Keeping our pick? This might be a Lottery year

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by TBpup, Dec 5, 2021.

?

Make the pick for the Future.....or trade it for 'now'?

  1. One last attempt

  2. Build for the future....one player won't make enough of a difference

  3. Get bad enough to where the pick makes an immediate impact

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  1. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    YOU QUESTION THIS TEAM'S TANKING ABILITY!?
     
  2. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Or last Summer. Or the Summer before that.
     
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  3. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    I don't agree, at least not much

    Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, & Chris Duarte would all help a playoff team this season. And Duarte was a 13th pick. You can plug in names like Anthony Edwards, Lamelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Cole Anthony from last year's draft and last season as well

    all those guys would help at least as much as RoCo, Simons, Nance, Little

    it doesn't have to be an either/or with a good GM
     
  4. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    lottery odds as of this morning:

    upload_2021-12-16_8-0-51.png

    essentially, Portland would have about a 32% chance of a top-4 pick
     
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  5. GrandpaBlaze

    GrandpaBlaze Predictions Game Master

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    While Simons & Little are young and relatively talented, to me the both scream career role player.

    Looking at our roster in total, I see one star (although not playing at that level this year with his gut injury) and a whole bunch of role players - one of them even paid like he is a star.

    If we can trade enough of our current role players for better role players or a difference maker, I don't hesitate.

    I would not, however, trade our picks. We've done that too much with nothing to show for losing the picks. Yes, the draft is a very hit/miss situation but for me, at least, it builds some excitement about new blood and what they may be able to bring to the table. There is also something to be said for young energy (along with a few more mistakes in general) as compared to old, worn-out role players.

    I also agree that we are not far from the decision point of blowing the whole thing up. Attendance is suffering. Fan excitement is non-existent. If ever there was a scenario where a team is likely to get sold/moved, we are on that path. Something needs to happen to make people interested, excited again.

    Shuffling the role players as we've been doing the past few years is not providing any benefit. Our drafts, while serviceable are nothing to write home about.

    Tell me, why should I be excited about this team?

    I had hopes that a new coach would potentially shake things up from the sameness of the past few years but without the threat of super-Dame, it exposes the dullness of our plethora of minions and it the Blazers have become the Bottom-Feeding Bumpkins.

    /End Rant.
     
  6. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    ...his foot or knee if he gets drafted by the Blazers
     
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  7. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    And basically tied with San Antonio who has ~37% chance of getting a top-4 pick.

    This team needs more help than just one player that a trade might bring in. Simmons (with a healthy Dame) would be the closest to helping us make a major improvement, but that seems a long shot. Otherwise, Neil did too much damage to this roster that one move will fix. Sadly, it needs a major overhaul and a reset of the salary cap. There are no guarantees, but you have to hope you hit on a major talent again like Dame, but this time, surround him with more size and defense, or have that player be a more physical presence to start with.
     
  8. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    Dame's injury has pretty much proven that it was Dame, not Olshey, not Stotts, who was responsible for Portland's 8 straight playoff seasons. It was Dame that carried Portland to all the feel-good moments over the last 9 seasons

    Olshey especially, and Stotts to a lesser extent, should forward about half of the millions in salary they collected since 2012 directly to Dame. He's the one that earned those millions. Olshey was a Remora, without any of the good qualities
     
  9. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  10. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Normally big guys break those because of too much weight on them. I don't see that as being an issue with Holmgren...
     
  11. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    He's going to be carrying the weight of an entire franchise. If that franchise is Portland, that'll be extra heavy.
     
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  12. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    The Blazers are cursed when it comes to big men
     
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  13. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Especially as this one reminds me strongly of Bill Walton.
     
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  14. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    So we need to offload some heavy contracts first.
     
  15. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

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    Wait, you just praised the draft work of Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Sacramento, and Orlando, i.e., the worst run teams of the past 20 years?

    In other words, it's blind luck finding guys who can contribute their first year or two.
     
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  16. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    lol...c'mon man...get outta here with that bullshit

    what I said...clearly...was that there were players taken in the lottery, and later sometimes, who can clearly help a playoff team. Thus, having a higher draft pick was not in conflict with 'win-now'....and it isn't
     
  17. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    OKC is intentionally bad....and they are only 2 games back of the Blazers. Let that sink in. The Thunder.....with seemingly endless 1st round Draft picks in the next handful of years.

    On the 'bright side', the Blazers are only 2 games from being in the #3 spot in the Lottery and having a legit shot at getting a future difference maker.
     
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  18. Stevenson

    Stevenson Old School

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    You don't get another player like Dame maybe ever. Rebuilds via the lottery take years, and even then often give mediocre results. And they are boring: "February 18, 2023: The Blazers prize rookie had a rare great game."

    Count me OUT.
     
  19. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    Again, I would ask, "What rebuild?" We are 2 games away from the #3 pick in the Lottery....without trying like some teams are doing. What exactly would we be rebuilding from? Years of scrapping and clawing just to get throttled in the Playoffs? I would respectfully submit, while there are still good parts to this, the whole is used, played and done.

    To be fair, I've been saying that for a number of years. That this version, with the pieces at the top as they are, just don't work if you are trying to be a contender. Nothing has happened to change my mind. In fact, that opinion seems more and more validated each season.
     
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  20. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Dame may not be a player like Dame again.
     

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