I don’t think Chauncey Billups is in touch with the modern game. I don’t think Chauncey Billups is a good coach. There are a lot of very accomplished basketball players who are utter dogshit at teaching. I think Chauncey Billups is one of those.
It's not hard to see that we played both ends of the spectrum at the same time.... Traded for dudes Dame wanted, and when it didn't work out, we tanked the remainder of the season(s). It couldn't have gone any better with that situation. Acting like Grant is some sort of immovable contract that has no value and we're stuck with him is pretty naive. With our recent approach, we got Scoot, Sharpe, Ayton, multiple future 1st's, addtitional vets as tradeable assets, as well as another Top 5 pick this year. All within the last 2 years. Yes, it's going well.
I get both sides of the tanking debate. And have stayed out of this debate, because my opinion means nothing to Jody and Joe... But... Losing on purpose is completely against my nature. I believe it also was against Paul's nature. You have to be in the playoffs to have a shot at a ring. And then get lucky. The last 3 years felt like trying to get water to run uphill.
The Pelicans have the talent, they just can't keep their star healthy. That is the problem with tanking,....lots of things can go wrong. Bad decisions, bad luck, bad chemistry, dickhead agents.......
So you’re okay with three years of deliberate losing, but four is a bridge too far? That’s pretty funny.
How did they rush it? They have a young star core. The problem is that they're extremely injury prone. Zion and Ingram are both made of tissue.
they also have the injury-prone Nance. Trey Murphy has missed 48 games in 3 seasons; Dyson Daniels 44 games in 2 seasons; Naji Marshall 88 games in 4 seasons; Alvarado 75 games in 3 seasons
Who said that I was okay with deliberate losing any of the prior years? Making assumptions can be pretty funny too. I don't think that there was any way that the Blazers wouldn't have been in the lottery, probably deep into the lottery, with just playing the guys who were actually able to play. Holding Grant out for, what, a month and a half with a hamstring pull? Brogdon must have the worst case of elbow tendinitis in history. Deliberately fielding the guys who played in that last game when other guys are available is ridiculous. IMO, the league should crack down on that crap. Since they seem to turn a blind eye to it, it's going to continue and ticket-paying fans are the ones who get ripped off. And for what, the difference of a percentage point or two in a crappy draft?
I've read this a couple places. Seems like a fairly solid take but to be fair If any team loses their best player they will not fair well in the playoffs. If the Pelicans can get into the playoffs and get Zion back playing they may do very well? Depends on the extent of that injury?
I couldn’t agree more. What Portland has done for three years in a row is disgraceful, and I don’t understand why the NBA lets them get away with it. Then Adam Silver makes some sanctimonious statement about the “integrity of the game” when he kicks some stiff out of the league for gambling. What a pathetic fraud the NBA has become.
At this point it's easy to wonder whether Brogdon was injured well before the deadline and Cronin felt like he couldn't trade him due to his medicals. He should've flipped him before the season. It never made sense to risk it with his health this year. Brogdon and RWIII's health issues combined with the likelihood of Boston's 2029 1st being bad is why I wasn't a big fan of the Jrue trade when people were throwing rose petals at Cronin's feet.
I don't know what to say to you fans who don't care about REALLY competing. You'd rather trot out a half-ass team of vets in a small-market city every year that barely makes the playoffs and then gets destroyed. Rinse and repeat. It's clear that the NBA can't outright prove "tanking" for picks, so you'd have to be a complete dumbass of an organization to NOT do it. It worked out great for Philly and OKC, amongst others. WHY would you not take every advantage possible to improve your team to compete for CHAMPIONSHIPS?!? I'd be disgusted as a Blazer fan if they weren't willing to do this. It's our only chance.
When a franchise is at the bottom of the talent cycle like the Blazers unquestionably have been the last few years, I see nothing wrong with tanking until a reasonable core is assembled that they can move forward & compete with. I get that it's painful to watch at those times, hell I'm a lifelong fan who suffers through watching this dreck too. Honestly though, the last half of Dame's time here was an even more painful watch as management's consistently poor decisions + fake enthusiasm of having a chance to compete rang so hollow as any realistic observer knew this wasn't the case. Those in charge wasted every real opportunity they had to add talent and gave us the new revamped Blazers (now with extra Derrick Jones!!!) as if a corkscrew jumper had any chance of changing reality. At the top of the draft the players selected generally work out better then those selected lower. However to be fair, in most drafts a few lower drafted players blossom well beyond their projections. The Warriors dynasty doesn't happen without 2nd round pick Draymond (who btw, was the W's 3rd selection in that draft). Portland has tanked again no doubt, but it sure would help their chances to catch lightning in a bottle with some of their lower selections by their vaunted scouting staff... they've two 2nds this year. STOMP
I guess it's all perspective.... I can see how it's obviously tough for some to watch a young team that's built to lose for a little while, but that's what literally got me back into following the team super closely. Once the tanking started, and then culminated with trading Dame, I could see the vision and declaration from Management that we were finally jumping off the mediocrity treadmill. It's more fun to watch a young team fly around the court and develop/grow than it is to watch a mid-team play boring basketball and consistently fail with no hope. That, I can't take.
Seriously, it sucks. But it's the only logical thing to do. I didn't want this. I wanted to keep trying to win until Dame was used up. But here we are. We need to keep losing for another 2 or 3 years so we can load up on talent and try for titles for another decade or more. We need 2 or 3 all stars on this team to have a good shot. That is going to take 5-ish picks in the top half of the lotto...
He said he wanted to buy it some time ago. She doesn't like him so she hasn't considered him. Jody has to sell the team by 2028. My contention is that if she would've sold it to Phil while Dame was still here, he'd still be here. I don't know what that bih is waiting for...
