The blazers lost 70% of their minutes from their starting lineup for the playoffs last year - AND lost numerous bench players. obviously it is too early to tell if this was wise. I may be biased, but I don’t think this was a good idea. We lost: Aminu - arguably our most underrated player from last year. One of our best and most versatile defenders. Someone who missed virtually no games since the post-Aldridge era. He was one of our most consistent playoff performers. Curry - led the league in 3p%, he was the perfect fit for spacing the floor and providing efficient offense in few minutes. He also fit perfectly with Dame and CJ as small lineup. Decent defender too. Layman - we gave away layman for absolutely nothing when he had numerous breakout performances and his length, athleticism, and shooting seemed to fit our offense very well. Kanter - I get that Kanter May have left, but we should have made a better effort to resign him. He was dominant in the playoffs and I doubt we make the WCF without his rebounding and post up game. Meyers leonard - great attitude BUT oh no, he had a good game for once and seems to be finally living up to potential. Trade him for a player with bad attitude who won’t fit when Nurk is back... Turner - arguably our best passer. A good, strong defender who took on tough matchups. I get he didn’t fit too well, but I thought he was starting to get into a role in the second unit well. I worry watching preseason games. Our second unit looks disorganized and clueless. Turner was a good floor general for the second unit and he was hilarious. Moe harkless - I don’t care as much about this one. I loved moe but he didn’t fit well and I think we needed a 3 that can consistently hit 3s I’m not super-familiar with all our new players, but I generally know who they are. I personally think our roster from last year was FAR better and people forget it’s not just Dame and CJ that got us to the WCF. I don’t see how Whiteside and Nurk can coexist. I don’t why we got rid of Chief. I wish we coulda kept our dominant bench and think our bench this year will be a mess. Let me know what you think. WHICH ROSTER IS BETTER (ignore cap space issue)?
In the playoffs Hood and Collins vastly outperformed Aminu and Harkless. Those two were almost unplayable against Denver and GS yet they still started every game. That makes your stat of 70% of the minutes lost from their starters very skewed. They're gonna be good this year.
I would be surprised if even a handful of times this season anyone thinks "if only we had (any of the players you listed), we would have won that game". Curry and Kanter I will miss, not the rest.
I really liked Aminu - but Millsap ate him up. At some point Stotts put Collins on him - and that pretty much won Portland the series. I also really like Layman - I think of all the players we lost - he is the highest risk/reward one and if he gets it and becomes consistent - he is going to be something special. Really loved watching that guy play. But, he was inconsistent and his defense was not great. So, overall, I think this team is more talented. If they manage to make it work or not is to be determined, but I like the moves made so far.
Jake and Meyers were guys I think would've had good seasons with us this season...Meyers just needed to get out of here and Jake is starting in Minnesota so it was a boost for him
Aminu was not one of our most consistent playoff performers. He often disappeared in the playoffs. He was underrated and a terffic defender and rebounder for us. I miss Curry. Hopefully Simons will make us forget about him Layman wanted out. He wanted to go the Timberwolves. Could the Blazers had gotten more? Maybe. Keeping him would have only made him resentful and disgruntled. Kanter had the opportunity to return. He flinched. It would have been niced to have had him back next to Whiteside for the minimum. Blazers have Gasol now. Meyers had 1 good game. So what? He had his chances here. Too many if you ask me. Maybe our best passer and a solid defender but he was a terrible fit. He destroyed our offense. And, was way overpaid. Moe we will miss most, but he was terribly inconsistent. Blazers have a better bench and roster this season.
This year's roster is better. Last year's team may prove to have been better. Let's see how the season shakes out.
My answer to the poll question is not an option. Whether or not this current squad is better, I do not believe they should have kept everyone from last year. I agree with the notion that that team had effectively reached its ceiling (Nurk's injury notwithstanding), and think change was necessary to facilitate further growth.
Last Years Bench: PG: Curry SG Turner SF: Layman PF: Collins C:Kanter(until Nurkic injury)/Leonard This Year: PG: Simons SG: Bazemore SF: Hezonja PF: Skal Labissiere C: Pau Gasol
I think we will lose some games, especially at the beginning of the season, that we would have won last year with Aminu and Harkless, simply because the chemistry with all the new players is not there yet, and besides that the Nurk injury will have the biggest impact, he was so important for us and i'm not a fan of Whiteside to be honest. BUT this roster has the highest potential in the post Lamarcus era come playoff time. We have better shooters with Hood, Bazemore and Simons, Zach is a question mark for me, he can be a good outside shooter, his Midrange looks very good so far, if he can hit the 3 between 36-38% he's going to be a very good role player. Another big improvement is we have more guys on the court who can handle the ball, players who know what to do with the ball in their hands and allow Dame and CJ to play more of the Ball, and with Mario we can play at a faster pace. I'm just thankful that i dont have to watch Aminu and Turner anymore
What will happen early with chemistry not quite there yet will be turnovers....passing to spots where someone is supposed to be or not seeing the dump off pass in the paint..etc..there will be turnover growing pains with 9 new guys but hopefully it'll bake into a contender
This sounds a lot like FEAR. Fear is the Mind Killer. Just enjoy the show, except for the first 20 games. Many will ignore the crazy SOS, and go nuts.
