I hope so. I really don't see how much analyzing needs to be done. They know the players. They know what they want to do as a team. After that, target a few players and go after them. It just doesn't seem like something that should take months and months.
There is no "Absolutely". When you trade proven veteran commodities for draft picks/prospects, there's a chance you get better eventually. There's also a chance that you sink into the abyss that is the bottom feaders of the league, and stay there for years. We all remember the 27, 21, & 32 win seasons. Not all lottery picks pan out - see Telfair, Webster. You start to get desperate and reach - see Darius Miles. It feels like you'd give anything JUST to get back to the playoffs, even if you get bounced in the 1st round. Then you get back to the playoffs a few times, realize you don't have enough fire-power to win a championship and you blow everything up? For a chance to start all over? No way. If there's a deal out there that makes us better now, or has a high probability of making us better next season - take it, no doubt. But no fire sale. I'd rather "suffer" through 43-50 win seasons and deal with getting bounced in the 1st round.
Ok I will make the same point but the opposite way. We are sinking into the Abyss anyhow. If this squad stays as is, this is their last above .500 season for the next few years. So exactly how are you going to suffer through your 43 to 50 win season when there will be no more of those after this season. Next year you are looking in the 30's, and the team will sit there for a few years before we get a good player and start to turn it around. That is what is going to happen.
He's worth next to nothing currently. There's lots of expiring contracts in the NBA and he's barely a contributor on a team hovering around .500.
You have to respect Joel for working hard to come back but HOLY SHIT is he brutal on the court. He's clearly nowhere near ready to be playing the minutes he's getting.
Actually I do respect the hell out of Joel -- easily one of the toughest Blazers ever and a guy I really hoped could retire a Blazer -- but I think the writing is on the wall, his only real value at this point appears to be as an expiring contract. people who disagree and think that with more rehab time Joel will return to full form only need to look at the before and after of Antonio McDyess when he tore his patella; McDyess has still been somewhat effective, but he went from explosive and dominant to average in terms of athletcism. Joel was an average NBA athlete before the injury, which means what? At peak recovery he could be another Aaron Gray?
