Around the NBA - the 2020 Playoff Edition!

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BigGameDamian said:
If the Pacers got D'Antoni I would think they would want to keep Oladipo.
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I don't know, Oladipo is a really good defender... not exactly D'Antoni's cup of tea and although he is a dynamic offensive player he isn't as dynamic as CJ. I think D'Antoni would like CJ a lot (probably even overvalue his ability to both handle the ball and score at will), I think the fact that CJ is locked into his deal for a while and has never had injury problems makes him a more sure thing than Oladipo as a lead guard and D'Antoni is all about those lead guards. Also when you look at the Pacers contributors the only two that aren't locked into long term deals are Oladipo and McConnell. So guaranteed continuity might also be appealing to both D'Antoni and Pritchard/Buchanan who is very familiar with CJ.
 
Can you expect a hof coach to take over for stotts? Seems very unlikely to me. Any coach with an amazing post season record is not going to be available, right?
 
blazerkor said:
Wait, if it cant be anyone but Stotts, then how can I take a risk. If I was allowed to take any coach in the game it would be Spo because Eric Spoelstra is both one of the top 3 coaches in the game and although he wasn't born in Portland he is a true Oregonian. I know Spo is not a realistic option because he's with the Heat so my risky pick is Jason Kidd. Oh I know I'm gonna get killed for this one but one Hall of Fame Oakland point guard coaching another is just really cool to me. I think he'll be coming off of a championship as a Lakers assistant. The guy has coached an old as hell Nets team to the second round of the playoffs and was crucial in the development of the guy who is now considered the best player in the league. He led the Bucks to the playoffs two out of three seasons and the season he missed the playoffs he was out for a month... they didn't do more poorly in his absence but I think continuity of leadership is important. I think him getting that team, as young as it was, right around .500 every season was about right and if he were coaching them today and had been developing them and the team's schemes I actually think they'd still be in these playoffs... now if he was still coach/gm today I'm not so sure. I think his time with the Lakers as an assistant shows that he's not so power hungry and controlling anymore and would be a great fit here. He is a players coach but he's never shied away from conflict as a player or a coach. He will hold guys accountable and if guys won't adjust and improve I think his recommendations to Neil will be a lot more direct and helpful in getting a team that is a more cohesive two way winning unit.
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I meant the answer cant be anyone but Stotts, many want him gone but few are stating who they'd rather have that's realistic. But you did, and I too really like Spo but he to has been bless with multiple super stars except maybe this year. He's dione a great job with Miami but Malone has been really good too.
 
illmatic99 said:
We did better than Houston did against LA
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I don't agree but i can't argue otherwise. The Blazers were very undermanned. It was obvious by the end of the 2nd game the Blazers were done. The Blowout loss was really bad but to me when Lillard injured his finger i knew they were done!
 
BonesJones said:
Celtics should've taken Clarke.
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I'm cool with Romeo and Grant, but agree that Clarke would have been a nice fit.

It'll be interesting how Clarke develops. The finishing translated to a high degree and showed some shooting potential, but the defense disappointed a little for me. Just lacks the size, strength and length to be super impactful.

High level rotation big already though.
 
Hope we have an owner like the Bucks who is willing to pay luxury tax to bring players and help Giannis.
 
DDolla said:
Hope we have an owner like the Bucks who is willing to pay luxury tax to bring players and help Giannis.
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Thats a lot easier to do when Giannis is making 7 million per instead of 37 million...... we'll see how "willing" he is from here on out.
 
DDolla said:
Hope we have an owner like the Bucks who is willing to pay luxury tax to bring players and help Giannis.
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Given that the Blazers are paying almost $6M in tax this season, what makes you think that it's money that has been a major obstacle to acquiring players?
 
THE HCP said:
Thats a lot easier to do when Giannis is making 7 million per instead of 37 million...... we'll see how "willing" he is from here on out.
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I'll be more like $50 million. They'd better be eager to spend, not just willing, when it comes time to fill out and/or replenish a roster around that.

Remember when people thought the 7-year guaranteed contracts were bad for teams? Now the teams are wishing they could hold onto their low-priced players for much longer.
 
