Game 78: Portland vs Chicago 5: 00pm Chargetv and KUNP

[PDXKnight]

Solid game for DC with 18 boards. Would be nice to see his shot fall more often next year but I'm not worried about it

[zzaj]

I've probably been Banton's biggest supporter on these forums, and even I can see that he's not really worth keeping around...

Would rather have someone like Nique Clifford playing his role.

[Wizenheimer]

I've probably been Banton's biggest supporter on these forums, and even I can see that he's not really worth keeping around...

Would rather have someone like Nique Clifford playing his role.

I'd rather have somebody like Justice Winslow; somebody who isn't such a iso-heavy ballhog

[Shem]

Banton is a cheap $2 million a year player that is a 8-9 man of a rotation that fills a role. You're always going to have players who have issues at that part of a rotation. He's been playing a lot of minutes lately at the point because of Scoot and Ant being injured and we have nobody else competent enough to play the PG.

[Walton1one]

Watching the replay of this game, and that first quarter Banton played like the worst version of himself, took 7 shots & was 1-7, yikes. You’re playing to lose if you have him in your rotation.

Also, Sharpe’s 3pt shooting needs serious work, some really bad misses

[Shem]

Watching the replay of this game, and that first quarter Banton played like the worst version of himself, took 7 shots & was 1-7, yikes. You’re playing to lose if you have him in your rotation.

Also, Sharpe’s 3pt shooting needs serious work, some really bad misses

For someone that is near the end of the playing rotation and as cheap of a contract he is, Banton is useful. He has won games for the Blazers at times because of his play. Overall, he and Sharpe played at the same level overall last game by the time the game was over, but people are harder on Banton than Sharpe which doesn't make sense to me since more should be expect from Sharpe.

Overall, I'd keep him. It's nice to have someone who can go off at any given moment who plays sporadically (inconsistent rotation minutes which is hard to do), I think he does well in that role. He can fill in at point in emergency situations (like having both Scoot and Ant) out and fill in other wing positions because of his 6'9" height. Most 3rd string point guards are limited to just PG because they're too small to play other positions.

He shooting stats aren't great, but not terrible either. His 18PPG, 5APG and 4.5RPG per36 along with that is better than you typically get from someone at the rotational spot he's in. Plus he's a cheap contract too.

You treat him as if he's a major rotational player on the team which he's not. You need to look at where he is normally on the bench when the roster is healthy and treat it as such. When you're several men down, especially at the point, you're not going to exactly replace what you lost, but you want someone who isn't going to totally flop like a Nolan Smith.

[dckingsfan]

yep we needed that loss, another great game by Deni

Nice loss and Deni is getting ridiculous. In the last 5 games, he is rebounding like a small ball C, DRB% 21.6, his TS% is 64.3 , his D has been really good all while taking on the primary ball handler duties and dishing out near 7 assists per game (and that doesn't include all those wicked hockey passes).

I really feel like if Camara keeps improving next season like this season, that is going to be one really good set of forwards next year.

Don't get me wrong, I think Simons can still tank us single handedly.

[PDXKnight]

Wasn't sure if we'd even get 9th but looking at the Bulls and heat both play incredibly easy schedules playing the wizards (both) 76ers (both) and hornets/pelicans between themselves along with facing each other one time

I feel pretty confident we don't fall further (good news), the bad news is idk if we get to 8th either. We'd have to lose to the spurs and probably the Jazz as well. Pretty sure the spurs can beat the raptors and maybe even the suns, but we'd really need to lose all 4 to even be in the running for 8 at this point.

[Walton1one]

SA picking before POR seems criminal to me, Wemby - Fox - Castle (likely rookie of the year), and they picked ahead of POR LY as well, and if PHI falls out of top 6, OKC gets that pick

Let’s hope bball gods give POR a break and bounce them into Top 4, it is a long shot but at this point best they can hope for

[zzaj]

Watching the replay of this game, and that first quarter Banton played like the worst version of himself, took 7 shots & was 1-7, yikes. You’re playing to lose if you have him in your rotation.

