This is another time I wouldn’t give away a first round pick. Too valuable. Does Thad Young “move the needle”? Portland needs to collect firsts not give them away unless it puts them over the top
it's not really true, though. Some guys did, yes, but certainly not EVERY other center. Here are guys who will make more than Zeller next year who were FAs this summer: Jarrett Allen - 5yr/100 Holmes - 4yr / 55 Theis - 4 yrs/ 36 Zach! - 3yrs/ 22 Rolo- 5mil Javale - 5 mil Dieng - 4 mil Alex Len - 4 mil Guys in the same tier ($ wise): Kanter/Dwight/Drummond/Whiteside/Dedmon/Kaminsky/Bradley I think Zeller is going to be underpaid this summer and qualifies as a guy taking less than what he's worth to come here.
What really hurt the Blazers rise, was injuries. Nurk's was the worse, and hopefully the 2 years removed theory about serious injuries, gets him back to be the Beast again. Especially with new coaching. Zach's brutal luck as well. Those are KEY players for this team. None of those other contenders, except the Lakers & Nets this past season, have had seasons derailed by the same issue. The Blazers have been snake bit for sure. A fully healthy Nurk & Zach, and who knows. Maybe free agents would have come, taken less, to help rip city. But Neil & Dame can't force guys to join them. It's sad cause many of the players that do join the Blazers, end up making it their permanent home after. PDX is a special place, and will Rise Again. Dame is an awesome dude, and has built many friendships around the League, but some players just want the glitz. Gotta feeling, Durant ain't one of them.
I have not heard anyone outside of the few on the board and Neil who think Portland is in a good place. It's sinking in; its for real. This is the team. Only hearing how the Pels, Wolves, and Portland had the poorest free agency. Simply did not improve the roster. Who did worse is debatable. Given that Portland has a loyal top 5 player who wants help, I think the answer is clear.
True, but the catalyst to their run was the Jrue Holiday trade. For the Blazer , I still think a trade is possible involving CJ, that could be the spark.
Someone should probably bump the "Chauncy Billups - New Portland Head Coach" thread, because it's looking like that will be the only major changes we see before the start of the season. What a disappointing off season.
IMO, that question would need to be directed to Dame. If he doesn't view Thad as an acquisition that might make him interested in staying, then you don't waste your time.
But also, the naysayers who wanted Dame to be dealt elsewhere, aren't going to say nice things anyways. They're butthurt for being wrong. Even if a quality deal for say, Siakam or Harris does happen, they still will say, "It's still not enough. But they don't know. They aren't any better than us at prognosticating what's gonna happen. They just get paid(lucky them, hard work in some cases too) to talk loud, and get noticed.
It ain't over yet. There's still time to get deals done, and make trades. Or did i miss something. Is the season starting next week. Damn, we gotta schedule that Fantasy Draft.
Giannis is a more dominant player than Dame though. For the record. Giannis Dame Middleton Jrue CJ Nurk Lopez Would have to be a pretty substantial upgrade in a CJ trade for us.