To celebrate the upcoming Heat - Celtics game, here is a nice clip from 2019 when Jimmy Butler realized what it means to be driven slowly by a rookie (at the time) F1 driver.

 
when people say they want Stotts fired, or they want Portland to move on from Stotts, and the push-back from others comes in the form of "well, who would you replace him with"....I tend to call bullshit on that type of pushback. It seems designed to kill discussion instead of engaging it. None of us here are being paid 3 million a year to evaluate coaching prospects. Granted, we also aren't paid 3 million a year to evaluate Stotts. But most of us have probably seen 90% of the Blazer games over the last 8 seasons. That's 700-800 opportunities to see Stotts on the job. We aren't novices on Stotts

Do you think most Toronto fans would have identified Nick Nurse? most Celtic fans Brad Stevens? most Miami fans Eric Spoelstra? How about San Antonio fans landing on Popovich before he was hired as HC? after all, he'd never been a head coach before.

yes, Portland could hire a worse coach than Stotts. That's the risk. But it's normal risk. Like driving to the store and getting in a wreck risk. And what exactly would Portland be risking by firing Stotts? Their place on the treadmill? Future 1st round exits? Under Stotts, the Blazers have averaged 45 regular season wins and 2.7 playoff wins. That's not a resume worth worrying about.

all that said, I still say the main problem isn't Stotts. It's the guy that hired him
 
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wizenheimer said:
yes, Portland could hire a worse coach than Stotts. That's the risk. But it's normal risk. Like driving to the store and getting in a wreck risk. And what exactly would Portland be risking by firing Stotts? Their place on the treadmill? Future 1st round exits? Under Stotts, the Blazers have averaged 45 regular season wins and 2.7 playoff wins. That's not a resume worth worrying about.
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You forget the biggest one:

- alienating Dame.

He had issue with MPJ questioning Michael Malone, can just imagine the uproar if Terry gets the blame here. Ya I know, he'll shut up once his supermax kicks in, and all in all, he would be very accepting of the decision in the end, but still... it would have to be very nuanced and the narrative framed in a the correct way.
 
wizenheimer said:
How about San Antonio fans landing on Popovich before he was hired as HC? after all, he'd never been a head coach before.

all that said, I still say the main problem isn't Stotts. It's the guy that hired him
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You do see the irony there, right?
 
illmatic99 said:
You forget the biggest one:

- alienating Dame.

He had issue with MPJ questioning Michael Malone, can just imagine the uproar if Terry gets the blame here. Ya I know, he'll shut up once his supermax kicks in, and all in all, he would be very accepting of the decision in the end, but still... it would have to be very nuanced and the narrative framed in a the correct way.
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no...I didn't forget that because I think it's a grossly exaggerated worry, and used way too often to justify inertia and mediocrity
 
wizenheimer said:
when people say they want Stotts fired, or they want Portland to move on from Stotts, and the push-back from others comes in the form of "well, who would you replace him with"....I tend to call bullshit on that type of pushback. It seems designed to kill discussion instead of engaging it. None of us here are being paid 3 million a year to evaluate coaching prospects. Granted, we also aren't paid 3 million a year to evaluate Stotts. But most of us have probably seen 90% of the Blazer games over the last 8 seasons. That's 700-800 opportunities to see Stotts on the job. We aren't novices on Stotts

Do you think most Toronto fans would have identified Nick Nurse? most Celtic fans Brad Stevens? most Miami fans Eric Spoelstra? How about San Antonio fans landing on Popovich before he was hired as HC? after all, he'd never been a head coach before.

yes, Portland could hire a worse coach than Stotts. That's the risk. But it's normal risk. Like driving to the store and getting in a wreck risk. And what exactly would Portland be risking by firing Stotts? Their place on the treadmill? Future 1st round exits? Under Stotts, the Blazers have averaged 45 regular season wins and 2.7 playoff wins. That's not a resume worth worrying about.

