I understand this, if your trying to trade of sign a FA of ALL STAR MVP caliber, but what makes you think a number 1 draft pick is going to amount to that? My point is, until we see how all of our current lotto picks do together, why bring in even more? That would mean that much less minutes to evaluate the current lotto picks. As far as we have had time, yes. on other teams with different lineups. Again. A player can improve his game without improve his skills, just by being around guys he plays better with. We have no clue how these new guys will play together, so to say we know is ludicrous. All we have are assumptions based on history in different environments... but not ours... Everybody says we need to tank, but What NO has done is put together a team that looks like it tanked 2 years ago. Everyone needs to chill out and see what pans out and what doesn't before we scream we need this or that. Yes. I am in no doubt we need more, but what? Until we evaluate, it makes no sense to think that another lotto pick will change anything with this team.
I just don't think Hendo and Kaman would get it done, but you never know... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ngs-still-searching-for-the-real-ben-mclemore
I agree, which is why I keep saying "I'd like to get him, but I don't know what it'd take." IMO, the pieces I wouldn't trade for him are Dame, CJ, Nards, Plums, and Vonleh. I don't think any combination of the rest would interest them.
Good thing the draft isn't for another year and we'll have an entire season to evaluate what we need before we get another lotto player!
It's aright, Kevin Durant is a free agent next summer and the Blazers will do all they can to have him in a Blazers uniform!
I'm actually not against Hendo, but with Aminu/Harkless I just don't think we need another slasher. McLemore can supposedly shoot it.
The question I posed in my opening to this thread is how do the Blazers find that one missing piece: an All-Star caliber SG? I don't care how we get him, I just know that we need him. I agree with you that Olshey has done a masterful job of assembling all of the other pieces needed to go forward and expect to be in contention in a couple of years. I just don't see that high octane wing player that separates the true contenders from the wannabes. If Olshey has one more move to make before the start of the season or before the deadline that can net that guy, color me ecstatic. If we can get that guy and somehow secure a lower level playoff berth this year, I'm over the moon with giddiness and couldn't care less if we lose our draft pick to the Nuggets. I just know that we need that guy or this rebuild/reload/retool (or whatever it is) will all be for naught.
I believe that Paul Allen has given Neil the next 2 years to get this thing rebuilt. This season is a development of players season. We will see what we have, some will rise some may tail off. We will have a draft pick this year, that piece is crucial to the rebuild. I know many of us have this notion that you rebuild with veterans, but you have to have the assets to get them via trade, or you have to have a team really well positioned to take the next step by adding a final piece, that's how the Bucks got Monroe. Either way we don't have the roster fully set to make that next step yet. We have a solid bench, but our starters aren't much better. We don't try to lose this season we try to grow and develop. We add a top 8 pick or so via the draft and we grow one more season with the same mindset. Fight to get better. Thats the beauty of the young guys we have, they are all going to work hard to win (Harkless a maybe?), instead oif expecting to win on sheer talent alone. They are lead by the ultimate underdog fighter who actually wanted the challenge of fighting through a rebuild in Lillard. In the summer of course we target free agents We of course make a call to Durant, but don't hold our breath. Guys we probably go after as RFA's Kidd-Gilchrist, Ross, Drummond, Wether we miss or hit witht he FA's we utilize the same course for 2016/2017... Then we go all in the summer of 2017.
I agree. I just don't think that player is going to come out of a lotto pick and make an impact two years from now. Even top lottos often need more time. Dame was a rarity and lucky that we didnt have a starting PG, or he would have came off the bench too. I just see a lot of people thinking that tanking for a lotto player is it, and I strongly disagree. First, I don't think this team will lose as many games as most. Second, the pick Denver has, doesn't guarantee is a starting ALL STAR wing. I would much rather see us assess and then at the trade deadline, package a couple guys that don't fit and go after that guy. Durant.
Interesting that Wesley Matthews, Monta Ellis, Corey Brewer, Patrick Beverly and Bargnani all negotiated with Sacramento but ultimately chose to sign somewhere else for less money. I would assume they want someone to space the floor next to Rondo.
i likes mcLemore. his game is similar to Wes, but of course Ben is way more athletic. i say let trade him without involving Lillard, Legend, CJ, aminu Plumlee. i think with McLemore our team would be dangerous with that lineup dame-frazier-luis McLemore-cj-pat aminu-crabbe- eric moreland meyers-ed davis-vonleh plumlee-davis-meyers looks like it will be kaman, harkless, and dorrell wright for McLemore and eric moreland. great trade for both team. our team becomes even better, but will still end up in the lotto. with that pick we trade that pick to pistons for stanley johnson. then we sign kevin durant and mario chalmers.
You haven't been around here long enough to know, but you're essentially channeling me on this over the past several years. I'd still much rather have the core from last year, minus Nic, and plus the pieces we got in exchange and be moving forward from there. I've never been a fan of playing in the lottery because it seems like those lottery teams are forever in the lottery business and the good teams scoop up their players when they finally get tired of losing and demand a trade elsewhere. That said, now that Aldridge is gone and NO has gone full-in on the youth movement, I want to make the most of this step backward before we move forward.
No secret the SG talent pool is shallow. Ways to acquire an all-star caliber SG? Trade? The teams that have an all-star caliber SG are holding on to them. Free agents? Nothing left this season, and next season’s pickings look slim. Draft? Not sure how accurate this is, but the mock draft from NBAdraft.net has the first SG picked at #9. Does not appear the 2016 daft is deep in SG talent. I understand the need for an all-star caliber SG, but why not look at finding an all-star caliber SF? Kind of an “any all-star caliber wing” in a storm reasoning. “Media Experts” are ranking this Blazers roster @ #29. The only team predicted to be worse will be the 76ers. The good news is, this would imply we land a very good draft pick, probably in the top three. There are some nice SFs ranked high in the 2016 draft that have the potential to develop into all-stars.
