Bogus! We are quietly doing Philly's lame "process"

So maybe we could have gotten another draft pick? I dunno... We weren't ever going to get two stars for Dame, IMO. Not without waiting years and getting lucky in the draft.

 

Sharpe could be better than SGA. Scoot is great young talent too. Also- I like where Pistons are going. Cade Cunningham is GOOD.

 

And even if OKC has done better than us, they were down 80. It took TIME.

 

Could and "likely to" are very different things. Odds are strongly against Sharpe ever being a 1st team All-NBA player. Nice talents are all over the NBA, Scoot may be one of 100+ nice talents.

Detroit hasn't had a winning season since 2016 and they are about to have their worst season in that entire span. Not something I'd like for the Blazers to duplicate.

 

This is a normal trajectory on a rebuild. I like our players. Not to mention getting a top 5 in this year's draft. We are a few years away from being a consistent playoff team.

 

Again, I'm not seeing any real parallel between the OKC rebuild and Portland's that is meaningful. The fact that they've both lost a single game by a lot of points during their rebuild isn't much of a connection.

You know what else took time? Like a decade (or more)? The Sacramento, Detroit, and Charolette rebuilds. And none of them are positioned to contend.

 

yeah....the OKC comp is an entirely different zip-code than anything related to the Dame trade

OKC got SGA + 2021 first (#18 - Tre Mann) + 2022 first (#12 - Jalen Williams) + top-14 protected 2023 first (#18 Jaime Jaquez who was traded for KZ Okpala and a top-14 protected 2025 pick that becomes unprotected in 2026) + unprotected 2024 first + unprotected 2026 first + unprotected 2025 swap

SGA + five 1st round picks, one of which landed Jalen Williams who is looking like a future all-star at this point

not only that, OKC's lottery pick pay-off for getting bad after the PG trade was Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren

 

We might’ve gotten 2 stars for Dame. We don’t know yet. Like you said.

 

very Midwest Passive-aggressive behavior from Joe, definitely.

 

Stay tuned with that Pistons squad. They have good pieces.

 

People didn’t know SGA would be THIS good. Patience.

 

Rebuilds are not pretty. It has been a quiet tank but IMO Cronin has tried to maintain flexibility. Had we had picked higher the last two drafts, who is to say if we had chosen a win now approach. Since we landed where we did, the best players available are not the ones that will be leading any team to a title. It seems like we are now locked in for a full rebuild with championship aspirations. Still going to need to get lucky in the lottery as well as hit on players that have first team all-NBA potential. I think once we identify that MVP level player, it will be full steam ahead. Might be one to four years. Worst thing we could do IMO would be to make desperate moves.

I renewed but not in the lower level. Gave up mgb's seats a few seasons back due to profitability. There are still seats that have value, especially with our loyalty discount. Think you are going to regret giving that up and strongly recommended downgrading until the tank is over. Probably not too late to get a pair of the cheapest seats.

 

"Officially." Remind me of why Dame demanded to be traded again?

 

I like our players, too! They're very likable. Not very good at basketball, though.

 

I think you're within your right to stop supporting this current state of affairs but you have to ask yourself, when was the last time the Blazers had an MVP? When was the last time it was considered a legitimate title contender?

I'm not 100% sold on the front office making the right decisions but it was very likely always going to be this way. After what happened with Sam Hinkie, management cannot discuss the Process and will have to stealth tank.

The question is, can the Blazers compete with the Spurs, Rockets, Thunder, even the Hornets and Pistons once they sort their rosters out?

Those teams have legitimate pieces that a contender tends to have once they reach their primes - namely, 3s and 4s while also having guards that can be a threat. The Blazers have to make the correct selections now when Sharpe is young. Otherwise, they'll screw up if they cannot give him the help he needs. I don't think replicating Dame-CJ and Porter-Drexler is the way to go.

Simons (maybe Scoot) and Sharpe is good but I want to see the correct forwards being drafted, going forward (no pun intended), or else, this franchise could face some major headwinds in the 2030s (when the lease does go up and no Paul Allen type owner is around).

 

Philly fans weren't showing up when the Sixers were tanking for #1 picks. There's no rule that says "if Blazer fans drop their season tickets, they can't ever buy Blazer tickets ever again."

There's plenty of seats available every game in the Moda Center. Opportunities to have a few family nights, watch some NBA, show team support... none of this is off the table.

Owning season tickets provides instant access to "the big games". The only big games left in Portland, is when they fake injuries and try to lose on purpose. It's bad sportsmanship and ugly basketball.

 

Not stars like Dame though. Those guys don't take 3 years to come around.

I mean, great if they make it to those heights, but nothing indicates that it's at all likely.

 

Dame took 4 years of College. And SGA did. Plus we might land J-dubs brother.