I'm probably being wildly optimistic, but frankly I think the Lakers are on some pretty thin ice with this lot as the pillars of their title hopes. Dwight -- coming off back surgery Pau -- still good but getting a little long in the tooth, and how much will he have in the tank after an olympic year? Kobe -- magical German knee therapy aside, how long do his knees hold up? (plus see Pau comment above) and he's not the player he used to be. Nash -- still good, but has had a history of back problems and now he doesn't have Phoenix's voodoo training staff to keep him going. Don't get me wrong, I think they're definitely a top 3 team in the West and should be in the mix for the WCF, but there's a lot of health related questions with these guys.
There's no future. This is what you can't get, right? There's no future for a non-elite small market team. None. The Rich get richer and stay rich and that's the way it's been for the NBA for 40+ years. Or have you been living under a rock? If I was LaMarcus Aldridge, I would be demanding a trade yesterday. To a team that will actually be given an opportunity to win. Same with Lilliard in 6 years. Wash, rinse, repeat. I seem to be one of the only fucking people around here with a memory.
Well good luck to LMA in three years when he joins the Heat and same for Lillard when he goes to Dallas.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL So what you are saying is that small market teams NEVER, and I mean NEEEEEEEEEVVVVERRRRRRRRRRRRR land one of these top-tier free-agents/trades because they are SCARED? Oh man, that is the funniest fucking thing I have read in a long time.
No, what I've come to realize is that the Blazers as an organization and a business, and the NBA as well, quit on fans like ME a long, long fucking time ago, and I was just too stupid to realize it.
Yeah? Tell me the last time a small market team landed a top 10 NBA player in their prime through free agency or trade. I'll wait.
It's definitely getting more difficult to remain an NBA fan when knowing your team doesn't stand a chance of ever winning a championship. I've honestly never felt further away from the Blazers winning a championship than I do right now. And yes, that includes the KP coached 22 win team. There were no "dream teams" then.
What guts? He didn't take any chances? He was handed the best center in the world for a player they wanted to get rid of. Bynum has talent, but he is not smart or a team player. The Lakers gave up very little IMO. I doubt very much that they wanted to sign him to another big contract. What a fucking steal.
I listed to them on the radio this afternoon. They already were bouncing off the walls in glee. (Their words not mine.)
And you know you're going to see it and hear it to no freaking end. Portland has the most L.A. transplants than any other city on the west coast.
More like the big market teams can take a risk because LA has a 50/50 shot of convincing DHo to stay and Portland/Milwaukee/Minnesota have a 0% shot of anything beyond a 1 year rental. This is the kind of shit that made me cancel my season tickets. What makes this hurt even more is when things finally go our way and we have the chance to build something great we get decimated by injuries. When was the last time LA lost a season or a future to injuries. Makes you kind of feel like even God is against the small markets some times.
I agree they can take the risk a little more easily. but a small market team can still take the risk if they wanted to. The initial comment was about them not having the balls to do it. It'd take balls to do it, and none seem to. Chris disagrees that it's about balls, but if a small market team had the balls to make that big splash, it'd happen. Look at the mopst recent trades, other than this shittastic deal for orlando, and the big market teams gave up solid value for the pieces. NJ gave a ton for Deron. LAC gave a good package for Paul. NY gave a good package for Carmelo. It's not like they're being handed players. Whatever. People are going to whine, call it fixed, whatever.
