Blazers Tanking in 2017? "Dame says NO N.O. and refuses to tank so he kidnaps Coach Stotts to devise a winning formula, but here comes Ol'tankshey in hot pursuit to foil the plan!" @Fonzthecpt1 https://www.blazersland.com/blazers-tanking-in-2017-gif/
We either go for it and try to position ourselves so that we can get Isaac, Jackson or Tatum (maybe Williams) or screw it because there'll be a lot of power forwards available between 11 and 20. I was hoping Giles or Adebayo could maybe fall to that Memphis pick we have but it's not very likely.
Blazers now just 2.5 games from the #4 Lottery seed. Nets........9-49 Suns......18-42 Lakers...10-41 Magic....22-38 76'ers....22-37 - 0.5 games back Pels.......23-37 - 1.0 games back T'pups...24-36 - 2.0 games back Knicks...24-36 - 2.0 games back Blazers..24-35 - 2.5 games back Mavs.....24-35 - 2.5 games back That is awfully close to a very good piece either to draft or trade for more immediate help....which this team desperately needs.
How good this trade we did is! We got a beast down low and if we tank correctly we'll get one very high pick and two more 1st rounders with the Memphis one being pretty good too, around 20. And does anyone really miss Plumlee? Hello no I don't and he would either walk for free or we would have to pay around 12-14M to another wannabe starter, but in reality no more than a bench player. Now all we have to do is draft our first and attach hot garbage Crabbe to the 2nd so we can get back an NBA player and not a DLeaguer. Yes yes he shoots the 3 very well. Look at his numbers! 50% last 5 games from 3!. Oh....7.4 ppg....
Update March 2nd. Denver seems to be separating itself from the pack now with a 3 game cushion (4 ahead of Portland) over the 9th place team in the west. This is how things stack up now (Pick, team games differential from Portland). #1 Brooklyn (14 gb) #2 Phoenix (6.5 gb) #3 LA Lakers (6 gb) #4 Orlando (3 gb) #5 Philadelphia (2.5 gb) #6 New Orleans (1 gb) #7 Dallas (0.5 gb) #8 Portland 0.0 #9 New York (1 ga) #10 Minnesota (1 ga) #11 Sacramento (1 ga) #12 Charlotte (1.5 ga) #13 Milwaukee (2 ga) #14 Miami (3 ga) #15 Denver (4 ga)
We often talk about the worst place to be is in the middle. I'm sorry to those of you who think just making the playoffs is the goal that you are content with, but that's not good enough in my mind. Ohh sure if you've been down and worked your way up and have Star players just coming into their own there is promise in it.... But that isn't where Portland is right now. We have a couple very good players and a couple promising players and a bunch of Journeyman level players at best. We don't have the pieces to win a title, which is what the goal should always be. We still need another very good player, added to what we have already, to start moving in that direction. The team is capped out which is fine because Free Agency isn't our friend anyway. It is possible to add another guy by trade, but then you are giving up talent and probably picks and it's still a gamble whether it pans out. Right now the lowest risk way to get this team rolling in Championship direction is to realize The Warriors are going to be there at least another 2 years, but then angle for after that. Every player on this team will still be in their prime... A lotto pick this season will be going into that season where they really have to contribute or even challenge for All Star territory (in theory), the cost? not making the playoffs in a season where you would have to fight your ass off to get swept. That's more disappointing to me than having hope that we have a new star in the fold.
We're 8th right now ... so close to having a legit shot at landing a Top 3 pick (We were tied for 7th heading into the 07 Lotto) ... feels too good to be true!
Nice win but a loss would have put them in a tie for #7 with the Mavericks. Wins like this are awesome and would have been even better when it mattered but it's to the point now that bigger picture, a loss might have helped more.
Denver has a good stretch of home games coming up. (7 of 8 are at home) So they should be able to get additional separation from us.
