I KP somehow doesn't make a significant - or any - trade move, where do you see the Blazers finishing in the playoff picture this season? I don't think it's realisitic to include the top seeding so I left it out of this poll.
KP wont stand pay. I hope he doesn't. Don't piss in my cheerios! Seriously, we're a middle of the pack team in the playoffs. We'll gain valuable experience but wont go far, IMO.
7th... If we do my dream trade for Wallace and Nazr for Sergio, raef and Martell, I think we can finish around 4th maybe 5th.
really depends on odens health and websters health. with no trade we are very bad at SF and really below average at PG. if oden was out for a while..we prob would be a lock to miss the playoffs. thats why i have been screaming trade for months. we have really hid are weakneses for most of teh season but the last 3 weeks teams have exposed us. MAKE BATUM SHOOT is prob on most of their locker room chalk boards. a deal is a must, but many wont realize that till its too late. KP knows....i would bet anything. It just comes down too him making the right deal.
hope for the best, but prepare to be standing pat. If KP can reasonably attain one of the plumbs we've been debating, I doubt he lets the opportunity slip by. But I've learned not to put much stock into trade rumors in general as so few of them come to fruition. If they stand pat I see them as the 4th seed which is what I've predicted all along. A young team should improve as the season goes along, especially if they're as deep and healthy (knock on wood) as Portland is. STOMP
I think anywhere from 4th to 7th seed is reasonable. Getting higher than 4th would require an influx of veteran experience -- I just don't see us overtaking the Nuggets or Spurs with our current squad. However, I'm perfectly fine with that. It's getting close to our time, but it's not here yet.
I voted fifth. I think that one team below us will catch fire and pass us, but we've got a pretty easy road ahead of us and if we make no changes I'd expect us to finish fifth. Ed O.
I get the feeling the Suns are going to look a lot different and much more energized in the second half of the season, I think Utah is going to get a little healthier and get in, Houston looks like it's falling to pieces and I won't be surprised to see them fall to ninth. My guess is we play about .500 ball and finish 8th if no roster changes are made.
Tough question. There's only 2-1/2 games that seperate us from the #8 seed Utah. And only 3-1/2 games with #9 Phoenix. As things currently stand, and assuming there are NO trades among the top 9 teams - I think we finish up somewhere 7-9. So many factors though. Does Utah get healthy? With T-Max out, can Yao stay healthy? How does the loss of Jason Terry affect the Mavs? I think we play about .500 the rest of the way w/o a trade (somewhere between 46-48 wins) with our current roster. Now, if there is/are some trades it could change everything. Let's say the Suns send Amare to Chicago (or somewhere other than Portland) Even though it doesn't change our roster, it probably assures we at least get the #8 seed - even if we tank the 2nd half. If we get Butler, RJeff, or Wallace AND we can somehow get Andre Miller . . . I think we have a chance at the #3 or #4 seed. I don't think we'd catch SA, but Denver isn't out of the question. Look at Denver's next 10 games. 3 game Eastern road trip, then games at home vs 3 good teams (Boston/LA/Atl) They also play at Utah and against us (at their place) Even their "cake" games are on the road, where anything can happen. Games at Philly, Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana, Detroit, Utah, and Sac . . . not many "gimmes". It's so close right now that we could either be #3 or #9. When you look at the difference between Denver (#3) and Phoenix (#9) it's not that signifigant. There are several teams in our way that aren't very deep and are one injury away from slipping out of the race (Houston/Yao, Dallas/Dirk, NO/Paul, Denver/Mello) You could say that about us too - if Roy goes down we're toast, but we are deeper than most teams. If we end up with the #7 or #8 seed, we MIGHT win 1 playoff game. The Lakers and Spurs are just better than we are - by a lot. The playoff experience would be good for our young guys, but we have no shot at winning a series like that. We have to finish #6 or better to have a shot at the 2nd round.
2nd, if we continue baking. Much, much lower if we trade for any significant players who need to be assimilated into our rotation.
4th. They have that seed now, the remaining schedule is easier and their younger players are better now than they were at the start of the season. That should actually cause them to rise, but I'll allow for "inexperience" and whatever else to even it out, to be conservative.
