ESPN has us Finishing Ninth

[fekz]

How long are these guys gonna be allowed to **** up the forum?

[+1AllDay]

You lose all credibility when you support Cousins over Monroe.

I don't mean to be rude Brapman, but you lost all credibility on this site a couple of months ago. I remember reading you say Kyle Singler is a legit starter in this league. I was behind my computer screen laughing hysterically!

[+1AllDay]

Gay is not a star by any stretch of the imagination and he has one of the worst contracts in the league.

Not sure that the Blazers would trade Aldridge for Monroe alone, if they would I would jump all over it though

Cousins has a lot more upside than Monroe, he has the chance to be a true impact player if he gets his stuff together and I don't believe Monroe does so imo the Kings don't make that deal straight up.

As I've mentioned in another thread I think Beal is already better than Monroe and he's much younger, under contract longer and a great fit with Wall so I don't think they would make that deal.

Leonard I have also stated is better imo, I don't believe SA would do such a deal.

Rondo and Love are on different planets talent wise than Monroe, no way could you get either of them for just Monroe.

Please, continue.

Gay would put 18+ppg if he played for Detroit. We haven't had that kind of scoring from our SF in a while. You can call that "star like" in Detroit.

I would put Cousins around the same realm as Monroe. The only thing Cousins has going for him is that he has size to dominate unlike Monroe. Both are skilled around the rim, both need to work on the there defense.

You can't say Leonard is better because he plays a completely different position. That's like me saying Melo is better than Howard.

Love is injury prone and Rondo is coming from a serious injury. If they were on a different planet, they just landed back on planet earth with those injuries on there resume.

Would you like to continue?

[MrBigShot]

Gay is not a star by any stretch of the imagination and he has one of the worst contracts in the league.

Not sure that the Blazers would trade Aldridge for Monroe alone, if they would I would jump all over it though

Cousins has a lot more upside than Monroe, he has the chance to be a true impact player if he gets his stuff together and I don't believe Monroe does so imo the Kings don't make that deal straight up.

As I've mentioned in another thread I think Beal is already better than Monroe and he's much younger, under contract longer and a great fit with Wall so I don't think they would make that deal.

Leonard I have also stated is better imo, I don't believe SA would do such a deal.

Rondo and Love are on different planets talent wise than Monroe, no way could you get either of them for just Monroe.

Please, continue.

Figured I might as well give my 2 cents on these guys. Cousins has more upside, but he's been in the league a few years now and continues to have maturity issues. He's a bad teammate, not mature, he can't control his temper and he's lazy. He shoots too many jumpers despite being a very poor shooter, and 46.5% is not a very high percentage for a bigman. Monroe has his issues as well, but at least he has no maturity issues. Cousins/Monroe aren't far off value wise. Same with Leonard. Leonard may have more value presently coming off of a really good Finals performance, but Monroe is a bigman who was one of the league leaders in points in the paint. That is very valuable in today's NBA. Rondo/Love straight up probably isn't realistic, but a deal centered around them/Moose isn't out of the question. The incentive for dealing Aldridge for the Blazers would be because Monroe is a lot younger, and would be cheaper than the next deal that Aldridge would command. I'd take that deal if it was available. Beal is not better than Monroe...hope I don't need to explain why.

And lastly, as you said...Rudy Gay is not a star by any stretch. The dude has tricked many people league-wide into believing that he's a fringe all star. In reality, he is an awful volume scorer on a HUUUUGE contract. He's making 17 mil next year, thank god the Raptors declined our trade.

P.S. I would much rather not trade Monroe at all. He's a 23 year old who just put up 16/10/4 in his 3rd year. I actually hope he develops a jumper and Drummond/Moose/Smith works out.

@+1AllDay: Believe me, if all it took was one tidbit or bad prediction/evaluation to lose credibility I would have lost it a long time ago. Brap is many things, including one of the biggest homers on this board...but he is definitely credible.

[sc8581]

Gay is not a star by any stretch of the imagination and he has one of the worst contracts in the league.

