Portland has been a joke for the amount of numbers they have retired. If going of historical precedence, then yes, they probably should retire it. I rather break away from that though.
? ?? What crowd? What act? Am I misunderstanding what this message board is about? Is this like Twitter where you get followers? Yes, that would be a lame argument. Apparently not. Thank you for your concern. I'm sure I'll enjoy next season a lot more if we're NOT tanking. Although I'm sure I won't enjoy watching Mo instead of CJ. OKay... So this is different from what I'm doing because? Somehow I believe the team IS tanking, but you have a truer grasp of reality? Is this where I say "waaaah! Boo hoo!" Is that how this works?
While in cleveland for some reason, I used to call him mo gotti. I think it used to be his twitter handle. BTW, PC in a lil bit on blazers.com
It's fuckin hilarious that anyone could be unhappy with this signing... We got a former All-Star point guard to back up our rookie of the year for virtually nothing. Good grief....
I truly don't get the vitriol I'm getting here. It's like I'm being Un-American or something. Look, if you're happy, be happy! Good for you! Enjoy! But I believe I have legitimate reasons for tempering my enthusiasm. I believe that rosters can get too crowded at certain positions and it can be a problem. I believe that getting "former All-Star" Dale Davis for largely unused Jermaine O'Neal was a mistake. I believe signing "former all-star" Kenny Anderson was a mistake. I believe signing Jamal Crawford was a mistake, and I said so at the time. I actually thought getting Felton was good - boy, was I wrong about that one. Amazingly enough, just getting a lot of "former all-stars" and jamming them together doesn't always work. Maybe the Thunder are on to something by NOT doing that. Maybe there's a reason Mo Williams was so fucking cheap. WHY didn't any other team pay him more? Oh that's right - it's because they knew that his heart was set on playing for Portland.
So fans really will complain about anything. There is literally zero downside to this signing. It's an absolute steal, and Mo knows he's coming in to be a key bench player.
Williams is our only legit backup PG. We're definitely not too crowded there We didn't give anyone up for Mo, so that example is completely irrelevant. Strike 1 Actually, Kenny was excellent for us his first year. It wasn't until year 2 that he dropped off--and was dealt immediately. Of course, since Mo is on a cheap contract and isn't being brought in to start, that example is also irrelevant. Strike 2 Again, never all-stars, and also brought in to play much larger roles than Mo, so not really the same. Strike 3 You sure do love trying to bring up false comparisons to bolster your opinion. Too bad none of your examples make sense. Can you come up with an example of a former all-star still near his prime brought in to be a clear backup who was a detriment to the team?
With this signing, I think it's pretty apparent they don't plan on giving McCollum the same kind of minutes they gave Lillard last season. I wonder if this might suggest how they really feel about McCollum. I can't imagine him getting anymore than 15-20 minutes a game with Wes playing the same position as him. If you believe in him and think he is the real deal, you probably ought to give him more time than that.
I think the signing shows that the Blazers have as a primary goal giving the team the best shot at making the playoffs and that adding an experienced backup PG is more important to achieving that goal than giving minutes to a rookie. I think it also may indicate that they don't think that McCollum has sufficient experience running the point to take on that role right now. He'll have to earn his minutes at the 2G spot this season. It's on him to play well enough to command more minutes than other guys on the roster.
Or, perhaps they're going to let him earn time, as is often the case in a meritocracy like a competitive athletic team. If McCollum demonstrates in his time on the court that he deserves significant PT, I've no doubt that he'll get it.
There is no minimum number of years, it's about level of impact. Brandon was the single greatest driving force behind the team's rise from the ashes of the Jail Blazers. He deserves more of the credit than anyone else for filling the Rose Garden back up with fans. If he had any cartilage in his knees at all, he could have been one of the best to ever play the game. The ONLY reason #7 should not be in the rafters is the fact that he tried to play for another team after retiring from here.
I don't think anybody thinks CJ is going to be Lillard as a rookie. It was always the plan to have him coming off of the bench. In terms of a back-up PG for a team that wants to make the playoffs, having any rookie be that guy is a crapshoot. Mo Williams is a solid NBA PG, and getting him probably reflects more on Watson than it does McCollum.
Former All-Star Dale Davis? He was an All-Star the year that we traded for him. He made the All-Star team that season and then we traded for him during the offseason, so technically he was "current All-Star" Dale Davis.
Or you have a proven sixth man of the year contenderesque combo guard willing to play for you for cheap. Do you say no? Olshey seems to believe in McCollum a lot as evidenced by the draft war room video
They didn't retire because of injury, then try to come back a year later, costing the Blazers millions in insurance money...
Number 30 is retired twice, lets hope Mo does great things here in Portland so we can retire number 7 twice.
He almost single-handedly dragged his team INTO the first round two years before anyone had any right to expect. IMNSHO, He (and Nate) deserve CREDIT for the first two one-and-dones, not blame.
It was "only" $17m, since the Blazers weren't able to fully insure the contract. Think of how bad things would be without the amnesty clause? Seems like an odd thing to hold over Roy, since he really did want to still play.
I'm surprised that nobody's pointed out the bigger problem. We retired the nickname "Mo" with Maurice Lucas. Williams is going to need a new handle.
