30 teams in 30 days: Portland Trail Blazers look to build from within after quiet summer

[Denny Crane]

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/09/...-blazers?cid=EMA_NBA_daily&uniqueID=488709942

Today's team: Portland Trail Blazers

2016-17 record: 41-41. Severe shortcomings on defense and an inability to capture the magic of the previous post-season caused the Blazers to struggle to reach the playoffs, then sputter once there, losing in the first round to the Warriors.

Major additions: Caleb Swanigan (draft), Zach Collins (draft).

Major subtractions: Allen Crabbe, Festus Ezeli, Andrew Nicholson, Tim Quarterman

The lowdown: Twelve months after spending generously, the Blazers entered the 2017 summer projected to pay $40 million in luxury taxes this season, a steep price given the results. That wasn’t going to fly, not for a team that isn’t a title contender, and so their mindset changed drastically. They suddenly went cheap, adding rookies and subtracting one very pricey backup guard.

There are times when you know, almost immediately, that signing a player is a reach. The Blazers admitted as much when they dumped Crabbe and his massive deal this summer on the team that gave him that four-year, $75 million offer sheet in 2016, the Nets.

 

[Denny Crane]

Odd that Festus Ezeli and Tim Quarterman qualify as MAJOR subtractions.

 

[e_blazer]

Odd that Festus Ezeli and Tim Quarterman qualify as MAJOR subtractions.

Yeah zero minutes for Festus and a total of 80 for Quarterman last year isn't exactly a huge loss.

 

[Denny Crane]

The article is pretty negative.

Hopefully it's bulletin board material that gets the guys fired up.

 

[e_blazer]

The article is pretty negative.

Hopefully it's bulletin board material that gets the guys fired up.

Yeah, that was my thought too. I'd say Nurkic definitely has a chance to be an All-Star. How many teams have more than three players of that caliber? And to say that Swanigan played "reasonably well" in Summer League is pretty faint praise.

 

[Denny Crane]

Yeah, that was my thought too. I'd say Nurkic definitely has a chance to be an All-Star. How many teams have more than three players of that caliber? And to say that Swanigan played "reasonably well" in Summer League is pretty faint praise.

Two seasons ago, we played defense in the 2nd half and ended up with a nice record for year 1 of a rebuild, and 2nd round exit where no playoffs were expected in the first place.

Last season, everyone got paid, they played little defense, and we had no player take a big step up in their game. Ed Davis historically has been much better than he showed last year, and I think he's emblematic of the Blazers' failings. Still to make playoffs while rebuilding is impressive.

I'm a "show me" kind of guy, but I'm optimistic about this season because we'll have Nurk for (potentially) 82 games and we addressed our needs on the front line with the draft picks. I'm hopeful that one or both can give us 16 minutes/game and contribute, but that remains to be seen.

The guys can play defense if they want to, that's the upside.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Odd that Festus Ezeli and Tim Quarterman qualify as MAJOR subtractions.

Even more odd that Andrew Nicholson qualifies as a major subtraction, seeing as he wasn't actually on last year's team.

Kinda kills the credibility of the article from the get-go.

 

[Denny Crane]

I think we're going to be better than 41-41. Not sure if we'll top 50. If Nurk does for the team what he did last season, who knows - it could be even better.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Odd that Festus Ezeli and Tim Quarterman qualify as MAJOR subtractions.

Uh, and Andrew Nicholson?

 

[THE HCP]

The article is pretty negative.

Hopefully it's bulletin board material that gets the guys fired up.

Negative or realistic sir?

 

[THE HCP]

To put a different spin on it, I wouldn't really claim the our two rookies should be considered "major additions" would you?
It should just be additions and subtractions, but I'm sure it's the same for every team's preview.

 

[Denny Crane]

Negative or realistic sir?

Depends on Nurk and if at least one of the young guys takes a step up.

If Vonleh starts showing he's a quality PF, for example. He's shown improvement from year to year. Last season he was a decent contributor.

 

[THE HCP]

Depends on Nurk and if at least one of the young guys takes a step up.

If Vonleh starts showing he's a quality PF, for example. He's shown improvement from year to year. Last season he was a decent contributor.

I've said before I absolutely LOVE what Noah did once he started playing next to Nurk..... that was playing to his strengths for sure. He's a garbage man out there scraping and clawing! Excited to see them again.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Even more odd that Andrew Nicholson qualifies as a major subtraction, seeing as he wasn't actually on last year's team.

Kinda kills the credibility of the article from the get-go.

What??? No Greg Stiemsma??? I'm sure we'll miss his 0 minutes, 0 points, 0 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks every bit as much as the comparable contributions we received from Ezeli and Nicholson.

BNM

 

[e_blazer]

Negative or realistic sir?

