Legit game changers to put Portland into contention

nuff' said. maybe add kawhi leonard so we have someone that can stop lebron

 

Getting to the finals with Harden, Ibaka and Westbrook is way different than with Damian Lillard and Gerald Henderson.

 

My apologies. I see what you mean. I simply should've said with the majority of the team being scrubs. No Dame isn't a scrub. But if we traded literally every asset other than Dame, our roster would Dame + whoever (single player) we trade for and 8 other scrubs in our permanent rotation. Simply, a majority of our starting lineup would be scrubs or subpar..Lebron is the only player on the planet that could get a team.like that to the finals.

 

You are being difficult, that's cool. Your way is best

 

We'd field a fringe playoff team but I guess if you're happy with that

 

if we signed Durant we'd get other good free agents too..

 

average to above average starters aren't hard to find. Stars are.

 

100% happy if we do that with a team age average of 24 years

 

I meant down the road. This year we'll win 32 games or so.

 

That's success because that will mean our team will over perform than what most think we'll be. It will also mean we will see considerable jumps from the young bucks, which is even more exciting

 

Wait, being a fringe playoff team 3, 4 and 5 years from now is success?

 

35 or so wins this year, like you said. If they are fringe playoff this year, we are in damn good shape.

Thing is, you don't know... This team could win only 20 games and I wouldn't be surprise. I wouldn't be just as surprised if we almost made the playoffs

 

43...10-11 seed, book it!

 

Wouldn't be surprised

 

I agree with that, I just think that with these pieces the ceiling is fringe contender, and that's it we get lucky and everything breaks right. I don't think a big time free agent won't wanna join this group, and trading cap space won't get us a good enough player. So the only way to be contenders in 5 years is either insane lottery luck or to trade some of these pieces for a bona fide all star.

 

Yes, SOME. Not ALL.
Also, I think you're undervaluing the ability to use our cap space in a trade.
Also, I think you're overestimating the ability of Dame/DMC to draw another star free agent - it's not gonna happen. Because you just depleted the team of all its talent, leaving it with Dame/DMC as the only players worth anything. The ONLY time any star players have WANTED to come to Portland was when we were making deep playoff runs every year. And a the team you created by trading EVERYONE for DMC is not going to make the POs.

 

if we don't get a star we have enough to add 3 of Parsons, Courtney Lee, Joe Johnson, Al Horford. There are other players on that level that we could get which would make us contenders.

Portlands never had 2 young up and coming superstars with more than max cap space, so the "Portland doesn't get free agents" argument doesn't apply.

 

I agree 100%. And btw, I'm definitely on the "Get boogie" campaign. What I hope we don't do is to sell the farm to get him. If he's ever available, then he's burnt such a bridge that it won't require doing that.

 

I rather have balance team then trying to buy a championship. We try that before and we came up short every time. The year we won the championship we had balance through out the roster.

 

There is something to be said for a team that overachieves. As long as you don't keep your standards too high you won't be dissapointed. That's a good way to look at the Blazers this year.