For me I’d have a hard time trading 2nd pick away, Scoot is pretty damn special player. Anything after 2nd pick I’d be good trading away.
am i wrong? if we are hellbent on keeping dame, then getting wemby is the only avenue to compete for a title in 2-3 yrs.
yeah...I know because you've said it 387 times I prefer a series of lottery picks to a series of 1st round exits and sweeps. I've seen what the exits do for the team....just an excuse to reboot the failure
You're only wrong because none of us know what we don't know. We don't know what players will be available and we don't know what this team looks like with a legitimate second option with Dame along with high level defense role players. I think us landing the first pick and taking Wemby along with trading away Ant, Nurk and a bunch of picks for a second proven all star is the easiest way to find our team a path to contention but it isn't the only way we can with Dame leading the team.
yeah, I know....self interest I was liking the playoffs too. But I saw the futility of them for Portland when they got swept in the WCF in 2018-19. I knew that was the high water mark for the Dame/CJ era, especially with Olshey in charge
I think there's another option that makes them a title contender. I think Wemby makes Joe's job easier. But if the Blazers get pick 2 to 4, i could see them have the potential to send that pick ,with Ant, to the Nets for Mikal Bridges. Plus they could use future draft capital to strengthen other positions. A starting lineup of Nurk, Grant, Bridges, Sharpe, and Dame is pretty damn good. If you could acquire Seth Curry, or Joe Harris to be that dead eye shooter off the bench, now we're talking. The Blazers still might be able to upgrade the center position with a Nurk, plus a 1st. move. But there aren't a lot of game changing starters at center. Would Nurk, plus a 1st net you a Myles Turner. Who knows. We will find out. No matter who the Blazers get, staying healthy is the biggest key.
I do too. While I prefer that HCP is employed (and not for the obvious "mrs HCP is free" jokes that it offers us), I don't think making the playoffs only to lose in the 1st round the majority of the time, is really the win it gets presented as. Now, if you have a competent GM/Front office, you can afford to make the playoffs and improve, but I think from our experience we did not have a front office that was competent and set out on improving. The jury is out on this current FO, and this is the summer where they need to do something big (doesn't have to be a home run, but they can't be given a pass if they luck into the #1 pick) or it's gonna be a train wreck few years. But I'd rather do that instead of just going back with the same flawed roster choices and tank out in the playoffs in 5 games.
Unless Bridges moves Heaven and earth to force his way to Portland, why would BKN take Simons and 2 for Bridges?