Are we headed toward the mediocre middle?

[1 Eye Jack]

the NBA has changed over 44 years

Portland was not a contender in 2019 because the Warriors stood in their way and the Blazers had no hope of beating the Warriors. None. Portland and Golden State had met in the playoffs 3 times in 4 years and Portland's record against them was 1-12, and the 1 win came when Curry was injured and out of the game. If you add in the regular season, the Blazers were 5-27 against the Warriors over those 4 years. The Warriors were Portland's crucible and they failed every time.

Sad part is believe we had good leads in almost every game against GS, then GS turned on the defense and we folded

 

[1 Eye Jack]

To late to be tanking these last 8 games threw that out the window. Might as well see what we trade for and see what happens. Only team I truly fear is GS, every other team is beatable with healthy Dame

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Not that year, or they would have given the Blazers a better battle. Being even the #1 seed doesn't make you a contender.

It does in my book. Any team that plays 82 games and comes out with the number 1 seed is a contender as far as i'm concerned.

 

[illmatic99]

To late to be tanking these last 8 games threw that out the window. Might as well see what we trade for and see what happens. Only team I truly fear is GS, every other team is beatable with healthy Dame

i don't think it's too late to tank at all.

 

[riverman]

i don't think it's too late to tank at all.

I'm in the never tank...try to win and if you lose you get the pick you deserve camp.....I think intentionally tanking is terrible for the sport...even tanking for playoff seedings is cowardly...go out and play the teams in front of you full force and let it end how it ends. Winning makes me happy...tanking is a gamblers rope a dope ....personally I don't trust that to produce a golden parachute but you're right....we could tank and get a 5 pick...we're not getting the top 3 more than likely over the Rockets or Magic or Pelicans.etc....I also want to win more now that I've seen Nas and Ant rise to the occassion. Playoff experience helps those guys more than having a rookie next season will.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

i don't think it's too late to tank at all.

problem is we now have 18 wins and 6 teams below that are going to struggle to get wins. Meanwhile if we were tanking it would have happened over last couple of weeks but we keep winning with our top players out. Guys are buying into Billups system and playing much better. Might as well trade and see what happens in playoffs

 

[Hoopguru]

Anyone thats played sports at a competitive level knows how hard it is to win a championship, at any level.
And you know who's tanking right now, Morey.

 

[illmatic99]

problem is we now have 18 wins and 6 teams below that are going to struggle to get wins. Meanwhile if we were tanking it would have happened over last couple of weeks but we keep winning with our top players out. Guys are buying into Billups system and playing much better. Might as well trade and see what happens in playoffs

i think it's gonna be really hard for us to climb 5.5 games to catch DEN for a top 6 seed. That leaves us in the play-in, the prize for which is first round matchup against either Phoenix or GS. All the while, we lose our pick altogether if we get through the play-in.

I really don't see the upside.

OTOH, we can drop pretty easily to a top 7 pick which would be a valuable piece to have to make moves in the summer.

I'd rather forcefeed Ant/Nas minutes and let them make mistakes and develop. Trade Roco, trade CJ, trade Powell, figure out what to do with Nurk and tank simply by not having talent. The 13 game losing streak to finish Dame's rookie year while we stealth tanked (benched Wes/Batum/Aldridge for large stretches) net us a #10 pick. But the biggest benefit was allowing Dame to make every mistake possible while he learned how to navigate defenses. He led the league in minutes that season largely due to that stretch to finish.

Hard to mentally root for a loss and I don't think I can ever do that, but there is a very clear ceiling for THIS iteration of the team. A one year reset is not the worst thing in the world.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

i think it's gonna be really hard for us to climb 5.5 games to catch DEN for a top 6 seed. That leaves us in the play-in, the prize for which is first round matchup against either Phoenix or GS. All the while, we lose our pick altogether if we get through the play-in.

I really don't see the upside.

OTOH, we can drop pretty easily to a top 7 pick which would be a valuable piece to have to make moves in the summer.

I'd rather forcefeed Ant/Nas minutes and let them make mistakes and develop. Trade Roco, trade CJ, trade Powell, figure out what to do with Nurk and tank simply by not having talent. The 13 game losing streak to finish Dame's rookie year while we stealth tanked (benched Wes/Batum/Aldridge for large stretches) net us a #10 pick. But the biggest benefit was allowing Dame to make every mistake possible while he learned how to navigate defenses. He led the league in minutes that season largely due to that stretch to finish.

