JasonStern wrote:No. If we value Brogdon as a late 1st, that's #14, #30ish for Brogdon, two 2nd round picks, and a 2029 future first. That's an overpay.
That said, I'm coming to terms with it. Deni can easily be a Batum tier player. And he fits a position of need that we have had since Batum left (sorry Harkless/Aminu). And we had the draft capital available. And every interesting player was taken before #14 in this draft. The draft is a crapshoot and Deni has proven he can play in the league. And Deni and Clingan actually play defense, which will be new. Same with an actual wing with size! (In before Billups plays him at PF when he is clearly a SF).
If we don't make any trades involving Ant, Grant or Thybulle, Ant NEEDS to come off the bench and be our super 6th man. I hope to god Chauncey isn't stupid enough to trot out Scoot, Ant and Sharpe as the latest installment of our undersized starting 1, 2 and 3. Sharpe is our SG of the future. Please don't stunt his development by forcing him to play out of position at small forward.
Simons is a classic tweener, not a true PG, but too small defend starting SGs. He is, however, a good compliment to both Scoot and Sharpe. His shooting helps spread the floor for Scoot's drives and gives him an outlet when the defense collapses. He also provides ball handing next to Sharpe.
Clingan, Deni and Thybulle give POR three complimentary potential all-defense caliber defenders - a center, and wing with good size and a guard who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. They are switchable and can guard multiple positions, but please don't use that as an excuse for playing them out of position. It's not necessary and limits their impact on defense.
As long as we have Grant, he should be starting at PF next to Deni at SF. Deni is a stellar defender and Grant can be a plus defender when he wants to be. They are both switchable on defense. Deni should be the secondary distributor on offense, playing point forward (the Batum/Pippen role). Deni also rebounds well enough to cover up for one of Grant's biggest weaknesses. He gives us both a secondary distributor and secondary rebounder, as well as a versatile, lock down defender - if utilized correctly.
This team has the size and defense chops to be the best defensive team we had since the Dame/Wes/Batum/Aldridge/Lopez days - possibly even better (Scoot has the length to be a better defender than Dame and Deni/Clingan have great length, but also the lateral quickness to switch onto smaller players).
The problem is, if we still have Chauncey, he'll manage to screw it up. He will play players out of position, limiting their development and effectiveness. He will run a simplistic, ISO heavy offense with little ball or player movement, placing Deni in the corner and taking the ball out of his hands.
Can we please just fire him and eat the last year of his contract. Haven't we seen enough?
