positionless NBA....... does it really matter?

I wouldn't really list rebounding as one of Harkless' strengths either though. Relative to his role, I think he surpasses Ryno by a smidge.

And I do think positions matter for a guy like Anderson. He's strictly been a PF in his career at least matchups wise. He's too slow/unathletic to guard perimeter players, and not big or bulky enough to guard centers. Harkless is a two way wing player, which I find inherently more valuable than a soft stretch big.

 

[Minstrel]

I doubt he hates Neil as much as he hates backing up Chris Paul in Houston

He backed up Harden/Beverly last year.

 

[riverman]

He backed up Harden/Beverly last year.

he wasn't traded to New Orleans for Harden and Beverly though...his beef was with the Chris Paul trade...Chris Paul isn't backing up Eric Gordon anytime soon

 

[Pinwheel1]

Eric Gordon hates Neil fwiw.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...eans-hornets-eric-gordon-is-he-happy/1902665/

"You can say one thing and do another, but at the end of the day I don't get into it. With the things that I've been in with GMs, where I had one GM (former Clippers GM Neil Olshey, who now is in Portland) say that you'll never get traded and the next thing you know that ends up happening a few days later."

Yeah that is quote is what I remember as well. But does it really suggest he hates Neil or that he was just frustrated with how the NBA works..... as a business.

 

[riverman]

If Melo wants to go to Houston it sort of exposes the past doesn't mean shit.....he and D'Antoni didn't get along at all in New York....now, it's all good....I'm sure Gordon has moved on as well from a trade that happened many years ago..

 

[dviss1]

Pringles man? Because once you (pick-and-)pop, you can't stop?

 

[illmatic99]

Yeah that is quote is what I remember as well. But does it really suggest he hates Neil or that he was just frustrated with how the NBA works..... as a business.

Regardless, I'd stay away from Gordon. Dude is too injury prone and gets paid wayy too much. He had a relatively healthy season last year so I expect him to maybe play 50 games this year. And he doesn't really bring skills that we lack.

 

[Minstrel]

he wasn't traded to New Orleans for Harden and Beverly though...his beef was with the Chris Paul trade...Chris Paul isn't backing up Eric Gordon anytime soon

Ah, I see what you mean. But I don't think Gordon had any beef with Paul himself--he just felt lied to by Olshey over the whole affair.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I wouldn't really list rebounding as one of Harkless' strengths either though. Relative to his role, I think he surpasses Ryno by a smidge.

And I do think positions matter for a guy like Anderson. He's strictly been a PF in his career at least matchups wise. He's too slow/unathletic to guard perimeter players, and not big or bulky enough to guard centers. Harkless is a two way wing player, which I find inherently more valuable than a soft stretch big.

Then what exactly is Harkless' strength? He is not that great of a shooter, or passer, or dribbler. He does provide energy (but not really on a consistent basis) and he is a decent defender. (But I would not say a great defender)
Don't get me wrong I like Moe but is losing him that big of a deal? Seems like he can be replaced.

 

[Minstrel]

Then what exactly is Harkless' strength?

Harkless isn't exceptional at anything, if that's what you mean by strength. His value lies in not having a weakness that makes him unplayable in certain situations/match-ups like so many other players have. He's a decent defender, okay shooter, showed some solid ability to play off Nurkic. On a team that struggles to field players who can contribute on both ends of the court, Harkless can.

 

[dviss1]

Regardless, I'd stay away from Gordon. Dude is too injury prone and gets paid wayy too much. He had a relatively healthy season last year so I expect him to maybe play 50 games this year. And he doesn't really bring skills that we lack.

Besides his rookie season and last year (played 78 and 75 games respectfully), Gordon has averaged 48 games per season.... Hell to the NAW...

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Shooting in the playoffs has been a major issue with Anderson, and his one dimensionality is extra concerning at his salary. The fact that Anderson is such an awful finisher and inside player at 6'10 doesn't give him a pass. I don't want to watch a guy whose literal only skill is hitting threes and can't even do that reliably when it matters the most (even on the most perimeter-centric offense in the league!)

Just to be fair, he shot .400 and .417 from 3 in his two previous playoff series.

 

[Scalma]

Yeah that is quote is what I remember as well. But does it really suggest he hates Neil or that he was just frustrated with how the NBA works..... as a business.

And it was how many years ago? Does it really even matter? Neil isn't in the locker room Neil isn't on the court

 

[Pinwheel1]

Harkless isn't exceptional at anything, if that's what you mean by strength. His value lies in not having a weakness that makes him unplayable in certain situations/match-ups like so many other players have. He's a decent defender, okay shooter, showed some solid ability to play off Nurkic. On a team that struggles to field players who can contribute on both ends of the court, Harkless can.

I agree with that assessment. And since he plays best as a starter and not off the bench, I think it is inevitable that he is moved as we will need an upgrade at that position. If he gets traded now, that upgrade might not come this season but it still needs to come.

 

[Reep]

I agree with that assessment. And since he plays best as a starter and not off the bench, I think it is inevitable that he is moved as we will need an upgrade at that position. If he gets traded now, that upgrade might not come this season but it still needs to come.

