Skybox wrote:Myth wrote:AaronB will obviously hate this, but I’m curious what others think of this trade purposed/negotiated by the Locked on Blazers and Locked on Magic guys.
Magic get: Simons, Robert Williams
Blazers get: WCJ, Black, 2025 top 4 protected Magic pick
37:30 for final proposal, and more discussion led up to that:
https://youtu.be/HLNu0qO_DuI?si=0QO_xb99WYdYJKcA
I'd say WCJ is FAR more valuable and just better than even a healthy Williams...but we've never seen a healthy Williams for long.
BUT...I love Time Lord and would happily take him back in a Simons trade. But no way would I trade my starting C for him unless I've already got a wink wink deal with Claxton for Free Agency day 1. Williams as a backup-absolutely. Hope for health. Williams as a core piece to be relied upon...just can't.
I'd have to think he's close to neutral at best, sadly. As in, if you've got cap space, send us a couple of token srps and take him. POR could certainly hang onto him and hope for the best...especially since Ayton isn't going anywhere.
Timelord appears to have Brandon Roy knees, so yeah, he's pretty close to sunk cost and lost cause
but it's not like WCJ has been a picture of health. He's played 315 regular season games in 6 seasons. That an average of 52-53 games a year. Now, there were the two covid years in there but even adjusting for them WCJ has missed, on average, around 25-28 games a year. That deducts a lot from his value
all that said, as a Blazer fan extremely tired of Portland trotting out undersized, no-defense SG's (
9 years of CJ-->Simons....ughhh). I 'm also a Blazer fan that doesn't value Simons that high because of his very notable flaws. To start with, he's not bad at defense....he's terrible at it. Meaning he has no 3&D value. None. He also has no two-way player value. None. because he sucks at defense and is 6'3, he has nowhere near the versatility and length to have value as a modern NBA wing. He's a good shooter and was great in clutch moments, this year at least. But he has poor court vision, and at times is a dribble monster with ball-hog traits. Personally, I think he's a net negative as a starter and the stats bear that out
his best role would be as a 6th man microwave off the bench in a Lou Williams/Jamal Crawford role. But 27M/year is a lot to pay for a 6th man. If he's a starting guard, his running mate at the other guard needs to have good length and be strong defensively