Most possible scenario I see with the Blazers (after last ten years of high hopes every year) is: 1. Blazers won't trade any of vet3 on trade dead line - "we watching market and offers closely and there was nothing we like and we don't want to sell low". 2. Tanking after all stars. Sharp will seat again. 3. We hit average player in draft. Someone that needs 4years to pop. What is the fucking point? Ant, Grant and Ayton are enough to add some young players. Get a good coach and try to play winning basketball.
I'd settle for Ace Bailey. We need another top tier offensive prospect with size. Shae has been the only guy to show that potential. Can't assume Scoot will be that guy if you're planning carefully.
I already brought this up multiple times but I get shut down every time. You simply cannot continue to tank. If you do the players you got when you started to tank leave. You have to pay them and play them. If the team still isn't good enough you have to trade them. Eventually Sharpe gets too expensive and then Scoot gets too expensive then Clingan gets his money and there is no room to bring in any help. So now we are talking "max" for Sharpe? Eventually you have to trade out one of the guys you just tanked for.
I don't think you understand how supermax contracts work, its not just up to the Blazers and Sharpe to negotiate it. Sharpe has to get votes for All-NBA and to do that he needs to play.
All you have to do is look at the teams that are known as habitual tankers over the years and you will se exactly what you share.
Yeah its fine for one season to have some established veterans such as Dame/Grant/Nurk/etc sit for a better pick with the idea to use that and retool the next season for a playoff run. Dallas did it and followed that up the next season making the finals. It's extremely different to start having 21 year olds sit out every year for large portions of their seasons. They already will have no basketball for 3 months of the playoffs when players on winning teams are developing in April, May, June. The NBA season is precious and young players on losing teams need to continue developing every season. This is year 4 the Blazers will be in the lottery and next year in another loaded draft will be year 5. You cannot have it be a part of their development where they have to sit out the majority of their career for a half decade. I'm kind of shocked so many posters seem to think that is a good way to develop a possible leader of the franchise. Now the Blazers CAN do things like trade away veterans, or have all players be extra cautious sitting out with minor injuries that they would play through in the playoffs.
No, it’s not. “Next year!” has been the rallying cry for Portland for most of their existence. Maybe you’re too young to know that. It’s fool’s gold to think that somehow next year is going to be the year. Sharpe could get injured again. So could Williams. So could anybody. The future is never guaranteed. That’s why it’s important to play hard and go all out every year.
Honestly if we were looking playoff bound by the deadline I’d be for it. If we aren’t getting Flagg, Bailey or Edgecombe then I’ll take Ingram.
There are several players outside of those three I would rather have next year than Ingram. I’d honestly rather have the 30th pick in this draft than Ingram at $50m+ a year in his next contract.
I have no problem with playing the young guys and seeing exactly who they are and hoping they get better but continuing to hold on to Ant/Ayton/Grant is just idiotic. It would be the most Blazer thing ever to finally 'make a run' at a play in spot this season with a stacked draft. Just another sports franchise that is fine with mediocrity and the same old fans who eat it up thinking a 44-38 record means something.
Yeah it'll be something if we had the 3rd worst record in the weakest draft of the last decade, then try to win with irrelevant vets the next season in an epic loaded draft. Made no sense having the off-season we did.
A 44-38 season would mean several things. It would mean our youth are taking the leap we aspire them to take. It means that we will likely be better next year and the year after, considering how young we are and the room for vast growth across the roster. It confounds me that people would be upset with a .500 record this year if led by the youth, like the last few games. I would personally be ecstatic for the future with a .500 or near .500 record for the season.
I think most every rational fan would be ecstatic if we finished around .500 if it was done by Scoot, Sharpe, Camara, even Demi, Clingan, Murray, Rupert….and not Ant, Grant, Ayton
