Impossible. I've heard from people that Powell stinks and we are better off without him and his overpaid contract.
they should be deep with a 195M payroll. I won't even bother to calculate the luxury tax but it has to be in the 150M range. Yeah, they are a contender; but they have a lot of money invested in a lot of players that have had a lot of injuries and had a lot of trouble staying healthy
So your problem with this is that the owner has a lot of money invested in winning and he still does even though they have dealt with injuries? Okay.
Suns Warriors Clippers Blazers Grizzlies Nuggets Pelicans Wolves Lakers Kings Thunder Jazz Spurs Rockets
did you see me register any problem? all I said was that the Clippers depth had a big price tag and a lot of the players have fairly extensive injury histories. It wouldn't take a lot to derail their contention. 3 months ago, one Covid diagnosis and the Clips, at home, couldn't beat the 9 seed in the last 5 seasons, Kawhi has played 178 games....that's less than 36 a year. In the last 3 seasons, PG13 has averaged 44 games. LAC is not a contender without both of those guys healthy
But they will contend for a championship. That's the goal right? It's OK to admit another team is better than our Blazers sir.
Yeah. I'm not sold on the Nuggets. Something to me just seems "off" about them. I think they have some big question marks on the defensive end and just overall consistency in general. Too much of what they do is built around a great offensive player who is even more a defensive liability than Dame. I think the Nuggets and Blazers are kind of similar in a number of ways. I think Dame has something to prove, and I don't bet against him when he plays with an edge.
where the hell was it that I even hinted they were not better? you guys need to stop trying to read between my lines because you suck at it
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nikola-jokic-bolstered-his-mvp-case-with-his-defense/ Nope, you have not been paying attention
All I believe is The Blazers will be considerably better than last year. Gone are the lackadaisical attitudes of, well, you know, replaced with guys who simply put, Give A Fuck.. That alone will improve this team greatly. Oh, there's also this Lillard finally being healthy (with even more to prove) thing, that many are over-looking. Anything can happen, duh. Injuries, are the great equalizer, if Portland clicks, and stays healthy?...
I have been paying attention. I've seen their metrics. Except ... the metrics are only part of the equation, and putting all your faith in numbers that can be spun will lead you to making some really poor evaluations. I actually take that into consideration, but I take into bigger consideration what I see. Numbers don't occur in a vacuum, and following the metrics that purport that they do even when you can see clearly with your own eyes will be your undoing most of the time.
For instance, did you realize the metrics say the Nuggets were the worst defensive team in the entire playoffs? Here's another: the very 538 link you post has Rudy Gobert last season having the second-best defensive season in the past nine years. Except Gobert was exposed as a huge liability on the defensive end in the playoffs because he couldn't get out and contest shots in the corner and recover. Same article has Gorgui Dieng in the class of Gobert, Draymond Green and Clint Capella defensively. You have to have context. You have to know what these teams have around their other players and how they scheme their defenses. Metrics never tell the whole story; if they did, we wouldn't need to play these games.
