Any teams worse off?

[Ed O]

This might be the most depressing thought I've had on the Blazers recently: is there any franchise with which I would not trade rosters and draft picks?

Charlotte's roster is terrible. Probably them. New Orleans, too.

Washington? Perhaps.

Detroit? Probably not, but maybe.

Clearly Portland is better now (well... maybe not clearly and/or right now, given the team's play the last week or two) but looking at the prospects we have in the pipeline (or lack thereof)... it's depressing.

Ed O.

 

[Mediocre Man]

This might be the most depressing thought I've had on the Blazers recently: is there any franchise with which I would not trade rosters and draft picks?

Charlotte's roster is terrible. Probably them. New Orleans, too.

Washington? Perhaps.

Detroit? Probably not, but maybe.

Clearly Portland is better now (well... maybe not clearly and/or right now, given the team's play the last week or two) but looking at the prospects we have in the pipeline (or lack thereof)... it's depressing.

Ed O.

All with high lottery picks in one of the best drafts in recent memory, so are they worse off?

 

[RR7]

A lot talk about perennial 5-8 playoff seed teams, and how it is the worst place to be. So in that regard, I'd add a few more.
Houston. Nobody on that team I take over LA, and nobody I see being able to get to his level. Too good to suck, but not anyone you consider a title contender. Or even close. And nobody you really want to build around going forward.
Phoenix is sitting on long term deals, with little talent attached to those deals.
Milwaukee. Too good to suck, a management team that doesn't want to. An oft injured big man. A PG talking about exploring big markets 2 years away. Again, nobody I would want to build around like I would with LA.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Teams I would for sure not trade rosters/draft picks with:
Charlotte
Cleveland
Washington
Toronto
Detroit
New Orleans
Milwaukee
New Jersey (D.Will is gone)
Utah
Phoenix
Sacramento
Houston
Orlando (Howard is gone)
Boston (too old)

 

[Mediocre Man]

A lot of those teams have way better younger rosters than we do. NO, Phoenix, are about it. Those lottery picks for everyone in one of the best drafts in recent memories will vault them ahead of us

 

[RR7]

NO and PHX are it? What young buildable talent does Milwaukee have better than us? Houston? Parsons, patterson and Morris? Two guys who play the same position, neither who look like they'll be as good as LA. I don't really see how that roster is better than ours. Or, rather, I would much prefer ours with LA and Batum over that. Same with Milwaukee. Same with N.O.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I wouldn't trade our roster with BOS or LAL. In addition to most above. If we're smart we can be in a really good position over the next few LMA-prime years. Therefore, I'm not holding my breath.

Rosters/Situations (draft) I would trade for is probably easier:
MIA, CHI, MIN, LAC, OKC.
Mayyyybe SAC or GSW if I had to. But I'd retool those rosters in a heartbeat.
I like being a Fake GM, so I'm intrigued by NOH and rebuilding from crap with cap space, draft picks, etc.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

A lot of those teams have way better younger rosters than we do. NO, Phoenix, are about it. Those lottery picks for everyone in one of the best drafts in recent memories will vault them ahead of us

The Oden draft was billed as one of the strongest drafts in history . . . and we had the first pick. Blazers would have been better off making the playoffs that year and getting a mid twenteis draft pick

 

[Mediocre Man]

The Oden draft was billed as one of the strongest drafts in history . . . and we had the first pick. Blazers would have been better off making the playoffs that year and getting a mid twenteis draft pick

I don't remember it being billed as a great draft other than top heavy Oden and Durant, but I like the thought process Hahaha

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Draft picks dont hold much weight with me. They are a gamble... as we all know all to well.

 

[Ed O]

Not to pick on you, man. I am going to counter each of your "for sure not trade" teams with reasons why those teams are at least arguably as well off...

Teams I would for sure not trade rosters/draft picks with:
Charlotte

Their roster is lousy. I'm not a huge Kemba Walker fan and I don't think Biyombo's gonna be a difference maker for a couple of years, at least. They will have a top three pick, though, and be able to add a potential stud for next year.

