We all know our bench needs improvement. The question is, who goes? (1 Viewer)

[Pinwheel1]

from another board and I totally agree"

"Our problem, right now, is not that our starting 5 eat up too much capspace. It is that our bench players are being overpaid. Let me break this down. Our terrible bench is paid this much next year:
Robinson - 3.7
Wright - 3
Freeland - 3
McCollum - 2.4
Leonard - 2.3
Claver - 1.3
Crabbe - 0.9
Barton - 0.9
Total = 17.5 million

What we need are those cheap veterans who are not paid very much but know how to produce in the role they are given. You can look at contending teams and find 3-4 vets who are more productive and cheaper than the top 5 names.

Some asking the Blazers to dump a starter, so that we can afford a bench BECAUSE we are carrying too much dead weight on the bench. The first step should be to cut the deadweight off the bench before cutting into the core of this group. Secondly, we should use our exceptions and ancillary assets before cutting into the core. Cutting into the core is a drastic, last ditch option."

That does not seem very high to me. 8 players for 17.5? That comes out to 2.1 mill per player. Sure there are a couple of players on that list that need to be swapped , but overall their salaries are pretty low.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Here's my self-declared "realistic" answer to the OP. I'm assuming no "big" moves are made, which is most probable.

Likely gone (any deal will include these guys as a 1st option):
Claver (though I like him, the fact is the coach won't play him),
Wright (coach has lost any confidence in him),
Watson (his mentoring worked, but he's definitely done now)

Possibly Gone:
Mo (The owner is the biggest nerd on the planet and Mo's advanced stats suck, Mo wants 3-year contract)

Olshey's not going to cut loose a player he just drafted. Leonard's going to be giving one more chance to at least head in the right direction. Crabbe and CJ will be given 2 more years to show. McCollum hasn't even had a full training camp yet. Coach has given Barton a big endorsement, and Robinson is our biggest reason to hope right now. Freeland has shown that he can play competently with the starters.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Here's my self-declared "realistic" answer to the OP. I'm assuming no "big" moves are made, which is most probable.

Likely gone (any deal will include these guys as a 1st option):
Claver (though I like him, the fact is the coach won't play him),
Wright (coach has lost any confidence in him),
Watson (his mentoring worked, but he's definitely done now)

Possibly Gone:
Mo (The owner is the biggest nerd on the planet and Mo's advanced stats suck, Mo wants 3-year contract)

Olshey's not going to cut loose a player he just drafted. Leonard's going to be giving one more chance to at least head in the right direction. Crabbe and CJ will be given 2 more years to show. McCollum hasn't even had a full training camp yet. Coach has given Barton a big endorsement, and Robinson is our biggest reason to hope right now. Freeland has shown that he can play competently with the starters.

I think that is a pretty good assessment of the situation.

Although I would prefer if they did get get rid of Wright they keep Claver. Then there is no reason to get another SF. I think they have a lot of SG options in addition to Wes. So even if you start Wes at SG he could use some minutes at SF while Will, CJ and Damian get minutes at the 2.
This is assuming they get a PG who can play with Damian.

 

[Draco]

If we get rid of Wright and Clavier then one of our additions would almost for sure be a SG or SF so we'd be fine letting both guys go.