Would missing the playoffs do it, or will they fall back on the injuries as a crutch to simply write off the year? For me, blowing up = firing the coach, moving CJ, overhauling around Dame again. I'm getting serious Toronto pre-Kawhi vibes this season. The contract extensions are a minor hurdle, but I still don't believe CJ is totally immovable, nor do I believe Jody would take the hit with Terry's contract. We'd obviously need a willing trade partner for CJ in the summer, and Philly is sitting right there as a possibility if they burn out in the playoffs. I'd give up every non-Dame player on the team for Simmons. What do you think it would take for Neil to make drastic changes? Would sneaking in and taking a sweep at the hands of Lebron do it?
I think the injury excuse whether you agree with it or like it will keep this team from doing much this off-season. Though they don't have the most flexibility in the world anyways unless they trade a guard.
a 'blow-up' is out of the question but a necessary restructuring of the roster, and cap, won't happen with Olshey as GM unless Seattle directives order him to do the last thing he'd want to do
Patience grasshoppers! If your second unit consists of Whiteside, Melo, Hood, Trent, Simons, then 2021 will be a banner year. I hope Neil just stands pat. 2021!
I think that the team is committed to seeing if the roster that Olshey has assembled is capable of contending. Frankly, I don't expect a lot of roster moves at all this summer. I think that re-signing Whiteside is likely. Not sure about Melo, but maybe. Healthy, the Blazers have a really deep and talented roster. There was a reason that Dame and the rest of the team were excited about this season prior to the injuries. I don't see Olshey changing much of anything until he sees how his roster competes when healthy.
Thats a reasonable take. However, if an opportunity to improve the 3/4 position came around by trading CJ, I think he would, but it would need to be cleared by Dame.
The only point at which we will conceivably dismantle the team is the moment when Dame is no longer on it. Dame is effectively ersatz owner of this franchise, with strongly considered opinions and a say in roster, coach, and GM roles on the team.
Olshey, Stotts, CJ, and Dame are all tied together. They all got extensions together. They all have a built in excuse this season. Dame has been the only one not actually believing that excuse. But this roster isn't going anywhere. The easiest thing to change is the coach but the organization just made a statement that $2 million is more important than fielding the best possible team so why would they fire Stotts while owing him money still? Olshey and CJ are on the books longer so they're not going anywhere either. Now they're stuck having to keep Whiteside too, which will be a disaster.
Given the rising competition in the west with all the young teams stepping up, I'm worried about our future. Even with Dame going supernova.
I'd say that the 3 is more likely than the 4. I think Olshey is a real believer in Zach and isn't going to give up on that twin-towers look until he sees it in more actions than the 3 games Collins played before he was injured. At the 3, Ariza is a decent stop-gap. I think Hood is back around mid-season, but who knows how his game looks after Achilles rehab? Little looks to be a couple of years away. Trent has to have Olshey at least contemplating what the backcourt would look like with a Dame/Trent pairing. He's not going to part with CJ for less than a star, despite popular sentiment around here. There aren't that many star options at the 3 spot. Simmons has been mentioned around here and he's certainly worth considering, but his brick mason shooting from distance isn't a natural in Stotts' system. Frankly, I still think the smart money is on keeping it unchanged and watching to see what Little offers long-term.
I don't agree on the Labissier part of your statement. I think he's pretty much toast for this season, so trading him cost zero as far as competing now. If the plan is to re-sign Whiteside, there isn't really a spot going forward for Skal at the C spot. At PF, I like what Olshey got in Wenyan and he's a more natural PF prospect than Skal would ever be.
Neil straight up said he wouldn't add another player to the roster for cost reasons. That, i think, is what @hoopsjock is referencing, not necessarily the Skal trade directly.
Well our future solely depends on Whiteside and Nurk being happy together and fine with playing half the game and Zach's only position being PF because he won't see a minute at C. That sounds really stupid to rely on two players who have previously been problems on their last teams in similar situations. I know, I know, they didn't have Dame on those teams.
The "Skal is injured" excuse is dumb. Olshey said they traded him because they needed healthy bodies but then emphatically said they wouldn't be signing anyone to replace him. Also, if it wasn't about money they could've traded Skal for another player and wouldn't have had to give up cash in the deal but it was all about the money.
That's a bit harsh, don't you think? If he can't play this season and he doesn't fit with Olshey's plans at the 4 or 5 for next season, how is it dumb to unload him and save some cash? I think that's part of a GM's job too. As far as not signing anyone to replace him, I read that as him saying that they weren't going to sign anyone before the deadline. I think it's still an open question as to whether they pick somebody up off waivers if it looks like the team can make the playoffs.
No, he said there was zero chance they sign someone with that roster spot. Doing so would undo the whole point of trading Skal, which are Olshey's words. How are people not understanding this? They wanted to save money. It was a non basketball decision and Neil is full of shit contradicting his reasoning for trading him.
