i don't think team is close to the playoffs unless they stay super healthy and either Scoot/Shae become top 50 players this season.
I don’t see playoffs this year but damn the Blazers are putting together a lot of talent that theoretically fits. But young blood and iffy coaching makes me think 36 wins this year.
Yeah, it’s amazing how we seemingly have as much young talent as teams like the Thunder, Rockets, Hornets, Magic, and Pistons, but we are just entering this thing. I can also say with 100% confidence that outside of the Thunder, I like our young core the most out of those young cores. Washington can only dream of having this much talent year 1 in the post-Beal era.
Right now, we have the advantage of being one of only three (us, Rockets, Spurs) true rebuilding teams in the west. I’m not including the Jazz because if they weren’t going to tank in the Wemby draft, I’m not sure why they would try to tank this year. In four years time, teams like the Suns, Lakers, Wolves, Clippers, and Mavs might all be teams on the decline whether due to aging stars or disgruntled stars who will request trades. I’d love to look like we are playoff contenders around the AS break. The greatest thing that can happen to this team is #1 Option-Ant makes an AS team and we cash-in big time on his value. What does a 25 year old AS with 2 CHEAP years on his deal fetch in the market? Yeah—we want that much. There’s going to be enough time for us to make up the difference in the loss column after an Ant trade and/or some injuries occur.
Hopefully both players turn out to be very good or great(and healthy) and we can debate which one is better for the next 10 years.
Games post trade deadline: 2/10 NO 2/13 MIN 2/15 MIN 2/23 DEN 2/25 CHA 2/27 MIA 3/1 @MEM 3/2 @MEM 3/4 @MIN 3/6 OKC 3/8 HOU 3/9 TOR 3/11 BOS 3/13 ATL 3/14 NY 3/16 @NO 3/18 @CHI 3/20 LAC 3/22 LAC 3/23 DEN 3/25 @HOU 3/27 @ATL 3/29 @Mia 4/1 @ORL 4/3 @CHA 4/5 @WAS 4/7 @BOS 4/9 NO 4/11 GS 4/12 HOU 4/14 @SAC We a pretty long road trip towards the end of the season and 15 games will be against WC teams trying to make the playoffs.
The details would be hard to expect though there were several people who suggested that trading Dame and Nurkic was the best move for the Blazers (after Scoot was drafted).
It was also expected by many that Dame would ask for a trade if they drafted at 3rd(particularly if they drafted Scoot).
I’d like to say we explode thanks to Sharpe, but he ain’t got that Kobe swag killer instinct, even if he has unimaginable potential.
We don't have a basement team here. A lot will hinge on how well Scoot/Sharpe do, but if Scoot is one of those rookies that hits the ground running, this is a playoff team. I think we at least make the play in. I'd be very careful about tanking again too. We've done it 2 years in a row, and I imagine the NBA might have their eye on us, especially with Lillard going public about it.
I like our team. I think if Brogdon stays we're gonna see a lot of lineups with either 3 guards or 3 bigs and without a real small forward. Only Matisse and maybe Knox would get real minutes as natural SFs. I'm still hoping that we can trade Brogdon for value but even if that ain't happening I like our chances. I think Cronin put us in a situation where we can win more games than the past two seasons, even though we traded Dame
"making the playoffs" doesn't mean much in the NBA. I think this is about a .500 squad. This isn't the shit team some of you seem to think it is, we have some nice pieces, including depth.