I don't totally agree with this line of thinking, but rely on the coaches to fill in the blanks. I think Mo is the perfect SF for this team, and the only thing I see lacking is his being more aggressive with his scoring. If they believe he is just a passive guy and will always defer then it probably is best to trade him. But, if he could get a bit more edgy and aggressive, he could be an amazing player.

 

[dviss1]

Harkless isn't exceptional at anything, if that's what you mean by strength. His value lies in not having a weakness that makes him unplayable in certain situations/match-ups like so many other players have. He's a decent defender, okay shooter, showed some solid ability to play off Nurkic. On a team that struggles to field players who can contribute on both ends of the court, Harkless can.

He's elite at slashing to the basket and finishing. He makes our team better because he's the best at that. We need this because it keeps the D honest and opens up space for 3 point shooters.

Over a 3rd of Jusuf's assists are to Hark slashing and finishing with authority. NO one on the team (save maybe Dame) can do this as well as Harkless.

And, If we keep him, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts, with full season with Nurk, he'll shoot 38-39% from 3.

 

[Nhawz]

Exactly. And everyone off the books in two years when we cna spend some money to bring in the final pieces to the puzzle of our future core of Dame/CJ/Nurrk/Turner/Swannigan/Collins/Vonleh.... or whoever of those aren't panning out.

Point being is they are more than serviceable and improve our team for the next season or so, but then frees up our cap issues so we can pounce on the right FA/lopsided trade to bring in that missing piece two years from now when GSW is on the decline.

Well put.

 

[blue9]

Harkless isn't exceptional at anything, if that's what you mean by strength. His value lies in not having a weakness that makes him unplayable in certain situations/match-ups like so many other players have. He's a decent defender, okay shooter, showed some solid ability to play off Nurkic. On a team that struggles to field players who can contribute on both ends of the court, Harkless can.

Exactly. Harkless is a middle-of-the-road, jack-of-all-trades player. He's like Batum-lite. For some reason Blazers fans seem to hate these sorts of players. But IMO they are essential. Especially if they are as efficient as Moe was last season. People keep saying we need an upgrade, but you'd be hard pressed to find an obtainable upgrade at SF. If you find a better defender he'll be worse on offense. If you find a better shooter, he'll be worse on defense. But good luck finding someone who is better at either, let alone both.

 

[e_blazer]

So, where's some real news on this supposed deal? This thing is taking longer to put together than Frankenstein's monster. So far, it sounds just as ugly, too.

 

[Natebishop3]

Pizza for breakfast is delicious

Houston, NY, Chicago, Phoenix

He delivers to none if those teams. Just what he's hearing

Hmm... I'm not even sure what that trade would look like. I know there was a report a few weeks back about Phoenix looking to take on salary dumps, but if that's the case I'm not even sure why Chicago would need to be involved.

I guess the real confusing part is that I have no idea what the hell Chicago is doing. Are they still trying to compete? Are they tanking?

 

[Trackjack]

From NY central right now 3 team trade Houston NY New Orleans I guess we might be out.

 

[Scalma]

From NY central right now 3 team trade Houston NY New Orleans I guess we might be out.

No way. Pelicans have no assets to give New York.

 

[Natebishop3]

From NY central right now 3 team trade Houston NY New Orleans I guess we might be out.

New Orleans is a dumpster fire. I'm not even sure what NY would want from them?

What an ugly ass trade that would be...

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ybvjvmrz

 

[Nikolokolus]

I don't totally agree with this line of thinking, but rely on the coaches to fill in the blanks. I think Mo is the perfect SF for this team, and the only thing I see lacking is his being more aggressive with his scoring. If they believe he is just a passive guy and will always defer then it probably is best to trade him. But, if he could get a bit more edgy and aggressive, he could be an amazing player.

I don't see these as "learnable" traits; they go pretty deep in somebody's psychological makeup. He might be able to make moderate changes to his aggression, but what you see is probably what you get with a 24-25 years old player.

 

[Five Second Violation]

Then what exactly is Harkless' strength? He is not that great of a shooter, or passer, or dribbler. He does provide energy (but not really on a consistent basis) and he is a decent defender. (But I would not say a great defender)
Don't get me wrong I like Moe but is losing him that big of a deal? Seems like he can be replaced.

Harkless' biggest plus is that he provides good energy and with last year's improvement in shooting he is now at least modestly proficient at pretty much everything, which is more than can be said for the vast majority of our roster. He is only about average overall, but average can be an asset when there's that two way balance.

 

[Denny Crane]

Denny where do you get the, "Mo knows he is going to NY" statement? I had not seen that.....

Seems he deleted the tweets in his twitter account AND changed his background image to something NYC related.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't see these as "learnable" traits; they go pretty deep in somebody's psychological makeup. He might be able to make moderate changes to his aggression, but what you see is probably what you get with a 24-25 years old player.

Yup. It's hard to just learn to be driven. That comes from within. You look at someone like Swanigan who is just hungry. He has an extremely high motor. That came from within, and it was developed over years of life experiences.

 

[Denny Crane]

I assume that's his real account. The blue checkmark next to his name means the account is verified?