Not sure that the Blazers would trade Aldridge for Monroe alone, if they would I would jump all over it though

Cousins has a lot more upside than Monroe, he has the chance to be a true impact player if he gets his stuff together and I don't believe Monroe does so imo the Kings don't make that deal straight up.

As I've mentioned in another thread I think Beal is already better than Monroe and he's much younger, under contract longer and a great fit with Wall so I don't think they would make that deal.

Leonard I have also stated is better imo, I don't believe SA would do such a deal.

Rondo and Love are on different planets talent wise than Monroe, no way could you get either of them for just Monroe.

Please, continue.

Figured I might as well give my 2 cents on these guys. Cousins has more upside, but he's been in the league a few years now and continues to have maturity issues. He's a bad teammate, not mature, he can't control his temper and he's lazy. He shoots too many jumpers despite being a very poor shooter, and 46.5% is not a very high percentage for a bigman. Monroe has his issues as well, but at least he has no maturity issues. Cousins/Monroe aren't far off value wise. Same with Leonard. Leonard may have more value presently coming off of a really good Finals performance, but Monroe is a bigman who was one of the league leaders in points in the paint. That is very valuable in today's NBA. Rondo/Love straight up probably isn't realistic, but a deal centered around them/Moose isn't out of the question. The incentive for dealing Aldridge for the Blazers would be because Monroe is a lot younger, and would be cheaper than the next deal that Aldridge would command. I'd take that deal if it was available. Beal is not better than Monroe...hope I don't need to explain why.

And lastly, as you said...Rudy Gay is not a star by any stretch. The dude has tricked many people league-wide into believing that he's a fringe all star. In reality, he is an awful volume scorer on a HUUUUGE contract. He's making 17 mil next year, thank god the Raptors declined our trade.

P.S. I would much rather not trade Monroe at all. He's a 23 year old who just put up 16/10/4 in his 3rd year. I actually hope he develops a jumper and Drummond/Moose/Smith works out.

@+1AllDay: Believe me, if all it took was one tidbit or bad prediction/evaluation to lose credibility I would have lost it a long time ago. Brap is many things, including one of the biggest homers on this board...but he is definitely credible.

So we basically agree on all of these except Beal, I think you will change your mind on that by the all-star break though.

[MrBigShot]

So we basically agree on all of these except Beal, I think you will change your mind on that by the all-star break though.

I guess we'll see. I like Beal, I just don't believe that by this time next year he will be a better player than Monroe. Why are you so high on him?

[sc8581]

So we basically agree on all of these except Beal, I think you will change your mind on that by the all-star break though.

I guess we'll see. I like Beal, I just don't believe that by this time next year he will be a better player than Monroe. Why are you so high on him?

To do what he did at 19 last year, especially the improvement during the season, lights out shooter, good size and athleticism for the 2, aggressive already without being out of control, nice defensive potential. He's can't miss imo and already making it look easy out there, taking his time on shots and drives to the hole, not saying he's the next superstar but I see a lot of all-star appearances in his future especially at a position that's so lacking right now. You have Kobe, Harden and Wade at SG right now, Kobe is how old? Wade can't stay healthy and even when he is he's not the same player he was and won't be very good at all within the next 2 years. Be ready for this kid.

[hoophabit]

So we basically agree on all of these except Beal, I think you will change your mind on that by the all-star break though.

I guess we'll see. I like Beal, I just don't believe that by this time next year he will be a better player than Monroe. Why are you so high on him?

To do what he did at 19 last year, especially the improvement during the season, lights out shooter, good size and athleticism for the 2, aggressive already without being out of control, nice defensive potential. He's can't miss imo and already making it look easy out there, taking his time on shots and drives to the hole, not saying he's the next superstar but I see a lot of all-star appearances in his future especially at a position that's so lacking right now. You have Kobe, Harden and Wade at SG right now, Kobe is how old? Wade can't stay healthy and even when he is he's not the same player he was and won't be very good at all within the next 2 years. Be ready for this kid.

