Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th seed

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Good research, I will take a look at this later. I was thinking of looking at the top10 picks. Perhaps I should’ve said most likely not getting an all-star at the top of the draft, but yes can still get one.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Have you been reading this board at all? Someone is calling for the Blazers to follow just that strategy almost every day.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

I thought Houston was pretty good when they got Hakeem? Didn't they have Sampson? I seem to remember they were in contention a lot of years. I could be wrong though.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

It's blue9 man. He has trouble knowing what a tree is, let alone finding the forest.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Honestly, not a ton. In the past I have noticed a few people suggest we should tank this season away. Though I don't know if they expect a title to be born from the tank-job - but they certainly have a strong case for being a better team 3 years down the line with that strategy. And I think that's what it's all about. You're trying to make it out to be all or nothing - win a title or you failed. I believe in an earlier post in this thread you suggested that the Cavs failed by drafting LBJ. That's just silly - they may not have won it all, but they GREATLY improved their team. That's all you can ask for in the draft.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

You are trying to lump together 2 different scenarios - the team *wanting* to trade LMA (ie intentionally tanking) vs LMA forcing his way out (ie what is the best form of damage control).

Most of those advocating tanking are convinced LMA is gone anyway, and they would rather tank for a high pick than trade him for non-impact players. Very few, if any, want to dump him just for the joy of going through a total rebuild.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

So well said, damn you.

I know I am definitely in the first group. I think he will be gone anyway, so why not do it now and take advantage of the best draft class in the least decade

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

First, I disagree with the notion that LMA is gone anyway...as I've said before, there just isn't much likelihood that there's going to be a team that he'd want to go to that will have the cap room to sign him. But, for the sake of discussion, let's say that you're right, Olshey agrees, and he trades LMA for a total stiff or two in order to maximize the tanking plan. Now, if he were to totally squander LMA in such a way, you're competing with teams like the 76ers, Celtics, Magic, Bobcats, Suns, Jazz, Kings, and Bucks for maximum suckitude in order to get the chance at a high pick that could, possibly, someday, become a player of LMA's caliber. Given what's left on the Blazers roster, you can't tank hard enough to where that "strategy" is very likely to work out.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Now THIS I agree with. Trading LMA will not make us "Top-5 Bad". But I still think trading LMA (by the deadline) is the best long-term strategy.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

We will probably need to trade away Lillard too.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

The Cavs getting LeBron is the shining example of the absolute best case scenario of a team tanking. Drafting the second best player in the history of the game. The Clippers never were close to as lucky with decades of high draft picks. Even for a team that got so lucky, once in multiple decades lucky as the Cavs, they didn’t get a title out of it. So I do think it shows that a strategy primarily based on making a team far worse to eventually be better is not good.

Yes the draft is a component of team building, yes higher draft picks are better, but it should not be the sole end all be all of team building. To provide value to a roster at the draft a team is not required to have a top pick, great players pop up all the time in the middle and end of the draft. Making smart trades is important. Signing free agents on reasonable deals is important. Avoiding free agents that will be overpaid is important. The problem with having a team in the position of getting a top3 picks is they have to be so absolutely terrible with all other aspects of their roster they won’t be able to surround even a hall of famer with talent to win.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Me too.

But MM...

A) The chances of drafting a player who will one day be as good as Aldridge is slim. Aldridge is that good.

and

B) If Aldridge doesn't want to say, why will the new guy want to stay?

It's a cycle. You assume the guy we're tanking for will want to stay and play here in his prime. Let's do everything we can to hold on to the All Star player we HAVE. Trading Aldridge so he can win a championship elsewhere is ridiculous.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Also- enough about this wanting to merely "play" for the title. All I'm interested in is WINNING a title. Losing in the Finals is painful just as the 2000 WCF was.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

A) Maybe. Neither of us can say either way

B) Because people are different. I mean just because I'm straight doesn't mean you are, right? Also, why does everyone keep using the term tank? Trading a player whos "people" have asked the Blazers to trade their guy is just good business.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

How realistic is it for a small market team to win a title though?

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

He can’t leave anytime soon so why settle for .30 cent return on the dollar when you have a shot at a higher return and maybe even money down the road.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Why is it exactly that you think Portland will get more as time goes by?

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

MM- it is highly likely the new star will want to leave us. Look at history. Most of the star players in recent times don't stay with the team that drafted them. So we have to end the cycle. Let's fight to keep Aldridge. We have a star player now. Let's not let him go.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

Why is it highly likely? Almost 100% of players re-up with their current teams the first time, unless the franchise is a complete cluster fuck. LA has played 7 seasons here, and if Roy and Oden were healthy, would probably be happy as a clam here.

 

Re: Blazers: Best offseason of all Westen Conference lottery teams, should be 7th see

After we make it to the wcf this season