Around the NBA - the 2020 Playoff Edition!

Given that the Blazers are paying almost $6M in tax this season, what makes you think that it's money that has been a major obstacle to acquiring players?

 

I'll be more like $50 million. They'd better be eager to spend, not just willing, when it comes time to fill out and/or replenish a roster around that.

Remember when people thought the 7-year guaranteed contracts were bad for teams? Now the teams are wishing they could hold onto their low-priced players for much longer.

 

To celebrate the upcoming Heat - Celtics game, here is a nice clip from 2019 when Jimmy Butler realized what it means to be driven slowly by a rookie (at the time) F1 driver.

 

that should be on a billboard outside the Blazer offices

 

when people say they want Stotts fired, or they want Portland to move on from Stotts, and the push-back from others comes in the form of "well, who would you replace him with"....I tend to call bullshit on that type of pushback. It seems designed to kill discussion instead of engaging it. None of us here are being paid 3 million a year to evaluate coaching prospects. Granted, we also aren't paid 3 million a year to evaluate Stotts. But most of us have probably seen 90% of the Blazer games over the last 8 seasons. That's 700-800 opportunities to see Stotts on the job. We aren't novices on Stotts

Do you think most Toronto fans would have identified Nick Nurse? most Celtic fans Brad Stevens? most Miami fans Eric Spoelstra? How about San Antonio fans landing on Popovich before he was hired as HC? after all, he'd never been a head coach before.

yes, Portland could hire a worse coach than Stotts. That's the risk. But it's normal risk. Like driving to the store and getting in a wreck risk. And what exactly would Portland be risking by firing Stotts? Their place on the treadmill? Future 1st round exits? Under Stotts, the Blazers have averaged 45 regular season wins and 2.7 playoff wins. That's not a resume worth worrying about.

all that said, I still say the main problem isn't Stotts. It's the guy that hired him

 

You forget the biggest one:

- alienating Dame.

He had issue with MPJ questioning Michael Malone, can just imagine the uproar if Terry gets the blame here. Ya I know, he'll shut up once his supermax kicks in, and all in all, he would be very accepting of the decision in the end, but still... it would have to be very nuanced and the narrative framed in a the correct way.

 

You do see the irony there, right?

 

no...I didn't forget that because I think it's a grossly exaggerated worry, and used way too often to justify inertia and mediocrity

 

nope...but feel free to explain it

as I said about Stotts; 8 years of seeing the results of management and coaching at least makes us versed in what we are seeing

 

was kind of hoping he was on the Knicks' short list. ( that other guy)

 

wouldn't be so dismissive about it. Dame has a lot of say, even with his longterm deal. His legacy begins to get tied with this stuff-- so he is ultra careful about it.

 

I'm not dismissive of Dame's influence. But Dame is not the owner, the GM, or the head coach. He's earned some influence for sure, but he hasn't earned the right to veto logical and necessary moves. He would have earned that veto power if he was able to overcome those playoff "stop-Dame-at-all-cost" defenses by himself that kill Portland every year while leading the Blazers to the title, but he's been failing right along with the rest of the team. He's not bigger than the team

 

It's certainly not for a lack of spending money. Portland has had one of the highest team salaries for a bit. It's more about HOW the money is spent. Some of the contracts that Neil has handed out.....most people in almost any job get fired for that type of wasteful spending.

 

So, let's look at the way that the money was spent this season:

Damian Lillard $29,802,321
C.J. McCollum $27,556,959
Hassan Whiteside $27,093,019
Jusuf Nurkic $12,000,000
Trevor Ariza $12,200,000
Rodney Hood $5,718,000
Zach Collins $4,240,200
Anfernee Simons $2,149,560
Nassir Little $2,105,520
Caleb Swanigan $2,033,160
Mario Hezonja $1,737,145
Wenyen Gabriel $1,445,697
Gary Trent Jr. $1,416,852
Carmelo Anthony $2,159,029
Jaylen Adams $163,356

There's an additional $5 M or so being wasted in the stretched contracts of Varejao, Anderson and Ezeli. That's on Neil, but is it that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things?

So, everyone below Ariza is making a relative pittance, at least in the NBA's distorted view of the word pittance. We'd probably prefer that guys like Swanigan and Hezonja were replaced with more productive guys, but they're hardly budget busters. I doubt anyone begrudges Nurk his $12 M despite the fact that he only played 8 regular season games. Ariza is making more than he will ever again, but for a starter of his experience he's not making outlandish money. Olshey can dump all but $1.8 M of that by waiving him before the start of next season if he wants.

So that leaves the Big 3 contracts. Whiteside was a bandage for this season's loss of Nurk. Looking back at it, I'm not sure our record isn't better having kept Leonard and Harkless, but bottom line, Whiteside comes off the books unless Olshey goes insane and re-signs him. Nobody is going to question Dame's contract. So, what it really comes down to is where it always comes down to around here: CJ McCollum. Could his money be spent on a player or players who would fit better with the team's needs? Most around here would say YES! I'm in the, okay, but show me who we're getting mode.

 

God, Nurk is a steal at 12M!

 

Pop was the GM. He fired the coach and made himself coach.

 

yeah, that's how I remember it

but I was talking about if fans have to identify the next head coach before they advocate firing the existing one.

 

Tatum's passing is really a huge asset. Dude is such a crazy talent.

 

One thing I've noticed with all these good defensive teams versus the Blazers:

The Blazers reach more in one quarter than these teams do in an entire game.

Are our defensive players just THAT bad? Or are our coaches just that terrible at teaching defensive fundamentals?

 

You forgot about Pau Gasol. How much did he get paid?