Whaaaaaaat? When people talk about building through the draft, they're not talking about drafting well. They're talking about how you can't typically pull All-NBA talent unless you're at the top of the draft. So either you have to draft them yourself or you have to trade for them. Dame - 6th pick LMA - 2nd pick (trade) Roy - 6th pick (trade) Sheed - 4th pick (trade) Steve Smith - 5th pick (trade) JR Rider - 5th pick (trade) Clyde was only the 14th pick, which was kinda surprising. But if you look at the best players to put on the uniform, most of them were high lottery picks. So either you need to draft em, trade for em, or sign em. Our best chance at adding that caliber player is getting them in the draft ourselves.
I agree and I don't begrudge people for feeling optimistic. I'm speaking more of the folks whom appear to be confident that getting rid of Dame for two unproven young players is a no-brainer direction for improvement. I continue to say there is a path where it works out better, so I'm not ruling out the possibility myself.
Yes, really. I root for the Blazers, and their players. Once they leave Portland (the players, and if ever the Blazers themselves), I don't root for them.
I'm not sure what the list you provided proves. Didn't many people here want most, if not all of these players (including Dame now) to be traded to make room for the potential of future top 6 picks because the previous top 6 players weren't good enough to lead Portland to a championship? Half the people you listed weren't even drafted by Portland. I know Olshey loved trading for previous lottery picks, but again, I'm not sure what we're supposed to take from that.
What the f is revisionist about how people feel? Last year was the first time in the last 4 or 5 years I got NBA league pass, because I was excited to see Sharpe. Fact. The very idea that people can not find a style of play boring even if the player that it is built around is excellent is ridiculous. You like to watch it rinse and repeat 70 times a year, great, but to think that others can't find it boring? Formula 1 is exciting this year only for 2nd place fights. Verstappen and red bull are in a league of their own, but I certainly do not tune in to see that.
I realize just how special he really is I realize how hard he will be to replace I realize how opportunity slipped away in his time here, mostly because of the previous G.M....who was hired and supported by the Blazers passed owner I realize how fortunate we are to have S2, Scoot, and Murray to build upon I realize how loyal some fans are I realize how fickle some fans are I realize that in my 6th decade of life, just how fleeting this all is......
It proves that the best players in our history were high lottery picks. Have to be able to add them to the team to have a shot at a title. I don't think so. Nobody really wanted LMA to leave. Some of us advocated to trade him because we thought he would leave. Roy left because he literally could not play anymore. I don't really remember what the mood was when we traded Sheed. I was covering the team at that time and we were sputtering. No real direction. Similar to now, but we had a lot more talent at that time. Rider was swapped for Smith. At that point Smith was pretty old. I wish we could have gotten him when he was younger. Yes and no. We traded for the 6th pick to draft Dame, but we chose him. We swapped picks with Chicago, but that was on draft night. Technically a trade but LMA and Roy were our guys. We traded for the ability to take them. Rider, Smith, and Sheed were really solid trades from Bob. I wish we had Bob for Dame's last few years but I'm not sure how well he would have done without Paul's blank checkbook.
I think you're agreeing with me. People want Dame traded (not given away for nothing). Some people wanted Aldridge traded (not given away for nothing). People wanted Sheed traded (not given away for nothing). All in hopes we could get future high lottery picks or talent, that if the pattern holds, people will want traded for more future high picks when they don't delivery a championship. Noting that those none of top players you listed were traded for assets that proved to be young top 6 picks. So the value of trading them for future superstars wasn't a thing. It probably won't be a thing with Dame either. You listed 6 players. I said half of them were players we didn't draft, but instead traded for (Sheed, Smith, Rider). That's as factual a Thybulle being apart of the Hart trade.
Yet the only time spent in the lottery was post Olshey. CATASTROPHE!!! Olshey haters are fucking liars.
Yeah, but it's about not wanting to lose them for nothing after their time has passed. Sheed and Smith and Pip got us within an inch of going to the finals and most likely winning a championship. The team flamed out and their time passed. Roy and LMA never really got to flame out because Roy couldn't stay healthy and then LMA left. Dame and LMA never got to flame out because of LMA's ego. After LMA left, I don't think Dame ever really got a chance to flame out. It was like a fart in the wind. LMA left and then we kinda just hovered... Neil was one of the most frustrating GMs we have ever had. Nash was bad, but Neil was...... arrogant? Bob never stopped tinkering while he strived for excellence. Neil and even KP just kinda sat there.... They refused to take the big swing. Both of those GMs were like that. "Let the cake bake."
The Sheed/Smith/Pippen combo doesn't align with the theory of us needing to get top 6 picks because we didn't draft any of those players. Seems like you're moving further away from my original point now. Correct Roy/LMA/(Oden)/Dame all didn't work for various reasons. In summary, the closest we've got to winning a title in the last 30 years was actually from trades, not drafting, and none of the top 6 picks we've drafted in the last 30 years ever felt like they were on a championship contending team. Therefore, I'm not as optimistic that simply replacing Dame with one top 6 pick is a cause to be confident the organization is on the right path to contention. Doesn't mean it 100% won't work either.
The difference from the Sheed / Smith / Pippen era is the cap issue and the fact that Portland no longer have the only owner that is willing to spend money like a drunken sailor. (Well, they don't even have that anymore) Given that fact and the fact that Portland is not exactly an FA Mecca, the draft is the best way for Portland to build a contender. Sad, but true.
I hated Olshey as a GM. Dude just made marginal moves and touted them as moves that made us a contender every time he had the chance to. So does that make me a fucking liar? The guy constantly ignored balancing the talent on the roster, he constantly ignored redundancy and consistently made our team's two most redundant players our two highest players. The guy was happy with a playoff berth. Maybe that's all that you want but I wanted more than that and continue to want more than that.
Because we don't have the assets to trade for top 6 picks at this point. So the best chance we have to add top 6 pick talent is through the good old fashioned way... we have to suck.
