Grade the Blazers' roster changes

I'll have what they're having. I think we have about equal chance of missing the playoffs altogether as we have of finishing third. This doesn't mean I don't think we got better, just that the West is insane.

 

By all means, we wouldn't want anyone to get excited - it's extremely imprudent. Perhaps we all should be cleaning out our rain gutters and spend extra time flossing. Why ARE we all here, any way?

 

your process of cleaning your gutters is flawed if you have to floss afterwards

 

Just realized we traded two firsts for a defensive wing before - in Gerald Wallace. Hopefully RoCo turns out better than that deal. Or if it doesn't, we flip him for the next Dame.

 

I would say the opposite is true, when fans demand wins and contending from a franchise they make despeeate moves sacrificing the long term with no improvement in the short term. The Knicks did this for decades. The Nets with Pierce and Garnett, the Pelicans when they first got Davis.

30 teams are competing for something only one team gets. 96.7% of teams will be disappointed every year.

Add to those low odds the 3.3% is often a repeating team it feels more like the teams that haven't won lately are 99% likely to not win again.

 

The fact that melo choose us, the small market Blazers and not the Lakers for example to play for a ring says a lot about him. He's a great guy

 

Melo could be better than last year. He played too many minutes last year, with less he could be more productive when on the court and spend more energy on defense. He also could face worse defenders against second units. He got in better shape for the bubble and may continue that. Not saying he will be better as I agree in general you'd expect a slight decline. But these declines don't happen 100% of the time and for one season its possible to go a bit the other direction.

Hood has a chance to be worse than after the injury. If his performance is bellow that of any teammates minutes he replaces he will hurt the team more than if he was out with injury. Hope that's not the case...

 

Coaching - Hopefully better

 

Thank god the organization doesnt look at things this way.

More than half the teams on the league arent actively trying their best to build a contender. They're not just as likely to win a championship as a team that is.

Combine that with being 1 of 7 teams with a top 8 player, the odds should go up even more.

Couple that with the potential that if were healthy, some teams will fall off due to injury. Ofds go up even more.

Couple that with us having potentially a top 3 bench in the league, odds go up even more.

Championship should be the goal.

 

Jones will be fine at PF. Its not 1997 where you have bruising PF pushing guys around.

 

Your right, factoring all of that the Blazers odds are less than 1 out of 30.

If you are certain its better put your money where your mouth is, you can bet on the Blazers to win with better than 1 in 30 odds.

 

My whole point is that we shouldnt have the mindset of "The odds are so steep, it's too hard!". We should try everything to maximize those odds no matter how tall because we already have some things in our favor, instead of rolling over and being content with never fully trying because the odds are too steep.

I dont know why betting money came into this conversation.

 

I guess my response depends on your definition of we and what action your calling for.

By we do you mean the team management or fans pressure? I think management should try and is trying to make moves to contend.

But should they trade every future unprotected pick possible to maxize the talent now? Id say no at this time. We still don't know how the changes already made will translate on the court.

I dont see how fans demanding extra pressure or expecting better results helps anything.

The Blazers management is already trying to win, and balancing the risk of losing or forgoing future assets to improve the presence.

As another poster said, I dont see how fan pressure has ever helped.

 

Not trying to say it could or couldn't help, just talking about the mindset in general.

 

A few points about the roster moves as they relate to this particular Covid-impacted season:

1. Continuity. It’s a short season with a shortened preseason. The fact that the core of the roster is familiar with Stotts’s system is going to be a help as opposed to teams with major changes in star players or coaching.

2. Depth. As we’re seeing in the NFL, playing outside of a bubble environment means having to deal with players unable to play because of positive testing results or even exposure to someone who has tested positive. The Blazers’ deep roster puts them in a better position to deal with those issues than thinner teams.

3. Trade flexibility. The Blazers have lots of quality players on affordable contracts. If the opportunity arises come the deadline, the Blazers are in a position to make attractive offers for available star players.

In my opinion, Olshey knocked it out of the park this year. (Forgive the mixed sports metaphor).

 

something else: at the time of the Wallace trade, it was 5 months before he turned 29. At the time of the Covington trade, it was 1 month before he turns 30. Hopefully, RoCo ages a lot better than Wallace

 

Hey, not everyone liked the Wallace trade:

 

I don't believe the flexibility is as good as you say, especially when it comes to trading for stars

for one thing, they are hard-capped and the franchise is obviously determined to avoid luxury tax. So the balance of outgoing/incoming salary is pretty much one-way for Portland

but an even bigger impediment is Portland can't trade any future 1st round picks this year. That puts them at a serious leverage disadvantage bidding against other teams because if a team is dumping a star they almost always want draft compensation

 

We must allow DJJ to be himself and not try and make him a player he's not. Gifted players are often pushed in a direction of their talents by coaches, and they end up doing something we or the coaches believe they should do instead of what they want to do. Especially very athletic leapers like DJJ. Harkless never seemed to enjoy himself on the court as he was the 4th 5th option and mostly waiting in the corner for a three. He once said he got bored with with that role if he was involved early in a game and able to take the ball to the hoop or even iso he didnt get stagnant.
DJJ commented that "if they let me do what I do" Im coming. I think it was in reference to an offer form Sac Town.
I bet he feels the same here.