Game 26: Portland vs Phoenix 7:00pm Root+,Root

[JRoy]

Talked to my son after he came back from the game. He said Ayton is even worse in person. Bad hands, has to think before making a move and flinches away from contact.

Yup, all the same warts the Suns complained about. I think all 3 of those are inherently unfixable as they aren't skill or experience related but entirely mentality/personality related.

Which, whatever we aren't trying to win right now and his rebounding+midrange shooting is helpful in the meantime while others develop. But we definitely need to keep our eye out for a center upgrade and if we can shop Ayton to bring back any assets we should not get attached or see him as a long-term piece.

My son was especially irritated about Ayton walking back on d.

My son remembers I never would have tolerated him doing the same.

[Norm2953]

Apparently TL (Williams) was supposed to have been a big part of this team this season and
may yet be he can come back next season to be the rebounder/defender this team has needed.

There should be a center we can draft with the GSW pick. but imagine this team if we could add
Sarr to this roster for next season?

[zzaj]

Apparently TL (Williams) was supposed to have been a big part of this team this season and
may yet be he can come back next season to be the rebounder/defender this team has needed.

There should be a center we can draft with the GSW pick. but imagine this team if we could add
Sarr to this roster for next season?

I'm thinking the Blazers are going to be stuck with Ayton for the forseeable future. His contract makes him nearly impossible to trade at his production.

I am amazed that the Blazers haven't focused more attention on forcefeeding him the ball, if not designing an offense around him as a major option.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Apparently TL (Williams) was supposed to have been a big part of this team this season and
may yet be he can come back next season to be the rebounder/defender this team has needed.

There should be a center we can draft with the GSW pick. but imagine this team if we could add
Sarr to this roster for next season?

I'm thinking the Blazers are going to be stuck with Ayton for the forseeable future. His contract makes him nearly impossible to trade at his production.

I am amazed that the Blazers haven't focused more attention on forcefeeding him the ball, if not designing an offense around him as a major option.

He doesn't fight for positions and he doesn't catch interior passes against defensive pressure. Can only scale his usage so much...

[JasonStern]

I guess I'll start with another hat tip to the GLB. Very beautiful woman. And the fact that someone that looks like Jared Jeter can pull that off just proves I'm just several million dollars away from being able to do the same myself.

I don't get the Ayton hate. Is he overpaid? Yes. But so was Nurkić. Is he Jokic/Embiid tier? No. But neither was Nurkić. Is he a relatively young, somewhat productive player? Whiteside 2.0? Certainly looking like it. And unless you want to play Grant (a natural SF) a few minutes at center, it's not like we have a ton of options at this point.

Same with Simons. Does he have flaws in his game? Yes. Is he still productive? Yes. Does he have more career rebounds at 24 than Jerami Grant? Too lazy to look it up, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Timelord was a salary dump as part of the Boston trade. And while we can hope that he can come back in some form, he has Brandon Roy knees. Unless he really loves the game or really loves the league, given the amount of money he's made, he's probably done - at least as a player. Sucks, because he's a likeable guy.

In Billups' defense- yeah, I've got nothing. But that's known. I'm happy we aren't going 0-82. Because if there was one currently employed coach that could pull it off... But the team seems pretty committed to never giving Chicago that protected 1st round pick. And he's the perfect coach for achieving that.

[Norm2953]

I'm not ready to complete write off TL and hope after a full season of recovery and rehab,
he can comeback and contribute. It'll be interesting how the Blazers view TL for that GSW
pick has a real chance at Portland drafting someone like Clingan to play a similar role to
what Portland hoped for in TL.

[m0ng0]

Sadly I think Williams is cooked

[Norm2953]

Likely but it'll be interesting to see how Portland uses that GSW pick.

THere is a chance Clingan will be another Kessler (Utahj

[m0ng0]

You are right, I hope they can get a solid big man or two, Williams will hang around and hopefully with us but his days as a high minutes guy are gone I feel.