What is the projected injury list for every team? It only takes 1-2 good players from most teams to drop to our level. Teams with stars are good because they have stars. But if they get hurt they are no better than anyone else. We on the other hand could have injuries....... and will still be about the same.
Everyone! We will be the champions! Wait, maybe it is Everyone will be better than us, we'll be the chumpions. I think there is a lot of unknowns. We don't project to be good but could end up being surprised. I can hope but don't dare expect.
I'd put money on Washington and Detroit being worse than us while money on the Blazers being worse than everyone else. However there is probably 1-2 teams that will have major health problems or some other issue and be worse but I don't know who that could be. Always a couple unexpected teams that fall way short or accomplish way more than we expect. I think the Irving experiment in Dallas and Brooks in Houston could be both epic failures. I mean we basically saw it was in Dallas last year - they were a team above the playin before Irving and with him finished in the lottery below the playin. He's basically screwed up every team he's been on since LeBron's Cavs.
Washington and Detroit are in good position to surprise. Both have talented young backcourt with a lot to prove. Like us.
I don't know if any team will have a worse record than us when the season wraps. If our team wanted to hang our collective hat on defense and we played a lineup of Brogdon, Matisse, Jerami, Time Lord (if he could hold up) and Ayton for the majority of the game together with Ant as an instant offense sixth man, we would be a play in team that absolutely no one would want to play on a night to night basis. We could also get 15 plus minutes from our future back court of Scoot/Shae, get Toumani some similar meaningful PT, see who wins minutes between Jabari and Kris. That's what we'd do if we were committed to getting the most wins possible. I don't think that will be our approach. I think this team will be about getting Scoot going as a star PG. I think we'll be very concerned with Shaedon's progress and getting him at least 25 minutes a game. I also think we see Jerami, Brogdon and probably Matisse moved after the new year to contenders who think they'll be big enough difference makers to give up serious value in the form of promising young players and/or first round picks. It will be an interesting season. I doubt wins are going to be our goal but more so figuring out how to play a brand of ball with our young players that will equal wins in the future. I would even venture to say if this roster is picking up too many wins that we could see Brogdon moved in the not too distant future and both Jerami and Matisse moved as soon as they're eligible to be. I also think Time Lord could go early on if another team thinks he's worth a FRP or prospect who might not be able to impact games immediately but has a better long term prognosis to impact games regularly than Rob does.
Im sure we'll get a top 5 pick. Doesn't matter who is worse than us, since we're not competing for anything.
I am not concerned about how many they win. Lot's of teams will, one way or another, rest stars against POR. A win here or there could be misleading, especially down the stretch as teams jockey for the pole positions. I am expecting developing chemistry and defense and a really tough group of guys. That said POR will be in the bottom 10% of the league probably close to WAS and CHA, and maybe DET.
I think how we tank will depend on how Schmitz has this class tiered. If there is a five to seven player first tier then I could see us not worried about a random win here and there that has us ending up with around 30 wins. If Schmitz thinks this draft has only a few guys at the top that are significantly better than everyone else, I could see our tank game being strong and some of our vets who know how to win games sitting in the fourth quarter and being moved sooner than the deadline.
I voted Washington, Detroit, San Antonio, Houston, and Charlotte. I feel much less certain about this year than I have the last few... I was confident we were going to be mediocre-to-sub-mediocre (not anticipating we'd shut things down twice). This year? We could surprise with a playoff spot, or we could melt down and get a top 3 pick. I'm interested to see what happens and am comfortable with whatever it is. At least we changed the trajectory of our franchise and I have hope for our team the first time in a while, which is nice.
I'm fully convinced that Wemby alone will elevate the Spurs above us. For some reason, I'm high on Detroit to make a jump this year. I voted for the other three you mentioned.
The NBA says that nobody is worse than us to open the season. It's hard for me to disagree. #30 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERSLast Week:27↓ 2022-23 record: 33-49 OffRtg: 114.0 (18) DefRtg: 118.0 (28) NetRtg: -4.0 (26) Pace: 99.3 (17) The best picks in the Blazers‘ collection are their own, and it’s safe to assume that they’ll be one of the three teams with the highest Lottery odds next May. But their next franchise cornerstone may already be on the roster, and Scoot Henderson will have the ball in his hands. Preseason takeaways Anfernee Simons had an effective field goal percentage of 77.3%, the second highest mark among 223 players with at least 25 field goal attempts in the preseason. The Blazers are 0-11 in preseason games against NBA opponents in their three seasons under Chauncey Billups. In their three games vs. NBA opponents this year, their defense allowed 119.7 points per 100 possessions, 12.9 more than the preseason average (106.8). That included 151 points allowed on 111 defensive possessions (141 per 100) in Jerami Grant’s 52 minutes on the floor. Two of the three were against the Suns, but the Blazers didn’t give up a ton of 3s over the three games (36 total) and are looking good for a fifth straight season in the bottom five in defensive efficiency. Something to watch in Week 1: Ball movement. This could be a team with a lot of individual agendas, so it will be interesting to see how much the Blazers play for each other. They ranked 27th in assist rate (58.7%) in the preseason. Henderson vs. Russell Westbrook is a fun way to open the season. After that, the Blazers will play four straight games against the Eastern Conference, with their visit from the Magic on Friday providing a good test of just how competitive they’ll be. Week 1: @ LAC, vs. ORL, @ PHI
This Blazer team is not nearly as stinky as the other cellar dwellers. Cronin made good moves this summer and added quite a bit of talent to this roster. I think the Blazers will hover around .500 through the first 2 months. Fans can preach about the terrific team basketball that was obviously missing with Lillard's ballhoggy ways. Rinse & repeat of last year. The starters won't get any rest, no games off in B2B situations, excessive minutes will create soggy legs... especially visable on defense. I fully expect the Front Office to grenade this team at the trade deadline. Trade X good Blazers for Y draft picks. The starters will get benched. The 3rd string youngsters will plow ahead, winning maybe 1 of 10 games in the final 20+ contests of the season. wow, wow, Blazer fans get excited!! Look at these hot new rookies the Blazers can draft with their magical ping pong balls.
I can’t confidently say any team will be worse than us. We are going to be booty cheeks. Maybe the Wizards. They look like a team that is going to be complete ass. Pistons if Cade Cunningham can’t stay healthy, same with the Hornets and LaMelo. I think pretty much any other team could get hit with injuries and still be better than us.
Out of curiosity I just looked at the Vegas U/O for total wins, the only team supposed to be worse than us is… The Wizards. Spurs and Pistons are 1 game up on us, so it’s pretty much a toss up. The next tier is Hornets and Rockets.