Still... probably the least-favorable spot to be in in the NBA IMO.

Cleveland

They've got a guy that might be a franchise player in Irving and they've got another good 20 year-old in Thompson. I'm surprised they've won as many games as they have, and they will be tucked in the lottery for a couple more years, but if Irving's as good as he's been so far, I'd switch rosters with Cleveland pretty happily.

Washington

John Wall isn't perfect, but he's a good player and he's still only 21. McGee is still only 24. Throw in a high lottery pick and I think they're the equal of Aldridge + Batum.

Toronto

Bargnani/DeRozan/Bayless/Davis is a better core than the Blazers have, IMO.

Detroit

Monroe is a true center and going to be a beast. He's also 21 years old. Knight is barely 20 and looks like a good player. I don't think they're a better pair than Aldridge and Batum, but they're younger with much more upside.

New Orleans

Another team that I would not want to be. It's tough to make an argument for them, especially since MN finally is becoming decent so their first rounder isn't that valuable.

Milwaukee

I'll take Jennings and Bogut (who play the two positions of scarcity) over Aldridge and Batum, personally. The rest of the roster isn't much to look at, though, especially if they don't keep Ilyasova.

New Jersey (D.Will is gone)

Lopez is really good. DWilliams should get them value in a sign-and-trade, at least. Clearly WAY too many "Williamses", though.

Utah

Seriously? I think Utah's roster looks really promising. Even with Harris pulling a disappearing act, they have quality big men coming out of their ears (Jefferson, Millsap, Favors, Kantner) and they have lots of room to get better. Hayward might be a player, too. I'd take Utah's roster over ours for sure.

Phoenix

Yep... that's a brutal roster. Built to win today... kind of Even if Markief Morris emerges as a force, I still like the Aldridge/Batum duo better.

Sacramento

Evans might not be as good as so many thought he'd be, but he and Cousins (for all his warts) are a better future core than the Blazers'.

Houston

This is close, but I could see how some would prefer Lowery/Martin to Batum/Aldridge. I think I like the Blazers' roster more, mainly because I don't think that Hill and the other Rockets' younger guys are any better than the Blazers'.

Orlando (Howard is gone)

They'll get something for Howard. Something good. In the mean time, they are a better team than Portland with Howard. I'd swap with Orlando for sure.

Boston (too old)

Let the three old guys leave and you have Rondo. And ... no one. Haha. Maybe you're right, although if they can squeeze another couple of years out of the big three, they might be better of than Portland over the next five years or so overall.

Ed O.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Draft picks dont hold much weight with me. They are a gamble... as we all know all to well.

They are for sure, but they are also the way to land studs in a small market.

 

[Ed O]

NO and PHX are it? What young buildable talent does Milwaukee have better than us? Houston? Parsons, patterson and Morris? Two guys who play the same position, neither who look like they'll be as good as LA. I don't really see how that roster is better than ours. Or, rather, I would much prefer ours with LA and Batum over that. Same with Milwaukee. Same with N.O.

Jennings and Bogut are a good pair. He's a year older than Aldridge, and has been injured, but he's a guy they can build around.

Ed O.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Ah oh, looks like Ed O is wanting to admin a different basketball forum.

 

[Ed O]

Ah oh, looks like Ed O is wanting to admin a different basketball forum.

I'm looking to swap out the posters here with the posters from another team's fanbase.

Er.

What?

Ed O.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't know why things seem so bleak to some of you... we've got Aldridge.... we've got Batum.... we've got cap space. Just tank the season and try to get into the lottery and then make a play for Eric Gordon or Deron Williams in the offseason.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Draft picks dont hold much weight with me. They are a gamble... as we all know all to well.

This mentality baffles the hell out of me. Draft picks are certainly a gamble, but guess what else is a gamble? Trades and free agency. This just in: There are zero guarantees along any path this team might go along to freeing themselves from the hole they appear to be digging themselves.

