Game Thread PLAY-IN GAME# 1: GRIZZLIES VS BLAZERS - AUGUST 15, 2020 - SATURDAY, 11:30, ABC

"It's got electrolytes!"

 

definitely more

it was 30 years between Drexler and Dame, and 45 years between Walton and Dame

agreed. That CJ contract is a huge impediment to flexibility. It wouldn't be so huge an impediment if it was intended as a trade asset, but it's safe to say that as long as Olshey is GM, and Stotts is coach, CJ will be a Blazer

 

It's the presence of Big Red and Brooke sitting in the virtual stands that will propel us.

 

can they really though? I'm just asking

to start with, for it to be an issue, both Nurk and Trent would need to maintain their upward trajectories. That's the only way Portland has a hope of contending. If those two stay healthy and continue to improve, what will they get for next contracts?

Trent's new deal will come after next season. He'll be a classic 3 & D player, with tons of upside. What will he get on the open market...25M/year?....20M?....30M? Crabbe will have been paid 19M/year 5 years earlier so 25M seems reasonable

and Nurkic. He's definitely due for a big raise if healthy. Does 25M/year seem right to you? Does to me. And he's due for that deal in 2022

so then:

Damian Lillard $47,250,000
CJ McCollum $33,333,333
Jusuf Nurkić $25,000,000
Gary Trent $25,000,000

130.5M......that's likely well over the salary cap, and that's for only 4 players. If the cap is around 125M, for instance, the tax line would be around 150M. Blazers would only have a 20M margin to carry 10 more players when the average salary is around 8M. That's a hell of a lot of tax liability

again, this is an assumption that Nurk and Trent will both be worth keeping. They need to have that kind of value on the court, and be paid accordingly, if Portland has any hope of contending

 

The statement is simply "They can pay Nurk" "They can pay Trent". The Blazers have their rights. They can pay them.

 

sure, they can. They can also pay 200M a year in luxury tax...that's an option open to them too

but you were responding to Tince's post talking about how CJ's contract was crowding out flexibility and making opportunities for upgrades more difficult. Looking at how any new contracts add to the Dame/CJ contract situation is germane.

 

That wasn’t a negative post. I could have been “oh the sky’s falling Collins is hurt” but I’m being optimistic without Collins and Gaberial taking his minutes WE WILL BE JUST AS FINE. Learn the game then post

 

How long it take between Dirk and Luka? You just need smart management

 

Hold up... you just told someone to "learn the game and then post" with all of your outrageously wrong takes on Dame and on how we should play the game and how games are over when they clearly aren't and how you always seem to back the wrong horse (players and teams). I mean, REALLY?!? I don't mind that you're wrong so damn often but don't be condescending to other people in here, I mean not on that level where you're telling that they're to inaccurate to post. Unless of course you doing that... I mean you especially, was meant to be ironic.

 

No it's meant to troll, that's what trolls do, troll.

 

20 years

 

Dirk literally played with Luka one year. Dallas went from one legend to another young legend VERY fast

 

but they were drafted 20 years apart. It took Dallas 20 years to find another player on Dirk's level

 

Coaching isn’t just about Xs and Os. I think that gets lost a lot in today’s NBA.

 

I was in prison outside of Tallahassee for 5 years mid 90s and the heat is a bitch!

 

I think Stotts would be perfect if he would just emphasize defense more, if he would stay offensively minded but also recognize that we have to be more accountable on D. Maybe all he needs is an assistant that is like a defensive coordinator but we haven't seen him pick anyone up that fits that bill.

 

He needs to bring in a defensive guru assistant. its been the answer for a few years. He wont do it.

 

Lost in today's NBA or fans on messages boards?

 

Oh I thought the question meant in the sense of if a team loses one legendary player to retirement how long it took the next one to come

 

Wait, you didn't understand something? SHOCKER!