Hard to mentally root for a loss and I don't think I can ever do that, but there is a very clear ceiling for THIS iteration of the team. A one year reset is not the worst thing in the world.

i was in same boat two weeks ago I wanted draft pick. But with the way we are playing I can’t see it happening even dumping some of our best players we will win to many to full on tank. I would prefer we upgrade and start building chemistry for next year. Also gives us chance to have more time learn Billups system which is starting to look good.

unlike most I don’t feel to bad with our core and seeing Ant and Nas playing like borderline starters we have some youth to build with. If GS has any injuries then door opens for an upset assuming Dame comes back

 

[illmatic99]

i was in same boat two weeks ago I wanted draft pick. But with the way we are playing I can’t see it happening even dumping some of our best players we will win to many to full on tank. I would prefer we upgrade and start building chemistry for next year. Also gives us chance to have more time learn Billups system which is starting to look good.

unlike most I don’t feel to bad with our core and seeing Ant and Nas playing like borderline starters we have some youth to build with. If GS has any injuries then door opens for an upset assuming Dame comes back

i don't necessarily think a stretch where we win 4 of 5 games removes the fact that we lost 24 of 38 prior to this stretch. The only good team we beat in this stretch was BK which was coming off a b2b having flown 6 hrs the night prior. We just got trounced by DEN by 32 last week (yes, without Ant, but he wouldn't have changed the result).

Nice to see our guys play well and Nurk/Roco build trade value, but there's a far greater sample size that suggests we're a bottom 5 team in the conference instead of top 8 one.

 

[TBpup]

It does in my book. Any team that plays 82 games and comes out with the number 1 seed is a contender as far as i'm concerned.

The 1994 Sonics appreciate that belief.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I hate this shit. I am so fucking tired of KNOWING this team will be an also ran EVERY FUCKING YEAR. Andy Dufresne said …… hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies…. I’m fucking tired of never having hope. This team is constructed to make the playoffs, not to win a title. What’s so fucking annoying about that is the majority of fans are ok with that. This team, as constructed, will never win shit. It will never be taken seriously as a title contender. This fucking team needs to commit to winning a title. It needs to take steps daily to do that. THIS team is never going to win, so tear it down, identify players to move forward with that fit whatever timeline you identify and COMMIT to WINNING A TITLE.

So much more rant to spew, but that’s the gist of it

lol! Well dont hold back!

i dont really dissagree. Do you think Ant and Nas are a good starting point?
If so i think i have a suggestion on what to do.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

A lot of people aren’t going to like hearing this but I don’t think we should trade Nurk (unless you get a great deal). To me the way the game is being played you should counter by playing inside out. Nurk is showing positive signs and starting to get us the easy baskets you need come playoff time. He’s good in pick and roll, rebounds great, good passer and is decent on defense. He fits what Billups wants to do and is showing signs of being capable of taking on more. For the right price I keep him and for that matter for right price id trade him lol, I’m talking in circles but you get the point

 

[Mediocre Man]

lol! Well dont hold back!

i dont really dissagree. Do you think Ant and Nas are a good starting point?
If so i think i have a suggestion on what to do.

I personally do not. I like both of them, and they’d be nice pieces, but neither are building blocks for a championship team. I get torn apart every time I say this, but a scoring pg is not the ideal person to be your best player. It CAN work, but a wing player is easier to surround with championship talent

purely hypothetically, had we moved Dame at the beginning of the year for Simmons and Thybulle, and then CJ, RoCo etc for younger pieces we’d be sitting pretty on a refurbish.

 

[Hoopguru]

I personally do not. I like both of them, and they’d be nice pieces, but neither are building blocks for a championship team. I get torn apart every time I say this, but a scoring pg is not the ideal person to be your best player. It CAN work, but a wing player is easier to surround with championship talent

purely hypothetically, had we moved Dame at the beginning of the year for Simmons and Thybulle, and then CJ, RoCo etc for younger pieces we’d be sitting pretty on a refurbish.

Could still happen.

 

[Hoopguru]

Could still happen.

With the way Simmons has reacted Im not sure he’s the guy we want to rebuilt around? A but indifferent.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

A lot of people aren’t going to like hearing this but I don’t think we should trade Nurk (unless you get a great deal). To me the way the game is being played you should counter by playing inside out. Nurk is showing positive signs and starting to get us the easy baskets you need come playoff time. He’s good in pick and roll, rebounds great, good passer and is decent on defense. He fits what Billups wants to do and is showing signs of being capable of taking on more. For the right price I keep him and for that matter for right price id trade him lol, I’m talking in circles but you get the point

He's a top 10 center. Top 5 if he's engaged. You'll get the best out of him if you run the ball through him. If you don't plan to, move him.

It's like having Ben Simmons and having him play off the ball. Don't make no sense.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I personally do not. I like both of them, and they’d be nice pieces, but neither are building blocks for a championship team. I get torn apart every time I say this, but a scoring pg is not the ideal person to be your best player. It CAN work, but a wing player is easier to surround with championship talent

purely hypothetically, had we moved Dame at the beginning of the year for Simmons and Thybulle, and then CJ, RoCo etc for younger pieces we’d be sitting pretty on a refurbish.

