DeRozan might be interesting as a SF If we traded Ariza, did not re-sign Whiteside, a backcourt made up of: Dame, CJ, DeRozan Off the bench: Trent, Carmelo, Adams and with Nurkic, Hoard, Collins and a free-agent Center
Dame, CJ, Nurk, Hoody, GT, Trevor, Zach, Simons, Nassir, Hoard. Mario has an option, but hopefully heads overseas. I would love for Melo to return, and i think it's possible. Important to keep Melo IMO. He fits. Add a free agent shooter and Backup center. Time for Hassan to move on. The motor just isn't there on a consistent basis. But i appreciate his efforts this year. Playoff performance though was poor.
Maybe it is just the "another 1st round exit" hangover, but outside of Dame and maybe Trent I'm completely indifferent to this roster. The team that fielded Clyde, Terry, Jerome, Buck, Duck, and Cliffy might as well have existed in another dimension. That was a bunch of guys to really root for. (and yeah, I am well aware they weren't perfect either on or off the court)
Also- a great thing about the Clyde/Terry team was that we kept the starting lineup and coach together for several years with the only tweak being adding Buck Williams. And we went from first round exit in 1989 to Finals in 1990 so adding that one perfect player without blowing things up could get us to Finals too.
This is a group of guys to really root for. I've been a fan since '77, and i love this group. Character and heart galore. And the Blazers Greatest player ,DAME, IMO. Drexler seems to think his Houston years were his best.
Not to nit-pick, but they also acquired Duck in a trade, and on paper it was a riskier move than trading for Buck.
Remember when LMA said he wanted to be the greatest Blazer ever? Until they actually sign on the dotted line it is all just PR.
I don't know. We got swept from WCF in 1999 and got swept from WCF in 2019. This year, we had too many injuries. Not out of this world to think we would've made WCF again this year(like 2000 team did) if people had been healthy.
We wouldn't have even been on the easy side of the bracket if Ant hadn't screwed up Stotts final game plan last year.
Dame, Gary, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Nurk, Zach, Hoodie, Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Simons, Nas, Wenyen, two first round draft picks (ours and Philly's) and a second round pick.