I just want this season over and done with so, hopefully, a better roster can be constructed. Me?? Zero hope for that and next season successes. A few teams would be interested in CJ but I think we wouldn't get a net positive return. Only REAL trade value Portland has is Dame. Nobody wants a guy like Nurkic, I love him but bigs without speed and real altheticism, or 3 pt shooting (Nards!) aren't valued unless its a unicorn like Jokic. Portland is in a bad position. Feel the worst for Dame who only is getting older. Maybe 3 years, maybe, of godlike Dame. Thanks Neil. Those awful contracts... You watch a team like Miami in awe compared to Portland's iso ball. Iso is great for a last shot at the half but isn't efficient enough to go the distance as any Blazer fan can attest. That covers Stoffence, as for the Tefence, that's a whole nother shitshow.
What happened to Stanley Johnson? Remember the draft when he and Justise Winslow were supposed to be competing for who would be the star SF of the next decade? How come both of them flamed out? Now Johnson's a FA. I wonder if Toronto want to keep him. EDIT: I see somebody else asking the same question:
It's kind of interesting how he's been on 5 different teams in 6 years, including the 2 years he spent in Portland. Perhaps not coincidentally, he shot from three point range over those years: 36% 32% 37% Portland 38% Portland 33% 31% In his last season with us, he played 1500 minutes (by far his career high) and even started 10 games. He's not a very good backup point guard if he can't hit threes. Which he seems to be able to do here. He seemed reasonably competent when we had him as a backup PG. He's still only 28. We've had success in the past with boomeranging point guards (Steve Blake, Rod Strickland). Dame likes him. I think he's exactly the kind of bargain bin guy we'd target. And by "target", I mean target like we did Stauskas or Tolliver. Pick up off the floor and blow the dust off and throw a very, very small amount at.
I dunno - that would depress me a little. I'd like to find somebody who could become something better. And besides, I think Jaylen Adams was signed with an eye to the future. (But mainly because he didn't do anything in the present: contrast with the Suns' bubble signee Cameron Payne.)
If there’s anything you can take away from these past few years , it’s that non shooting non-centers will get played off the floor in the playoffs. There are currently no non-shooting wings/guards left playing rotation minutes. If we extend to the past series, we only get two: Westbrook and Giannis. Westbrook is clearly a negative, and his team ended up playing no centers because they can’t afford having two non shooters on the floor at the same time. Giannis plays next to a 3 point shooting big in Lopez, is the freaking MVP, and even played center a lot because their starting point guard can’t shoot. Oh and both teams lost 4-1. I’ll pass on any non shooting wing. They may be an okay depth piece in the regular season, but I’d rather just develop our own non shooting wing in Nas.
This. A thousand times this! The immediate future is so bleak we are reduced to discussing what scraps will be available after the Alpha predators finish feeding. How does a team have the league's highest payroll and yet so little actual talent? I can't even watch the play-offs anymore. It is just too depressing.
Harsh! The favorite still remaining is also pretty talent-thin. Do you think we couldn't beat the Lakers if either of AD or LBJ went down?
For us to compete for championship we need better quality coming off bench. Our starters can usually play with anyone but come to the bench not so much.
Maybe they've been mentioned already, a few random names that could likely be cheap in the offseason, Giles, Marquesse Chriss, Thon Maker, Denzel Valentine, Georges Niang, Wesley Iwundu
Napier played a lot more like a backup SG in Portland than a backup PG. His assist/turnover ratio was only 1.65 in Portland and that's horrible for a backup PG, It should be closer to 3.0 instead of well under 2.0. Maybe the best quality for a backup PG to have is to value the possession because they will rarely be dynamic enough to overcome their own turnovers wut? is that a new gauge for Portland now? 'Blazers become contenders if all the contenders lose their best player' I get the being thin stuff. Lakers would struggle without Lebron or AD. But, Blazers would struggle without Dame. Portland has some talent, but too much of it is role-playing talent and not enough is elite. And that's true when they are fully healthy
Interesting question. I honestly don't know the answer. Let me toss a question back. If you subtract Dame and either AD or LBJ from the equation, could CJ and company beat the remaining Flakers? That question I have no doubt as to the answer - hell no!
Might be a good pickup. I believe he'll be a RFA. How much do you think you'd have to offer him to get him from Orlando?
The original post is so full of statements that make you want to scratch your head It's like somebody doesn't watch the Blazers? The Blazers when healthy primarily are PnR dominant and the kick out looking for a three? Very rarely are true ISO. Then to get a response like Just seems weird? They have a mid level plus tradeable expiring contracts not only this year but next. How much more Immediate do you want to be than this year or next? The Blazers if healthy and sporting Lillard, CJ, Nurk, Collins, Hood, Trent, Melo, Ariza, Simons, Gabriel with avenues to make trades and a way to improve will be in the mix for the next 3-4 years. Also the closer CJ gets to an expiring contract just makes their situation all the more interesting.
I'll take that! If you have the complete Blazer team healthy and the Lakers without AD and the Blazers with out Dame the Blazers win that series in 6.
