Game 82: Portland vs Sacramento 7:00pm SNW

[BlazersBroncos]

I surprisingly agree with d-train on Kanter. He is a pretty unique guy and has made a lot in his career so far. I can see him wanting stability. He seems to truly embrace his teammates and has been on a culture search for a good fit since his early NY days, and to me PDX seems to offer that culture. I could see him taking the taxpayer MLE on a 1+1(PO).

I think 3 of the 5 guys could realistically be resigned, and its pretty clear to me that barring any offseason changes those guys are Aminu, Kanter and Hood. The revitalized play of Harkless has really made me cool on resigning Layman, albeit I would have no issues trading Mo and using Jake's RFA to match any deal.

[d-train]

I surprisingly agree with d-train on Kanter. He is a pretty unique guy and has made a lot in his career so far. I can see him wanting stability. He seems to truly embrace his teammates and has been on a culture search for a good fit since his early NY days, and to me PDX seems to offer that culture. I could see him taking the taxpayer MLE on a 1+1(PO).

I think 3 of the 5 guys could realistically be resigned, and its pretty clear to me that barring any offseason changes those guys are Aminu, Kanter and Hood. The revitalized play of Harkless has really made me cool on resigning Layman, albeit I would have no issues trading Mo and using Jake's RFA to match any deal.

I would not be surprised if Blazers manage to retain all their free agents. Obviously, they are limited in what they can offer to Kanter, Hood, and Curry. So, players can leave for better deals. I think Aminu will stay and Blazers won't have to break the bank to resign him. I wouldn't be surprised if Jake signs his QO, which is around $2M. I don't believe the Blazers would offer him enough more than that to entice him to forego UFA. Unless, Jake gets an offer that Blazers decide to match.

[DusterBuster]

I surprisingly agree with d-train on Kanter. He is a pretty unique guy and has made a lot in his career so far. I can see him wanting stability. He seems to truly embrace his teammates and has been on a culture search for a good fit since his early NY days, and to me PDX seems to offer that culture. I could see him taking the taxpayer MLE on a 1+1(PO).

I think 3 of the 5 guys could realistically be resigned, and its pretty clear to me that barring any offseason changes those guys are Aminu, Kanter and Hood. The revitalized play of Harkless has really made me cool on resigning Layman, albeit I would have no issues trading Mo and using Jake's RFA to match any deal.

I would not be surprised if Blazers manage to retain all their free agents. Obviously, they are limited in what they can offer to Kanter, Hood, and Curry. So, players can leave for better deals. I think Aminu will stay and Blazers won't have to break the bank to resign him. I wouldn't be surprised if Jake signs his QO, which is around $2M. I don't believe the Blazers would offer him enough more than that to entice him to forego UFA. Unless, Jake gets an offer that Blazers decide to match.

I think all 3 may be rough, but I do think 2 outta 3 can be kept, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep Kanter and Curry. Hood I think is a tossup.

[d-train]

I surprisingly agree with d-train on Kanter. He is a pretty unique guy and has made a lot in his career so far. I can see him wanting stability. He seems to truly embrace his teammates and has been on a culture search for a good fit since his early NY days, and to me PDX seems to offer that culture. I could see him taking the taxpayer MLE on a 1+1(PO).

I think 3 of the 5 guys could realistically be resigned, and its pretty clear to me that barring any offseason changes those guys are Aminu, Kanter and Hood. The revitalized play of Harkless has really made me cool on resigning Layman, albeit I would have no issues trading Mo and using Jake's RFA to match any deal.

I would not be surprised if Blazers manage to retain all their free agents. Obviously, they are limited in what they can offer to Kanter, Hood, and Curry. So, players can leave for better deals. I think Aminu will stay and Blazers won't have to break the bank to resign him. I wouldn't be surprised if Jake signs his QO, which is around $2M. I don't believe the Blazers would offer him enough more than that to entice him to forego UFA. Unless, Jake gets an offer that Blazers decide to match.

I think all 3 may be rough, but I do think 2 outta 3 can be kept, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep Kanter and Curry. Hood I think is a tossup.

We only have 15 roster spots. We can't resign everyone and our 1st round pick. Something has to give. Probably there will be a trade or we lose one of the free agents. If not for Nurkic's status, I would say there is no role on the team for Leonard.

[DusterBuster]

I would not be surprised if Blazers manage to retain all their free agents. Obviously, they are limited in what they can offer to Kanter, Hood, and Curry. So, players can leave for better deals. I think Aminu will stay and Blazers won't have to break the bank to resign him. I wouldn't be surprised if Jake signs his QO, which is around $2M. I don't believe the Blazers would offer him enough more than that to entice him to forego UFA. Unless, Jake gets an offer that Blazers decide to match.

