The decline of JJ Hickson

[No Regard]

Ok, after the decision mgmt had to pick up the pieces and see what they had and how players would react. There were some players that were true professionals, that had a "screw Lebron" attitude, worked hard and tried to make the best of the situation(Andy, Boobie, Parker). There were other players that were like jilted girlfriends, crying in their ice cream after being dumped (Mo and JJ). The Cavs had to purge themselves of the ones that couldn't get over the decision and were feeling sorry for themselves. Mo was a no-brainer. JJ took a little more thought because we had invested a lot in him and he was young. In the end he got lazy, his attitude sucked and he thought we needed him more than he needed us...he was wrong.

Keep in mind the trade was hours before what everyone knew was going to be a long lockout. During the lockout JJ got fat, JJ was broke, JJ signed overseas and got cut before his first game. I think everyone knew that would happen so we took what we could get in a dead market...no one knew what the rules would be on the backside and everyone knew JJ wanted to get paid. We also didn't want him around our rookies. As far as the restrictions go, we have two firsts coming up this summer...it would probably work out best if we got it in 2014 so we'd have 2 firsts then and 2 firsts in 2015. Sacto has some talent, just assembled horribly. One more top pick for them and some chemistry moves and they could be decent.

That's why the Cavaliers managment is one of the best in the league.

 

[BigErieCavsFan]

Nice statistics, but I think people missed my point. Saying he was asking for a ton of money means nothing if he wouldn't have gotten any offers from anyone. It's a non-factor

At that point (before his colapse), I think someone would have offered more than what we wanted to pay him and perceived him to be worth. The trade was just to make sure we didn't lose an asset for nothing.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Nice statistics, but I think people missed my point. Saying he was asking for a ton of money means nothing if he wouldn't have gotten any offers from anyone. It's a non-factor

Except he almost definitely would have gotten an offer from someone. That was when he was at the height of his value. His value only tanked after he did nothing in and subsequently got cut from Sacramento.

 

[Jon]

I think the catch was the lockout. We didn't want to keep him long term because we'd seen enough, but if we held on to him and the lockout dragged on and on ... we could have been left with nothing. So we traded him for the best we could get - and that unfortunately wasn't very much.

 

[Spencer Hawes]

This is mentioned time and time again on here. He went to Portland last season and averaged 15-10 a game as a starter and was a fan favorite. Did he ask for a big deal?..... 1 year 4 mil

Not sure how you have insider knowledge when it comes to JJ "asking" teams for a big deal. I can ask for $100 an hour from my boss working at Wal-Mart as an overnight stocker but that doesn't mean I'm worth $100 an hour. At that point in his career, JJ signed whatever he could get. In his mind, he might think he's worth the max or whatever but nobody was willing to give him a "big deal".

 

[RonG]

Ball so hard that know one wants to trade for him ....NO ONE

 

[MoFlo]

Ball so hard that know one wants to trade for him ....NO ONE

I find it hilarious that people have been criticizing what the Cavs got for J.J... And they can't even find a taker for him:

Chris Broussard‏@Chris_Broussard

Portland asking for a 1st round pick for JJ Hickson and finding no takers so far.

Just shows what kind of offers were there for J.J.. We're actually probably lucky to have gotten the much protected 1st..

 

[Cavatt]

As disappointing as JJ has been, Casspi is worse. I really don't understand these guys that are almost there, but can't get the last piece to fall. JJ knew he was a bad rebounder, and he improved. He knew he had to add a jumpshot, and he did. Why is he so adverse to defense? It is just insane to me.

I don't get Casspi either. He doesn't seem hurt anymore. Is he just a bone-head?

I don't feel very confident about getting that pick either. It could be the most useless trade of all time.

 

[AvonCavsFan]

He has declined??

Teams are not trading 1st round picks for less than half a season rentals. JJ is a free agent. If a team wants him they will just sign him after the season.

He has improved pretty substantially: He is not a superstar by any stretch, but he has become a very good rebounder and is shooting at a really good clip now.

Heck looking at those numbers, JJ may be under valued at this point. Higher TS%,PER(on lower USG), higher offensive and defensive ratings.

Personally I think the issue with Portland right now is Aldridge is over rated.

 

[mAo_mAo]

He has declined??

Teams are not trading 1st round picks for less than half a season rentals. JJ is a free agent. If a team wants him they will just sign him after the season.

He has improved pretty substantially: He is not a superstar by any stretch, but he has become a very good rebounder and is shooting at a really good clip now.

Heck looking at those numbers, JJ may be under valued at this point. Higher TS%,PER(on lower USG), higher offensive and defensive ratings.

Personally I think the issue with Portland right now is Aldridge is over rated.

No. The reason why JJ is having this kind of performance ever since he came to Portland is largely because of LMA.

 

[Pioneer10]

No. The reason why JJ is having this kind of performance ever since he came to Portland is largely because of LMA.

Hmm, just waiting for Grant to put some feelers out Portland's way about LMA's availability. May need to clear him out so they can afford JJ.

Aldridge net +/- is +10.2 which is the best on the team. Hickson's is -3.9, by far the worst among the starters

 

[bushwick_bill]

No. The reason why JJ is having this kind of performance ever since he came to Portland is largely because of LMA.

Sarcasm I hope?

 

[Man Called X]

He has declined??

Teams are not trading 1st round picks for less than half a season rentals. JJ is a free agent. If a team wants him they will just sign him after the season.

He has improved pretty substantially: He is not a superstar by any stretch, but he has become a very good rebounder and is shooting at a really good clip now.

Heck looking at those numbers, JJ may be under valued at this point. Higher TS%,PER(on lower USG), higher offensive and defensive ratings.

Personally I think the issue with Portland right now is Aldridge is over rated.

Weren't you the one that tried to use stats to prove that Ramon Sessions was a top 5-10 PG because of a month long stretch of games?

 

[rabman_gold]

... Hm, looking at his 82games numbers, he has consistently played more than at least double the amount of time with Aldridge than Thompson has with ANY capable big man on our roster. My guess is because LaMarcus gets most of the attention, Hickson gets the table scraps, which allows him to capitalize into positive numbers. I mean, he did the same stuff on the 2010 squad when most of the attention was on LeBron, Shaq, Mo, etc.

Meanwhile, he still takes away rebounding opportunities from his team, can't handle the ball nor pass it, and otherwise possesses the same offensive abilities as Tristan... OH WAIT RIGHT THERE!

Tristan is assisted almost 15% less than Hickson. He has to create far more as a result 1.4 less jump shot points, 0.8 less close points, 0.6 MORE points on dunks despite 19% less assisted points. All the while, he gets fouled almost the same, which means he doesn't waste his possessions and capitalizes.

Got to look even deeper to see the unclear picture. I don't think Hickson's worth it unless he's surrounded by above average players, since he's a role player. Someone like Tristan on the other hand can at least get his stats in the flow and still make a difference, just like a regular star should.

 

[Rich]

All one needs to do is read the Blazers forums, where the guy is pretty much universally hated by the fans. Why? Because he can't catch the ball and he can't play defense. Same shit that he did here.

Yay, he scored 12 points and got 10 rebounds. Never mind the fact the guy he was going against got 20-15....