If it comes down to A) free agency where this team has never been a player and you usually overpay for talent, B) trades where the team doesn't have many assets to use or C) cheap young players that could end up pretty damn good I'll go with the latter rather than the two former.

 

[RoyToy]

Not buying at all Portland is some terrible situation

 

[The_Lillard_King]

This mentality baffles the hell out of me. Draft picks are certainly a gamble, but guess what else is a gamble? Trades and free agency. This just in: There are zero guarantees along any path this team might go along to freeing themselves from the hole they appear to be digging themselves.

If it comes down to A) free agency where this team has never been a player and you usually overpay for talent, B) trades where the team doesn't have many assets to use or C) cheap young players that could end up pretty damn good I'll go with the latter rather than the two former.

I think draft picks have their value (and MM brings up good point about maybe the only way small mkt teams has chance at superstar). But the anlaysis should be more, is it worth having a lottery team to get a good draft pick vs. free agency or trades.

I like draft picks (love buying draft picks), but hate to wallow is misery with the only hope being that it increases our odds in the draft lottery . . . I know, I know, we are already wallowing in misery.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Cleveland: They've got a guy that might be a franchise player in Irving and they've got another good 20 year-old in Thompson. I'm surprised they've won as many games as they have, and they will be tucked in the lottery for a couple more years, but if Irving's as good as he's been so far, I'd switch rosters with Cleveland pretty happily.

I might agree with you just because I also think that Varejao is very good. A young Camby in terms of defense (different style, but equally effective defender) and better on offense.

Washington: John Wall isn't perfect, but he's a good player and he's still only 21. McGee is still only 24. Throw in a high lottery pick and I think they're the equal of Aldridge + Batum.

I disagree. I predict that John Wall will turn out to be a Devin Harris (not that extreme, but...) - looked destined for stardom but never quite made it. He's no Derek Rose OR Russell Westbrook. And I still maintain that JaVale McGee is a useless headcase. We sure made them look good last night, though. Yes, they get a lottery pick. BECAUSE THEY SUCK.

Bargnani/DeRozan/Bayless/Davis is a better core than the Blazers have, IMO.

That is flat out insane. The only one of those who I THOUGHT was good was DeRozan, but I read yesterday that he's the only player who plays as many or more minutes than Felton who's worse offensively. And he's not known for his defense. And really? Bayless? Still?

Monroe is a true center and going to be a beast. He's also 21 years old. Knight is barely 20 and looks like a good player. I don't think they're a better pair than Aldridge and Batum, but they're younger with much more upside.

Monroe is slow and methodical. Is that what a beast is like? Knight looks like a Rodney Stuckey in the making: STUCKey between two positions, not good enough for either. Things are not good in Piston-land.

Bucks: I'll take Jennings and Bogut (who play the two positions of scarcity) over Aldridge and Batum, personally. The rest of the roster isn't much to look at, though, especially if they don't keep Ilyasova.

Again, cr-ay-zee. Bogut CANNOT stay healthy, and is very inefficient on offense when he is. Jennings is also very inefficient (Van Exel 2.0) and has JUST ANNOUNCED HE'S GOING TO LEAVE. It hasn't been good to be a Buck since Lew Alcindor.

NJ: Lopez is really good. DWilliams should get them value in a sign-and-trade, at least. Clearly WAY too many "Williamses", though.

"Lopez is really good"??? No. He. Isn't. He can't rebound worth a damn. He may be better than Monroe (MAY) but he's no less lumbering. Why "should" DWill get them value? Because he did so for the Jazz? How many times can that happen?

Seriously? I think Utah's roster looks really promising. Even with Harris pulling a disappearing act, they have quality big men coming out of their ears (Jefferson, Millsap, Favors, Kantner) and they have lots of room to get better. Hayward might be a player, too. I'd take Utah's roster over ours for sure.

Utah is doing better than I thought, but it's doing it without playing the youth much at all. We don't really know if Kanter, Burks or even Favors are real talents yet. Favors might turn out to be another Amir Johnson - perpetual tease. Utah is winning by playing Raja Bell and Earl Watson in favor of their youth. And their roster is really unbalanced. Also bear in mind that they've slumped as badly as we have (they're half a game behind us).

