Just saw the contract. I disagree. They just made the Western Conference Finals without Nurkic, have two stud guards in a guard dominated league, will now get Nurkic back, dumped Turner, added C depth with Whiteside, and have a possible young stud in Simon as well as other young talent like Collins, Skai, Little and Super Mario. Losing Aminu will hurt, maybe a lot, and I’m not crazy about their 3/4 look but they’re far from mediocre and with one move (trade Whiteside or Nurkic), could be a 56+ win team and make the Finals.
I feel like the Blazers regressed this offseason. They lost a lot. Aminu and Harkless were their best multi-positional versatile defenders. They were able to hide Dame and CJ a lot defensively because of those guys. Those guys were also good at switching defensively and guarding the pick and roll. Who provides that now? Hezonja? Rookie Nassir Little? Then I look at the efficiency that they lost offensively and it's kind of shocking...
Outgoing
Aminu- 43.3% FG, 34.3% 3FG
Kanter- 54.9% FG, 29.4% 3FG
Curry- 45.6% FG, 45.0% 3FG
Turner- 46.0% FG, 21.2% 3FG
Harkless- 48.7% FG, 27.5% 3FG
Layman- 50.9% FG, 32.6% 3FG
Leonard- 54.5% FG, 45.0% 3FG
Replaced With
Whiteside- 57.1% FG
Bazemore- 40.2% FG, 32.0% 3FG
Hezonja- 41.2% FG, 27.6% 3FG
Tolliver- 38.2% FG, 37.7% 3FG
Gasol- 44.7% FG
Little
Bazemore and Hezonja are so much more inefficient than Aminu/Curry/Turner/Harkless/Layman. An older Tolliver is a downgrade from younger Leonard. Gasol is looking washed. Whiteside is a total flake that I wouldn't rely on. The Heat are a good organization and he completely gave up there.
56+ wins and a Finals appearance? Nahhhh. They are still a good team by NBA standards. But I got them 8th in the West. I dont see them getting out of the first round.
