Lillard's and Aldridge's relationship. (He will come back Portland one day)

If we are going to trade, meaning giving up some of our roster, id rather give up a little more to get BG, than give up a little less to get LMA. If we are going to wait,l then id rather go after LMA as our backup center when he is an FA. He got his max and has his house just for his shoes, so he doesnt need another big contract.

Go after BG now. trade CJ(who just lost alot of value, I know), collins, harkless and picks for BG. Wait until LMA is a FA and talk him into coming home for a vet min ring chasing contract as our backup center.

3 years for now we are true contenders:

Dame/Hood/Layman/BG/Nurk

Curry/?/?/?/LMA


Okay nm. I just puked a little. Thats not a contender unless those "?" are filled with real talent.

 

Well, it also depends on what you're expecting from potentially the 4th scorer on the floor. Are you looking more for offense, defense, or both? Are you looking for a guy primarily shooting inside, mid-range, beyond 3-pt arc or all of the above?

Do you want your PF to be able to do the small things that don't show up on the stat sheet? Want him to play the 4/5 spots?

Team chemistry is a huge issue as well.

There are options. It just depends on what's available and the coach can adapt his game plan to fit in that particular player.

If I had a dream option I could select: Myles Turner. He could be used at the 4/5 spots and I think he would be a nice player to put next to Nurk. Have our version of the twin towers (offensively and defensively).

 

I don't see Aldridge coming back for the vet minimum though. I would rather keep McCollum and acquire Aldridge for a much lesser package. We would be stronger over all and deeper. You also have to factor in when some of our big contracts come due. BG's last year is humongous.

 

I don.t know if I could handle two Turners on this team though. LOL


If we were to bring in one of those other names, I think they would bump up to 2nd or 3rd option worst case. Not fourth. So the expectation would be greater. And yes, team chemistry is a huge factor and probably a bigger factor on this team than some others because of Dame Culture ( its a real thing!).


Another great point you eluded to. Coaching. Doesn't matter who we bring in if the coach doesn't adjust accordingly to optimize the asset within the current team.

So torn on Coach. Resume overall is good. Great team/players coach, well respected around the league, but does he have what it takes to manipulate a talented roster enough to exploit our strengths and minimize our weaknesses enough to get us to WCF or Finals? I'm torn. I have my doubts our coach can, but I don't know of anyone else I would specifically point to as a no brainer upgrade as coach(realistic and available upgrade)

 

Overall, I tend to agree with you. I think BG will require us to just gut our team too much, so the best value vs cost might indeed be LMA especially if he is sincere in wanting to come back and end his career. May not vet min,k but less than value contract to help us win? Meyers Money? Im with ya. Id do that.

 

I stand corrected!

 

Do you or do you not

SEE THE FUCKING PERIOD AFTER TALENTED?????

RIF.

 

No, it's worse than horrible.

HE FUCKING QUIT ON US WITH GAMES LEFT TO PLAY AND TOOK HIS OWN FLIGHT HOME.

 

Fuck him.

 

No freaking way Durant is 240 lbs, unless he’s tied 30lbs of weight to himself. Indont care if he 8 feet tall, even still that dude looks like he could break in an instant...

 

Wait you think the Blazers evaluated the talent of ML and ET with their eyes???? They dont pass the eye test at all, they pass or in ET’s case kind of passed the advanced stats test, but no those werent errors of the “eye test” watch ML even todays ‘good’ version and he is not a high IQ Basketball Player, and he fails the eye test fairly regulary, but his stats speak much better of him.
Also I don't get why people talk about Chief as a great defender. He CAN be, but he gets Burned by smaller guards (everyone does these days), and on team defense he doesnt have great eye discipline. Is he a better defender overall then LMA, yes but he isnt exacty Bruce Bowen either. Aminu’s and LMA’s strengths are kind of polar opposites of each other.

 

No reason to cuss and yell at me or any other poster. Not cool.

 

Did you watch Turner in college? I did. Did you watch Turner very much in Boston, I did. Leonard was evaluated based on one year of college. Also, how do you even know what analytics the Blazers used for either one?

 

Yeah I saw ET and ML in college. ET could never shoot and was a poor mans Brandon Roy, without a jumper past about 16 feet even at Ohio State. I saw him at Boston and that was the system he should be in, it highlighted his strengths, he played the “point” in transition a lot, and played with guys who could attack the basket and provide space, Blazers are trying to emulate that in the 2nd unit this year. The Eye test only worked for ET in Boston but he was never a guy who jumped off the screen though. Also ML on his current I have a very hard time believing anyone thought ML deserved this contract based on the “eye test”...

 

Just curious, did I miss a report/rumor saying that the Spurs would be looking to part with Aldridge this summer? What makes him cheaper than Griffin? For the reasons you've mentioned about Griffin their trade value could be close to the same this summer. I'm guessing it somewhat depends on how the Pistons and Spurs finish their respective seasons.

Olshey also said that he was in talks for a player that would have been a significant salary commitment for Jody Allen and she was fine with it. That player would have almost had to be one of Love, Griffin, or Aldridge. I think Olshey will revisit those talks this summer with whoever that player was.

 

Aldridge is averaging 21/9/2 and is an All Star, what is Aminu? He's in his 4th year in Portland and still shooting only 35% on wide open 3s, nobody guards him. Thats not worth a discussion for me, Aldridge is 100 times better than Aminu

 

He claimed it was because his daughter lived in Texas with his ex wife and he wanted ot be near her. He took less money to make the move so I can only deduce that being near his daughter must have been the main reason.

 

35% from the three is like 52.5% from within the arc and that ain't peanuts.

 

In the case of Meyers I think they imagined what he could become. In the case of ET I don't know what they were thinking. Neither passes the advanced metrics so I have to assume someone used their judgment. ET has one of the worst RPM's in the NBA and has had for 5 years straight. Aminu is not and elite defender but he's a very good defender as his advance stats show in DRPM and BDPM. Keeping a guard in front of you is only one element of defense among many.

 

They thought Turner was going to be our point forward much like Batum was at times who would alleviate all the pressure off of Dame and CJ. Unfortunately if you're a guard/wing in Stotts' offense who can't shoot you are pretty much worthless.