So my suggestion is we still do it. Dame for Simmons and Maxey & thybulle. Then trade Nurk, Roco and CJ and whatever picks to nail down the top pick and draft Banchero. Likely a three way or multiple trades to get this done. IF possible.

Ant/Smith jr
Powell/Maxey
Nas/Nance
Banchero/Thybulle
Simmons/?

Is that a championship core to mold around? I think it has a great combination of O and D and has good size except Simmons at Center, but we get a big guy as a backup. Kanter or something.

The ball movement on that starting five seems extremely intriguing to me. And the D should be top 10.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

The 1994 Sonics appreciate that belief.

Did you really just go back 28 years? You could have just gone to 2012 and went with the Sixers and Bulls of course that was because Derrick Rose got injured.
It's happened 6 times in the 75 years of the league.

It does kind of make a different point though. You never know what can happen in the playoffs.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I'm in the never tank...try to win and if you lose you get the pick you deserve camp.....I think intentionally tanking is terrible for the sport...even tanking for playoff seedings is cowardly...go out and play the teams in front of you full force and let it end how it ends. Winning makes me happy...tanking is a gamblers rope a dope ....personally I don't trust that to produce a golden parachute but you're right....we could tank and get a 5 pick...we're not getting the top 3 more than likely over the Rockets or Magic or Pelicans.etc....I also want to win more now that I've seen Nas and Ant rise to the occassion. Playoff experience helps those guys more than having a rookie next season will.

I think we should try to win every game as well. I just wish we were doing with different players that might be able to compete for a title one day

 

[riverman]

I think we should try to win every game as well. I just wish we were doing with different players that might be able to compete for a title one day

I'm pretty sure we're going to see a shake up this season or at least offseason....our timing for building trade value is great right now though

 

[1 Eye Jack]

i don't necessarily think a stretch where we win 4 of 5 games removes the fact that we lost 24 of 38 prior to this stretch. The only good team we beat in this stretch was BK which was coming off a b2b having flown 6 hrs the night prior. We just got trounced by DEN by 32 last week (yes, without Ant, but he wouldn't have changed the result).

Nice to see our guys play well and Nurk/Roco build trade value, but there's a far greater sample size that suggests we're a bottom 5 team in the conference instead of top 8 one.

we are currently 10th with our two best players out of the line up for extended amount of time. Now I do agree we weren’t good with them this year but really think that had as much to do with Dame not being right and adjusting to new coach. I think we are closer to top 8 then bottom 5 when healthy . I like what I see from the team and Billups system. I’ve said it million times I think Billups wants to form us in the Pistons image or at least more old school model

 

[Fairly-Hard]

IDK?
People talking about "Billups's System"?
Dude doesn't seem to know much at all at this point. Multiple losses land directly on him. I'm all about giving him a chance for a couple years but if this stuff isn't fixed in three years I'm gonna turn on him. For the most part he just seems clueless on what is happening on the court.
IMO they hired a guy who needed a couple more years as an assistant. It's too bad because he's probably going to learn here and his next job will be a bunch better. He's going to burn the rest of Damian Lillards prime years trying to figure out how to coach.

 

[Orion Bailey]

So my suggestion is we still do it. Dame for Simmons and Maxey & thybulle. Then trade Nurk, Roco and CJ and whatever picks to nail down the top pick and draft Banchero. Likely a three way or multiple trades to get this done. IF possible.

Ant/Smith jr
Powell/Maxey
Nas/Nance
Banchero/Thybulle
Simmons/?

Is that a championship core to mold around? I think it has a great combination of O and D and has good size except Simmons at Center, but we get a big guy as a backup. Kanter or something.

The ball movement on that starting five seems extremely intriguing to me. And the D should be top 10.

@Mediocre Man you likely read this atrocity prior to me editing.
Had some things not making sense. Check it now. I think its all fairly possible aNd curious if you think that could get it done.

 

[Mediocre Man]

@Mediocre Man you likely read this atrocity prior to me editing.
Had some things not making sense. Check it now. I think its all fairly possible aNd curious if you think that could get it done.

Dame won’t bring that much from Philly at this point

CJ, Nurk, Roco etc need salary coming back

 

[Orion Bailey]

Dame won’t bring that much from Philly at this point

CJ, Nurk, Roco etc need salary coming back

So basically my post was pointless. Thats all you had to say. I have no point in my post. Lol.
Let me see what i can work up this weekend because nobody can work trades like me!

 

[Mediocre Man]

So basically my post was pointless. Thats all you had to say. I have no point in my post. Lol.
Let me see what i can work up this weekend because nobody can work trades like me!

Waiting with bated breath