Cody Zeller to Portland

Sinobas · Post #1 » by **Sinobas** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:35 am

Guy has a pretty sordid injury history, but is a really decent player when healthy. I take this to mean Enes Kanter is not coming back?

JasonStern · Post #2 » by **JasonStern** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:42 am

Sinobas wrote:Guy has a pretty sordid injury history, but is a really decent player when healthy.

And if there is one team that could get away with signing an injury prone big man, it's the Los Angeles Lakers.

PDXKnight · Post #3 » by **PDXKnight** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:50 am

Good signing but not the big move we need

JasonStern · Post #4 » by **JasonStern** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:52 am

Read on Twitter

If it's a veteran minimum contract, I take back every joke I made. The Blazers will need several of them to fill out the roster. Would still have much preferred Kanter if that was an option.

DusterBuster · Post #5 » by **DusterBuster** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:56 am

Olshey just can’t stop smashing the “injury prone white big man” and “undersized scoring guard” buttons….

Wickzki · Post #6 » by **Wickzki** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 2:23 am

This is a good vet min pickup. I like it. Good per 36 production levels despite the injuries.

Blazers98 · Post #7 » by **Blazers98** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 2:53 am

LOL...yes injury prone but a very capable player.
Small upgrade IMO.

Sinobas · Post #8 » by **Sinobas** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 3:19 am

Hope the Blazers keep Giles as well. We now have 2 pretty injury prone centers.

GEE · Post #9 » by **GEE** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 3:39 am

I'd prefer Giles to Zeller. When he was allowed by Stotts, to actually get on the floor, I thought he played well. I never saw his play hurt the team, and he was healthy all year, iirc.

Collins was supposed to be the starting PF day 1, with Melo as the backup. Giles was 3rd string, but when Collins went out again with injury, instead of starting Melo and backing him up with Giles... Stotts elected to go small. Instead of, next man up... he went with go small shakeup. Giles is just another bargain big that shows well, but never got the PT under Stott's.

Giles > Zeller

red_power · Post #10 » by **red_power** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 12:23 pm

This basically means Kanter is done in PDX. Kind of good news.
I mean Enes was good at dropping some respectable number against weak competition in the regular season but was simply unplayable for the most part in the postseason.

Hopefully Zeller could make the difference here.

Village Idiot · Post #11 » by **Village Idiot** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 12:44 pm

I really like this deal. Zeller fits well on this roster and this deal is a bargain. He's a smart player who sets good screens, rolls well and is really good a passing the ball. He's a solid rebounder and a really good defender in space. Poor outside shooter and rim protector though.

PDXKnight · Post #12 » by **PDXKnight** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:03 pm

I wonder if Kanter is returning? Olshey doesn’t seem to like bringing guys back so i doubt it but would be nice to have another big & another wing

Ed Davis id love to bring back, maybe more than Kanter actually given his defensive impact

PDXKnight · Post #13 » by **PDXKnight** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:04 pm

red_power wrote:This basically means Kanter is done in PDX. Kind of good news.
I mean Enes was good at dropping some respectable number against weak competition in the regular season but was simply unplayable for the most part in the postseason.

Hopefully Zeller could make the difference here.

I’d want Kanter back but he should be a 12 mpg sort of player. Unfortunately he was thrust into the starting role because nurk cannot stay healthy but that’s not where he’s best at this point in his career

whatchaknow · Post #14 » by **whatchaknow** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:12 pm

Oden2 wrote:
red_power wrote:This basically means Kanter is done in PDX. Kind of good news.
I mean Enes was good at dropping some respectable number against weak competition in the regular season but was simply unplayable for the most part in the postseason.

Hopefully Zeller could make the difference here.

I’d want Kanter back but he should be a 12 mpg sort of player. Unfortunately he was thrust into the starting role because he cannot stay healthy but that’s not where he should be

Kanter was a rock for this team and really has given us everything we could ask for both times we acquired him. He’s just utterly unplayable in the playoffs, it sucks cuz he’s a great guy and teammate but I think they need to move on.

I agree with you on still needing a wing but looks like olshey think guard is a synonym for wing. I wouldn’t mind trying to get kelly oubre but his asking price is ridiculous, doubt warriors would do DJJ for him in a S&T. Especially since they just got Otto porter for the minimum :banghead:

. I still think we need 2 more bigs with nurks history another wing and a backup pg. Obviously something is gonna get skipped there since olshey is racking up all the small guards who can’t play point

BlazersBroncos · Post #15 » by **BlazersBroncos** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:13 pm

No idea what people saw in Giles. He is a PF with the skillset of an antiquated C. Zeller is a competent NBA rotation guy. Near 2 APG from a C in 20mpg last season is really good and he has a career DBMP of 0.6, which is above average. Nice defender, good screener, knows how to move the ball and is totally aware of his limitations. Nice pickup, especially for the VM.

I would still take Kanter back at the VM to be a 12mpg offensive spark, sorta a mini Boban.

Myth · Post #16 » by **Myth** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:50 pm

I hope we keep Kanter. I hated that we only had Kanter as backup C, but I don't mind keeping him as long as we have another C to throw in there for matchups he fails against. Options are a good thing, and given the injury histories of Zeller and Nurkic, it isn't a bad thing to have a 3rd center.

BlazersBroncos · Post #17 » by **BlazersBroncos** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 1:54 pm

Myth wrote:I hope we keep Kanter. I hated that we only had Kanter as backup C, but I don't mind keeping him as long as we have another C to throw in there for matchups he fails against. Options are a good thing, and given the injury histories of Zeller and Nurkic, it isn't a bad thing to have a 3rd center.

Ya, and I think until the PO's, its best to keep Nurkic around 24mpg. The rest can go to Kanter / Zeller, some nights all to one depending on matchups, sometimes a split, sometimes a mix. It would be nice.

Never want to lose a guy of Kanter's character and culture if possible. Think he is just the man.

JasonStern · Post #18 » by **JasonStern** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 4:49 pm

Nurkić is too injury prone to not have a three deep center rotation. I just hope Olshey didn't pencil in Covington as the 3rd option at center.

Wizenheimer · Post #19 » by **Wizenheimer** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 8:58 pm

Zeller at the vet minimum, if that's truly what he signed for, is fine. Zeller for the tax-MLE isn't

JasonStern · Post #20 » by **JasonStern** » Tue Aug 3, 2021 10:06 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:Zeller at the vet minimum, if that's truly what he signed for, is fine. Zeller for the tax-MLE isn't

It has to be a minimum contract, right? Retaining Powell pushed Portland right up to the tax threshold.

As underwhelming as Zeller, McLemore, Snell, and Brown are - that is still nearly 1/3 of the roster overhauled. And if you spend heavy on your top players (deserved or not), then you have to pinch pennies elsewhere.