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Wesley Matthews: To Keep or Not To Keep...

With all the talk about our new GM, the draft, re-signing Nicolas Batum, and LaMarcus Aldridge and his near death experience, Wesley Matthews has been an overlooked piece of the puzzle.

In my opinion, Welsey Matthews needs to go.

He's a mediocre player, a barely-above-average shooting guard, and maybe the worst finisher I've ever seen at the rim.

In his three years in the league so far, he's averaged 12.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals, while shooting 44% overall, 38% from 3pt-land, and 84% from the FT-line. He's averaged 32 minutes a game with the Blazers over the last two seasons, while having a 15.5 PER and a 14.1 PER in his two seasons with us.

For shooting guards specifically, Wesley Matthews was 29th in PER; 18th in value added; and 18th in estimated wins added this year.

Though Wesley is on a "reasonable" contract at a little over $6 million a season, my belief is that even with a starting-caliber center and an above-average point guard, we're still miles away from competing with the big boys.

Why you ask? Because our wing tandem is below average overall. Wing players are highly prized around the league, with your shooting guard and/or small forward usually the scorer(s) for the team. With Batum and Matthews, we're just lacking firepower, period. Though they're an above-average wing tandem defensively, their deficiencies offensively harm the Blazer's ceiling/ championship aspirations.

Now, I'm not saying we absolutely need to get rid of Wesley, or we should let Batum walk, but we need to upgrade at one of those positions (the 2 or 3). Without upgrading, we're a lackluster offensive team.

Anyways, I'm pushing for offloading Wesley this offseason. Maybe you think this creates another hole on the squad, but my feeling is that you could find a shooting guard in the draft with a much higher ceiling, or you can trade for an Andre Igoudala or Monta Ellis or whatnot. Point being, most teams have an elite wing player who can create and takeover games, something that this team in the post-Roy era is severely lacking.