If the team options for our young players is picked up next off-season. NO will be committing $130+ million to only 9 players. Up against the tax with less than 2/3 of a roster. The following offseason is even worse. $87+ million committed to only 3 players, if Nas's rockie TO is picked up. Something big has to happen next off-season. This salary situation is not sustainable. Not going to speculate on which player or players should be traded, or which of our FAs to re-sign to field a competitive team next season. This season is a one off, go for winning a ring. It is a long season, and a lot can happen before a trade needs to be made. Enjoy this loaded roster while it lasts.
All your talk but it doesn't really seem like you watch the actual games? Anyway i guess in your mind lebron is a point guard. I can live with you being delusional. Sure.
Arguing positions is like arguing semantics. All that matters is what you can guard on the defensive end.
Portland was 8th in the NBA in defense in 2018, and got swept by the pelicans in the playoffs. The year before that they were 16th in defense and got swept. The year after they were 8th in defense they ended up 16th again and made it to the WCF....where they got swept defense doesn't make up for when Dame is taken out of the equation by good playoff teams. For 6 straight years, it's been the offense failing with a below average Dame. That's the Achilles heel. I hope all you optimists are right and the Blazers have solved their major issues with the additions this time around. I'm skeptical though
no way. Trade him for someone legit so they can possibly not fit. Not one bit. Why bother waiting to see what we actually have? Shuffleboard is a fun game though... i suppose....
Should be fine next summer, DJj and Giles are only potential unrestricted free agents. Its the 2022-23 season that the payroll could be an issue, but the team has until the 2023 trade deadline until luxury tax is set. Enjoy every year on its own, the roster will certainly be different next year and years after that. How many guys have been on the team more that Kanter last season? Dame CJ Nurk Zach is it. The team can likely keep any 1 player it wants, but if they all play great we can't keep them all. That will be a good problem to have because it means we are winning now.
Look at this season’s Laker roster vs last season’s championship team. Wholesale changes were made, but I don’t think many Lakers fans are wringing their hands about the guys who didn’t return. “Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley, Rondo, Javale McGee. Oh no, how will we get by without them?”
Seems to be the trend of the league to fill in every year with the players that take up most of the cap. It reminds me of watching triple A baseball when players change every year for various reasons.
this is what i was saying. We make moves this year to prep for next year and not have that dillema of only being able to keep one.
if Jones has a breakout season, showing he's a great defender and decent on offense, Blazers may not be able to hold onto him in any event. He'd be opting out of a 9.72M salary and Portland could only give him 11.1M to start.
CJ has good player's around him in that group and now CJ has to make up his mind is he going to use them. Friday night it was questionable even though he got 5 assist he still look to score first.
That's fair. Except the premise of the thread is you need a superstar wing to win the championship, not someone who can effectively defend one. You might be right. Then the OP is moot. So why even discuss it?
I think secondary playmaker is the right definition (instead of superstar wing). It just so happens that the best playmakers right now are usually taller guys (wings I guess if you want to argue semantics).
I don't take stock in these absolute requirements a random analyst throws out. People said you couldn't win a title shooting jumpers, then golden state did it while racking up the best record of all time. There are no firm absolutes in what wins a title. Teams have done it with elite defense, elite offense, a combo of excellence on both ends, super star heavy teams with scrubs, deep teams without MVP level stars, guards, forwards, centers. Title teams have had ranges from excellence to bellow average at rebounding, 3's, free throws, interior defense, perimeter defense, jump shots, fastbreaks, steals, blocks, assists, etc. You need to score more than the opponent, thats it. There are tons of ways to do this. It takes talent, hard work, some luck. The Blazers haven't had the talent to do it in prior seasons. Maybe they are in the discussion along with some of the top teams this year. The result will be determined on the court, not in some random persons opinion. Enjoy the ride.
lol, getting swept in the WCF isn't equivalent to getting swept in the first round. Even this year we were eliminated in 5 games in the first round, but that was to the eventual champs. It was inevitable that every team the Lakers played was beaten decisively by the Lakers this past season, but who knows, maybe we make it to the WCF if a different route was given and only played the Lakers in the WCF. Even Miami would have lost in the first round if they played the Lakers.
Truth! You'd swear some people here would rather lose in the 1st round in 7 games to a team that gets swept the next round, than make it to the WCF and get swept. Even the context of the sweep matters (Portland lead game control in the GSW series). How far you get, who you lost to, and game control all matter when evaluating the success of a playoff run.
Hmm? how so? Ariza is a known commodity and we knew exactly what we had. We dont know yet what we have with djj.