This is how the writer summed things up for the Blazers' roster:

"Portland’s best hope is for growth from within; the majority of the roster is well under 30 and it’s possible that some players haven’t reached their peak. However, how many besides McCollum and Lillard are potential All-Stars? Until Portland can add to that mix, the Blazers will live on the cusp of the playoffs, unable to break through the elite group."

It's possible some players haven't reached their peak? It's a fact that some players haven't played a game yet in the NBA so, it's probably pretty certain that they haven't reached their peak. The only guys I would say have definitely peaked are Turner, Aminu, and Davis. Everyone else, including Dame and CJ (and even Leonard), have upside. Ignoring Nurkic as a player with the potential to be an All-Star is either negative or dumb.

 

[THE HCP]

This is how the writer summed things up for the Blazers' roster:

"Portland’s best hope is for growth from within; the majority of the roster is well under 30 and it’s possible that some players haven’t reached their peak. However, how many besides McCollum and Lillard are potential All-Stars? Until Portland can add to that mix, the Blazers will live on the cusp of the playoffs, unable to break through the elite group."

It's possible some players haven't reached their peak? It's a fact that some players haven't played a game yet in the NBA so, it's probably pretty certain that they haven't reached their peak. The only guys I would say have definitely peaked are Turner, Aminu, and Davis. Everyone else, including Dame and CJ (and even Leonard), have upside. Ignoring Nurkic as a player with the potential to be an All-Star is either negative or dumb.

I can see what you're saying. I'd say Mo in the right situation could take his game to another level.

 

[blue9]

Odd that Festus Ezeli and Tim Quarterman qualify as MAJOR subtractions.

Not to mention Nicholson!

 

[Wizard Mentor]

The sad truth is that we have THREE MAJOR questions marks:
PF
SF
Bench

We have many "good" players, so it's very possible someone becomes a "very good" or "excellent" player at SF and/or PF. However, it remains to be seen.

Mo is on the brink of becoming "very good" but it seems like his game is more of a product of the players around him.

If Aminu magically shoots 38 3FG%, we're probably golden.

Rookies/Vonleh....

 

[rasheedfan2005]

The sad truth is that we have THREE MAJOR questions marks:
PF
SF
Bench

We have many "good" players, so it's very possible someone becomes a "very good" or "excellent" player at SF and/or PF. However, it remains to be seen.

Mo is on the brink of becoming "very good" but it seems like his game is more of a product of the players around him.

If Aminu magically shoots 38 3FG%, we're probably golden.

Rookies/Vonleh....

Slide butters to sf. He reminds me of a large, slow, retarded version of kyle korver except he cant shoot under pressure.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The sad truth is that we have THREE MAJOR questions marks:
PF
SF
Bench

We have many "good" players, so it's very possible someone becomes a "very good" or "excellent" player at SF and/or PF. However, it remains to be seen.

Mo is on the brink of becoming "very good" but it seems like his game is more of a product of the players around him.

If Aminu magically shoots 38 3FG%, we're probably golden.

Rookies/Vonleh....

The thing is by fixing one of those 3 major question marks, you might be fixing all 3. Just think if you added an excellent player at either SF or PF......... all the other players would benefit especially the one "good " role player. And depending who we traded for that player, the trickle down might help the bench. (or you would have one more excellent starter who could play with the bench)

Pritchard fucked us......

 

[Voodoo]

The thing is by fixing one of those 3 major question marks, you might be fixing all 3. Just think if you added an excellent player at either SF or PF......... all the other players would benefit especially the one "good " role player. And depending who we traded for that player, the trickle down might help the bench. (or you would have one more excellent starter who could play with the bench)

Pritchard fucked us......

True, Paul George is one of the few Southern Californians that I would actually want to move to Portland.

 

[Chris Craig]

Negative or realistic sir?

Both. Realistic with a negative spin

 

[mook]

In hindsight, another move that really fucked us was trading Batum. He'd look soooo good on the current roster.

But yeah, Paul George would look even better.

 

[Blazers Roy]

If you have no bench,no MVP caliber players and you don't have a top defensive team then you are looking at a 0.500 or below record.

 

[Mediocre Man]

The article is pretty negative.

Hopefully it's bulletin board material that gets the guys fired up.

It's honest

 

[BBert]

In hindsight, another move that really fucked us was trading Batum. He'd look soooo good on the current roster.

But yeah, Paul George would look even better.

I still feel like they traded Batum in a doomed attempt to placate LaMarshmallow. Stupid.

 

[dviss1]

In hindsight, another move that really fucked us was trading Batum. He'd look soooo good on the current roster.

But yeah, Paul George would look even better.

Not at 120 MM.

 

[Chris Craig]

anyone know when training camp starts?

 

[e_blazer]

anyone know when training camp starts?

Sept. 27th.

Edit: That was for last year. Can't find a date for this year.

 

[THE HCP]

Not for sure, but I think it's the 25th this year