Also, Sharpe’s 3pt shooting needs serious work, some really bad misses

For someone that is near the end of the playing rotation and as cheap of a contract he is, Banton is useful. He has won games for the Blazers at times because of his play. Overall, he and Sharpe played at the same level overall last game by the time the game was over, but people are harder on Banton than Sharpe which doesn't make sense to me since more should be expect from Sharpe.

Overall, I'd keep him. It's nice to have someone who can go off at any given moment who plays sporadically (inconsistent rotation minutes which is hard to do), I think he does well in that role. He can fill in at point in emergency situations (like having both Scoot and Ant) out and fill in other wing positions because of his 6'9" height. Most 3rd string point guards are limited to just PG because they're too small to play other positions.

He shooting stats aren't great, but not terrible either. His 18PPG, 5APG and 4.5RPG per36 along with that is better than you typically get from someone at the rotational spot he's in. Plus he's a cheap contract too.

You treat him as if he's a major rotational player on the team which he's not. You need to look at where he is normally on the bench when the roster is healthy and treat it as such. When you're several men down, especially at the point, you're not going to exactly replace what you lost, but you want someone who isn't going to totally flop like a Nolan Smith.

Sharpe is 21, Banton is 25...that's why people are harder on Banton.

It's true he's been tasked with PG duties a lot more in these recent games (which he's not). He's fine as a 6th man primary scorer with size off the bench. He's going to win some and lose some.

The issue is, that role and what he brings is pretty easily replaceable by someone with more upside.

Replacing players like Banton and Murray with NBA shooters would probably be a good idea. Having another "organizer" PG that can shoot and has size would probably be a good idea too--since there is only 1 PG on the roster, and he's not that great of an "organizer".

[Walton1one]

Watching the replay of this game, and that first quarter Banton played like the worst version of himself, took 7 shots & was 1-7, yikes. You’re playing to lose if you have him in your rotation.

Also, Sharpe’s 3pt shooting needs serious work, some really bad misses

For someone that is near the end of the playing rotation and as cheap of a contract he is, Banton is useful. He has won games for the Blazers at times because of his play. Overall, he and Sharpe played at the same level overall last game by the time the game was over, but people are harder on Banton than Sharpe which doesn't make sense to me since more should be expect from Sharpe.

Overall, I'd keep him. It's nice to have someone who can go off at any given moment who plays sporadically (inconsistent rotation minutes which is hard to do), I think he does well in that role. He can fill in at point in emergency situations (like having both Scoot and Ant) out and fill in other wing positions because of his 6'9" height. Most 3rd string point guards are limited to just PG because they're too small to play other positions.

He shooting stats aren't great, but not terrible either. His 18PPG, 5APG and 4.5RPG per36 along with that is better than you typically get from someone at the rotational spot he's in. Plus he's a cheap contract too.

You treat him as if he's a major rotational player on the team which he's not. You need to look at where he is normally on the bench when the roster is healthy and treat it as such. When you're several men down, especially at the point, you're not going to exactly replace what you lost, but you want someone who isn't going to totally flop like a Nolan Smith.

Respectfully disagree

In his last 4 games, Banton is:
9-22/2-6
8-19/2-10
4-15/2-7
0-6/0-3

and taking nearly as many shot attempts as Avdija\Sharpe that is egregious IMO, and most of those are ISO and/or wild shot attempts

Better off giving those minutes to Murray (who has 1 guaranteed year left ) & Rupert, both of them are way down the bench as well, I don’t think they are necessarily any better than Banton, but POR clearly chose to invest in both players

Also, Banton is going to be a UFA this offseason, POR will have a little space under the luxury tax ($187), somewhere around $12-14mil I think? and that is assuming they let Banton, Rupert, Reath & Walker go, otherwise if they keep Rupert\ Reath they have about $10mil, after they fit in a top 10 pick\ $5+mil

Do they waste $5mil or so on Banton (or Walker for that matter)? or if this team truly has intentions of making the play in/ playoffs next year, do they take that $10-14mil and seek a better 9th - 10th man?

