After dropping down to 9th seed last night, I think it’s time to move on from the McLillard experiment and start the rebuild process. Sitting at 9th after having the easiest schedule in the NBA to this points, with a healthy roster and full training camp for Nurkic, there are no more excuses. We have seen a big enough sample size to know this will not work. We need to sell high on Lillard and CJ before it’s too late. Build around Collins, Nurkic, Pat... get some lotto picks in what should be a very talented group in the top 10. I don’t want to have to rebuild but it’s the sad reality. We have the toughest second half schedule and will not keep up with teams ahead of us. I don’t see a trade that can turn the season around. And even more so than just record, they just don’t play well... I mean dead last in NBA in assist?! This is a failed experiment.
I don't think they would play much worse without CJ and i think they could get valuable assets for him. Biggest win of the season was without him AND on the road.
http://www.espn.com/nba/stats/rpi yea we are 17th in SoS so not sure where your getting this we have the easiest schedule and i'm not sure where you are getting that we have the hardest schedule rest of the way. Harder compared to what? Its not the hardest in the league or even the western conference.
Oh you were serious? Building around Nurk, Collins, and Pat? Well we certainly would not be mediocre. We would be a fucking laughing stock for 3-4 years. Trading a team's best players when they are still in their prime seldom works. Unless you think our record of drafting players in the lottery has a great track record. Yes this team needs some changes. But we are already rebuilding with Nurk and Collins...along with Dame and CJ. If you don't think the process is quick enough, then hitting rock bottom will take a hell of lot longer. Lets get them a SF, and a bench, and see how that works first.
There is no way to improve by keeping McLillard as the core of the team. You trash all the role players then expect to be able to trade them for an upgrade. This team is what it is... an 8th seed at best. And being the laughingstock for a couple years may net us a real star. Or you can keep rolling out McLillard for the next 3-4 years, win nothing, and then end at same conclusion of rebuilding... only waiting 3-4 more years.
Yeah keyword in your post is "may" net us a star. We also could just as easy find a star in the draft..... at 14. (without tearing the team apart) Either way it takes a little luck. Kind of like the Patriots when they drafted Brady at ......199.
Sir, what you are suggesting here, hasn’t succefully taken place in the NBA since the mid to late 80s!!!! The odds are against this working sir.
Ha--I didn't even notice the common characteristic on the guys he listed until your comment. That's pretty funny.
So is your solution to not even try and settle for being mediocre? At least having hope and watching young players develope keeps interest as a fan.... this team centered around McLillard has no chance at competing and is not even fun to watch anymore. The only games I have enjoyed this year were with Shabazz starting at PG... the team ran like a well oiled machine. Other than that, watching McLillard go one on three and jack up 20 shots each has gotten stale. The are 27 years old... this is who they are.
Did you not notice we had our Hootie and the Blowfish lineup out there at the end of the Minny game. Collins, Layman, Patty, Meyers and Noah
I agree, I can't even make it thru half of a taped game anymore, the worst Blazer Bball in a long time
Because a 20 year old, 23 year old, and 24 year old are finished products? I don’t understand your point... it’s called a rebuild for the future
call it mediocre, lousy, terrible. If we rebuild/blow it up that is where we'd be at for a while whoever is left if we traded Lillard/CJ. Can't fathom "rebuilding" around Pat, but Collins and maybe Nurk are guys we would possibly keep as young guys with upside. Also who we'd "rebuild" around would like likely be draft picks and/or young players acquired (Markele Fultz for example) if we traded Dame or CJ.
