What West Lottery Team will make the playoffs this season?

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Rastapopoulos, Jul 10, 2018.

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Which team(s) in the Western Conference will transition from lottery to playoffs in 2019?

  1. Nuggets

    31.1%
  2. Clippers

    2.2%
  3. Lakers

    75.6%
  4. Kings

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Mavs

    2.2%
  6. Grizzlies

    6.7%
  7. Suns

    4.4%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    lol, my dad used to say "If my aunt would have had a mustache, she'd have been my uncle." :)
     
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  2. JoshuaHall

    JoshuaHall Well-Known Member

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    Lakers will finish in the top 4 or 5 teams as constructed in my estimation. LeBron is too good and can win 40 games in the West by himself. Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Hart, Rondo and Lance are good for a few more wins on top of that. Have more talent than we as Blazer fans would like to admit, imo.

    Nuggets were missing Millsap most of the year; I think they’ll make it.
     
  3. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    Lakers have been trending up for the last 2 years, now they have LBJ.
     
  4. Strenuus

    Strenuus Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    i will never say anything positive about the lakers. It is a moral imperative.
     
  5. hoopsjock

    hoopsjock Well-Known Member

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    Exactly, I was about to vote for them in the poll and I couldn't bring myself to do it. Fuck the Lakers.
     
  6. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    I think last years success was somewhat of a fluke though, they were one of the few none playoff teams with no reason to tank.
     
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  7. Boob-No-More

    Boob-No-More Why you no hire big man coach?

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    DEN is a lesser version of what POR was before we got Nurk - a team that can score with anyone, but will be limited by their bottom 5 defense.

    If you look at the advanced stats, Mason Plumlee, the guy we dumped to get Nurk, was actually their best defensive player. I love the energy Plums brings and he always gives it his all, but his short arms and narrow shoulders limit his defensive impact - and he was their BEST defender.

    Have they signed a PG yet? They like to run Jamal Murray at the point, because they want to surround Jokic with shooters, but Murray isn't a distributor (fine when Jokic is on the floor, not so great when he isn't) and can't guard opposing PGs. Murray would be a great 3rd guard off the bench, but he should not be the starting PG on a team with playoff aspirations.

    BNM
     
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  8. oldfisherman

    oldfisherman Unicorn Wrangler

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    My vote is, lakers get the 13th lottery pick.
     
  9. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Our Lak.......errrr........ THE Lakers will. Dallas might surprise some. Think the Kings are just TOO young.
     
  10. DaLincolnJones

    DaLincolnJones Well-Known Member

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    Yeah..got to say the flake show will be in the mix.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  11. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Yo, I tried reading this 4 or 5 times, front to back and the other way around and still don’t understand it. But I liked it anyway!
     
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  12. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    Malone/Payton didn't fail. They made it to the NBA Finals and Malone was injured.
     
  13. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Besides the Lakers the west lottery teams haven't improved much. Denver lost Wilson. Mavs got Jordan, but will Doncic play this season? Grizz aren't that great. The other lottery teams in the west haven't changed much
     
  14. dviss1

    dviss1 Emcee Referee

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    :smiley-cough:
     
  15. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    They got MPJ - if he is healthy, he could be an upgrade.

    Why will Doncic not play?

    They are getting back their starting PG and added a nice lottery pick. They will be much better.

    The Suns sure have. They got the #1 pick and Ariza. They will be better.
     
  16. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    As for playoff teams in the west falling off. With Parker and most likely Ginobli finally gone, Kawhi and probably Aldridge being traded, the Spurs will enter a rebuild and finally miss the playoffs.

    The Blazers will have a harder time making the playoffs this year. There was a lot of injuries that helped the Blazers get 3rd place. Still they were only a few games ahead of 8th place Minnesota. The Blazers haven't gotten much better if at all so far this offseason. Hopefully, they will play inspired ball and make it.

    Minnesota should they trade Butler will be on the outside looking in. They barely made it to the playoffs after last season. Had Butler not gotten injured they may have finished above the Blazers. They did spend much of the season ahead of Portland in the standings. They could end this season better than last.

    OKC will probably be better sans Melo, but they still may stumble into the playoffs as they did last season. Though I think Paul George is going to have a goid year.

    Utah. Its not the size of the dog in the fight. Its the size of the fight in the dog. Utah is a fighter. Expect them to make the playoffs again. Mitchell on cue.

    Nawlins saw Cousins and Rondo leave. Cousins leving is probably not a terrible thing. The Pels play crazy good with Davis at the 5. They also added Randle. With Mirotic, their front court will be formidable. Does Elfrid Payton make them better or worse in the back court. Rondo helped them handle the Blazers. The Pels will carve a spot in the playoffs.

    I hope Capela ditches Houston. If that happens it will hurt the Rockets playoff ambitions. They are stuck with Anderson, lost Ariza and Mbah A Moute, and are trying hard to sign Melo before the Lakers get their hands on him. Please, Rockets please sign a third ball hog. Did they not see what he did to OKC last season?
     
  17. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    And will get the #1 pick next season!
     
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  18. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    MPJ is not going to be the Nuggets answer this season. He is struggling with a bad back, will probably be injury prone, and still has to prove he can adapt to the NBA level. I'm not sold Denver has a meal ticket to the playoffs. Chandlers absent will hurt. They are listing Authur as a SF, they don't have a great PG (Harris is good, but he is overpaid) The Nuggets have Jokic and Millsap and youth. There will be struggles.

    There has been talk that Doncic will stay overseas. He has 2 years left on his contract over there. He may not come over. Even if he does. With him and Deandre, the Mavs will be better, but still will probably miss the playoffs.

    The Grizzlies will get back Conley sure, and they picked up Anderson and picked up Jaren Jackson. Evans meanwhile walked away in free agency. There is definitely some progress there. If Conley can stay healthy, and if Jaren Jackson can translate to the NBA, then they will make a run at the playoffs. Anderson will definately help them. They got a little better. The west is going to be a beast. Is that little better going to be good enough? I don't know.

    The suns...Ariza really? Ariza doesn't make them much better. They got Ayton, Bridges, and Okobo. They have talented youth and quite a few questionable players. In a couple of years they could be quite good. This year will be rookies integrating, young players like Bender and Chriss trying to prove they aren't busts, Booker holding things together, and Ariza wishing he were still in Houston.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  19. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Obviously I was being a bit facetious with this post, but in all reality, Kings in 2020 could well turn the corner. Fox/Hield/Jackson/Giles/Bagley backed up by Mason/Bogdan/Skal/WCS--that could be a dangerous squad.

    I can't imagine how insane this forum would be if we were Kings fans, seeing all that young talent, and all the expiring deals they have (Randolph, Shumpert, Koufos, Temple), and all their cap space (about $20M), and not seeing any efforts to deal for the stars that are available.
     
  20. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    To me it's obviously the Lakers but since there's still trading to be done and signing of free agents...things could change pretty quickly
     

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