I admittedly haven’t been reading this place as much as I usually do, but from my little bits I have it seems like the fan base is focused in on all the Lillard trade talk stuff. But I’m more excited about the future of our team. The Scoot/Sharpe future back court has me super excited. My goodness, the kind of basketball that we can play for years to come with those athletic freaks has me excited for the future. I think Joe doesn’t want to piss off the fan base by being “the guy that chased Lillard away”. But it’s obvious to me that he is yearning to put his own stamp on this team and turning the page after his predecessor. Also, something has got to give with this glut at the guard spot. Someone is on the fast track out and I hope it’s Simons. Scoot can learn a lot from Lillard as a leader and hopefully teach him why Portland can be a great place to stay if you’re purely just a basketball nerd that wants the keys to the city and the fan base.
I think people will be more excited when 2 things happen: 1) Grant is signed 2) We see Scoot and Sharpe own summer league. Neither are guarantees, but if they happen, it'll be relatively soon.
I want to see the battle of the bigs in summer league with Ibou Badji taking on Wembenyama. I think we should sweep summer league with our talent.
I would love for Dame to stay and teach the next generation. I hope he takes them under his wings and hoping the youngins all chip in their part to make this team young and competitive.
the only team that has shown the will to tank next year is the Wizards. It would be a poor strategy to try and wedge a playoff Blazers team through the eye of a needle. There are too many teams increasing their competitive levels. A top lottery pick is hanging from the vine waiting to be plucked. Losing stinks, it really really does. Blazer fans have been taking a beating. We get trolled 24/7 nowadays. We see folks on this forum, any forum, relentlessly hammering each other. Building an NBA team through the draft lottery is a more compressed format then many other sports. Highly skilled giant athletes scrapping it out 5 on 5 with a bouncy ball on a 100ft court. Losing for the future can become a tremendous advantage in the NBA.
Tell me, do you think they planned on tanking before the year started or do you think it was a strategy they had to adopt once they saw there was not a realistic shot....late in the season?
I actually think about it differently. We’ve been hearing 2024 and 2025 aren’t a great class. We got really lucky this summer drafting Scoot, because I have no idea what Ant’s value really is, but I refuse to believe he has no value. Ant + Nas for DDR for our picks back or maybe involved in a deal for Draymond in a S&T can probably keep him happy. I think it’s important to continue and establish a culture that wants to win. I sense Dame wants to stay. At any point, if he wants to leave, we could trade him for as many 2026 and 2027 picks as we can. Grant, Green, and Nurk can be traded at any time as well for picks in those targeted years. All we know is that Scoot and Shaedon are our backcourt for a long time. It’s more important to get 1sts further out when they’re in the first years of their max deal. To your point about the number of teams competing vs tanking, you’re probably right. Green is an older guy that has said before that he’s only interested in competing. If we aren’t competing, Grant/Dame/Green/Nurk sit when we’re mathematically out. Securing Grant to a long term deal is also very important. You can’t spend assets on players and let them bolt.
the stealth tank is silent, sneaks up close then POW! Did Cronin have things packed to use the emergency escape route before the season? I would say yes. Did the players know about the preplanned tank? That is debatable. I think the Hart/Payton trade was a complete shock. After the trade deadline wtf the Blazer starters definitely knew what was up. The Blazers showed tremendous effort early in the season, on both sides of the court. Having a team lacking size & depth was a major obstacle. Lillard is really really freaking good at basketball. Jerami & Ant were getting BUCKETS. Josh Hart became human velcro grabbing every rebound in sight. The Nurk/Eubanks Center combo wasn't a fine spectacle of artwork, but it wasn't a fake knock off either. The team suprisingly was still straddling a playoff spot before Cronin pulled the pin at the trade deadline. I still think last year's Blazers could have toppled Minnesota for a play-in berth, but the GM chose an alternate course of destiny.
Thanks for answering as you see it. I do not agree with the above. Blazers wore down. Not enough length/depth. Tough defending teams would have eaten us to a clean carcass if the team had somehow got past the first round.
I'm not on Billups security detail like others. Coach wore this team out without question. "shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, bla bla bla". Anyone who watched January Blazer games saw tired Blazers. A lot of mega 4th quarter comebacks by opponents can be directly contributed to a worn out squad. As a pessimistic conspiratheorist (yes, Aliens built the pyramids) Coach Billups probably knew before the season Cronin was going to blow it up at the trade deadline, and tried to get "his guys" as many shots up as he could.
If we aren’t competing with Dame, Grant, and Draymond (to say nothing of the young guys) then I don’t know what to say. That’s 120M a year worth of Olympians, and if they can’t stay competitive enough to prevent a tank job post ASB, I feel it’s going to be hard to get rid of the combined 10yrs/500M or so left on those (presumed) contracts for players either too inured or too ineffective to make a difference in the standings.
I think he broke Winslow trying to win early...Casey mentioned once that his ankle looked terrible after games when he was still playing.
