Exclusive Are the Blazers trying to make the playin next season?

I agree about a Toumani/Deni forward duo being effective on the boards and on D, although TC can't initiate offense either.

But I really don't think any one player was the reason we had the 3rd worst record. The issue was they all played together. One of them with 4 legit staters will work.....it is done all the time with playoff teams. Toumani just needs to add a go-to shot. If he can't then yeah he will need to come off the bench.

 

I know each season can be a little different, but this season, it took a 46-36 record to just make the play-in as a road team in the 1st 'round'. For the Blazers to go from 40 games under .500 this year, to 10 games over next year seems like a couple of bridges too far; especially considering I don't seen any of the top-10 seeds from last season slipping much (maybe Warriors?) and Houston, Memphis, and Spurs will all be climbing

 

We don't want to win for another 2 seasons.

 

Which teams do you see us better than in the West?

There are a few that are marginal but am guessing the Blazers have the lowest Vegas win total when they release the odds.

 

You make a good point about the other teams. I should not have said "No doubt in my mind" There will be other teams that improve and some who will slide due to injuries. But I don't think that our record last year is a true indicator of how we can be this year....if they wanted to try and make it. If not for the fake injuries and the real injuries, and the intentional tanking, the win total would have been closer to 35 wins.

But it is a moot point because I think we will trade Grant and others.

 

I don't believe 35 wins was in reach; 30 maybe

I would agree that a forward rotation of Grant-Advija-Camara-Walker is intriguing with a decent enough balance of strengths/weaknesses to add a few more wins

the back court is awkward though

 

Good question, will likely change with roster moves in free agency, but today I'd say Spurs, Utah, and Houston if rosters stay as is. All have great youth and upside but those 3 will continue to have learning curves with losses next season.

There will probably be 1 or 2 teams with major injuries and 1 or 2 that just underperform. Wouldn't shock me if Phoenix, Golden State, Lakers, or Clippers are a mess from injuries or just old declining stars.

To compete for the playin the Blazers just have to be 11th or 12th much of the year so might only need 3 teams that are clearly worse.

 

If this Blazers season is just a poor attempt to win or actually does lead to meaningful real wins how Scoot/Sharpe perform may be the biggest component. They will need of course better health but also much more productivity.

Ant is the most certain, above average as a 3rd guard, good scoring and offense with bad defense. If he is far and away the #1 guard on the team wins will be hard to get. If he is part of an equally effective trio or even outplayed by the other two then it could be a very effective backcourt.

 

hopefully not, were in no hurry to compete given we have young players and we need more talent anyway

that being said, it will depend on the roster, if we keep ayton, grant & simons, id say we will try to make the play-in

 

Depends on what you mean by 'win'.

Attempt to be in the playoffs? I would agree, it's going to be another 2 years.

But Blazers need to attempt to win this season to develop the habits/mindsets so that they can make the playoff leap in 2 years.

 

top-20



that's what I meant by awkward

Sharpe didn't play enough to register. But what I remember from when Ant/Sharpe were on the floor together was that Sharpe spent way too much time standing while Simons dribbled and drove around. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Simons froze Sharpe out, but it sure looked like Ant's vision was locked onto the parts of the floor Sharpe wasn't on

 

None of that is as important as adding a couple of all stars like we could the next 2 drafts. We hopefully won't have that opportunity with our own picks again for a decade or more.

Let's not screw this up.

 

it blows my mind how eager some posters are for the Blazers to dive back into a 1st-round-exit/play-in/late-lottery purgatory. Unfortunately, I think Cronin may want to push the Blazers off the board and into that treading-water pool

 

We will find out if they trade Grant or not.

 

I think it's too early to say IF they are trying to contend or not but IF they run it back for most part then Cronin is a complete tool and deserves to be fired -- PERIOD

 

Depends what you mean by "attempt to win"

I'd like the Blazers to try and win every game - the phantom injuries or G League rejects starting has been beyond horrible the last 3 years.

But I want the vets here flipped for long term assets so its the young players that lead the Blazers to those wins - not irrelevant vets that will decline soon or need overpaid contracts.

We probably end up with less wins going with that youth than if we keep some vets. But since as EdO said we've failed to win with this half ass vets attempt anyways, it would be way better to commit to a damn direction.