Around the NBA - July 2017 Edition

It just started. We haven't even had a chance to "work our way to the middle and then fuck our way down."

 

I'm not seeing this anywhere else besides bleacher report...

 

I'm starting to wonder if Neil spends more of his offseason pursuing certain players, or writing his slick talking PR fallout speeches.

Still think he will do something, but I'm getting ever closer to reaching for my pitchfork.

 

I wish Paul would just buy a baseball team and move it to Portland. It's the one sport where his money would rule.

 

No bad trades. No bad signings. We got a lottery pick in the draft despite making playoffs. You sound like last year when people were depressed that Chandler Parsons didn't choose us. As said, Swanigan could be a huge player for us. People are too obsessed with names. We're gonna be okay.

 

The Blazers still seem to have been a great investment for him. In terms of smaller markets we are one of the most valuable. That starts to go down hill for him the longer he pays the luxury tax.

 

Maybe I'm an intoxicated homer but it sure seems like a lot of people are underestimating our roster when healthy. We have three very good players and a lot decent role players. I'm personally hoping for a change or two but since I'm kind of high on the two rookies, I like it (cap situation aside):

I don't know the depth chart but something like this:

Lillard
CJ
Harkless
Vonleh
Nurk

And a rotation of something like this:

PG: Napier
SG: Crabbe
SF: Turner/Aminu
PF: Collins/Swanigan
C: Ed Davis

At point guard, I was pleasantly surprised how good Napier (25) looked when given the chance. Dame or CJ are pretty much always in the game anyway.

At SG and SF you've got 4 guys who are decent role players and can make a difference on a given night in Harkless (24), Crabbe (25), Turner (28) and Aminu (26).

At PF and C, along with Nurk (the 22 year old guy who wasn't in game shape or familiar with the offense as he averaged 15.3 and 10.5 with 1.9 blks, 1.2 steals, and 3.3 apg), we've got Ed Davis, Vonleh, Swanigan and Collins. Davis has proven to be a decent backup when healthy. I know potential is a bad word but between Vonleh (21), Swanigan (20) & Collins (19) I think at least one will be a solid rotation player next season. But if Vonleh & Swanigan and Collins all aren't cutting it, then we can try to trade for a proven PF at the trade line.

 

I'm just tired of the NBA. It has to be the most unbalanced, unfair, leagues of haves and have-nots of all the pro sports. And I honestly can't think of a way to fix it.

 

It's on Yahoo too.

https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-utah-nearing-agreement-trade-ricky-rubio-210806085.html

 

Amen. And Pat was playing well at season's end too. I was trying to make this point. What if Nurk and Dame were on other teams last year and playing near All Star level. And all we had was CJ. No playoffs, get Collins in draft and then we signed Nurk AND Dame in FA. Suddenly WE are a Super Team. But people don't think about it that way...

 

Well, with our Big3, we're one of the haves, you know.

 

His money gives us a buffer we really need. Crabbe, Turner, and Leonard were rolls of the dice but we wouldn't have been allowed to make then if it wasn't for Allen. They may not have been major signings but Turner and Crabbe still helped us make the playoffs. Imagine if we had Sacramento's owner? A third rate garbage franchise couldn't survive here for more than a couple of decades.

 

Funny you make no mention of Meyers... Great write up though!

 

Dammit...... I guess didn't need to make a whole thread.... Ugh.... My bad y'all...

 

Well it looks like that idiot who thinks Dame will request to be traded was dead wrong about Curry. Curry signed with the dubs for 201M, not the Hornets as they predicted...

 

Must have slipped my mind.

 

200 mill?! Mr Brady, how much are those SB rings really worth bro? Because right now, you look REALLY REALLY REALLY underpaid.

 

I love the game and the league. I just hope we can act be like the Jeffersons and get a piece of that pie.

 

Goes to show how successful the league has been at growing its brand. Brady would make much more if there weren't 12 players on the field at a time. If you do the math differentiating the amount of players on an NBA team compared to NFL I would be willing to bet Brady's salary comes close to currys.

 

I'm convinced we win 2 games in playoffs last year if Nurk was healthy. It's still first round exit but better than any other team.