Game Thread SEEDING GAME# 4: BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - AUGUST 6, 2020 - THURSDAY, 5:00, NBCSNW

Ariza is nearing 40 and Hood may never be an NBA player again. I'll worry about how we deal with too many quality starters when it's actually an issue.

 

I'm not sure Portland can. I'm thinking extensions can only be given after the 3rd season of the contract, and Trent will only be in his 2nd this 'fall'

the new CBA might have changed that though

 

Dame and CJ already signed huge 5 year extensions which would go beyond any Trent or Collins contract.

If Trent gets a near max contract and Collins is due a nice raise plus Nurk will get a raise the Blazers might have to get rid of somebody and CJ would make sense as he is so highly paid with no real upside left.

But they don't need to do it until the 2021 trade deadline or summer prior to 2021-22 season. So I partially agree with you, let's first see how this roster looks next season.

Plus we have no idea what the salary cap structure even looks like when revenue is decimated by Covid.

 

Whoa I love Trent and what’s he’s doing but near max????

 

I love GT but near max? That would be a tough pill to swallow.

 

Not sure who we could beat in the playoffs matter, only seed we can get is 8th and Lakers are locked in at 1. If we can steal first game or two and get a crazy hot shooting back court maybe we can make it competitive. Just hard to overcome two MVPs that are better than Dame.

We probably need Dame to be 3rd best player in that series close to LBJ and Davis... then have the best 4th, 5th, 6th player in that series too from CJ. Nurk, Trent. Probably also need Collins and Melo to play well. It's not impossible but it'll be pretty damn difficult. I hope we get to see it!

 

If there was one year to be the 8th seed this would be it. No homecourt advantage throughout the entire postseason.

The Lakers are not even the best team in the west, and they will be missing both of their best guard defenders in Rondo/Bradley. I'm not afraid of the Lakers I legitimately think we could beat them.

 

Crabbe nearly got the max and he never played this well. We offered Chandler Parsons the max and he turned it down. 3 and D is the most scarce position in the NBA. Trent would probably be the best player on the Knicks right now and it only takes one team with cap room.

 

that was a wacky game. Blazers shoot a lot better from 3 than 2; Nuggets missing a bunch of players and partially resting others. Portland red hot ans Dame even hotter but they couldn't gain any separation from Denver. And one of the apparition fans in the stands was some bearded guy in a nun's habit....anybody else notice that?

Dame was as hot as he was in that 6-8 game stretch at the end of January.

about Zach: I just don't see what his biggest fans are seeing. Right now, his impact is awfully similar to that of Harkless. Portland can get away with that if they get big numbers from the other forward position, but they can't if both forwards are below average in impact. That was the main problem with the Aminu/Harkless pairing as starting forwards. Too much inconsistency and too few big games and way too many disappearing acts

 

Crabbe got that because the salary cap was fucked up that year. Mozgov got a crazy ass contract that year. Evan Turner too. That wasn’t a normal summer. Plus considering the salary cap is going to go down this year because of Covid and the China drama. I don’t see Trent getting anywhere close to max. I think he’s around the 4/52 range

 

Charles and Kenny both said the Blazers would be a third seed in the west if we had been healthy all year.

 

I wonder if Minnesota will see his Blazers uniform and instantly make an offer because that's all they know.

 

I'd think these people are unsatisfied with much in life.

One out of 30 teams wins an NBA title... Having expectations is going to lead to chronic disappointment.

I'm happy if the Blazers kick ass.

Its crazy some fans forget we went 15 years without winning any playoff series, take those wins now for granted, and expect even more.

 

Keep in mind he looks this well playing off Dame. If he didn't have that level of player with him he would probably look more like Tim Hardaway Jr.

 

That is the kiss of death right there!

 

They are getting production at the other forward right now though, his name is Gary Trent Jr.

Seems like Stotts is finishing games with Melo or Zach depending on whether we need offense or defense. Not that I think Zach is amazing or anything, but we've quite missed Harkless and Aminu this year, specifically on defense, so if that's all he provides at the moment I think that's fine. You hope he develops more since he's only 22 though.

 

yeah...I looked at Harkless at 22-23 and compared to Zach. Harkless was better statistically at least, and that include impact stats. Zach just strikes me as being best suited as a bench player, maybe a 1st big off bench to replace either big. He occasionally makes a spectacular play, but his level is average at best. I look at other young combo PF/C's like Bam Abedayo, Jaren Jackson, Michael Porter, John Collins, Myles Turner and get jealous. Zach isn't at the level of a Dwight Powell or a Thomas Bryant or a Dario Saric

 

His defense looks amazing at times, he can protect the rim as a center but also switch onto guards at the perimeter.

It also depends on matchup, against Antony Davis his D could be critical, now when we play Denver with Jeremy Grant maybe Melo is superior.

Offensively I don't think he'll ever be great, but if he can make smart passes, go to the right spot, and hit threes he could become an asset on that end. He has the tools to develope that. With his D that combo could make him a key player on a title team.

 

The most amazing stat of the night 16- 20 vs 13-17 The Blazers won the FT Battle.

 

You can't win a championship with a Dame/CJ starting back court, that's my opinion. Dame is getting to be a better defender but I think CJ is getting worse. Dame isn't good enough defensively to cover for CJ. Trent can only be one place at a time. We can win a championship with Dame as our best player but we need two guys on the perimeter with him that are good to excellent defenders and CJ doesn't bring that. Then there is offense, if CJ would take spot up jumpers when he was open that might make it easier for me to see him staying and winning a championship but the guy passes up wide open shots all of the time to do his thing... this hurts offensive continuity. What it comes down to is that CJ for as good of a guy as he seems to be can be a bit of a showboat and ball hog, I think we could put up with that if he were even a good defender but he is not. Don't get me wrong CJ is an amazing scorer, just phenomenal but we don't need that we need defense and a competent scorer/set shooter. I don't think you have to worry about it because I think Olshey might trade one of his legs before he traded CJ but I hope I'm wrong about that. I know there is a better fit for this team out there that we could get for CJ. I had been saying that before the Gary Trent Jr. revelation, now it's just obvious. I would say that we could try to get a SF to start and bring CJ off the bench but we're paying CJ around 31 mil a year so you can't exactly pay someone that much to be a sixth man.