I believe we should only have solid rotation players or guys who have the capacity to be that or better within a year. Layman definitely doesn't qualify and even if we have room, he should be jettisoned and bring in a guy similar to Baldwin. Connaughton is on the fence.
So, again no discernible improvement in our one and done roster? Hard to believe Lillard will sit still for such willful incompetence. Super-Nerd Paul Allen must be devoid of competitive spirit.
He would in a vacuum but Baldwin has a very similar profile, and is a lot cheaper. I think we will end up signing someone for the vet minimum to act as insurance in case Baldwin fails. Someone like Jameer Nelson.
If NO continues his pattern of the previous off seasons moves? I expect to see 5-7 new faces next season. I have no idea who is coming in or leaving, other than our two draft picks. Plus NO never takes my advice. It will be another shotgun summer approach. Throw a bunch of new bodies at the roster, and see if any of them hit the target.
He's also the only one currently under contract with the Blazers. If I were a FA like Bazz & Pat -> I wouldn't be working out at the teams facilities. I'd be doing it on my own elsewhere. Not being at the practice facility right now shouldn't have any bearing.
Pat had at least shown brief glimpses of being able to contribute to the team. Outside of his first 10 minutes of playing time, Layman has shown nothing. It's time to cut that experiment. Besides, we have several other players who are now taking the 10-15 spots on the depth chart (IV, Simons, Trent, PapaG). We have no room for Layman.
Since we brought in two rookies (and let’s be real Trent isn’t gonna get cut no matter what. They gave up too much) I only see room for one maybe two vets. Dame CJ Harkless Aminu Nurkic Baldwin Simons Trent jr Turner Collins Swanigan Davis Leonard (Papagiannis)
The Blazers are going deep into the luxury tax. They don't have much of a choice at this point. Layman is gone. Patty C is gone. Napier is probably gone. Davis will be resigned. The TPE will be used on a vet wing. The MLE will probably be used to secure a vet PG.
After the draft during his interview, Neil said the Blazers were looking for some vets and had a couple spots...so yeah look for the Blazers to add 2 vets.
I like Davis, so I hope you're right. But, if we do something like obtain Faried + goodies, Davis is gone.
We loaded up on guards because we’re gonna trade CJ for Lebron it’s so obvious how does no one see this??
TPE and FAs. To clarify, TPE's cannot be used to sign free agents, correct? So, the only free agents we are going to be able to to get is for the MLE. That doesn't seem very interesting to me as the only FAs you can get for the MLE are borderline contributors or possibly you get lucky with someone who has enough money and just wants to play for Portland because they like to fish or something. So, if Blazers are going to do anything significant with the TPE it would be through trading for a non-FA. Right??
Ed Davis is the most undervalued guy on this team. It wasn't that long ago that he was the guy getting crunch time minutes instead of Nurk. Last off season, Nurk lost weight and turned into a ballerina around the hoop. Ed rehabbed his shoulder and became our toughest interior presence. Also, Biggie and Collins were at their best alongside Ed. Can't say the same about Nurk.
Really challenging to come up with reasonable trades to make this team significantly better. Keep coming back to taking a chance on CJ for Fultz, which is risky, and 76ers would have to add value (I think), but adding Covington or Saric seems like too much. Otto Porter would be a nice grab, but I can't imagine wizards want another undersized combo guard.