Sacramento: Evans might not be as good as so many thought he'd be, but he and Cousins (for all his warts) are a better future core than the Blazers'.

Totally disagree. They're like a poor man's version of Kenny Anderson/Derrick Coleman. A VERY poor man's version. You forgot the Jimmster. A lot of people have.

Houston: This is close, but I could see how some would prefer Lowery/Martin to Batum/Aldridge. I think I like the Blazers' roster more, mainly because I don't think that Hill and the other Rockets' younger guys are any better than the Blazers'.

Slumping badly. What happened to Kyle Lowry? He looked all-world at the beginning of the season. And if Martin is so good, why is he only getting 24 minutes per game the last ten games? Oh - I see, he's averaging 13 points on 41% shooting. He's almost Jamal Crawford bad. Of course, if they hadn't cut Jeremy Lin...

Orlando: They'll get something for Howard. Something good. In the mean time, they are a better team than Portland with Howard. I'd swap with Orlando for sure.

Check out the lengths of those contracts. When you say "swap" remember that means you agree to pay Gilbert's amnesty, too. If it was Howard WITHOUT everybody else, it would be a better deal. A LOT better. Seriously, their second best player is probably Ryan Anderson. Think about that.

 

[MickZagger]

Jennings and Bogut are a good pair. He's a year older than Aldridge, and has been injured, but he's a guy they can build around.

Ed O.

Aldridge/Batum > Bogut/Jennings

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This feels an awful lot like 2001-ish

 

[LameR]

I might agree with you just because I also think that Varejao is very good. A young Camby in terms of defense (different style, but equally effective defender) and better on offense.



I disagree. I predict that John Wall will turn out to be a Devin Harris (not that extreme, but...) - looked destined for stardom but never quite made it. He's no Derek Rose OR Russell Westbrook. And I still maintain that JaVale McGee is a useless headcase. We sure made them look good last night, though. Yes, they get a lottery pick. BECAUSE THEY SUCK.



That is flat out insane. The only one of those who I THOUGHT was good was DeRozan, but I read yesterday that he's the only player who plays as many or more minutes than Felton who's worse offensively. And he's not known for his defense. And really? Bayless? Still?



Monroe is slow and methodical. Is that what a beast is like? Knight looks like a Rodney Stuckey in the making: STUCKey between two positions, not good enough for either. Things are not good in Piston-land.



Again, cr-ay-zee. Bogut CANNOT stay healthy, and is very inefficient on offense when he is. Jennings is also very inefficient (Van Exel 2.0) and has JUST ANNOUNCED HE'S GOING TO LEAVE. It hasn't been good to be a Buck since Lew Alcindor.



"Lopez is really good"??? No. He. Isn't. He can't rebound worth a damn. He may be better than Monroe (MAY) but he's no less lumbering. Why "should" DWill get them value? Because he did so for the Jazz? How many times can that happen?



Utah is doing better than I thought, but it's doing it without playing the youth much at all. We don't really know if Kanter, Burks or even Favors are real talents yet. Favors might turn out to be another Amir Johnson - perpetual tease. Utah is winning by playing Raja Bell and Earl Watson in favor of their youth. And their roster is really unbalanced. Also bear in mind that they've slumped as badly as we have (they're half a game behind us).



Totally disagree. They're like a poor man's version of Kenny Anderson/Derrick Coleman. A VERY poor man's version. You forgot the Jimmster. A lot of people have.



Slumping badly. What happened to Kyle Lowry? He looked all-world at the beginning of the season. And if Martin is so good, why is he only getting 24 minutes per game the last ten games? Oh - I see, he's averaging 13 points on 41% shooting. He's almost Jamal Crawford bad. Of course, if they hadn't cut Jeremy Lin...



Check out the lengths of those contracts. When you say "swap" remember that means you agree to pay Gilbert's amnesty, too. If it was Howard WITHOUT everybody else, it would be a better deal. A LOT better. Seriously, their second best player is probably Ryan Anderson. Think about that.

