Watch out, Drew Eubanks, I predict, will get infected by BlazerMania and play well beyond expectations like his Blazer teammates already have.
you mean the team that was 18 games above .500 when Nurkic went down and had Dame & CJ & Kanter & Hood & Curry & Zach & Harkless & Aminu & Turner & Layman? That team?
Before and after the game I want them to miss the playoffs. During the game, on the other hand, I have a tough time rooting for them to lose.
I think that's common. That's how I feel. If it's a tight game in the 4th Q I'm all in on the win though, especially if it's against the Lakers
Not so much. Our current shooting guard isn't a tiny person, and our current power forward can actually dribble the ball and pass without having to say a prayer.
No and I echo the sentiment of HELL NO .. However to the people who have said YES then why and how does it HELP this team cause losing helps this team not sure how winning does anything but get us NO lotto pick and bounced from the playoffs in round one so again - WHY ?
Obviously, if Dame were healthy all year, we would not be in this situation. I liken this to the year David Robinson went down from a good Spurs team that had nothing to carry them without him. They tank, get Tim Duncan and the rest is history there. Of course Tim Duncan was a far bigger prize than what we perceive to see in this draft, but who knows? The Spurs rebounded well by filling holes and adding complimentary players. The Blazers have Dame and Nurk who have played in many big games and know how to win. Ant and Nas have had first row seats watching, training and preparing mentally for what is surely their time to step up. I highly doubt 20-25 throw away games to end this season will suddenly condition them to be losers. If it does, they have other problems. Might want to shut down Ant too if that is a concern. it's not for me. I'm sure the case is much the opposite and will be a great learning experience. As for the rest of the team, Hart and Winslow are the only players of real consequence. I am sure they will be fine with expanded roles and opportunities to showcase their abilities. Brown, Watford, Hughes, Elleby and Keon Johnson are all young unproven players that may have upside a few years from now. Odds are, they will be salary ballast in a trade(s). These five players with limited value and Bledsoe's contract might net something come draft day or after the draft when new league season begins. Add in a lottery pick or two, we might get lucky. But we know a top free agent will not come to Portland. Thats is why we need these lottery picks. Either draft best player available or do a lopsided trade.
Forget what effect this will have on the lotto. I don't want the team in the play-offs because I don't want the Seattle Mafia to have any excuses. How many years did we waste because of the argument that Olshey's way was working since we "made the play-offs"? No more slapping a happy face bandaid on a sucking chest wound!
when was a championship mentioned...by anybody? you implied there could be similarities between the two teams...the then-team and the now-team. I was pointing out that the rosters were not similar, at all. That 18-19 team was the best since the healthy Dame-Aldridge team. The current team may be the worst, even though the brand of basketball they play is more entertaining in a 'refreshing-change-from-the-7-year-status-quo' way
For me it's pretty simple, when you look at the schedule March 20th through April 7th and consider how Chauncey has these guys playing we aren't likely to lose many of those games. With all of those wins it's very unlikely that we're going to have a meaningful pick that comes from us (the Pelicans have a really hard schedule so we'll likely get a top 8 pick from them). So for me it's not about making the playoffs, it's about conveying that pick to the Bulls so we have all of our future firsts to deal and go all in this summer on building a contender around Dame. What's worth more, the 9th through 12th pick this year or three future first rounders? So that's the simple math that I'm doing. Don't get me wrong I would be cool with us losing all of our games the rest of the season, winning the lottery and ending up with the first and sixth picks but that is a very very unlikely scenario. The two scenarios I see as being likely are: A. The Pelicans pick conveying in the 6-8 range and our pick being kept in the 9-11 range or B. The Pelicans pick conveying in the 6-8 range, our pick conveying to the Bulls at 14 or 15 and us having access to all of our future firsts and the ability to trade up to three of those to improve this team now. I would easily choose scenario B.
What's worth our lottery pick this year (which in all likelihood won't be top 9) or the three future firsts that making the playoffs will give us access to? Oh and Bledsoe's contract is only worth what you can pair it with because we can either trade it with the full 19.4M guaranteed for next season or decline it's option, we cannot trade it for it's current 18.1M and the team receiving it have the option on next year's salary. So some team might be willing to take his deal that will expire in 2023 but it would take a lot of draft capital to make that worth sending us a player that can help us win starting next season. Again I'd rather have our future firsts than our mid to late lottery pick this year.
