Can the Blazers realistically contend in the next 3 years?

Do you believe this Blazers roster can be improved to realistically contend for a title in the next 3 years?

 

The hardest part of building a contender is getting a superstar. We have that. In his last playoff series, he had a 55/10 (and 3 blocks) game in which he set the all time NBA record for threes in a single game (12). It was probably the second greatest all time playoff performance, second only to Michael Jordan's 63 against Boston. He's so good that even while injured and in a tanking year, he actually won NBA Player of the Week this season. So we have done the hard part. And we've shown that with players like Aminu and Harkless, a team can be built around him that can reach the WCF despite injuries. With the right moves, esp with the 7th draft pick and what that can grow into over 3 years, I'm going to say yes, we can realistically contend in the next 3 years. But then what does "contend" mean? The Nets were the overwhelming preseason pick to win the title this year. Did they "contend"? Barkley picked us to win it all two seasons in a row. Were we contending the last two seasons?

 

We have the wrong kind of superstar. I adore Dame, but please remember that we LOST the game where Dame scored 55

Dame is a fantastic offensive player, but the reason people say “defense wins championships” is because it’s true

Also, that WCF run was the worst thing that happened to us because even though we were gifted series wins because of injuries to stars on other teams, some, including our fucking GM thought we were better than we were.

To answer the OP’s question, it depends

Yes, we can absolutely contend in the next three years with the right moves. Most likely though we will be just good enough not to be good enough OR bad enough to contend anytime soon

 

I don't know? With luck yes. Without any luck probably not.

 

Can they? Yes of course. I could realistically buy a winning lottery ticket as well.

The better question is what path forward gives them the greatest chance of building a contender again?

STOMP

 

You are not wrong as this is being discussed in 12 other threads currently.

 

If Golden State has a healthy roster, who in the Western Conference can get by them??

If Golden State isn't healthy then I think the Blazers can be a contender as much as any other team in the Western Conference.

Phoenix might be better but not much and Memphis has proven they could play great in the regular season.

that's how I feel going into next season.

 

Given the ages of their big 3, the GSW's window as a contender is closing. I'd definitely put the Griz's talent ahead of Portland's, also the Clippers, Mavs, Timberwolves, Pelicans, & Nuggets to name a few. Hell the Thunder should start coming together with all their young talent soon too. Portland is several moves away from contending to my eyes.

STOMP

 

Warriors were out of the playoffs for two years. Teams can turn around quickly with good health and a few strategic moves.

 

Of course not.

 

You pretty much need 2 stars or a top 3 player in the league who has height/length to contend.

We need another star or Dame to grow to 6'8". Both would be ideal!

 

Well considering we will have a Top 5 pick again NEXT draft, sure.

 

I would say no I cannot realistically buy a winning lottery ticket. The chance is so slim its like saying I can walk out tomorrow and hit a hole in one.

To me realistically being able to do an action means there is a plausible chance to see it happen. It can be much less than 50%, but it should be something over 1%. Perhaps for people that take the question to a mathematical literal extreme I could have worded the question differently. I assumed a realistic chance is obvious that it is more than a one in a million type of longshot odds.

 

I don't see any prohibitive favorites on the horizon as the super team area is coming to a close. The biggest issue is the defense right now. Need to bolster to the front court (Ayton, Grant would be ideal) to even be mentioned in the conversation.

 

There were a couple different times where Dame being Dame thwarted a good chance to turnover the roster. The first was the season after LMA left. It was pretty obvious that Neil was angling to have a high pick that season. Dame had other ideas and we made the playoffs and got to the second round.

The second was when we made that WCF run. There was a number of us thinking the same way you do.

The third is after the pels series. Stotts should have been fired. CJ should have been traded. That was the time to blow it up. Neil didn’t have the balls or his ego was too big to admit defeat.

 

Start the tank now! Go for #1. Why be shy about it?
Who is projected #1 in the 2023 draft? Maybe we should start a thread about that?

 

This is just classic confirmation bias.

Jordan's career high of 63 in the playoffs came in a loss against Boston. Donovan Mitchell dropped 57 in a playoff loss 2 yrs ago vs Denver. Lebron had 51 in a finals loss at GS. Westbrook had 51 in a loss vs Houston. Jamal Murray had 50 in a loss vs Utah. Kobe had 50 in a loss at Phoenix. etc etc

The only takeaway from that game is that Dame can be a monster playoff performer and brings a selection of skills that few others can match. How you can spin that as a negative is wild.

 

Go get Ayton to play next to Dame and Ant and with a cast of decent role players we compete