Blazers dealing with win now win mode/zach lowe article

Absolutely but it's tough to develop when everyone's role outside of Dame/CJ is to run around setting screens and then maybe spot up for an open '3' on the off chance when Dame/CJ go 1-on-3 that they kick it out to the open man. Then you run back on defense until the next time you go set a screen.

Tough to develop when that is your nightly existence.

 

Damn what happened to us.. Lowe hit us hard with some good ol truth

 

I've been alright with the Turner signing since I knew Whiteside wanted to use teams to get a MAX from Miami and, overall, this FA class was not great. Unfortunately for Portland, in terms of cap space, it was use it or lose it. What I do not like is Neil overpaying for Turner. In the summer, Neil made it sound as if ET had multiple offers on the table and we had to jump on it. After reading Lowe's article, we definitely offered way too much.

Now I don't believe Turner is the sole reason why we're so mediocre this season but now his contract is basically immovable at its current value. Even 4 years, $60 million would be more attractive.

The joys of being a Blazers fan ... sigh

 

Yes, he is intriguing; he is averaging 12.2 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes. I'm not sure of our available players, which they would be interested in? I would love to give them Leonard; or Leonard and Davis. Or how about one of those guys plus Layman?

 

Would have to be a three team deal. With Toronto or the like.

Picks from POR and TOR --> DEN
Nurkic --> POR
Plums/Aminu --> TOR

Something like that.

 

You were just kidding about getting rid of Layman, Right?

 

Long article. Excerpts, for those who don't have time to read it:
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They hang together off the floor; Leonard, Ed Davis, and Al-Farouq Aminu are part of a regular dinner gang, and they still follow Chris Kaman's rule of stashing away their phones during meals.

Portland still dips way back against the pick-and-roll, baiting opposing ball-handlers into midrange jumpers. If done right, that lone big man keeps the ball in front of him--meaning all of Portland's other defenders can stick with outside shooters instead of darting inside to help. Opposing point guards see those Portland bigs dropping back, and they don't care--especially if a screen wipes out Lillard, C.J. McCollum, or whatever Blazer is supposed to be on their hip.

Davis, a stalwart last season, just hasn't been the same player. He packed on almost 20 pounds in the summer, but insists his increased weight - he has kept about a dozen of those extra pounds -- hasn't slowed him.

Allow any NBA player entry into the deep paint, and bad things happen--including panicky help from the wrong places...how cartoonishly bad the Blazers have been at almost every aspect of defense. They are a confused train wreck in transition, even when everyone gets back; guys just run to the wrong spots and leave someone wide open. Opponents are straight toasting the Blazers one-on-one, and feasting on botched rotations.

For the second straight season, Portland is fouling the hell out of everyone. The Blazers are smallish. Their cautious defensive system naturally yields few turnovers. Those weaknesses give the Blazers a small margin for error. They just can't afford miscommunication.

Portland, now carrying the league's third-highest payroll...Turner was almost as stunned as you by Portland's mega-offer. They've built a separate offense for him. It's heavy on scripted play calls and bare bones "horns"-style sets that start with both big men at the elbows. They unfold more slowly than Portland's typically flowing offense, with less improvisation. "I direct things a lot more when Evan's on the court," Stotts said. "I think it helps him for now." Turner admits it has been hard fitting in. "I have to adapt to how they play--all that looping around like they do."

Turner and Crabbe are miscast as wing stoppers. They're solid, but they don't scare anyone. Aminu and Maurice Harkless are better, and earn combined about what Turner and Crabbe make solo.

It's tempting to pitch a Crabbe/Lopez swap since the Nets lavished Crabbe with a massive offer sheet, but Brooklyn cannot acquire Crabbe until the offseason--at least under current league rules.

need to offload a big contract in the face of what could be hilariously huge tax payments starting next season. Crabbe and Turner look untradeable.

The league has adjusted a bit to Portland's spin-cycle offense, and several players said they are finding it harder to get to some of their pet looks this season.

None are as adept as Plumlee making plays in space on the pick-and-roll. That's a critical skill for any Portland screen-setter. Playoffs opponents will trap Lillard and McCollum way out on the floor, and force them to give up the ball. Plumlee can catch it around the 3-point arc, dribble, and sling the right pass to an open shooter. Some available centers are good passers, but they dish from the elbows and in. Perhaps that is where Turner comes in--as a release valve who can do damage off the bounce.

 

Yes. It is good business to develop players, until they are traded, waived, leave in free agency, or retire.

I hope you are taking notes.

 

How do you know Olshey paid "more than he needed to"? Is there an article that says Turner would have chosen the Blazers over some other team, like say for example, the Celtics, if the Blazers had offered significantly less?

 

I would trade CJ for Cousins, and make them take Turner as well.

Damian/Napier
Crabbe/
Harkless/Layman
Aminu/Davis
Cousins/Plumlee

 

My favorite excerpts from the above excerpts:

Stotts had to build a slow mini-offense within the fast offense, just for Turner.

I just read someone in another thread saying that the only teams which would take Crabbe would be the Celtics or the Nets.

I've posted for a year that other teams figured out the Stotts gimmick system. They copied our ultra-speed and know it as their own system now.

 

I'm just guessing.