Since the end of last season what has Houston, OKC,Utah,LAC,SA,Minn really done other than bring in some fill. You make it sound like all he has to do is speak it and a block Buster is done that the Blazers get the best of and end up in the WCF's. There are only a few teams maybe (4) that can contend and only 1 of those will win it all.
You are classically not playing by the rules. He said after James Harden was traded and so that's what I worked with. Still, post-Durant they have still won more playoff games than we have.
When I first heard him many years back his basketball knowledge was suspect at best. He wings it half the time on his show especially when comes to the NBA.
Now you are comparing apples and oranges. and yes, there was some luck involved. Even with George, they are still about even with us.
There are rules applicable to this topic? I dispute such rules' existence or applicability. I'd also note that the Thunder have played the Warriors in the playoffs two less times post-Durant than the Blazers.
that's not true...not even close to true * Portland had around 15-16M in cap-space in 2012, which would have been about the same as 25-28M last summer. That's when Olshey made a max offer to Hibbert. When Indiana matched, Olshey went dumpster diving and signed the worst bench in Blazer history * the following, summer, he had around 12-13M in cap-space. He used it on Robin Lopez, TRob & Dorrell Wright * in 2014, he had no space, but made a max-MLE offer to Spenser Hawes. When Hawes said no, Olshey pivoted to Chris Kaman and offered the BAE to Steve Blake * in 2015, Olshey had somewhere around 35-38M in space when the cap was 70M. That was the year he signed Aminu and Davis. He then used the space before the trade deadline to take on Varejao and Mike Miller because Portland was below the salary floor. The payoff was the 26th pick he used on Swanigan when Kuzma was available. Even with the savings from the floor calculations, because the Blazers are over the tax this season and there are still 2 seasons more of Varejao's stretch, That 26th pick may end up the most expensive 1st round pick in trade history....for Swanigan * and of course there was the 2016 cap-space summer when Olshey had the mother of all stupid off-seasons. From Whiteside --> Chandler Parsons --> Turner; then the cherry on top of the cap-space spending was Ezeli who scored 0 points and grabbed 0 rebounds for his 10M. And then CJ + Meyers + Crabbe + Harkless all got massive extensions and. Olshey gave out over 340M dollars that summer...about 85M/year and not an all-star in sight. yeah....Olshey is just a victim of Portland's geography
I'm not comparing apples to oranges. We both lost franchise players. That is what I'm referencing. And again, humans aren't coins. Intentions can be communicated with words. It seems more likely they got reassurance from PG, rather than some magical element influencing the talks. Or are they "lucky" he didn't change his mind; PG is so easily influenced and untrustworthy that Lady Luck saved the day? The luck stuff is silly. They made a badass move (and a failed move, to be fair, in Melo). BUT they make bigtime moves. We don't...maybe we just have bad luck....? No.
But if other teams are being complacent, wouldn't that be an astute time to go the other way and make a daring move? I'm a believer that when the enemy zigs, you need to zag.
Again, the rules. Since Durant left, you said. We were swept by GS and NO. And it's the rules of fucking logical debate. If you just say whatever you want at anytime, you prove nothing. I proved my point, and you change the parameters. That's bullshit. And then you did it again. Also bullshit.
My hunch is if that daring move that improved the team was he'll pull the trigger. The thing is it may work and may not.
Now you are projecting an unknown. There was never any articles suggesting that there were assurances by George and likely could have made his decision based on the rumor of LeBron going to the lakers. And like I pointed out for all that they have a very similar record to what we have since George has been in OKC.
I am not sure if you or agreeing with me or disagreeing with me. All I know is they could have been one of the greatest teams of their generation with Harden, Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka.....and they fucked it up. Its not like there were many injuries to any of them either. No they screwed it up by making changes....one by one.
They lost in the first round just like we did. Is 2 wins really that much of a factor? Not to me as losing in the first round is losing in the first round no matter how it is spun.
This is also a strawman argument. Dame's extension was already in place. CJ got his a season earlier than needed. The cap space could have been pushed to the following year with minimal effects. Actions speak louder than words. When a clear upgrade in talent*** has been available, we have heard that CJ and Zach are 'untouchable'. Neither one is good enough to be in that category. You have to give to get... At least put everything but Dame out there to see what you can do to improve the team. Maybe you don't find a deal you like, but at least there is a chance instead of a 'I'll trade my crap for your star' approach. ***Just to be clear, Melo was never going to be an upgrade in talent - so he doesn't apply here.
2 wins shows a glimmer of hope and at least some competitiveness...especially since they were the 'road' teams. Portland had HCA and was winless.
Don’t sweat it, man. Cup represents everything that’s wrong with this delusional fanbase. In his world, Olshey and Stotts are geniuses and the roster is perfectly constructed for long term success. And Cup, don’t give me any of that shit about “where did I say that?” ... it’s implied in everything you write.
Sometimes things aren't a strawman. Sometimes they're just wrong. You are correct that Dame's extension was already in place. I don't know if you are correct that the Blazers could have pushed CJ to the following year. Wouldn't that have exposed him to becoming an RFA? I'll just say that it wasn't Paul Allen's style to do that to a player who had had the breakout season that CJ had the year before. I think that Olshey needs to find a move that upgrades the Blazers or he's likely history next summer. I don't think he wants to trade CJ, but I seriously doubt it's the absolute no-go that people always hang on him. For the right trade, I think he would move him, just not for the crap that so often gets proposed around here. I think Aminu is the most likely trade chip before the deadline simply because he's an ending contract. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything happens.
