Like I said in the past, folks. We are peaking in terms of popularity with the press. Absolutely peaking.
I find it interesting that some people don't trust Olshey with a high draft pick - but are willing to trust in his ability to make trades and sign FAs.
The only pick he's ever had in the top half of the lottery was Damian Lillard at #6. As others have mentioned, he nailed that one. The second highest pick he's ever had as #8 in 2010. He took Al-Farouq Aminu. He passed on Gordon Hayward and 9 and Paul George at 10. So, he didn't nail that one, but he wasn't the only one who passed on those guys. It wasn't like he took Evan Turner (PHI) or Wesley Johnson(MIN) over DeMarcus Cousins. He has no history with a top 3 pick. So, his performance is inconclusive at this time. BNM
I've projected us at 30 wins. Although if Damian get injured or nobody becomes that second quality starter we are easily 22. If we stay healthy and multiple young guys make big improvements we could push 38 wins. So I'd lean towards betting the over but it's not as much as a lock as two years ago when we were projected for I think 35 wins and hit 54. The Blazers often have some good value bets because so few fans out there are betting on our small market team.
Whether or not we have 3 future all stars on the current roster is irrelevant for the odds for this season. PHI could very well have 3 future all stars on their current roster, but in spite of playing in the weakest division of the weakest conference could actually win even fewer games than us this season. Also, PHI's three best prospects all play the same position. So, even if they are all future all stars, they likely won't be all stars for PHI. BNM
You can't force another team to make a trade. You can't force a FA to sign with you. Draft day is the one time a GM's fate is firmly in his own hands. If you don't trust him on draft day...then you shouldn't trust him at all.
A Draft guru buddy of mine and I went through the schedule and it's tough to find 26 games the Blazers are likely to be favored in. That doesn't mean they will not win that many but they would probably have to be some upsets in there. They will struggle to win a game against the Top-6 in the West so that is 20-22 losses right there. They should have a shot in home games against teams like Denver, Minnesota, Sac, Knicks, Magic, 76'ers etc and maybe grab an occasional road win here and there but wins are going to be tough to come by.
I already said 20 Ws FAMS! GIMME BACK MY PREDICTION! Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS
Last season: Philly 18 wins Knicks 17 wins Orlando 25 wins Minnesota 16 wins L*kers 21 wins Those are the only teams that failed to win 26. Only two of those in the West. I don't think we're that bad. We have something those teams don't. Lillard. Carmelo Anthony missed 42 games, so the Knicks might have actually won close to 30 if he were healthy. Lillard is to us what Melo is to the Knicks. The Knicks started Lou Amundson 35 games. An outright D Leaguer. I saw them play in NY against the Warriors and get killed. They were all D-Leaguers. Still won 17 games without Melo.
Philly - likely almost as bad. Endless top-3 picks but they all seem hurt. Knicks - should be better with Rolo, Afflalo and a healthy Melo. Orlando - Some nice young players in Harris, Vucevic, Payton, Oladipo, Gordon, Hezonja and Nicholson. Better just from being a year older. Minnesota - A year of experience for Wiggins, add in Towns and eventually some of their players have to be healthy, right? L*kers - Hibbert, World Idiot/Randle, Swaggy P, Kobe and Russell. That will be better than last year although still not very good. Portland isn't that bad, just tremendously inexperienced. Even the guys who have been in the league for a few years haven't played that much i.e. Leonard, CJ, Harkless, Aminu etc. Hopefully they get a chance to get experience, play hard, will probably still lose a lot of games but you add someone like Simmons or Skal to this team and with the development and added maturity of a year, this team gets better in a hurry.
Yep. We need another all star, and another to develop from the guys we have. That gives us 3. That's how this league rolls.
