Brian Grant was on the court tonight getting a big check for his foundation. He looked really good actually. Great to see.
Tonight, down by 9 points, the unit with 3 starters (Hart, Simons, Nurk) and Walker and Sharpe was playing well at the start of the 4th quarter whittling down the lead. That unit got the lead down to 5 points. The Magic called a time out. Then, for no reason I could see, Chauncey substituted Lillard and Grant back into the game. Why? That Blazer unit with 2 bench players was playing well. You might not see it in the box score. There are times when the bench is contributing but Chauncey puts starters back in anyway. Walker and Sharpe weren't playing perfectly, but in the end you have to look at the scoreboard. With 8:50 left in the game, that was way to early to pull the plug and go with experienced crunch time players. It wasn't crunch time.
Magic in a bottle. Portland is extremely limited in the kind of moves they can make. It’s a small-market team in a mostly white town that gets a lot of rain. NBA stars don’t want to come here, even though we have a great point guard. The big names in free agency always pick a more glamorous destination, and in this new era of player movement Portland can’t compete. They can tinker around the edges with small moves (which they’ve been doing for years), but it’s very hard to move the needle.
What adjustments did Mosely make? I do get your point but the Blazers continued to cut into the lead and actually tied the game. Portland outscored them 33-27 in the 4th quarter? Dame is who hit that 3 at the end of the 3rd and brought the score back to a 9 point lead. The answer to your question is at 8:50 Mosley put Banchero and Fultz back into the game. Chauncey countered by pulling Sharp and Walker and putting in Lillard and Grant. +2 89-82 9:12.0 89-82 Turnover by J. Nurkić (bad pass; steal by F. Wagner) 8:54.0 Turnover by W. Carter (lost ball; steal by J. Nurkić) 89-82 8:51.0 89-84 +2 A. Simons makes 2-pt layup from 1 ft (assist by J. Hart) 8:50.0 Orlando full timeout 89-84 8:50.0 P. Banchero enters the game for T. Ross 89-84 8:50.0 M. Fultz enters the game for J. Suggs 89-84 8:50.0 89-84 J. Grant enters the game for S. Sharpe 8:50.0 89-84 D. Lillard enters the game for J. Walker 8:25.0 P. Banchero misses 2-pt jump shot from 5 ft 89-84 8:22.0 Offensive rebound by W. Carter 89-84
If you had got choose between the two who would you choose? Actually I would prefer to have both on the team if it all possible.
Really only Siakam is a two way forward. I would give up any players besides Lillard, Grant and Sharpe. And I would give 2-3 FRP's, depending on what return there was from a third team for some of the guys we send out.
That was my point. If you get Pascal you still want Grant. If you have both with Lillard Hart and Nurk you are an instant contender.
the 'problem' is many of those advocating a blow-up won't go full bore into a blow-up a blow-up means trading Dame, Ant, Nurkic, Grant, and Hart. Otherwise it's just more purgatory
But even then there’s no guarantee. You can trade the entire team and still not end up with anything better.
for sure the disconnect of the 'trade-Dame' narrative seems to be the belief that somehow, someway, there's a path to a player of Dame's level, or better, that starts with trading Dame it took 15 years to go from Bill Walton to prime Clyde Drexler; and it took 25 years to go from Clyde to prime Dame. Players of that caliber just don't come down the road that often. A couple of months ago, one of the biggest advocates here for trading Dame predicted it would be around 7 years before the Blazers might become a contender. Which is 3 years after Ant's contract ends. yeeeeesh tearing it all down, becoming absolutely shitty for a few years, and hoping for incredible lottery luck is a plan, but it's the kind of plan that fails a hell of a lot more often than it succeeds. Minnesota has won 3 playoff game in the last 18 years and have a losing record in their 19th year. Sacramento hasn't even played a playoff game since 2006...17 years
