Exclusive All Things Brandon Miller

Bingo. If we trade Dame we should expect to be bad for half a decade (minimum). Dame (and his appeal to other great players) is the best chance we have to avoid that.

 

It could be argued that we have already been bad for nearly half a decade WITH Dame. We went to the WCF in 2019.

 

We had enough talent to make the playoffs every season since then. But you're right. Olshey did a shitty job. Joe has had a hell of a mess to clean up.

If we could get enough talent to make 2-3 2nd round or better playoff runs before blowing it up that would be nice. And who knows what could happen in those 2-3 runs? Who expected Dallas to win when they got it done?

If we can't get that kind of talent together we can always move Dame and start the process now. It's going to be an interesting month. I'm glad there is a ton of pressure from Dame to get better.

 

Portland was a 6th seed two years ago against Denver. It was never more apparent in that series that Olshey had completely and stupidly failed Dame, the Blazers, and Blazer fans. And it was never more apparent that Olshey needed to be fired and his dumb roster-vision needed to be dismantled. Too bad it took the Vulcans 8 long months to finally read the memos. Portland's mediocrity is not because of Dame...it was all Olshey and the Vulcans

 

I never said it was because of Dame, but regardless we have been bad WITH Dame for nearly half a decade, so what difference does it make?

 

huh?...I just explained the difference

 

Yeah. You put the blame on Neil. That’s fine. We can’t snap our fingers and magically have a good team around Dame. He’s almost 33 and it takes time and resources to build a good team. So for someone to say that we are going to have a bad team for 5 years if we trade Dame, I say that we have had a bad team with Dame for the last 4 years. Having Dame hasn’t made a huge difference.

 

What many believe is that with careful building of a proper roster the blazers have a much better chance of competing with dame earlier than without him, even if it might be just a couple of years of a window

 

Exactly! Like Dame, just want the chance to see. Plenty of time to rebuild after Dame retires. And i'm one of the older cats in here, or dogs. Sorry Sly.

 

Situational Analysis: Brandon Miller

"Most perennial playoff teams have one. Some are fortunate enough to have two. Brandon Miller is this year’s clear-cut favorite to develop into an apex predator on the wing.

Beyond his measurables (6-9, 200 with a 7-foot wingspan), the first thing you notice about Miller is his jumper. It’s perfect. He can find his balance either spotting up or off the dribble. With his high release point and repeatable fundamentals, it’s hard to envision Miller going through prolonged shooting droughts. He connected on 38.4% of his 3-point attempts on extremely high volume (7.5 per game), often on unassisted/self-created opportunities. He carries himself like a person who expects to lead his team in scoring each time he laces up his sneakers.

The stats don’t show it quite yet, but his defensive upside is quite strong, as well. He knows how to play passing lanes and rotate for weakside shot-blocking opportunities, and he has the profile of someone who can switch across multiple positions and hold his own, both on the interior and on the perimeter. He is a highly efficient offensive option with a strong basketball IQ and an unselfishness that is rare to see in players with his talent at his age.

It won’t take long into his second contract before Miller finds his name alongside the league’s best in possible All-NBA conversations. On a scale from 1-10, Miller’s shooting at his size rates at a 9."

 

Sharpe era in full swing when Dame retires.

 

This is not a good look at all.....imo
AL.compat down pregame introduction ...

 

Because adding another Star to Dame is something we haven't tried, at least not since Aldridge. Which is the last time we had a legitimate hope to contend.

 

If Brandon Miller is there at 3, you take him, and you don’t look back.

 

you ask what difference it makes; I'm wondering what meaning it has?

* The Blazers were back to back 3 seeds and made it to the WCF, and that was in the last half decade. Bad seems a relative term unless every team that doesn't make it to the finals is "bad". Portland has been a pretender 3 or 4 times, not a contender, but again....Olshey

* in the 4 years SGA has been in OKC their record is 130-178 (.422), and it's only that good because OKC had Chris Paul the first year. Does that tell you anything about SGA or is it about the rosters?

* the first 5 years Milwaukee had Giannis their record was 175-235, and they had Khris Middleton too. They didn't get good until they added Jrue & Lopez. Does that mean Giannis is overrated?

* Dallas has had two first round exits and two lottery appearances with Doncic. They had one run to the conference finals where they won 1 game. Is this because of Doncic, or the rosters?

* Anthony Davis spent 7 years in New Orleans. Their record was 251-323. In those 7 years, they had 5 lottery appearances, one 1st round exit, and 1 trip to the conference semi-finals where they won exactly 1 game. 7 years of being truly 'bad'. Is AD tremendously overrated or was he poorly served by Pels management? He sure didn't have trouble winning (when healthy) playing with Lebron

Portland made it to the WCF where it was never more apparent that not only did the Blazers need more talent, they needed top-end talent. So what did Olshey do in the off-season? He replaced Aminu-Harkless-Kanter-Curry-Turner-Layman-Meyers with, and this is funny-not-funny-actually-pathetic, Whiteside-Melo-Bazemore-Hezonja-Tolliver. geeeeeezuzzzz

now I know you were trying to say what difference it would make when Portland was bad after trading Dame since they been mired in mediocrity while having him. At least bad would be a different direction, especially if Portland made a point to be truly bad and loaded up for a few years on top lottery picks.

 

Unless the cops are in the rear view mirror.

 

But the cops aren’t going to be in the rear view mirror because they already cleared him.

The only way that changes is if he suddenly starts talking about the situation, and he has been advised not to do exactly that, and he seemingly is following his lawyers instructions to a “T”.

Further, CHA hired private investigators and seemingly the result was, “good kid, good family, big mistake”.

Unless we hear something damning before the draft, you take him all day every day.

The “biggest” draft expert says he is CLEARLY the second most talented player in the draft. (Givony)

 

I think a big part of this conversation is how one feels about Simons / Sharpe / Miller (or whoever we get at 3). One could argue we are starting our “tank” with some pieces already in place.

Not that I exactly subscribe to that belief, but there are people who say Simons in all-star caliber when Dame doesn’t play, and others are convinced Sharpe is going to be a frequent stay on all-NBA lists. I have serious questions about both those, but if someone believes that then they probably think our tank won’t last very long, particularly if we hit on “#3”.

 

I could see where, Miller is fantastic in his workouts , and everyone is in. Then they could turn Ant / #23 potentially into DeMar DeRosan & pick reconciliation . Nurk, Grant, Miller , DeRozen, and Dame. Sharpe is 6th man.