I think all 3 may be rough, but I do think 2 outta 3 can be kept, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep Kanter and Curry. Hood I think is a tossup.

We only have 15 roster spots. We can't resign everyone and our 1st round pick. Something has to give. Probably there will be a trade or we lose one of the free agents. If not for Nurkic's status, I would say there is no role on the team for Leonard.

I'm expecting the team to be pretty active with trades this summer and next season because of all the expiring contracts they have. My only caveat to that is the ownership issue, no one seems to have any clue how or if that will have any impact on what the team can do.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I'm not over interested in drafting a rookie this year so if I can move that and Leonard or Turner, I do it. Take a lesser contract, which enables the Blazers to resign some players. The backup C position would be thin if Leonard left (that seems so weird to say), but I'm still doing it.

Does anyone else think maybe the Blazers have been playing the wrong guy at backup PF? Skal looked really good last night. I know, consider the competition, but the guy as an offensive mindset, Collins does not. I have to assume Collins shows more during practice or Stotts would have made the switch already. Wouldn't he? Could Skal keep up with the smaller SF if he were to give that a try?

[JasonStern]

Will be fun rooting for Layman in a Nets jersey next year.

[BlazersBroncos]

Does anyone else think maybe the Blazers have been playing the wrong guy at backup PF? Skal looked really good last night. I know, consider the competition, but the guy as an offensive mindset, Collins does not.

Skal was getting a lot of post ups run through him last night. PDX on their best day, healthy and playing their starting rotation just isn't going to have use for a backup PF posting up for hook shots all night. If Skal can shoot the 3 consistently and get garbage buckets, that's a lot more valuable. Collins is a better defender and shotblocker, and has been developed to be that 4th option type that hits open 3's and snags garbage baskets.

Collins has shown much more in his first two seasons than Skal. This seems like a grass is greener type hot take. Zach has a lot to prove in year 3 but he is at least a rotation worthy player. We cant say the same about Skal after a single good game.

[Dame Lizard]

I’m not thrilled with playing Houston in the first round, but can’t be mad at anyone but the Jazz for such a rough start to the year. As the Portland game went on last night, I found myself weirdly cheering for you guys because that was an incredible comeback and so dang gutty.

Good luck in the playoffs. Lillard is my favorite non-Utah superstar and it’s a shame that Nurkic is hurt but you guys are grinding out wins anyway!

Thanks, good luck to the Jazz as well!

I'm from down under, so naturally love the Jazz with Jingles and Exum.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Does anyone else think maybe the Blazers have been playing the wrong guy at backup PF? Skal looked really good last night. I know, consider the competition, but the guy as an offensive mindset, Collins does not.

Skal was getting a lot of post ups run through him last night. PDX on their best day, healthy and playing their starting rotation just isn't going to have use for a backup PF posting up for hook shots all night. If Skal can shoot the 3 consistently and get garbage buckets, that's a lot more valuable. Collins is a better defender and shotblocker, and has been developed to be that 4th option type that hits open 3's and snags garbage baskets.

Collins has shown much more in his first two seasons than Skal. This seems like a grass is greener type hot take. Zach has a lot to prove in year 3 but he is at least a rotation worthy player. We cant say the same about Skal after a single good game.

Frankly, Collins had a lot to prove in year 2 and didn't. He's a very weak 4th option and rarely hits the open 3. This is definitely a grass is greener situation cuz I've only seen Skal play in 1 game, but I sure liked what I saw and I haven't liked a whole lot of what I've seen from Collins this season. Is Skal under contract next season or is he a FA this summer? I wouldn't mind getting a better look at him. Maybe he'll play on the Blazers Summer League team. While I'm not a big Collins fan, I am optimistic he can become a decent rotational player... I just don't think he's there yet.

[Fitz303]

Does anyone else think maybe the Blazers have been playing the wrong guy at backup PF? Skal looked really good last night. I know, consider the competition, but the guy as an offensive mindset, Collins does not.

Skal was getting a lot of post ups run through him last night. PDX on their best day, healthy and playing their starting rotation just isn't going to have use for a backup PF posting up for hook shots all night. If Skal can shoot the 3 consistently and get garbage buckets, that's a lot more valuable. Collins is a better defender and shotblocker, and has been developed to be that 4th option type that hits open 3's and snags garbage baskets.

Collins has shown much more in his first two seasons than Skal. This seems like a grass is greener type hot take. Zach has a lot to prove in year 3 but he is at least a rotation worthy player. We cant say the same about Skal after a single good game.

