I don't think you understand what a rumor is. If someone on this board says that Nic could be a possible target this summer, that's their opinion. They aren't sharing inside information.
Sounds great! Instead of a super star and 2 stars you think we should get the greatest PF ever, 2 HOF players and the greatest coach of this generation. Sign me up!
Bingo. Cap space has never been worth less. No big free agent signing, and little chance to leverage all that cap space in a trade. We are swimming in an an over-valued asset. Our one and only hope for dramatic improvement is to score a stud in the lotto.
I think derozan is the only guy we would have a chance for. Otherwise we are gonna be the dumping team, where people take dumps on is with garbage and give us picks. Derozan is from Cali, and so I think it's quite possible he would enjoy coming back to the west coast. Unfortunately, if Kobe retires, the lakers will probably have major cap space too. And he'd probably pick them over us. So I think the only good chance we would have to get him would be to trade for him and hope he gels with lillard. Not a risk I'm willing to take in giving assets for a guy that could walk. But derozan fits lillards timeline fine. And that would give us one on the brink superstar and a borderline star (who will be overpaid) in derozan.
Lots of Lottery picks but they are all mid to late round picks. Dame #6 Vonleh #9 Aminu #8 Leonard #11 McCollum #10 That is a lot different than the potential of a Top-3 pick. Certainly nothing is guaranteed but the Superstars in this league, LeBron, Durant, Harden, Davis are all Top-3 or better. Only Curry at #7 is out of that range and most would say LeBron is still the MVP and Durant wasn't healthy last year so it was an incomplete field. Since 1980 (35 years) , the Finals MVP has been a top 2 Draft Pick 26 times in 35 years. That is not coincidence.
How so? Russell sucks. What does he have to do with CJ? Preseason gave us a great look at how they'll play together. Wins and losses don't matter in preseason but the chemistry was clearly there. Dame has gotten these guys on the same page. I don't think that is an unknown. And yes, Texas Hold Em is only 2 cards and there is a woman who once won a whole tournament without looking at her cards. I guess you didn't watch preseason. We do know what a lot of our cards are. My God. 20-25 wins? Lack of talent? You're so wrong. We have more talent this year. And we will win 20+ by All Star break. I think people are underestimating Stotts. He deserves a lot of credit for the last two seasons and he is still here. It might get us into playoffs this year as other have stated. CJ is better than DeRozan. But 9 times, he wasn't. You don't need a top 3 pick to win a title, but if you like stats, when was the last time a team won a championship with a top 3 pick that THEY DRAFTED? Duncan is it, and he was drafted almost 20 years ago. Sure players like LeBron and Shaq have won titles but not for the teams that drafted them. And three of the greatest recent NBA championship winning stars- Kobe, Dirk, Curry, and Wade- weren't top 3 picks. As I said, scroll through the top 3 picks of the last 20 years and only ONE of them brought that team a championship. One.
I think derozan is better than Cj for now. But good god, derozan, Cj and lillard would be a horrendously bad defensive backcourt
Wow great stat. Since the creation of the NBA draft lottery 30 years ago in 1985 the Spurs are the only franchise to have the #1 pick win a title for them.
So what is more likely: The Blazers get a Top-3 pick that is an impact player from the Lottory when they have a chance to do so? OR A Top-3 player from another team wants to come to Portland and forces a trade or goes there on his own via Free agency like Shaq/Lebron?
Who was the top 3 pick on the Warriors? Or Mavs? Or Lakers? Or Celtics? Or Pistons? The majority of the title winning groups in the last 15 years didn't have a top3 pick leading the way.
Warriors - Great season from Curry....every playoff opponent had major injuries. Lakers - Both Kobe and Shaq forced trades to LA. That won't happen in Portland. Pistons - Only title without a superstar in decades...certainly not the norm. Celtics - Two HoF's added to a 3rd for one title. Nothing like the Drafted Celtics run in the 80's. Let's see NeO do that. Mavs - Greatest Euro to every play led them to 1 title. Sounds more flukish than a regular occurrence. Portland is not warm weather or with a favorable tax climate. Players are not going to 'force' their way to come here and it is just not a destination to play no matter how much we like the city or love our team. Fandom and reality do not often mix and that is perfectly understandable but titles are brought by Superstars and Portland doesn't have one yet. Dame is a 'Star' but Superstars are LeBron, Curry, Harden, and 1st Team All-NBA types. Dame isn't there (maybe yet, maybe ever) and I don't see another Superstar on this roster. So you have to go get one....and that is much more likely for Portland to come via the Draft through players like Oden, Roy and Lillard and hope injuries don't derail their progress.
