dj white and dante cunningham - what do we know?

[PDXKnight]

We know that Cunningham didn't play much for the Blazers or else their hype machine would have deemed him untouchable. Oh, how I wish it were...

Cunningham was also playing behind Marcus Camby, Lamarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum, and even Joel Przybilla at times. The guy had some great games when he got minutes, but in most cases, its hard for a young guy to earn PT ahead of seasoned veterans (I'm mainly talking about Camby here but to a lesser degree Aldridge because he's always good for 40 minutes in a night). I hope you guys enjoy what he brings to the table because I truly think he's a candidate to break out. He's no Gerald Wallace obviously but that's why he's not making Wallace money. That said, the guy's committment to the game leads me to believe he can be a pretty special player.

[Diop]

I saw Cunningham play a couple of times and I thought he was ok.

After reading what the Portland fans are saying, I'm hoping we have, at least, found a solid backup for TT in the future.

[el-mago]

I think Slam's brief report on Cunningham is accurate, he really is the non athletic version of Tyrus.

[BigSlam]

After reading what the Portland fans are saying, I'm hoping we have, at least, found a solid backup for TT in the future.

I'm more hoping the DJ White might be able to fill that void.

[Diop]

The main reason I want Cunningham to be successful is so I don't feel so dirty after the Wallace trade.

[Milkdud]

All the positives I've seen about Cunningham are spot on.
Good mid-range shooter, hard worker

The one negative he is undersized and pushed around about many of the opposing PF's he plays against.

[Wickzki]

Jamba badi-yan gi-ya nung! Cunningham!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pattycakes]

I saw Cunningham play a couple of times and I thought he was ok.

After reading what the Portland fans are saying, I'm hoping we have, at least, found a solid backup for TT in the future.

Dante has been backing up Aldridge for the last couple years so he without a doubt will give you that role at the least. He'll work his a$$ off to compete for boards and will as mentioned before, give you that midrange jumper the majority of the time with the occasional nice looking dunk. Don't ever expect more than this and you will be very pleased.

[BigSlam]

The main reason I want Cunningham to be successful is so I don't feel so dirty after the Wallace trade.

Fair point.

[slick_watts]

I'm a Thunder fan, and I've been a DJ White fan since his college days. White will, at worst, be a solid rotation player for you guys IMO. He never got minutes in OKC because our switching, frenetic defense didn't suit him. He also missed a lot of time with his jaw surgery, and then a thumb injury; he never really was able to get a foot hold within the rotation because of that.

He hasn't been shooting well this year, but generally White has a solid mid range jumper that he can shoot in the PnP or even off the dribble. He'll run the floor and finish, and has deceptively quick feet on offense. He gets called for travelling a lot because his foot work isn't great, but that's something that just needs to be developed. I think he has a lot of potential as a PnR big man because of his shooting ability and finishing ability.

Defensively and on the boards, he's adequate but nothing spectacular. The last two seasons, White never got much run because of his defensive deficiencies. But early in the season when the Thunder had a lot of injury trouble, White was excellent defensively when he was pressed into duty. It was really surprising, and a lot of Thunder fans at the time wanted him to get more rotation minutes.

I'm real happy White is on a team where he will have opportunity. It might take him a bit to get acclimated but with an offseason of work and a real expectation of legitimate PT, I think he'll be a good player.

[fatlever]

thanks slick

[BigSlam]

Thanks Slick.

[hhvo]

I watched Cunningham alot during his days at Villanova. He was a hustle player and really like watching him. I compared him to Taj Gibson when they came into the NBA. They kinda look alike too.

[dream_catcher_9]

agree with slick. At worst he can be a decent rotation PF. He has a nice jumper, doesn't make many mistakes and is a decent rebounder. Last year he was a pretty terrible defender, but this year he really surprised us with his solid post D. and he is a excellent character guy on top of that.

[Clangus]

I hope White can get some good mins for you guys. He can play. The few times he got minutes he showed that he can score. Decent Midrange and sets decent screens with glimpses of being able to play PnR/PnP with some development. I was hoping we'd find minutes for him because he always showed something when given mins. His D was even pretty solid this year. Good pickup and I wont be surprised to see him earn a good chunk of mins for you guys.

I am hoping Nazr is good for us - in both a mentoring role and as Second String C.
(good trade for both teams IMO)

[JustBlaze52]

Dante is a good young player, and I will definitely miss him being on our team. I wouldn't say he has "star" potential, but he is already a solid NBA player and I could seem him improving a lot. He rarely, if ever makes mistakes on the court. He's very fundamentally sound. In the East he might actually be able to play some PF. He isn't a great rebounder but he definitely battles, and is quite strong.

His mid-range jumper is almost automatic. Seriously, he makes them like 80% of the time. He needs to extend his range and keep working on putting the ball on the floor, maybe add a few pounds but I hope to see him have a lot of success in this league. I believe his Dad was a military officer and raised him to have a tremendous work ethic and attitude. Very solid dude. Good luck to him and you guys just the same!

[captaincrunk]

We need to trade Sean Marks for DJ Mbenga so we can have all the DJ's.

[Stun704]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll2XG-sStyY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Stun704]

if we buy out Przy I think we should look into giving this guy a 10 day

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Mar ... 337/stats/

[Diop]

so with Diaw and TT coming back in a couple of weeks, where are we going to find minutes for our new forwards?

Mexicat has been pretty dependable and I can see Silas still wanting to play him.

I do like that we have some young blood. I guess Diaw might be playing center.