Thanks for responding to Ed O. I agree with some of what Ed said, but for the most part its a reflection how pessimistic and down Blazers fans are right now. Calling Bogut and Jennings better off than Aldridge and Batum? Aldridge, who on RealGM was voted the best PF in the league currently being called a player with less upside than Monroe? Monroe's doing great but he'll never be called the best at his position. There's a lot of negativity right now, and understandably so, but let's step away from the cliff a bit. This is what we have right now

Aldridge- Top 10-15 player in the league, and unanimously top 3 PF, if not number 1.
Batum- A great 2nd or 3rd option who obviously needs more touches.
Camby- One of the best rebounders in the league, but can only play so many minutes.
Wallace- A good player who is playing way more injured than most people realize and is one of the worst people who could play in a condensed season given his playing style. If he stays, next year he'll be solid (beginning of the year people were calling him an all-star and he's played at near all-star level for years!), but that's a big if. If you don't buy into that, then at worst he's an expiring contract.
Mathews- A rhythm shooter from distance who's also above average on D. In a slump currently.
Thomas- An awesome backup big who is comfortable in his role. Very long in the tooth of course, but plays his role well.
C. Smith- A great backup PF that everyone has been longing for for as long as I've been around.
Crawford- A perennial 6MotY candidate who is in a large slump. Very clutch, but slumping and inhibiting Batum's game.
Felton- An above average PG having the worst season of his life. If nothing else he's an expiring contract.
E. Williams- I'm not as high on him as most, but due to his age and the dreaded "P" word, he does have some value.

Babbitt, N. Smith, C. Johnson, A. Johnson haven't shown anything, and Oden is of course Oden.

That's not a bad roster at all. The bottom line is if you have Batum, Mathews, Crawford, and Felton, at least two of them need to be having an average or an above average game for the team to succeed. On any given night, the odds of having that SHOULDN'T be too bad, but unfortunately they have been. Throw in Wallace's injury and fatigue in general, and you've got 1/3 of your roster dictating your success. Aldridge-Batum is a good combo that will hopefully continue to grow with more chances for Batum. You have a great mix of role players around them, and hopefully Nate will be willing to play players in their roles (which includes not playing them when they're sucking). This is not a bad situation at all. It may be dreary at the moment, but it's not as bad as people are making it out to be.

 

[B-Roy]

Felton was NEVER an above average point guard save for his short stint in New York. He was always average at best.

Look at all the starting point guards in the league and tell me who you would take Felton over? Even assuming he was playing at his career averages.

 

[SnakeOiler]

This forum sucks. No new posters. A bunch of whiney, several thousand post posters. Bitch bitch bitch. Its just a game. Watch it and enjoy it. If you can't cheer your team during loses don't watch. Bunch of pussies.

 

[Nikolokolus]

This forum sucks. No new posters. A bunch of whiney, several thousand post posters. Bitch bitch bitch. Its just a game. Watch it and enjoy it. If you can't cheer your team during loses don't watch. Bunch of pussies.

Get your post count up before you start bitching.

 

[MickZagger]

This forum sucks. No new posters. A bunch of whiney, several thousand post posters. Bitch bitch bitch. Its just a game. Watch it and enjoy it. If you can't cheer your team during loses don't watch. Bunch of pussies.

Chill out dude. Its just a message board.

 

[PapaG]

I wouldn't trade places with Golden State at this point.

 

[Mediocre Man]

This forum sucks. No new posters. A bunch of whiney, several thousand post posters. Bitch bitch bitch. Its just a game. Watch it and enjoy it. If you can't cheer your team during loses don't watch. Bunch of pussies.

Don't forget about the couple hundred post posters bitching about the several thousand post posters. I read this somewhere, and while I think it;s garbage it applies here. If you can't enjoy the forum during losses don't post. Stupid assholes. Or something like that

 

[maxiep]

This feels an awful lot like 1979-ish

FIFY.