Rants: Draft Complaints: I'm annoyed by a lot of Blazer fans discussing the Draft. We are most likely losing our backcourt bench of Pat and Bazz. Neil and co felt like they needed to get insurance in that position, so he did. Stop bitching about not getting a wing, we have wings, and all 3 are fantastic defenders. We lacked scoring last year (outside Dame and CJ), so we got 2 incredibly gifted offensive draft picks to fill part of the void. I am jacked about the guys we got, Neil drafted well Facts/Predictions: -Anfernee Simons will STRUGGLE with defense, but will be a BEAST on offense. -Moe Harkless will be in the talks for this years All Star team. He's going to show up, day ONE. -The Blazers are, a PF who can defend and PASS (ala Draymond), away from surpassing the Warriors *(if Nurk stays) -We'll be incredibly lucky if we keep Nurkic. His ONLY downside is that his emotion dictates how he plays. But he's a kid. ONLY 23 years old. How GOOD will he be when he matures a bit? Flawless, nearly. If he stays here. -There will be FAR more Neil fans than critics after this season based on draft picks. -Blazers are a couple years away from becoming a DYNASTY. Our vets that we so badly need, will be Dame and CJ. Who will improve drastically in the next 2-3 years? MOE, NURK, ZACH, SIMONS, TRENT JR. It's going to take a little patience, but it's going to be SWEET. I'll come back and take my lumps if I'm wrong.
I like Mo and I think he may be ready to put together a strong season, but all star talk? Dynasty? I love your optimism. That's why we're called fanatics
I think he needs to be able to show he can play team D to even sniff the floor, and then he has to be able to hit enough swish3s to keep the defense honest. It would be awesome if he could have a Rookie Rudy Fernandez-like impact (hops and flash and scoring), but it seems from the talk that he's a couple of years away from that. This would be cool, but...which one of Durant/A. Davis/Draymond/Butler/George is he going to replace? So...if Zach starts at PF alongside Nurk and continues progressing, we're in the Finals? I don't think "lucky" is the word. If we don't keep him, we are one of the most unlucky and incompetent franchises in sports. Again, would be interesting to see, but I don't know that he will get it.
We need a SF who consistently scores. I don't care about his defense if he shoots like our guards. Only when we get that, will we have roster balance.
We have wings, problem is they should all be coming off the bench. Simons and Trent will not out produce Pat/Bazz, not this season at least(I’m more pumped about Baldwin than either of the rookies actually). I believe the only way to create a dynasty in today’s NBA is to be a player in free agency, even if you draft well eventually you gotta land an All Star. Sadly I don’t think that will happen. The optimism is great though, reminds me of me back in the 90s, early 2000s.
I didn't say Harkless would BE an allstar, but his name will be discussed. Yes, Zach could be that PF that the team needs, but he's 2-3 years from being that guy. DYNASTY!
