Take note of when this thread is being started. What do you guys think the rest of this season will look like? What is our record at the end of the season? Are you over or under @THE HCP prediction of 39? What Now?
To post my own answer. I think we're about to watch Dame light the league on fire in a lot of frustrating losses. I don't know what we will do with Nurk. I do not think we will end up with 39 wins, so I'm going under on @THE HCP 's line.
If it appears we are not going to tank, Im over. We got better imo, than what we were before the deadline.
I think my prediction was at same area and don't see anything to change that, probably will llay Shaedon a lot and the new guys and see what we got
Lowe just said we got a little worse and I think he's right. We came out of it with a handful of seconds and a conditional first but I think we made the Knicks better enough that they will for sure make the playoffs in the East. So it's not like Joe sent out too much talent and didn't get enough back along with draft assets... it's just that I think we got worse as far as how we can compete night in and night out.
Great point guys, I was missing that. It's Dame lighting the league on fire and watching Shae get a lot more PT and hey maybe with his ups and aggression he is where we get those boards from that Josh was giving us, he's just a little bit or a lot of an unknown still.
If we don’t win the next 3, Dame should take a seat while we improve our lottery position. The lottery is simply the only way to put a star next to Dame in Portland.
I feel a lot better about this trade deadline than last year. If we weren't going to get an absolute great player, IMO, this was probably the next best path. Hart's a loss, but he only was going to be here for 30 more games. We got a probable pick in the teens and a high-upside lottery ticket in return. Sharpe probably gets more development and actual game development as a result. I think that's a win. GP2 was never healthy and quite honestly didn't live up to the hype. He's a one-dimensional player and that one dimension wasn't reliable on this team. TBH, Keon offers similar defensive potential and can do so many other things ... among them handle the ball. He'll get on the court now, which, at the very least, showcases him for trades. We got Thybulle who also is an upgrade over Payton for nothing. We got five 2nd round picks and another young guy we can kick the tires on down the stretch in Knox. I would have liked to see Nurk moved and/or found a legit backup center, even if it was a 6-11 version of Reddish or Knox, but we didn't. Maybe we see Butler or Badji at some point. I like where our scouting department is compared to this time last year. We've got some cap flexibility now. We've got 30 games and then a likely low lottery pick but a lottery pick nonetheless and a mid 1. It's not the big deal a lot of people wanted but it's a path to moving up the charts. We aren't stuck at the bottom with Houston and Orlando and OKC. We have proven star players AND assets to get better.
With the room under the tax we now have given the salary that we shed, do the Blazers look for a big in the FA/buy out market?
We don't even need to tank. Realistically, tanking probably isn't going to drop us a whole lot farther and get us many more ping pong balls. Play this out. See if you can get into the play-in. If not, there's an awful lot to work with for next year now.
I think the Bazers are still at 16 players under contract. Have to cut two to be active on the buy out market.
I'm glad we got future picks and while we're marginally worse in the near term, we're basically the same team. I don't see Knox or Reddish being factors, but we should see more Sharpe and Little, which is a good thing. I'm concerned that if Lillard keeps playing tons of minutes he's going to break again. He seems to tweak something almost every game but is a tough dude who just keeps playing... eventually one's body just can't take the strain.
GB3 is one...I imagine either Svi or Arcidiacano are easily disposable if a worthwhile player is available.
