The last time we had a motley crew of rejects...

This season reminds me so much of the 1996-1997 season.

That was the offseason that we added:

Kenny Anderson
Rasheed Wallace
Jermaine O'Neal
Isaiah Rider
Stacey Augmon (midseason)

It was really the first year that we completely moved away from the old Drexler/Kersey/Porter days. Created a new identity. Whitsitt traded Strickland that summer for Sheed, and added a bunch of young, hungry, athletic guys to go with a core of Sabonis, Trent, and Uncle Cliffy.

That was a real turning point for us, and set us up for success within three years. I think this season will prove to be a turning point for us.

 

Agreed!

 

Great thread and a valid point

 

Good point. I truly forgot that we got Sheed in only his second year at 22 and Rider in his fourth season at 25 (sounds like a few of the new guys we just obtained). Sheed's game really took off for us--exactly like we are hoping some of the new guys can do.

 

Fortunately, now character matters, too.

 

Interesting point. Sheed (4th), Kenny (2nd) and Rider (5th) were all high lottery picks that the teams that drafted them gave up on early for various reasons. Kenny was a little older and had been an all-star in his 3rd season, but still didn't live up to being the 2nd overall pick in the draft. We now have a roster full of lottery picks, our own (Lillard - 6th, Meyers - 11th and C.J. - 10th), plus other cast offs (Aminu - 8th, Davis - 13th, Vonleh - 9th, Henderson - 12th, doesn't really count due to age, Kaman - 6th, really doesn't count due to age). None of these guys were top 5 picks, like Sheed, Kenny and Rider, but Olshey certainly bought low. Other than Lillard, it is yet to be seen if any of these guys can have an impact close to Sheen, Rider or even Kenny, but at least we have some lottery level talent to develop. I think our own guys (Lillard - obviously, Meyers and C.J.) plus Vonleh have the most potential - maybe not Sheed-like potential, but I can see all of those guys developing into solid, productive pros.

I think people are sleeping a little on Plumlee. He'll never be a star, and I know that 2013 draft pretty much sucked, but if you sort that draft class by WS, Plumlee is 2nd, at 9.4 right behind Gobert at 9.7 and well ahead of Antetokounmpo at 7.4. I'm not saying Plumlee will end up being the 2nd best player in that draft class (he's a full 5 years older than Giannis), but so far, he's been the second most productive player from that draft class and we got him for basically nothing.

BNM

 

OK, I know some people around here really like Blakey, but future DPOY, really???

BNM

 

Actually, I like the blazersedge comparison. The former blazers won 30 some games with Roy, Aldridge, and Zbo - 3 who became all stars. It's very possible we win 30-some games and have 3 who are or eventually become all stars. The problem of course is identifying who they are ahead of time.

 

I'll make it easy: The only probable all-star on this team outside of Lillard is Noah Vonleh. McCollum has a longshot chance if he scores a lot. Our 3rd allstar will come when we win the Draft Lottery or make a trade for a team looking for a salary dump or sign one next summer to a max contract.

 

It never matters, the only thing that matters is winning.

 

The big difference here is that there was more potential and those guys were somewhat established in the league already. We have a ton of unknowns, most of our team right now are more "good role players" than anything.

I don't think we have as much as a guaranteed trajectory. I think we'll get there, eventually but it'll take longer and we need to make some strong moves next offseason and win the draft lottery to make that happen. Even then, playoffs are 3 to 4 seasons away at best.

 

I could see this years Blazer team performing at a similar level to that 96-97 team. The difference is the west is such a historical bloodbath this season. Put the Blazers in the east this year or in a time machine back to 97 they could be be positioning for a couple of the last playoff spots. I think there's almost no chance of it in the west this year.

 

Bollocks. If we have a locker room leader with character instead of a character as a locker room leader, there's no freaking way we don't make the Finals in 2000.

 

Dude, you really did go to Jesuit......

 

I thought about that season as well, because of the roster turnover. But this year's roster turnover is even greater.

But I think this has a different feel. Wallace and Rider were recent high lotto picks that we were adding to a core that already included two very good players in Cliff and Sabonis. Duds and Trent were good off the bench too. The prior roster was mediocre though, and those guys brought excitement and optimism.

But last year, we thought we were a contender at times, and now we are a roster full of unknowns. I still think it can be a fun season tough.

 

WHAAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!!?????? Who the HELL on this roster is an allstar or eventually could be an allstar!!!!!! This is just getting out of hand! And I can't blame this horseshoe on you being a rookie either!

 

Damian Lillard?

Edited - forwarding this post to Dame.

 

Nah, this guys said we have 3 allstars on our roster right now. Just curious who the hell he was posting about!