Couldn’t McGowens, or a 2-way\G-league player just as easily fill Banton’s role for a fraction of the cost?

[Blazinaway]

Wasn't sure if we'd even get 9th but looking at the Bulls and heat both play incredibly easy schedules playing the wizards (both) 76ers (both) and hornets/pelicans between themselves along with facing each other one time

I feel pretty confident we don't fall further (good news), the bad news is idk if we get to 8th either. We'd have to lose to the spurs and probably the Jazz as well. Pretty sure the spurs can beat the raptors and maybe even the suns, but we'd really need to lose all 4 to even be in the running for 8 at this point.

what about Suns? they are playing awful and have a tougher schedule, might they move to 9 and us 10?

[Walton1one]

Yes that is possible and HOU owns that pick, lol

That would be SA, OKC & HOU, all picking before POR unless they get lucky and jump into top 4


Let’s sincerely hope that none of those teams jump into the top 4

[Shem]

Sharpe is 21, Banton is 25...that's why people are harder on Banton.

It's true he's been tasked with PG duties a lot more in these recent games (which he's not). He's fine as a 6th man primary scorer with size off the bench. He's going to win some and lose some.

The issue is, that role and what he brings is pretty easily replaceable by someone with more upside.

You don't want people with a lot more upside as your 8th, 9th, or 10th guy off the bench. You want them to get serious minutes to develop, not to hold back. With Banton you know what you're getting when he's tasked to fill in when other players are down. It's not realistic to expect a player who deserves consistent minutes to just except a role like that. Reports are that Banton is just happy to be whatever role the team asks and doesn't complain.

Replacing players like Banton and Murray with NBA shooters would probably be a good idea. Having another "organizer" PG that can shoot and has size would probably be a good idea too--since there is only 1 PG on the roster, and he's not that great of an "organizer".

3rd string PG's aren't exactly known for being good at their job which is why they're 3rd string PG's.

[zzaj]

Sharpe is 21, Banton is 25...that's why people are harder on Banton.

It's true he's been tasked with PG duties a lot more in these recent games (which he's not). He's fine as a 6th man primary scorer with size off the bench. He's going to win some and lose some.

The issue is, that role and what he brings is pretty easily replaceable by someone with more upside.

You don't want people with a lot more upside as your 8th, 9th, or 10th guy off the bench. You want them to get serious minutes to develop, not to hold back. With Banton you know what you're getting when he's tasked to fill in when other players are down. It's not realistic to expect a player who deserves consistent minutes to just except a role like that. Reports are that Banton is just happy to be whatever role the team asks and doesn't complain.

Replacing players like Banton and Murray with NBA shooters would probably be a good idea. Having another "organizer" PG that can shoot and has size would probably be a good idea too--since there is only 1 PG on the roster, and he's not that great of an "organizer".

3rd string PG's aren't exactly known for being good at their job which is why they're 3rd string PG's.

I'm passing my "stick up for Delano more than anyone else on these boards" mantle over to you, Shem!

Everyone has different ideas about what direction the Blazers need to be taking as a franchise. It appears the organization sides more with you than others here (including me) that believe prioritizing young players with upside is paramount, rather than sticking with "known commodities"...like Banton.

That being said, I do agree with you that willingness to accept a role for the good of the team is SUPER important, and so far the Blazers have been able to exist for quite a few years without any obvious malcontents (not named Gary)...although it's been leaked that Grant was unhappy with his role earlier in the season. Camara is a prime example of a player that knows his role and sticks to it. Clingan too, actually...

The flip-side to that is sometimes you can get stuck with a team full of betas rather than alphas. Deni is probably the closest thing to an Alpha on the team currently, and even he deferred a lot to begin the season. Ayton thinks he's an alpha (lol) but lacks the skill and intensity to enforce his will on the game. Sharpe, Grant, Scoot, Rupert, Murray, even Simons...all lack that intensity, IMO.

