I think the only change to the starting 5 will be Deni. I give them 32 wins if they are healthy. Very iso-heavy offense and lots and lots of dribbling by Ant and Jerami.
Id guess around 38 games or so. The wild card for me is if for some reason Shae, Scoot and Deny pop together and the D improves? I guess thats when the creative tanking come's into play.
We have a problematic conflict of interest: 1. We all want the youngins to play well. 2. We also want the tradeable vets to increase their value. 3. We also want to win the lottery. This is the case of pick 2 only. Fast / Cheap / Good If fast and cheap, won't be good If fast and good, won't be cheap If good and cheap, won't be fast
The only thing this season should be is a complete loss. If its anything else, it's being done wrong.
I don't want all of our tradeable vets to increase their value or think most of them can. I want them traded now for the highest value out there. I guarantee there are teams that want Jerami and I guarantee there are teams that want Ant. I think both will bring back at least a future FRP and if they're only bringing back one future FRP a piece they should also be bringing back other tradeable contracts.
I am afraid of a semi-tank. Start out hard then when it's clear they won't win enough to make the playin, shut all the good players down, Grant, Ant, DA, Deni.
Off for sure. Let the young core play all out to grow. They won’t be good but they will grow and then determine value for trades vs keepers etc
in the 2022-23 season, when rookie Sharpe shared court time with Anfernee, their was almost zero chemistry. It was Shaedon watching Simons playing dribble dribble dribble chuck. Last year both players alternated injuries, so no, we couldn't see them develop chemistry. But that 2023 zero chemistry anomaly still lingers.
Off. The most effective tank has your young players getting better while you're still losing games. We're going to do that much better without both Ant and Grant, IMO. At that point, it won't even be a tank anymore. It'll just be a young team developing. Which is much better than a tank.
We've seen what happens after Grant & Simons take their Cronin leave of tanking. Lop 45 points off the board, the playbook gets tiny, and the Blazers offense becomes vulnerable. Losing is losing in a rebuild. Are Blazer fans ready for full time JV squad ?? Or is more competitive games, then grenade the team, still the better approach? When the radio pods brag about the nearly packed Blazers stadium, they don't tell their 34 listeners that the fans in Moda are wearing opponent jerseys. Hosting more popular teams is a benefit for all NBA arenas and television broadcasts. As an OG Blazers fan, it bugs me seeing the Moda Center full of Lakers, Warriors, Celtics fans. The Raptors game gets a pass, because Canada only has 1 team to root for. The ping pong balls scattered this summer. Hawks got the #1 pick in a weak draft, but it doesn't change the fact a play-in team won the lottery. Me personally, I'd rather see Portland play competitive and win a few, more then a 24/7 tanking experience. I don't mind being a rebellious Blazer fan. This team has gotten punked 3 years straight. It would be highly entertaining to see opponents getting stomped by a Blazers team that wasn't supposed to win. I say no to trading Ant, Grant, Ayton this season. Play it out. The opportunity to see a sneaky good team would be a welcome surprise for Blazers fans.
That would be so Portland. Go all in on a tank in a weak draft, then go all in for a playin during an incredible top loaded draft. Pick a lane Joe.
I was at the Miami game this past season. Hearing the Miami fans chanting "Let's Go Heat!" on repeat pissed me off so bad it was ridiculous! I wanted to punch somebody in the mouth and then I remembered I'm 66.