I like Beal as well. He shows a lot of promise. However, "Lights out shooter" at 41% on FGs? He did shoot a respectable 38% from the three point line and 78% on FTs. These are not Ray Allen type numbers. Beal also missed 26 games due to injury, and if that's a concern for Drummond shouldn't it be a concern for Beal? Might be a little early to declare his future all star status. Are you suggesting he'll reach that level next season? Of course it's possible, but unless he makes a sizable jump and the Wizards take off like a house afire and turn into a winning team it seems unlikely.

My saying I'm glad you and Durins don't run our team wasn't intended as an argument, just a simple statement.

[sc8581]

I guess we'll see. I like Beal, I just don't believe that by this time next year he will be a better player than Monroe. Why are you so high on him?

To do what he did at 19 last year, especially the improvement during the season, lights out shooter, good size and athleticism for the 2, aggressive already without being out of control, nice defensive potential. He's can't miss imo and already making it look easy out there, taking his time on shots and drives to the hole, not saying he's the next superstar but I see a lot of all-star appearances in his future especially at a position that's so lacking right now. You have Kobe, Harden and Wade at SG right now, Kobe is how old? Wade can't stay healthy and even when he is he's not the same player he was and won't be very good at all within the next 2 years. Be ready for this kid.

I like Beal as well. He shows a lot of promise. However, "Lights out shooter" at 41% on FGs? He did shoot a respectable 38% from the three point line and 78% on FTs. These are not Ray Allen type numbers. Beal also missed 26 games due to injury, and if that's a concern for Drummond shouldn't it be a concern for Beal? Might be a little early to declare his future all star status. Are you suggesting he'll reach that level next season? Of course it's possible, but unless he makes a sizable jump and the Wizards take off like a house afire and turn into a winning team it seems unlikely.

My saying I'm glad you and Durins don't run our team wasn't intended as an argument, just a simple statement.

Beal had a horrific start to the season but his numbers from January 1st on were lights out.
15.5ppg 47%fg 48.4%3fg on over 4 attempts per game
It's probably too early for Beal to make an all-star team this coming season at 20 years old but most of the guys ahead of him have had some injuries lately so it's possible. Rondo, Rose, Irving, Wall, Wade and Dwill are the only guards in the east I put ahead of him off the top of my head, maybe J.Johnson as well.

I never said anything about Drummond having any injury concerns so I'm not sure what that's about.

[hoophabit]

I like Beal as well. He shows a lot of promise. However, "Lights out shooter" at 41% on FGs? He did shoot a respectable 38% from the three point line and 78% on FTs. These are not Ray Allen type numbers. Beal also missed 26 games due to injury, and if that's a concern for Drummond shouldn't it be a concern for Beal? Might be a little early to declare his future all star status. Are you suggesting he'll reach that level next season? Of course it's possible, but unless he makes a sizable jump and the Wizards take off like a house afire and turn into a winning team it seems unlikely.

My saying I'm glad you and Durins don't run our team wasn't intended as an argument, just a simple statement.

Beal had a horrific start to the season but his numbers from January 1st on were lights out.
15.5ppg 47%fg 48.4%3fg on over 4 attempts per game
It's probably too early for Beal to make an all-star team this coming season at 20 years old but most of the guys ahead of him have had some injuries lately so it's possible. Rondo, Rose, Irving, Wall, Wade and Dwill are the only guards in the east I put ahead of him off the top of my head, maybe J.Johnson as well.

I never said anything about Drummond having any injury concerns so I'm not sure what that's about.

I wasn't saying you said anything about Drummond having injury concerns. I brought it up as it is commonly mentioned, and coming off last season it's a legitimate concern for both players. Drummond missed 22 games and Beal 26. Maybe this was associated with both players being so young (both were 19 during the last season) and not being ready for the stress of an NBA season. I hope this is the case and neither of these promising young player's career is seriously affected by injury. In the context of the broad off-season conversation some pretty enthusiastic statements have been made about both players, but only time will really tell.

[+1AllDay]

@+1AllDay: Believe me, if all it took was one tidbit or bad prediction/evaluation to lose credibility I would have lost it a long time ago. Brap is many things, including one of the biggest homers on this board...but he is definitely credible.

I got too much respect for you BigShot, but you're being too generous right now.