Not worth it. The players in the 2025 draft project to be much better players than Markkanen. He’s a good player but he isn’t a superstar.
I think the winning-culture/losing-culture narrative is mostly bullshit. Wins and losses are a function of talent and players are smart enough to be able to gauge the talent on their team vs the talent on another team. Portland doesn't have any player who is top-10 at his position in the NBA. Ayton might be closest, but he's a flawed, overpaid C. There are probably only 3 or 4 teams in the NBA with that low level of talent, and Portland is one of them. Besides that, it's arguable there are only 3 positions in the modern NBA, not 5: PG's-Wings-Bigs. wins/losses don't control culture...talent does. Wins/losses are just a bi-product. I'd suggest that Portland giving lots of minutes to Ant-Grant-Ayton and winning 34-36 games would be more damaging to the culture than deliberately tanking. I agree Portland needs to tank next season; and they need to tank organically by finally, after a decade, stopping straddling fences and foolishly going two directions at once. They need to trade away high paid role players with 3rd-4th tier talent and actually lean fully into a logical rebuild. But that sure doesn't appear to be what they will do
What you said in that last sentence really really needs to be the thinking of this franchise. I just fear that it is not. We can hope though because as a sports fan hoping in one hand is more effective then shitting in the other.
Who are the tanking teams this yr besides Portland? Charlotte and Washington are the only two obvious ones. The hope is there are no jumps in the lottery.
Here was the bottom of last season Detroit Washington Portland Charlotte San Antonio Toronto Memphis Utah Brooklyn Atlanta Chicago Houston Golden State I think these teams will pull out of the lottery: Golden State Memphis Houston Atlanta? Here are the teams that have gotten markedly worse and/or I think will be actively tanking: Detroit Washington Portland Brooklyn Chicago I'm not sure about: Charlotte SAS Utah Raptors
Have they had some young lady who is like six or seven years older than him recruiting him into the Mormon church??? because that seems like doing "everything".
Why exactly is it you think Detroit got worse? Aren't they returning their 8 highest-minute players, all of whom were 23 or younger, and adding Harris? I seriously doubt that they're tanking.
I’m OBVIOUSLY no homer, but how the hell has Portland gotten worse? We added a very good defensive big We added a very good 2 way player Scoot, Sharpe, others are a year better
Because it's based on the assumption that we're moving Grant/Simons. Sorry I didn't give that stipulation.
They’ve been trying to but it keeps biting them in the ass and they get a lower pick than they were supposed to
They're just going to lean into Ivey, Sasser, Thompson, Holland, and Duren and hope one of them break out.
according to our friendly neighborhood Blazers Edge, Avdija is a top 10 forward in the NBA. They posted a few stats to prove their case. Brown, Tatum, LeBron, George, etc etc etc, yuuup sure enough, there's Deni right up there with the big dawgs. the Wizards coughed up an All-Star without knowing what they had cooking. Be ready for all the Kiki Vandeweghe Blazer records to be shattered. Come back tomorrow for more spectacular Blazers Edge articles. Where the run for the 2K championship becomes a reality. Be sure to find treasure tokens and give your players upgrades.
Why would any team with a young core start the season with the intention to tank? Blazers are in a position to truly test what they have, and work from there. This is a good unit, and with all the players with the potential to make a leap, you have to keep it competative to truly test for needs. The unknown potential of Scoot/Sharpe/Clingan as a trio is enough to keep the team in tact for half a season. Add in Avdija, and things are getting interesting. Holding on to Grant until the trade deadline is a no-brainer. Ayton, Simons, Reath, Walker, Williams and Thybulle…This is an interesting team. I think the biggest challenge/potential is handing the keys to Sharpe, seeing if he accepts the role and what he can do with it. If he turns out to be what many of us believe he’s capable of, this is a very good team moving forward.
The better question is .... Has Cronin gone back to bed cause he did his one trade and the draft so now time to go back into his slumber -- truth -- LOL
