Dame will be healthier next season then he's been in a long time. He could very well have an MVP type season next year.
Yes! And with the emergence of Anfernee Simons, CJ's value to the Trail Blazers would have been an all-time low next season. Josh Hart will be more valuable to the Trail Blazers than CJ, at a much cheaper price.
Yeah I think a lot of people have been thinking that. Maybe not saying it out loud to jinx anything. The fact is, Lillard's true shooting percentages for the two previous seasons were at career highs. It's not a leap to say he'll be right back to that after having surgery and a season to rest.
Interesting that Josh Hart is also at career high for true shooting percentage. It is a nice convergence with Damian Lillard. josh hart
You pretty much need 15 players for the whole season, but you really only need about 10 in the playoffs. So I am just going to focus on that right now. I feel good about 4 of the 5 positions. Like some of you have alluded to, Watford can really play. I feel good about him coming off the bench at PF. His handles as a PF will benefit his teammates. And I think Eubanks can give us minutes as well at center, although I think we all would like to see him as the 3rd center instead and find someone longer as Nurks primary backup. Regardless he is a solid player who won't make a lot of mistakes. I love our guards. Dame, Hart, and Simons. We will need a couple more to step up but that combo getting 32 minutes a game is very good. SF: I like our SFs with Little and Winslow. (Hart can also play here to end games) Not worried about Little's injury history any more than I worry about all our other players. Center: Nurk played very well before they sat him down. If we can get that Nurk, then we are a good team. We do need one more player here though besides Drew. PF: We all know that this is the priority. Watford can give us depth but we need a starter. I still think we can get Grant if we want him. He is being moved somewhere, if we really want him then we can get him. I think Detroit wants the additional cap space. Our TPE is a huge asset for this one particular situation. I bet they would take the Milwaukee future pick in order to get even more cap space. Regardless we need to find one PF and one C, or a player who can play both. And we have an MLE, a decent lottery pick, and #36 to get that done. If we can then we will be in good shape next year.
I am very happy and excited for next season. Addition by subtraction. Getting rid of the guys Joe did, and replacing them with versatility and attitude works for me. No names to mention, but the type of player to fit the type of style Coach wants is happening. Things are definitely heading in the right direction, if you believe in Billups, and I do. Long long way to go, olshit fucked this team beyond belief.
I think this will be damn near 100% Chauncey Billups draft. Joe will defer to him to select the player he wants to address need. Billups is coaching the type of players he wants. That is if Joe still has interim attached?
I’m not too keen on having two 6’3 starting guards in the backcourt but we’ll see how it goes. Assuming that’s how things play out?
Here's a positive vibe. I've been pretty damn whiny about the deals made at the trade deadline and even worse since the pick didn't convey. All of that shit is behind us and I'm now just hoping, regardless of who is running our off season, that we make some great moves that put Dame in position to lead a contender like Cronin said the team's mission is. Go Blazers! If the moves were shit, it doesn't really matter now, they're done.
Let's say we wanted to do a couple things immediately at the trade deadline - trade CJ and his salary, and remove players who were overpaid/underperforming and/or didn't fit. And add some players who fit our new culture. And tank to get a top 10 draft pick. As if George Patton were GM. "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." I am happy with the violently executed plan to move past the Olshey era. I definitely think we got a good result. I am glad we didn't wait for the perfect plan.
Teams lose out on draft picks that they think are near-guaranteed all the time. Memphis was sure they were getting the Lakers 2022 pick from the Pelicans. Not! Since the Lakers finished in the bottom 10, the Grizzles don't even get a first round pick at all. They get a 2022 2nd round pick (Cleveland cavaliers) and a 2025 2nd round pick (Pelicans). What an idiot GM Memphis must have. Indiana is getting a 1st round pick from Cleveland in the Caris Levert trade. Not! Not this year at least. Indiana will get Cleveland's first-round pick next year IF Cleveland makes the playoffs. What happens if Cleveland doesn't make the playoffs next season? No first round pick for Indiana. Instead they get a 2025 2nd round pick and a 2026 2nd round pick. Cronin may not have got the best 2nd option if we didn't get the Pelicans 2022 1st round pick, but it's better than what the Grizzlies got as a 2nd option and I also think a better bet than hoping Cleveland will make the playoffs next season. The eastern conference is going to be tough against next season.
Love the Patton quote, totally agree, time is of the essence. Stop letting perfect get in the way of better, we're in a better position than we were at the beginning of the season. Sucks the pick didn't convey, but lets focus on the future and continuing to build on something rather than focus on the past. Lets learn from the mistake and move forward and be better from here on out, lets have fun and enjoy this new future with something different than it has been the last 4ish years. I know I am looking forward to it at least.
I don’t know who in the hell you think you are, but this doesn’t fit the narrative for a lot of fans. Do better