The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

That's what I'm saying but everybody just blindly sits here and acts like there is no issue. Our fucking division is stacked and no I don't think anybody is beating the warriors still but for fucks sake at least set up for a run here in the next couple years, this shits looking dark

 

Think blazer thoughts bro. We shall overcome!

 

"Everybody in the West" is also getting older. Melo is 33. Millsap and CP3 are both 32. All these teams are fighting it out to see who comes in second to GSW. They will be paying huge luxury tax bills and have traded away young players and draft picks to win now at a time when winning it all is nearly impossible for anyone other than GSW.

Yeah, it would have been fun to be one of the teams in the hunt for second place in the West, but from a practical stand point, based on our current roster, our best chance to actually compete for a title is still 3-5 years out when Dame and C.J. are in their late primes, Nurk is in the heart of his prime and young guys like Swanigan and Collins are both just starting to enter their primes.

Getting Nurk at 22 gave us a legitimate third member of our Big 3, it also expanded our window of competitiveness to peak after GSW (and the rest of the current top teams) have started to decline. Drafting Collins and Swanigan further expanded that window.

Yep, adding Carmelo would have been fun, but long term, we are no worse off today than we were yesterday. I know it's hard to be patient, I want to win now too, but in the big picture, even with Carmelo Anthony we weren't getting past GSW this year, or next.

On the bright side, we have been the youngest team to make the playoffs each of the last two years and by adding Collins and Swanigan got even younger. Look at this year as a development year for Nurkic and the rest of our young people.

It would be fun to win more games now, but this team will still be competitive, likely make the playoffs, and if Nurk is healthy and playing as well, or better, than he did last March, could potentially pull off a first round upset.

Cheering for an underdog can be fun, especially knowing that our young team will continue to get better while all the other teams ahead of us will begin to decline.

I loved beating HOU in the playoffs four years ago and beating LAC two years ago. We were the underdog both times. I look forward to seeing who our victim will be this year. All these off season moves just make me hate teams like OKC and HOU even more, which makes it extra sweet when we beat them.

BNM

 

Right and I get that. I know we aren't winning now. My issue is our role players. As much as stouts wants them to fit, they just don't. Aminu and harkless can't hit threes consistently at all. They are inconsistent themselves. Turner does a lot of things but that contract is still so bad. Then we have all these bigs, yeah obviously I wanna see if Collins and swanigan will be good in the league but what about guys like vonleh who haven't done much with the minutes he has got. Meyers of course. There isn't much to work with to bring talent in the future because nobody wants these guys and we aren't gonna tank so there are no lottery picks coming next year. Feels like we are stuck in mediocrity. Not to mention we will dish out a huge amount to nurk if he does what I think he will this season. I just don't believe we have the right role players around our three.

 

Harkless didn't regress. He improved. His improvement was incremental, but he had his best season shooting the ball.

Davis and Aminu were both injured.

BNM

 

Our championship window opens in two or three years, long after the western conference bubble bursts. It’ll be Portland, Golden State, and Minnesota in the West, and Milwaukee in the East.

 

Role players are easily replaced.

BNM

 

Nope. I just never thought he'd end up here anyway. It's too damned far from his son.

 

My take on all this is that I picked the wrong month to quit smoking weed. still looking forward to the season. Go Blazers!

 

Well if you read my posts from earlier, I noted that. I fully understand these two trades were out of Neil's hands, however last seasons mistakes came back to bite us. It just sucks watching every team get better and hoping in a couple years we can be an elite team and compete for a title.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with his kid, he is gonna be away all season anyway, what's the difference where he is at? It's not like okc is super close to New York

 

Look I wanted Melo because I think if he played a certain way he would've made Portland better.
I did have concerns though.
Would Melo play put his ego to the side and play winning basketball?
Can Melo & Nurk play together. Or would they occupy the same space on the court?
Is Melo willing to accept a secondary and at times third wheel role behind two better players?
Is Nurk willing to sacrifice his contract year at 22 years of age to make Portland better?

At the end of the day, even though I do think Melo would've made Portland better.
However, this may turn into a deal NO got '''lucky''' to not complete.

Harkless has value, Vonleh has Value. Portland still has a TPE of 12mil.
Nards can't lower his value anymore than what it already is.
Davis, Aminu, and Turner are pros. They'll rebound from the season they had last year. Especially if those three are actually healthy for the majority of the season, and not in and out with injuries.

 

HCP is going to get you two.

 

I get that you're upset, but exactly how did last season's mistakes come back to bite us?

I agree that we shouldn't have matched BRK's offer sheet for Crabbe, but he's gone and his production will likely be replaced by Anthony Morrow at 1/10 the cost. If not we have a $12.9 million TPE we can use to find an even better replacement.

I also agree that we overpaid for Turner and Meyers.

So yes, I agree these were mistakes, but they didn't keep us from getting Nurk, and had absolutely nothing to do with us not getting PG13 or Carmelo Anthony.

BNM

 

Well we gave up crabbe for nothing. If he was cheaper we could of got something or we just didn't have to match that offer sheet at all. Could of spared that contract on turner too and used that money more wisely. It kinda bad robbed us of two valuable assets. That's how it but us. As well as Meyers contract which didn't need to be given at all. Completely fine with what harkless got though

 

Pretty ballsy move by okc. All three of those guys will be free agents next year. Crazy. They are going all in on this. Will be interesting to see what players or player ends up in LA, where Lebron goes if he goes.