It's going to weigh on him. It weighs on every good player the Blazers draft or obtain. The Blazers can't compete. They can't get the players here to truly compete. Other cities are more attractive. That's not an opinion, that's the truth. Portland, Oregon isn't where you want to be as a young, talented, millionaire basketball player. It's just not. It's cold. It's rainy. The fans and the local media are obsessive, invasive, and bi-polar. Damian could be different, but he's probably not. He's a level of player that wants to win. He will be sick of being the big fish in a small pond. CJ and Nurk are not enough. He's going to demand a trade. It may not be today, tomorrow, or soon, but it WILL HAPPEN. There's no "rebuilding". There's no "wait for players to develop". Lillard's prime is being wasted, and it is going to bite the team and the city in the ass. Olshey HAS to swing for the fences. He has to drastically overpay for good players in trades. Everyone on this team not named Damian Lillard should be on the trade block, either publicly or privately. Other teams want CJ. But the FO and the fans are afraid. They want to cling to what they have, vs. take a chance on what could be. And that's the Blazers MO: Mediocrity is better than being bad, because local fans will still buy tickets to see a team that MIGHT win vs. a team that doesn't have a chance to win. That's the same for most small market teams, but in Portland it seems culturally ingrained. The only person with the balls to try to break that cycle in the team's history was Bob Whitsitt, and while he ultimately failed, it was a spectacular failure that was exciting while it lasted, and if not for a cold shooting quarter, might have just as easily succeeded. With the West looking as it does... the future for the Blazers as they stand right now looks hopeless, as does Lillard's career here. Don't think he doesn't know it.
Dame is in year 2 of his 5 year contract. There is no fear of him wanting out. But he needs help, that much is certain.
What do you think Olshey has been doing? He tried to get Paul George. He tried to get Melo. It's not his fault that neither of those players are on our team.
That's why I don't mind if Dame leaves. I don't blame him. If anything I want what's best for him. And staying here unfortunately isn't probably what's best for his career. He should go to a market where he can bring stars to him. Dame is a good dude he deserves the best
I still think we are on a 3 more year trajectory before we really are in the mix, the main reason being the super teams are formed, but all have an aging player or 2, meanwhile teams like Portland, Minnesota, Phoenix and Philly are waiting to step in. Realistically Portland with it's youth still has a lot of ceiling, this season alone there are a few players that should be at that point where they show a jump in productivity (Harkless, Vonleh, Nurk). How much better do these guys need to be for the team to make serious progress? Let's say Vonleh gets to be a 10 and 10 guy (Per 36 last year 9 and 11)... Or Harkless becomes a consistent 16 and 6 guy? Ig Nurk becomes an 18/12/4 player (last year 18.7/12.8/3.9 per 36), where will this team be? I'm not talking huge leaps just realistic developmental improvement. Then as the next couple years come we will see development from Swanigan and Collins. I also think Turner, as disliked as he is by so many, will fit better this season and while his contract is still the thing people will be angry about his role will be better defined and he will blend better. I realize it's not what most people want to see but as I get older I get more patient with the process.
Dame and CJ will enter now in they prime. Lillard is 27 cj is 26, a basketball player prime is arround 27-31 yrs. Calm down. Also we have nurkic and he just only 22. In the future, Dame 29, Cj 28, Nurkic 25, we can compete. Right now our goal should be 2round. warriors are dominant. We gotta keep our team...
Isn't this "wasting" thing pretty much applicable to every player in the NBA who doesn't play for Golden State? Or was there some potential move NO could have made this summer that would have made the Warriors worse?
This is all the doomsday stuff crammed into one post! Congratulations! -Enough with the destination city talk. It's about players. OKC is an actual S-town. Melo wanted to be there because 2 of the top 10 players play there. -And while I too worry about Dame's prime and Olshey's plan--or lack thereof--one thing I don't worry about is Dame changing his mind. Dude is straight up and always has been. Anyone saying otherwise hasn't been paying attention. -Here's where we agree. Olshey has to swing big. He appears to be in panic mode at times, offering big contracts to the undeserving. He seems to lack faith in the city, himself, which doesn't help. I blame him for not getting deals done, not the city. -You don't know who is and isn't on the trading block, silly. -Whitsitt just did his job and took some chances and shit gelled. But don't think we didn't spend years paying for those choices. In conclusion, go do your homework on Damian, the sky's not falling.
This. Exactly this. What the hell could we possibly do right now that could catapult us anywhere near GS? Paul wouldn't have done it. Melo wouldn't have done it. Nothing would have done it. We just need to deal with it for now. Without hesitation I can say GS, as constructed, is the best collection of talent the NBA has ever seen. Everyone is fucked. And there's nothing that can be done about it. For now. I know that comes across as defeatist, but it's not. It's reality.
Whoa... Calm down. It's still one good player away from being directly in competition for the WCF's. If you get to the third round anything can happen. They are close right now. Lets see how this plays out and what the trade deadline brings?
It's not surprising. He does this every year. The short-sighted angry post. He's one of those myopic fans... doesn't look at the bigger picture.
These were my questions also but i just past them up. This team is still one solid 2-3rd type option away from competing. No we don't want to give up any of our three solid starters.
I cant read this.... The world was supposed to end on the 23rd. I guess its ending someday soon now.... Selling everything I own now, cause its STRAIGHT UP OVER!
