Nance, RoCo, Little, Powell, CJ, Ant Grant, Little, Hart, Sharpe, Ant, Payton Grant > RoCo > Nance Hart = Powell (more or less and costs less) Sharpe is the X Factor. The defense looks BETTER though a little shorter. Athleticism? Better. Length? I’d have to go back on the wingspan and max standing reach … but height is down a bit. Would “you” want last year’s players from the beginning of the season returned and have a theoretically somewhat lower pick? I wouldn’t. I hope a trade involving a taller/longer SF happens.
There are posters that think the Clippers trade was still a good one. This isn't a one thread issue. This has been going on for decades. Someone saying the moves are an epic fail is not the same as a bunch of crying emojis imo.
If I haven't heard that a million times as a Blazers fan. "Just wait until you see what we do next, then we are contenders!"
I wish the Blazers had a different center. I’ll continue to hope that comes true at the earliest possible date.
we shall have to agree to disagree. Though by how many crying comments there are, I think most would disagree with you. Calling it an epic fail is crying in my opinion. History is irrelevant with a new coach, new gm etc. Everyone is acting as though those in charge now were in charge then snd have no different game plan when we havent even given a full offseason to see how it is changing. What I find amusing is how often some will complain but never be able to come up with a realistic alternative option. And they don’t understand how it completely undermines the complaints and many consider it crying. Anyhow, thats my take. Moving on now.
I personally think Simmons is more likely than Durant and highly disagree that we can't get him if indeed we wanted him.
So you're one of them. That's fine and all, but you can't with a straight face think we have a strong path to contendership with the assets we have. Many of us have been very pointed, wait to see what Joe does over the offseason (after destroying him for both trades, but now saying the Pelicans trade was ho hum, but the Clippers trade was horrible, and you still have people arguing that), now we waited and saw what Joe has done. It isn't enough. And some of the moves make you scratch your head. So the next stop is the trade deadline. If we are around the play in, its time to shop Lillard. It just is. One player is not who I root for. We can't continue to go around this non contender merry go round and be content with it. Blow it up. Trust the process. And try to draft other star players to get us back to contention.
Does Billups think he can make above average defenders out of Lillard and Simons? Don't understand keeping them both otherwise, but wouldn't that be delusional?
The problem with statements like these is that your opinion of a "realistic alternative" and mine likely differ, and trying to discuss them is just debating hypotheticals, leaving way too much room for confirmation bias.
By blowing it up, you mean trading Dame Dolla. That ain't happening from what the organization has said. Its Dame time!
I think that is the whole point of those saying there is crying going on. The assertion that its a disaster is as much an opinion based on hypotheticals, or the lack of, moving forward. No one knows what else will happen before we put our team on the floor next season. I am personally happy that Cronin is making changes. Some will work, some will not but he knows we cant contend as is and that instills enough confidence in me for him.
If we aren't going to compete then this organization sucks. I'm willing to give it this year to see how we do, but its such a detriment to just shut down a restart if fhe ultimate goal is becoming a contender and the paths to that with Dame are tied up.
* I was hoping that Simons + Nurkic would be resigned for 35-38M/year. The reality of 42.5M is a little disappointing but not really enough to whine about...much...but I probably will...a little...now and then...maybe * I was hoping for a bigger trade acquisition than Grant but I understood the chances of that were pretty small * I was actually hoping that if a big trade target didn't land in Portland's lap they would swing for the fences with the 7th pick and it seems like they did so, in the bigger ticket items, it was slightly disappointing but not enough to get in a twist about or believe that the positives could not overcome the flaws *********************************************************************************** * I was hoping Portland would maintain flexibility going into the season. But Portland used the MLE on an unorthodox 6'2 guard with a limited offensive tool-box which essentially shit-canned their two remaining TPE's * I was hoping for substantially more length and two-way talent at wing and that hasn't really materialized. Hart and Grant are the only players with any established two-way talent at wing, and realistically their talent is only a little above average so those smaller ticket items have been a much bigger disappointment ************************************************************************************* on the other hand: between Simons, Sharpe, and Little there may be some substantial 'break-out' potential. More than Portland has had since Dame was drafted. And there may be some lesser break-out potential in Watford-Brown-Johnson-Walker. All good things offering substantial entertainment value also, and maybe I'm underrating this: With Payton, Hart, and Winslow, Portland probably has their best set of perimeter defenders in the Dame era. If some opposing player is gouging Portland with his offense, the Blazers have options to adjust and shut that player down