Top 10 roster players and best depth chart to start the season

[chocodog]

Now that summer league is done and with Sharpe's development set back by injury, I think this is the best depth chart to start the season...

dame/gp2
hart/simons
little/winslow
grant/walker
nurk/watford

Though the blazers just committed a ton of cap space into Simons, I think he's best suited as the 6th man. he'll still play among the most minutes and be on the court to close the game typically but IMO, this maximizes Simons' value to the team. Coming off the bench allows him to be the primary ball handler for more minutes and minimizes the defensive liabilities for the team. Hart/Little will better make up for dame's defensive shortcomings while Simons will better sustain offensive production when reserves are on the court.

Then after January, Blazers can asses if grant warrants an extension, hart is more valuable as a trade piece, and if dame and/or Simons is part of the long term plans.

Thoughts on best lineup to start season?

[PDXKnight]

We will see on walker, the verdict is still out imo as plenty of guys do well in the summer league. I do hope he earns that spot in practice and in real nba games as he seems solid at the surface. Honestly I view walker as 3rd string at pf behind Winslow currently but would love to see him pass Winslow. Goes without saying simons won't come off the bench irl...

Dame/GPJ
Hart/Simons/(sharpe)
Little/Keon
Jerami Grant/Winslow/ (walker)
Nurk/ Watford

[BlazersBroncos]

G - Damian Lillard (34) / Anfernee Simons (14)
G - Anfernee Simons (18) / Gary Payton JR (20) / Josh Hart (10)
F - Josh Hart (20) / Nas Little (24) / Justice Winslow (4)
F - Jerami Grant (32) / Justice Winslow (16)
C - Jusuf Nurkic (28) / Eubanks + Watford Platoon (20) {Matchup dependent}

The youngsters will get run as injuries are inevitable but the above is basically what I think is our best minute breakdown assuming full health during a playoff game that isnt a blowout (IE - the strictest rotation).

[DaVoiceMaster]

Here's how I see things shaking out. They didn't pay Simon's $25M to come off the bench, no matter how much we dont want to see him and Lillard on the court together.

PG Lillard / Payton II /
SG Simon's/ Johnson / Sharpe / Louzada
SF Hart / Little / Brown III
PF Grant / Winslow / Walker
_C Nurkic / Eubanks / Watford

I dont know that I see Payton II getting much more than 20 minutes. That means Little will get 8 minutes of guard time and probably 16 minutes at the wing. Grant will get 32-34 minutes so Winslow will see 14-16 minutes at PF. I think Eubanks will get the backup C minutes, which will be around 20 minutes. Now, depending on the matchup, they could go smaller with any combination of the remaining players on the roster.

[Norm2953]

PG Lillard, GP2
SG Simons, Johnson
C Nurkic Watford
SF Hart, Little
PF Grant, Winslow

Real chance by mid-season, Walker will have entered the rotation, especially if Little gets hurt (again).

[HoopsFanAZ]

1 — Lillard / Hart / Simons
2 — Simons / Payton / Sharpe
3 — Little / Hart / Payton
4 — Grant / Winslow / Little / Walker
5 — Nurkic / Watford / Eubanks

Hart as a back-up PG as he reportedly said post-season that conversations included him as a facilitator off the bench.
Back-up minutes at 1-3 are around 54 minutes (with Little playing a few minutes of PF small ball). Early on, that’s Hart and Payton. Later on, add Sharpe to the mix at 2 until he develops his NBA body.

[Goldbum]

Dwight Howard is still an UFA right? A 2 for 1 trade and then signing the former DPOTY could do a lot for us...

[HoopsFanAZ]

Yup. There are older vets available for < 18 minutes per game.
The two-way contracts should be for bigs. Athletic Projects. Louzada should be 1 of the 2 gone in trade.

[BNM]

Dwight Howard is still an UFA right? A 2 for 1 trade and then signing the former DPOTY could do a lot for us...

Currently unsigned UFA Centers (age):
LaMarcus Aldridge (37)
Aron Baynes (36)
Willie Cauley-Stein (29)
DeMarcus Cousins (32)
Ed Davis (33)
Tacko Fall (27)
Bruno Fernando (24)
Enes Freedom (30)
Luka Garza (24)
Montrezl Harrell (28)
Udonis Haslem (42)
Dwight Howard (37)
Meyers Leonard (30)
Greg Monroe (32)
Olivier Sarr (23)
Tristan Thompson (31)
Hassan Whiteside (33)
Cody Zeller (30)

Hard to believe Ed Davis is only 33, DeMarcus Cousins only 32, Enes Freedom only 30, Montrezl Harrell only 28, Greg Monroe only 32 and Tristan Thompson only 31. Seems like all of those guys have been kicking/kicked around the league forever. The game has passed some of them by as they've slowed with age and injury. Others could never guard anyone even back when they were young and only had to defend in the paint.

[monopoman]

Knowing Billups he likely will rely on guys he feels fit his coaching style. So the more they play like Chauncy back in the day the more likely they are to see real minutes.

Last year he was restrained by playing his best players in a vacuum but now outside Dame, Simons and Nurkic he has free reign with the rest of the guys for the most part. Now as the season progresses I could see a more cemented depth chart come out but most coaches experiment with lineups early in the season. A team with a lot of new faces like this one will have a higher experimentation factor in general.

[Case2012]

I've been wanting cousins on the team for years. He's the same age as Dame. He can still score, and he's a very good playmaker, high IQ player.

[BlazersBroncos]

Dwight Howard is still an UFA right? A 2 for 1 trade and then signing the former DPOTY could do a lot for us...

