Look on the bright side

we are fucked...

no way this team beats SA, Lakers, or even okc this year

 

That's 28% of wins using your numbers. Plus the lackluster Spurs of last year look nothing like the Spurs that are balling this season.

Face it, this team feasts on weak opponents and folds much more often than not to talented rosters. That's the reality of life under Nate's coaching.

 

There is no bright side.

 

Look at the Cavs roster a little more closely.

Hickson is a promising young player at power forward, Varejao is a great defensive energy/hustle player, Mo Williams isn't much of a pure point guard, but he can score and is an above average shooter, Ramon Sessions is a nice reserve point guard (borderline starter).

My main point wasn't so much that we have an identical overall talent level, it's that we have a nice collection of complimentary talent without much in the way of a closer right now

 

I am not sure about that. We still have Oden who was a better player than Roy last year when both were healthy - and we have hope Oden returns to health, we can say that LMA is a more mature Hickson - but Batum is better than anything the Cavs have.

We are still not sure, however, that Roy is done.

 

I am genuinely interested in seeing a Blazers rotation NOT with a gimpy, defensive-liability, no-ability-to-make-much-happen Roy in there for 30 minutes.

I honestly think that 5 or 6 games of not having Roy will solidify a new, faster, more uptempo lineup that could be disruptive.

Never thought I'd say this, but I really just don't want Roy on the court fucking things up right now.

 

If he remains at this level, no I don't think he's still elite. There's good reason to believe he may remain at this level, and I tend toward that view unfortunately, but I don't think it's the ironclad certainty that some are suggesting.

However, Roy is actually still pretty good at this level. He and Batum are pretty even at this point (in terms of offense/rebounding...once you factor in defense, Batum may well be superior)...which is a come-down for Roy, since Batum is not elite. But that still makes Roy a good player. He's just not good enough, at this level, to build an offense around.

 

I think Hickson has a lot more promise than Aldridge, he plays a much more physical style in the post, rebounds better and actually plays solid on defense. Furthermore, saying, "we have Greg" is a bit like saying "I have a Jaguar." Sure it looks great, but how much use is it when it's in the shop more than half the year? And while I'm as big of Batum fan as anyone, he's still fairly inconsistent and I wouldn't call him a great first option (yet). Finally, you're right that Brandon may not be done, but I think the Brandon that we saw his first 3 years in the league is gone; there will be flashes of the old Roy from time to time, but aside from the physical pain he's enduring I think his mindset has started to drastically shift from that guy who could and would take a game over to one that is probably going to someone who is trying to preserve whatever he has left in the tank.

 

Yeah, he has a family to think about, and I think Roy will do whatever it takes to stay in the league and collect a paycheck.

 

What a load of crap. Lifetime earnings for a middle-class worker is what, just under $2 million? Roy got a HUGE contract, about half of which we'll probably lose to taxes. Plus he has endorsements, and is smart enough to probably get any basketball-related job he wants once he's done. I wouldn't cry for the $60-million dollar man.

 

You know what the problem is with this argument? Brandon Roy is a basketball player. He's played basketball his whole life. If he can't play basketball anymore, what's he going to do? He's only been in the league four years. That's not a long time. You have no idea whether Roy will have a future in basketball after his playing days are over. How much of his rookie contract is left? How much is tied up in real-estate? How many people is Roy supporting? Does he want to put money aside for his kids college fund? My point is, he's going to want to secure his future AND his children's future by playing out this contract, and maybe even securing a second contract before retiring. Wouldn't you try to make as much money as humanly possible while you could?

 

+1. I know I would make as much money as I could.

 

Plus, I don't see how pointing to the middle-class worker is a good argument. Middle-class wages barely, if at all, cover living expenses these days.

 

OK, fine, if you make $100k a year, which is more than 80% of households in the U.S. make (keeping in mind only 1 in maybe 30 people of the world will ever dream of making this much money), and you work for 35 years, you'll make... $3.5 million.

Roy made a $65 million contract. Minus taxes, let's say he's left with only $30, though it would be more than that. But Roy has $30 million dollars we can safely say.

There is no way anyone can feel bad for that. If he can't manage with 10 times what a person in the 20% percentile makes in the U.S., he's not managing his money properly. Fortunately for Roy, he is a level-headed guy, and will have no problem making that last. And, again, you can't discount that he will easily make his way into a post-basketball career. And endorsements in the time being.

Let's not have any notions that he isn't set for many lifetimes, because he is.

 

I have one problem with this argument.

ESPN reported that just prior to his 4th surgery, which he knew about but didn't tell Blazer management, he signed the big contract, then had the 4th surgery that made his knee bone-on-bone. To me, that's not right.

 

I have a really hard time believing the Blazers didn't know everything about Roy before, during, and after surgery. They probably know more about Roy than Roy does. Can anyone explain how a team could pay for a surgery on a player and not know the results of said surgery?

 

It's not right because it's not accurate. The timeline you've created (or whomever you heard this from) is wrong.