Game Thread 2022-23 Game #41 - BLAZERS VS CAVALIERS - JANUARY 12, 2023 - THURSDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) ROOT

Well said

 

Ok sounds great, so let’s say Dame pulls a Chris Paul and is ballin at 35, what’s the plan? He’s sitting here making 29%, now what? My point is trading him now while his value is higher than in 2-3 years and acquiring assets to put with Simons and Sharpe that fit a more realistic timeline is a better move than the status quo. We can’t draw FAs and we don’t currently have flexibility to acquire anyone who “moves the needle”. We aren’t contenders so what’s the plan to make a contender in the narrow window Dame has left?

 

that's a really wide range and seems a lot more theory than reality. 22 NBA players make 35M or more this season. That will go up to at least 29 players next season, and maybe even more after this off-season

35M is only 26% of the salary cap.

 

Yup. Glad you said it and not me

 

Has a sub .500 team ever made the finals?

 

There are 22 players making over $35m and only one of them can be the centerpiece of a championship team on any given year.

There are 6 players making more than Dame, and he's better than 3 of them. There are also a few players making less than Dame who are better than him, but not a ton. I think it would be very hard for the Blazers to use his salary to identify, obtained, and retain assets that produce more than him. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? No.

If the goal is to better long term, we should be making moves that are likely to increase the value of our assets. Taking a chance for the fun of it, isn't the move.

 

We're only 0.5 games out of the play-in, the West has no championship contenders, so once we get healthy, we sneak into the playoffs, run through the West, then once we make the finals, we'll have all the confidence to shock the world!

 

You are having a real hard time with this huh? The plan is not to replace his production. The PLAN is to reset and hopefully build it right this time instead of being in purgatory for a decade. That clear? I’m not worried about replacing the production of Dame, cause we are currently not a playoff team and have zero chance of contending for a championship. Do you understand now? The plan is to start over and hopefully have a competent GM in place so that we actually construct a roster capable of winning more than a playin game. It’s a REBUILD. This means clearing space and acquiring draft picks.

 

You know who else is “old” Lebron. Having a historic season. I wish we had more “old” players.

 

If in 3 attempts you were unable to answer my question directly, I think that answers my question.

"Hope" isn't a plan I'm signing off on, but when "hope" can drop a 50 piece, I'll reconsider.

 

he can't be traded now. Can't be traded till next summer. And let's be real, The Blazers will not trade Dame unless he asks to be traded

and if Simons was worth building around he'd be good enough to help Portland win some of these close games they are losing when teams are doubling and tripling Dame in the last 5 minutes. I don't know why people keep insisting that Portland should trade Dame and build around Simons. If the Blazers are trading Dame the goal is to find another young superstar in the draft. Holding onto players Ant's level just keeps Portland in the purgatory of weak draft picks and end-of-lottery/play-in

Ant is a tweener. He doesn't have the vision to be a full-time PG, so he's more of an undersized SG that plays poor defense and can't guard 60% of the wings in the NBA. That's not the kind of player a team should build around. I mean, can anybody right now realistically project Ant as ever being a top-20 player in the league?

 

Yeah hope is pretty bad, being content with your favorite player dropping 50 while ur headed for the lottery AGAIN is a much better plan.

 

he was being doubled and tripled. When he forces up three's against tight defense and misses, people trash him. So now, tonight, when he didn't force up three's against two defenders, he's too passive?

what I saw Dame do was draw the defense too himself and set up teammates with open shots...which they bricked. But I guess it's dame's fault his teammates are throwing up airballs

 

We’re talking about Nurk.

 

Just because I don't like your thoughtless plan, doesn't mean I'm content with ownership, the front office, the roster, etc.

Those are two different things and I have the receipts to prove my lack of content in multiple areas.

 

19-27 seems very realistic at this point.

 

For many seasons the bottom of the eastern confeerence playoff seeds had teams under 500...don't remember them getting to the finals but we're the SUMMER LEAGUE CHAMPS BRO

 

I’d love to hear your master plan, the guy going around telling everyone they are wrong must have the solution so let’s hear it?