Currently unsigned UFA Centers (age):
LaMarcus Aldridge (37)
Aron Baynes (36)
Willie Cauley-Stein (29)
DeMarcus Cousins (32)
Ed Davis (33)
Tacko Fall (27)
Bruno Fernando (24)
Enes Freedom (30)
Luka Garza (24)
Montrezl Harrell (28)
Udonis Haslem (42)
Dwight Howard (37)
Meyers Leonard (30)
Greg Monroe (32)
Olivier Sarr (23)
Tristan Thompson (31)
Hassan Whiteside (33)
Cody Zeller (30)

Hard to believe Ed Davis is only 33, DeMarcus Cousins only 32, Enes Freedom only 30, Montrezl Harrell only 28, Greg Monroe only 32 and Tristan Thompson only 31. Seems like all of those guys have been kicking/kicked around the league forever. The game has passed some of them by as they've slowed with age and injury. Others could never guard anyone even back when they were young and only had to defend in the paint.

Ya, there is no one on this list I would take over Eubanks or Watford. Both those guys have a better motor on both ends than any of the guys in the above list.

Billups wants guys that run hot 100% of the time. We arent chasing dinosaurs like LMA or DMC for a reason, and we arent chasing one way guys like Trez and Monroe for a reason, and we arent chasing low motor guys like WCS and Hassan for a reason.

[chocodog]

I dont see why the blazers have to rush to sign a veteran like a Dwight howard until after the season starts and they see how the current roster plays. Likewise the team shouldn't make any trades until more players become movable in January. Maybe its presumptive to expect walker to play regular minutes off the bench but they're thin at the 4 and I dont think his summer league play is a fluke.

Also, I dont see how Simons coming off the bench is considered a waste of money if he still plays like 35min a game and closes games. he can be this team's Jordan poole and lot more valuable off the bench. Payton isn't a great point guard rather a undersized defender whereas Simons is ball dominant so Simons could spend a lot of time on court next to Payton or hart and minimize his time with dame to those closing minutes and stretches where they need to max scoring.

[monopoman]

I dont see why the blazers have to rush to sign a veteran like a Dwight howard until after the season starts and they see how the current roster plays. Likewise the team shouldn't make any trades until more players become movable in January. Maybe its presumptive to expect walker to play regular minutes off the bench but they're thin at the 4 and I dont think his summer league play is a fluke.

Also, I dont see how Simons coming off the bench is considered a waste of money if he still plays like 35min a game and closes games. he can be this team's Jordan poole and lot more valuable off the bench. Payton isn't a great point guard rather a undersized defender whereas Simons is ball dominant so Simons could spend a lot of time on court next to Payton or hart and minimize his time with dame to those closing minutes and stretches where they need to max scoring.

I hope they target guys they feel will work well in the Billups system, we saw the team actually perform better at the end of last year. Even with lesser talent on the floor they started to really gel until Simons, Little, and Nurkic went down.

[wjun15]

Dame
Simons
Little
Grant
Nurk

Payton replacing combination of Dame, Simons, Little

Hart replacing Simons off bench

Walker replacing Little

Eubanks replacing Nurk

Watford replacing Grant

Dont play Winslow unless you need a defensive stop.

[monopoman]

I dont see why the blazers have to rush to sign a veteran like a Dwight howard until after the season starts and they see how the current roster plays. Likewise the team shouldn't make any trades until more players become movable in January. Maybe its presumptive to expect walker to play regular minutes off the bench but they're thin at the 4 and I dont think his summer league play is a fluke.

Also, I dont see how Simons coming off the bench is considered a waste of money if he still plays like 35min a game and closes games. he can be this team's Jordan poole and lot more valuable off the bench. Payton isn't a great point guard rather a undersized defender whereas Simons is ball dominant so Simons could spend a lot of time on court next to Payton or hart and minimize his time with dame to those closing minutes and stretches where they need to max scoring.

Simons has been on record saying he feels he is a starter, so you would have to get him to agree to come off the bench. Really it's rare to see guys with all-star potential be happy about coming off the bench, throughout the history of the league there haven't been many.

I guess you could force Simons to come off the bench, but it might make him more disgruntled and seeking another team once his contract ends.

[chocodog]

starting Simons is not ideal but if its imperative then I think Little has to start at the 3 because then Hart can technically come in for any of Little, Simons or even Dame (with simons becoming the primary ball handler for brief stretches). The same logic applies to GP2, who can really come in at any of the three positions too.

[Blazers98]

Crazy?

Dame (32) /Simons (16) (keep Dame fresh with 32 min)
GP (20) / Simons (14) Sharpe (14) (Need to develop Sharpe)
Hart (34) / Little (14)
Grant (34) / Little (6) / Watford (8)
Nurk (28) Hopefully someone better than we have now (20) If not Eubanks/Watford depending on how we want to play.

I prefer Simons coming off the bench to bring a scoring punch and GP in the starting unit for defense.

[Norm2953]

It''d be interesting to see if Portland is still looking for a SF upgrade.

Preferably they'd like this player to be able to switch up with Grant defensively, allowing
Portland to bring young players like Sharpe and Walker more slowly. They could offer young
players like Little/Johnson or perhaps Hart if this player could lineup up next to Grant as
a bookend pair of forwards, much like Aminu/Harkless seemed to be a matched pair.

[skoharry]

I would have liked our depth chart to look like
Dame/bledsoe
Simmons/lamb
Hart/little
Grant/Paschal
Nurkic/Whiteside

But this is what it is
Dame/GP 2
Simmons/Johnson
Hart/Little
Grant/Brown
Nurkic/eubanks