Nah, more like "Yugo'ing". We don't have to try, we're just naturally bad when you take out all our injured people. At this point, I think it is about saving some money and seeing who may be able to contribute in the longer term.
Once again I need to remind someone that considering our injuries we have more of an average payroll of healthy players who are playing. It's not nearly as bad as you think it is.
No reminder needed. Nurk is the biggest piece of salary missing and his is considered a very team friendly dea., Collins on a Rookie contract and Hood on the cheap. Take those dollars out and this team is till WAY underachieving given the remaining dollar amounts left. But thanks for assuming incorrectly once again. I enjoy the dogged effort.
With Nurk, Hood, and Collins out, the Blazers still have a payroll of $126 mil healthy, which is still way over the cap, and 13th highest in league... and that is not accounting for other teams injured players.
So the $126,000,000 of healthy player contracts is, like he said, way over the cap. $126M for where this team is in the standings does not seem like good ROI.
Okay Dame changed my mind. Trading for Ariza was huge too. I truly believe if we make the playoffs with a healthy Nurk and Zach we can beat anybody.
OK. Who could we let pass us? New Orleans for sure. Spurs always play better as the season goes on. Sacramento? I don't know, that would take some serious tanking. Have the suns got better as the season goes on?
That short run Dame was on was historic and entertaining as he!! to see. But this team is NOT a Playoff team. Outside that 2+ week, hot lava stretch where the Blazers went 7-3, they are 18-28. That is a .391 winning percentage. Only because the #8 spot is historically bad for the West did that brief stretch keep hope alive for a Playoff spot when in actuallity, it just extended the misery. This team needs more talent and more athletic ability at almost every position. Yes, injuries have hurt but Nurk (hurt almost every season), Collins (throw in to the PF spot because Aminu was terrible in the Playoffs), nor Hood (great stretch to start the season...but Portland still played .400 ball) coming back is not fixing all of this. Whiteside can be good at times and maddeningly disappear at others. Ariza has been a breath of fresh air but there is only so much left in those 34 year old legs. Carmello reminds you of someone who used to be good 5-10 years ago but is a shell of his former self. CJ is good as a spot up shooter and almost nothing else....good piece to have, but no where near a Max player. And the rest are too young to make a consistant impact on a nightly basis, even though they show flashes at times. To have all of this attached to Dame like an anchor is sad to watch. He has fought, clawed and scrapped his way to keep the Blazers even close to being in the Playoff race with the help of some other not very good teams hovering around the sub .500 mark. And as much as I never want to see anyone hurt, especially Dame, perhaps this is for the best. Treat this injury like how Golden State is treating a hand injury that was supposed to be healed in a couple of months......retreat and regroup for another attack with fresh legs, fresh supplies, and maybe a few new pieces of upgraded equipment.
Even before this thread started in November, I called for not a tank, but a rejuvenation (although I didn't use that word either). I wanted to start giving all the young guys regular minutes. I wanted to trade CJ as soon as possible. I wanted to trade HW and Baze at the deadline. I wanted to focus on revamping the offense and re-teaching passing and defensive fundamentals. I did not advocate signing Melo as that is what a team would do if they wanted to tank. Portland could still use the rest of the season to do some of these things. It would help to find a good defensive assistant coach and a coach who focuses on fundamentals and bring in someone who could look at ways to broaden the offense. Make good use of the rest of this lost season. Unfortunately, as I said then, I don't think any of this will happen, since Olshey does not have the creative and leadership skills to make it happen.
I hope we don't play Nurk this season. Let the big fella rest up and come back next season. Perhaps he can work on his 3-point shooting in the meantime. No way we should be jeopardizing his health....or Dame's for that matter.....on a lost season.