Frankly, Collins had a lot to prove in year 2 and didn't. He's a very weak 4th option and rarely hits the open 3. This is definitely a grass is greener situation cuz I've only seen Skal play in 1 game, but I sure liked what I saw and I haven't liked a whole lot of what I've seen from Collins this season. Is Skal under contract next season or is he a FA this summer? I wouldn't mind getting a better look at him. Maybe he'll play on the Blazers Summer League team. While I'm not a big Collins fan, I am optimistic he can become a decent rotational player... I just don't think he's there yet.

What did he need to prove this year that he hasn't? He needed to improve, and he did. His 3pt% was 33% this year. Better than Layman, and just under Aminu and Hood. His per-minute numbers across the board, at 21 years old, were almost identical to Aminu's at 28...

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Al-Farouq+Aminu&player_id1_select=Al-Farouq+Aminu&y1=2019&player_id1=aminual01&idx=players&player_id2_select=Zach+Collins&y2=2019&player_id2=colliza01&idx=players

His fouls are still the biggest issue, however, his post all star fpg dropped from 2.5 to 1.6. He needs to get stronger, but he's been scoring better this year (.562 TS% from .475 last year). That's right at league average, and climbing. McCollums TS% is .553, Hoods is .549, even Nurk is .570. Collins has been getting better. Even his Reb% is up (though still has a ways to go) His weight is still his biggest issue. He'll get there. He's a project big man who is making improvements

[DeBlazerRiddem]

That was a fun game.

When I realized Simons/Trent/Skal were starting I didn't feel very confident about winning this game so I adjusted my expectations that maybe Simons could put up a bunch of shots and have a bit of a milestone game for himself and that the team was ready to accept the loss.

Wow did he. And on only 2 turnovers, both that happened very late, and incredibly 3 point shooting. You could tell by the type of shots he was taking in previous games that he is very confident in his 3 point shot, but they didn't seem to be falling. Well they started falling. Simons will be a difficult player for teams to stop if he is shooting like that. But holy cow the assists are what really give me a feel-good about his future, combining playmaking with electric scoring are the tools for a player who can eventually carry his team ala Dame. 48 mins is a lot of time to put up stats of course, but still a good aspect to see developing from his game.

At the end of the third it was looking like a loss, but the Kings kept their starters out, played their deep bench and were trying to throw the game. Good on our guys to step it up, even after playing big minutes and take it back from them. I LOVED the veterans off the bench all night and especially in the fourth. They were having fun and really hamming it up.

Great way to finish a season.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Skal was getting a lot of post ups run through him last night. PDX on their best day, healthy and playing their starting rotation just isn't going to have use for a backup PF posting up for hook shots all night. If Skal can shoot the 3 consistently and get garbage buckets, that's a lot more valuable. Collins is a better defender and shotblocker, and has been developed to be that 4th option type that hits open 3's and snags garbage baskets.

Collins has shown much more in his first two seasons than Skal. This seems like a grass is greener type hot take. Zach has a lot to prove in year 3 but he is at least a rotation worthy player. We cant say the same about Skal after a single good game.

Frankly, Collins had a lot to prove in year 2 and didn't. He's a very weak 4th option and rarely hits the open 3. This is definitely a grass is greener situation cuz I've only seen Skal play in 1 game, but I sure liked what I saw and I haven't liked a whole lot of what I've seen from Collins this season. Is Skal under contract next season or is he a FA this summer? I wouldn't mind getting a better look at him. Maybe he'll play on the Blazers Summer League team. While I'm not a big Collins fan, I am optimistic he can become a decent rotational player... I just don't think he's there yet.

What did he need to prove this year that he hasn't? He needed to improve, and he did. His 3pt% was 33% this year. Better than Layman, and just under Aminu and Hood. His per-minute numbers across the board, at 21 years old, were almost identical to Aminu's at 28...

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Al-Farouq+Aminu&player_id1_select=Al-Farouq+Aminu&y1=2019&player_id1=aminual01&idx=players&player_id2_select=Zach+Collins&y2=2019&player_id2=colliza01&idx=players

His fouls are still the biggest issue, however, his post all star fpg dropped from 2.5 to 1.6. He needs to get stronger, but he's been scoring better this year (.562 TS% from .475 last year). That's right at league average, and climbing. McCollums TS% is .553, Hoods is .549, even Nurk is .570. Collins has been getting better. Even his Reb% is up (though still has a ways to go) His weight is still his biggest issue. He'll get there. He's a project big man who is making improvements

He improved this season over last, but it was closer to a marginal improvement than anything good.

