We've seen all three guys play together when healthy plenty. We can say that Dame was injured but the guy was the best offensive player in the league, CJ wasn't hurt and Nurk wasn't injured during many significant stretches and we're talking about over a hundred games that we've seen this and we've seen what the results are. The biggest problem on offense is CJ's ball stopping and it's never changed even a little but the biggest problem overall is that you can not win at a high level with both of your back court players being huge defensive liabilities. It's so incredibly obvious that Dame and CJ hurt each others offensive games and that they are completely inept defensively. What more do we need to know? The most hilarious part is you using a series and a half when Dame was obviously not at 100%, CJ was the happiest he could be because he got to dominate the ball on every play and Nurk wasn't even playing as proof that these guys can be successful together because that is what was going on when we made it the furthest in the playoffs during this era. The only thing that proves is that CJ should have really high trade value for the right roster (that roster does not include Damian Lillard) and if he was initiating the offense on a well rounded team he'd be well worth his contract.
I'm tellin' ya--Powell/Nance for Grant/filler (Bey?), CJ/RoCo for Collins/Bogdan, and we're in great shape for next season.
Dame might have been hurting but he was not hurt to the point that it was detrimental to his play... regardless of Dame's state (maybe he could have averaged 60 points and 20 assists per game) he was going to suck on defense because he always has. More to the point CJ was perfectly healthy and he was stopping the ball, he was taking possessions away from Dame, he wasn't and never is playing team ball unless Dame is out and he's playing point guard and he, just like Dame, was and always is terrible at defense. Who the fuck cares about what we've seen in just the playoffs. We know that Dame and CJ are so bad on defense that even when you get a bunch of guys that have had huge success on that end of the court around them and Nurk who is objectively very good at defending the paint, we're still one of the worst defenses in the league.
I should have expounded on that. Lol. Quick text. But meh, I said he said nothing because there's nothing of "difference" from his predecessor. I.E. minor changes.
Idk, id at least wait until after the deadline before making any declarations. What he does is more important than what he says.
Hell, we'd probably be in pretty good shape for this season. Ant, Bogdan, Grant, Collins, Nurk and our bench guys who while not elite are the kind of glue guys that can hold things together until the guy they're subbing in for gets back on the floor. I think that roster would start winning games at a rate that would put us in the first game of the play in and the seventh seed. We would then have Dame and Dame with those guys and Ant as instant offense off the bench we would have a chance against any team. The trade with Detroit would make sense for Detroit as far as talent goes but might not as far as how our guys fit with the age of their core but that deal could definitely happen. The deal with the Hawks seems like a stretch but I've seen weirder things CJ is better than Bogdan but I don't think he's a good fit next to Trae at all. RoCo isn't as good as Collins in my opinion but it's close what isn't close is that RoCo is seven years older and not under contract after this season while Collins is locked up for like four years after this season but maybe the Hawks like the flexibility. Again, that would be a great deadline if that's what happened and I've seen crazier shit happen. I will say that the trades aren't complicated which is one thing that bodes well for them.
Dame-CJ-Nurkic have played over 260 games together. They have been together and playing for 3 playoff series. The notion that we don't know yet what that means for their chances as a core....that in the 20 or so rotation players that have been there with them thru those games we don't know about the impact of 'pieces' with that core...is loopy. They got swept by the Pels (a team with a balanced roster), managed only 1 win against the Lakers and that was a 1st game fluke. And got boat-raced by the injured Nuggets team, including get eliminated at The Moda when they collapsed in the 4th Q I don't know what the fuck Cronin means by "right pieces" because the only level of right pieces that would help that trio contend is somebody like Giannis or Paul George or Kawhi something else....those 3 guys have been together over 5 seasons now. If the trio can't be healthy when it matters, they need to be broken up
This is the quote that stood out the most to me ‘Reset’ meaning a long-term rebuild? No, I don’t think we have the appetite to tear it all the way down. We have too many good players and too many ways to get better without taking too big of a step back. That tells me he knows he has a surplus with players other teams want.
Hopefully it's not. He did imply he is just looking at minor changes to the roster to make it better. He did say the Blazers are looking at all their options (meaning they could trade CJ?), but stopped short of a complete teardown, saying the Blazers aren't doing that. It does sound like the Blazers are going to continue to build around Dame, Nurk, and CJ according to what he said. Hopefully, he is just keeping his cards close.
our best stretch of this season coincided with Nas starting at SF, instead of three negative defenders at PG/SG/SF. That wasn't a coincidence
