West dominates first NBA power rankings but Blazers only ranked 8th

Old decent players are cheaper than young decent players. You make do with what you can get.

 

I really think the only clear upgrade was Parsons. He was definitely a nice addition.

Chandler is such a tossup. The guy is so injury prone, and he's already been in the league 13 years. If he can stay healthy, he'll be a nice addition. I think they're going to really hurt at point guard though. Calderon wasn't a star, but the guy was significantly better than Felton or Devin Harris.

 

I suppose you can just compare ages coming in and ages going out, but Mavs probably see it different. The acquisition they are relying on most to help them next season is a 25 yr old and 31 yr old. I think you have to factor in Chandler is also injury prone which Dallas is probably more concerned about than his age, but being that their top prize FA is 25 yrs old, i doubt Mavs are concerned that a couple of role players are 34 yrs old. (They got Jefferson on a minimum contract)

Also, I suspect Cuban is working with where Dirk is in his career and wanting to find players to contribute today rather than youth who will take time to develop. So signing vets makes sense.

If Tyson Chandler Parsons, do what the mavs are hoping, they have greatly improved from last yr, IMO.

 

Just Wilson Chandler.

 

Really age isn't the best indicator. I was originally think about how long they've been in the league.

Chandler - 13 years
Jefferson - 13 years
Lewis - 16 years
Felton - 9 years

That's a lot of mileage. I actually thought Chandler, Jefferson, and Lewis were older than they are, but I forgot that Chandler and Lewis were both high schoolers. My main point though, is that I don't think the talent coming in replaces enough of the talent going out.

Carter
Marion
Calderon
Blaire
Dalembert

They all contributed last season. Obviously Parsons is a huge pickup, but is Felton going to replace Calderon's production? Will Jefferson replace Carter? Will Chandler replace Blaire and Dalembert? I'm not so sure.

 

They could see if Matthew Perry's available. He played Chandler on "Friends".

 

Warriors over rated yet again. How do they jump spots after losing their first round? What ever #underdogstatus

 

The fact were 8th is a surprise. I expected is outside of the top ten mostly because our biggest issue was D and we did nothing to really upgrade it drastically. Plus while we are a fun team to watch we are still portland and until LA/Dame become bigger names we will be written off by the media as a contender for top 3 in the west.

 

Dame is becoming a pretty big name. National Adidas campaign. All-Star. Dunk contest. Nominated for awards by ESPN. In terms of star power, he's already way ahead of Aldridge in that department. His resume is starting to fill up.

 

Probably because they gave another very good team (the Clippers) a tough series despite being down one of their best players in Bogut. That's a pretty nice testament to their talent base.

Of course, Bogut could be hurt next year too, so who knows. I think a fully healthy Warriors team in the playoffs is a (dark horse) contender.

 

his nams is big and it will just get bigger and bigger but at the moment all the teams ahead of us have at least one name thats bigger and more attractive then Dames.

 

I think you are right about:

OKC - Durant/RW
LAC - Paul/Griffin
GSW - Curry
CHI - Noah/Rose
CLE - LeBron/Kyrie

San Antonio has Parker, so I guess he would still count. He was on the 2nd team All-NBA. Dallas doesn't have anyone on the All-NBA teams, only an aging star that isn't really a superstar anymore.

 

You guys do know that CJ stands for Chandler James McCollum

 

Does it now?

 

I think adding Kaman to the second unit is going to make a significant difference in defensive efficiency when Lopez is off the court. Last year, the Lakers allowed 5.2 fewer points per 100 possessions with Kaman on the court vs. when he was off. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kamanch01/on-off/2014/ By way of comparison, Lopez only made 2.7 points per 100 possessions difference for the Blazers last season. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lopezro01/on-off/2014/

 

Yeah, I also think Kaman will make a significant difference. Offensive and defensive numbers can be tanked by how your reserves play. The Blazers don't have good perimeter defense even in the best of times. When you also remove their rim protector in Lopez, things get ugly in a hurry. If Kaman can at least keep the middle strong when Lopez sits, that could make a significant difference.

 

Send the foo an email . . . I did ( jschuhmann.nba.com@gmail.com )

 

Defensive criteria: make the opposing team score less than you. 54 times out of 82, our defense was successful.

The best defense, is defense... but the second best defense is a good offense.