[PDXKnight]

Wasn't sure if we'd even get 9th but looking at the Bulls and heat both play incredibly easy schedules playing the wizards (both) 76ers (both) and hornets/pelicans between themselves along with facing each other one time

I feel pretty confident we don't fall further (good news), the bad news is idk if we get to 8th either. We'd have to lose to the spurs and probably the Jazz as well. Pretty sure the spurs can beat the raptors and maybe even the suns, but we'd really need to lose all 4 to even be in the running for 8 at this point.

what about Suns? they are playing awful and have a tougher schedule, might they move to 9 and us 10?

Well that sucks, suns schedule does look worse than ours

[PDXKnight]

Sharpe is 21, Banton is 25...that's why people are harder on Banton.

It's true he's been tasked with PG duties a lot more in these recent games (which he's not). He's fine as a 6th man primary scorer with size off the bench. He's going to win some and lose some.

The issue is, that role and what he brings is pretty easily replaceable by someone with more upside.

You don't want people with a lot more upside as your 8th, 9th, or 10th guy off the bench. You want them to get serious minutes to develop, not to hold back. With Banton you know what you're getting when he's tasked to fill in when other players are down. It's not realistic to expect a player who deserves consistent minutes to just except a role like that. Reports are that Banton is just happy to be whatever role the team asks and doesn't complain.

Replacing players like Banton and Murray with NBA shooters would probably be a good idea. Having another "organizer" PG that can shoot and has size would probably be a good idea too--since there is only 1 PG on the roster, and he's not that great of an "organizer".

3rd string PG's aren't exactly known for being good at their job which is why they're 3rd string PG's.

I'm passing my "stick up for Delano more than anyone else on these boards" mantle over to you, Shem!

Everyone has different ideas about what direction the Blazers need to be taking as a franchise. It appears the organization sides more with you than others here (including me) that believe prioritizing young players with upside is paramount, rather than sticking with "known commodities"...like Banton.

That being said, I do agree with you that willingness to accept a role for the good of the team is SUPER important, and so far the Blazers have been able to exist for quite a few years without any obvious malcontents (not named Gary)...although it's been leaked that Grant was unhappy with his role earlier in the season. Camara is a prime example of a player that knows his role and sticks to it. Clingan too, actually...

The flip-side to that is sometimes you can get stuck with a team full of betas rather than alphas. Deni is probably the closest thing to an Alpha on the team currently, and even he deferred a lot to begin the season. Ayton thinks he's an alpha (lol) but lacks the skill and intensity to enforce his will on the game. Sharpe, Grant, Scoot, Rupert, Murray, even Simons...all lack that intensity, IMO.

Grant would have a lot of audacity to be upset about his role after continually being ahead of more deserving players in the starting lineup. We were taking deni off the bench for him.. if he thinks he's being treated unfair here I'd welcome both him and his agent to find a team willing to take on his albatross contract and play him more. He made the call to take the money and not go to a contender, He was the one who didn't play like an nba starter this season, and he will likely be the one picking up that po in year 5 if we can't move on from him because his play stinks. All his choices leading him to remain in Portland whether he likes it or not. And of course Cronin as well for not moving Jerami when there was a market for him.

It is not a requirement that we take on bad money to move Grant and if he and his a hole agent ever tried to force us into an unfavorable move after all the favors the Blazers have done him so far id personally be down to stick him on the tail end of the bench right behind walker rupert or their replacements and let him get real cozy for the next 2-3 years

[DaVoiceMaster]

I've probably been Banton's biggest supporter on these forums, and even I can see that he's not really worth keeping around...

Would rather have someone like Nique Clifford playing his role.

You and me both.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Glad to see the Blazers essentially hand the game to the Bulls but sitting Camara the entire game and Sharpe and Avdija down the stretch. Now, will the begin sitting more players in the last few games? Please!!!

[zzaj]

Glad to see the Blazers essentially hand the game to the Bulls but sitting Camara the entire game and Sharpe and Avdija down the stretch. Now, will the begin sitting more players in the last few games? Please!!!

Camara was injured in the game the night before...but yeah, I wanna see some Minaya/Rupert led lineups to close out the season.