Olshey's summary of the 6 new additions, that he brought in complementary parts instead of names, it reminded me a bit of the 89 team acquisitions. I'm sure we've had more or similar roster turnover in one off-season, but the setting sorta feels similar to 89. The 88 team had a similar young core as last year's team, that also produced middling results. Buckwalter filled in the missing pieces with savvy, modest moves that perfectly complemented the existing core and the team made a huge leap. (The Buck move may not have been modest, but his All-Star years were behind him at that point). I'm not predicting this team will make the Finals, but I see a lot parallels to that era. *The West is currently pretty wide open, without a shoe-in candidate. *The team's entering it's second year with a new head coach who's style run's a completely different style than the previous head coach. *The players who make up the core are just entering their prime years *The new 5th starter fills a huge void missing from the starting unit *The last vestige of of the previous identity is removed(Roy/Oden - Kiki), although it's more a two year carryover *The bench is solidified with complimentary pieces who play roles instead of competing for starter minutes. (the last bit applies more to the prior to 89 teams than last year's team, but critical role component is similar) This team could surprise.
I love all the move, think Lopez will be a solid center, and we now have an actual bench. That being said, the west is tough as nails this year and I really don't know where a large tep forward will come from. Lillard should improve, but aide from that it just a bunch of good pieces. I'm hoping Batum takes another step forward, and having a real bench should help that since he will be less likely to injure himself with a competent backup. I think the Blazers improve, by a decent amount, but I'm not sure how they do it.
assuming Lopez will be solid the two big "ifs" with significant upside (or not?) are CJ and TROB - how these guys impact this yr could provide us with playoff excitement or significant disappointment
I also think the Earl Watson signing will pay dividends early in the year. He was not a huge splash, but I remember how bad our team was when Ronnie Price was running the 2nd unit. He also takes pressure off of CJ so he does not need to try to come in a be a pg from the start. CJ will gain a a larger role as the season goes on.
lol, what? OKC, LAC, MEM, SA, GS, HOU? The contender from the west will come from one of those 6 teams, all 6 are "shoo-in" candidates for the playoffs.... Any of those 6 teams could very likely beat POR IF they make the playoffs....I don't see any correlation b\t this team and the 89-90' Blazer team that won 59 games and made it to the finals.... You are reaching....
