The Blazers were granted permission Sunday to talk to Hornets assistant coach Stephen Silas about being the top assistant to Portland coach Terry Stotts, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The Blazers have plenty of competition for Silas’ services. Silas will meet with Golden State coach Steve Kerr Monday in Oklahoma City to discuss the top assistant position with the Warriors. Silas also has a growing candidacy to become the Rockets next head coach.
Here’s more out of Portland:
- Allen Crabbe has emerged as one of the most appealing restricted free agents in the league and is sure to receive contract offers exceeding $10MM per year, Haven Kaplan-Miner of RealGM writes. The combination of elite shooting and impressive on-ball defense makes Crabbe stand out, Kaplan-Miner adds. Crabbe’s midrange game, in particular, developed and that opened up the floor for his teammates this year and created the biggest problems for opposing defenses, Kaplan-Miner surmises.
- The Blazers need to target a rim protector in the draft and preferably one who can add some scoring, NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper opines (transcribed by John Canzano of The Oregonian). “It’s not about how many points he’ll score for you, but how many points he’ll save for you,” Cooper said, referring to the Blazers’ need for a big man.
Target a big man.. Who? Not work 20 plus m ill ion for Howard. Mason is still young. I don’t think they need to spend and change the plans they had before the season begin because they exceeded expectations big time this year
Hassan Whiteside,Al Horford, Al Jefferson. Whiteside would be a perfect fit in portlands defensive scheme and hes still young, have Mason guard the paint while whiteside protects the rim. question is if portland can convince him to leave Miami
Maybe Portland is the team that offers Biyombo a nice deal. He won’t give them the scoring it needs, but he could be a solid starter.