Games Played - 77 vs 66 (improved)
Minutes Played - 17.6 vs 16.8 (marginal)
Field Goal % - 47.3 vs 44.1 (improved)
Three Point % - 33.1 vs 32.1 (marginal)
Free Throw % - 74.6 vs 72.0 (marginal)
Rebounds - 4.2 vs 3.8 (marginal)
Assists - 0.9 vs 0.9 (no improvement)
Blocks - 0.9 vs 0.7 (marginal)
Steals - 0.3 vs 0.3 (marginal)
Fouls - 2.3 vs 2.1 (no improvement)
Turnovers - 1.0 vs 0.9 (no improvement)
Points - 6.6 vs 5.6 (marginal)

He improved in games played and field goal percentage, but was pretty much marginal in every other category. Now, advanced stats I don't do and frankly, I don't understand half of them so maybe I'm missing something there, but I also go with the eye test and my eyes were not impressed this season. I'm not asking for huge leaps and bounds, but I would have liked to have been more impressed this season than his rookie season and I'm just not. I want him to be able to play more than 17.6 minutes per game. Now, even though I marked him as marginal for assists and steals, I don't actually have a problem with those numbers for his position. Sure, it'd be great if they were better, but I'm okay with those. I want him to stay in the game longer and be effective. That means developing an offensive game and while his defense is okay, he's not big enough nor strong enough. He loses the ball quite often to a smaller guy ripping it from his hands. I'd like to see him improve his free throw shooting to 80%. He's a poor rebounder, as well. I just don't feel like he makes a big difference and that's what I'm waiting for. I look at John Collins from his same draft class who went after him having a better season and that frustrates me! I feel like we could have done more with those draft picks than what we've seen so far (either picking other players or trading the picks with Leonard and/or Turner). That's all I'm saying. He's not a bad player, but I want, and expect, more!

[Sinobas]

I'd trade CJ to the Lakers to dump his salary. They've been under pressure to get another star, and McCollum is massively over-paid for what he brings. He's not much better than Seth Curry.

Maybe we could also get them to take Meyers, or get someone like Josh Hart in return.

[HoopsFanAZ]

I’ve been on the Simons bandwagon from preseason. The guy has a stroke and a smoothness to his game with an even demeanor. His D is nowhere near ready. And he’s 1-2 years away from an NBA body. The SAC game was great scoring, but he needs some time.

Labissiere showed some of the upside going back to his pre-Kentucky days ... but he’s not where Collins is on defense on an everyday basis. On O, Collins is starting to have the game slow down. I expect a serious year three jump. With that said, the Labissiere trade was a win.

And with the Kanter, Hood, and Curry moves, Olshey has made some solid moves. No homers. Mostly line drive singles and doubles. The trick will be who comes back.

[d-train]

I think all 3 may be rough, but I do think 2 outta 3 can be kept, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep Kanter and Curry. Hood I think is a tossup.

We only have 15 roster spots. We can't resign everyone and our 1st round pick. Something has to give. Probably there will be a trade or we lose one of the free agents. If not for Nurkic's status, I would say there is no role on the team for Leonard.

I'm expecting the team to be pretty active with trades this summer and next season because of all the expiring contracts they have. My only caveat to that is the ownership issue, no one seems to have any clue how or if that will have any impact on what the team can do.

On the ownership, I'm settling into a theory that the team is going to be managed as Paul Allen planned until it's time for a new long-term plan. This means we are on the course charted in the summer of 2016. This was never intended to be a low budget plan. It was known from the beginning that it would get more expensive every year and luxury taxes would be paid. The Blazers have continued to expand their salary base beyond the cap by expanding their options to pay more money to players. They have made cuts but only when the money didn't have potential to make the team better. Mostly, Blazers have spent every cent they could that had some potential to improve the team. It's not going to change until time runs out on the key players involved, or the key players decide to give up. We have seen key players give up on their team.

[DusterBuster]

We only have 15 roster spots. We can't resign everyone and our 1st round pick. Something has to give. Probably there will be a trade or we lose one of the free agents. If not for Nurkic's status, I would say there is no role on the team for Leonard.

I'm expecting the team to be pretty active with trades this summer and next season because of all the expiring contracts they have. My only caveat to that is the ownership issue, no one seems to have any clue how or if that will have any impact on what the team can do.

On the ownership, I'm settling into a theory that the team is going to be managed as Paul Allen planned until it's time for a new long-term plan. This means we are on the course charted in the summer of 2016. This was never intended to be a low budget plan. It was known from the beginning that it would get more expensive every year and luxury taxes would be paid. The Blazers have continued to expand their salary base beyond the cap by expanding their options to pay more money to players. They have made cuts but only when the money didn't have potential to make the team better. Mostly, Blazers have spent every cent they could that had some potential to improve the team. It's not going to change until time runs out on the key players involved, or the key players decide to give up. We have seen key players give up on their team.

That's a nice theory. Hope it's right.

[Shem]

Watch on YouTube

[DusterBuster]

Watching the Jazz vs Rockets Game 1 and I can see why Stotts may have preferred playing Utah in Round 1. I'm still pretty convinced they would have been an easier round 1 opponent.