all that said, I still say the main problem isn't Stotts. It's the guy that hired him
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was kind of hoping he was on the Knicks' short list. ( that other guy)
 
wizenheimer said:
no...I didn't forget that because I think it's a grossly exaggerated worry, and used way too often to justify inertia and mediocrity
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wouldn't be so dismissive about it. Dame has a lot of say, even with his longterm deal. His legacy begins to get tied with this stuff-- so he is ultra careful about it.
 
illmatic99 said:
wouldn't be so dismissive about it. Dame has a lot of say, even with his longterm deal. His legacy begins to get tied with this stuff-- so he is ultra careful about it.
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I'm not dismissive of Dame's influence. But Dame is not the owner, the GM, or the head coach. He's earned some influence for sure, but he hasn't earned the right to veto logical and necessary moves. He would have earned that veto power if he was able to overcome those playoff "stop-Dame-at-all-cost" defenses by himself that kill Portland every year while leading the Blazers to the title, but he's been failing right along with the rest of the team. He's not bigger than the team
 
e_blazer said:
Given that the Blazers are paying almost $6M in tax this season, what makes you think that it's money that has been a major obstacle to acquiring players?
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It's certainly not for a lack of spending money. Portland has had one of the highest team salaries for a bit. It's more about HOW the money is spent. Some of the contracts that Neil has handed out.....most people in almost any job get fired for that type of wasteful spending.
 
TBpup said:
It's certainly not for a lack of spending money. Portland has had one of the highest team salaries for a bit. It's more about HOW the money is spent. Some of the contracts that Neil has handed out.....most people in almost any job get fired for that type of wasteful spending.
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So, let's look at the way that the money was spent this season:

Damian Lillard $29,802,321
C.J. McCollum $27,556,959
Hassan Whiteside $27,093,019
Jusuf Nurkic $12,000,000
Trevor Ariza $12,200,000
Rodney Hood $5,718,000
Zach Collins $4,240,200
Anfernee Simons $2,149,560
Nassir Little $2,105,520
Caleb Swanigan $2,033,160
Mario Hezonja $1,737,145
Wenyen Gabriel $1,445,697
Gary Trent Jr. $1,416,852
Carmelo Anthony $2,159,029
Jaylen Adams $163,356

There's an additional $5 M or so being wasted in the stretched contracts of Varejao, Anderson and Ezeli. That's on Neil, but is it that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things?

So, everyone below Ariza is making a relative pittance, at least in the NBA's distorted view of the word pittance. We'd probably prefer that guys like Swanigan and Hezonja were replaced with more productive guys, but they're hardly budget busters. I doubt anyone begrudges Nurk his $12 M despite the fact that he only played 8 regular season games. Ariza is making more than he will ever again, but for a starter of his experience he's not making outlandish money. Olshey can dump all but $1.8 M of that by waiving him before the start of next season if he wants.

So that leaves the Big 3 contracts. Whiteside was a bandage for this season's loss of Nurk. Looking back at it, I'm not sure our record isn't better having kept Leonard and Harkless, but bottom line, Whiteside comes off the books unless Olshey goes insane and re-signs him. Nobody is going to question Dame's contract. So, what it really comes down to is where it always comes down to around here: CJ McCollum. Could his money be spent on a player or players who would fit better with the team's needs? Most around here would say YES! I'm in the, okay, but show me who we're getting mode.
 
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wizenheimer said:
nope...but feel free to explain it

as I said about Stotts; 8 years of seeing the results of management and coaching at least makes us versed in what we are seeing
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Pop was the GM. He fired the coach and made himself coach.
 
handiman said:
Pop was the GM. He fired the coach and made himself coach.
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yeah, that's how I remember it

but I was talking about if fans have to identify the next head coach before they advocate firing the existing one.
 
Tatum's passing is really a huge asset. Dude is such a crazy talent.
 
One thing I've noticed with all these good defensive teams versus the Blazers:

The Blazers reach more in one quarter than these teams do in an entire game.

Are our defensive players just THAT bad? Or are our coaches just that terrible at teaching defensive fundamentals?
 
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e_blazer said:
So, let's look at the way that the money was spent this season:

Damian Lillard $29,802,321
C.J. McCollum $27,556,959
Hassan Whiteside $27,093,019
Jusuf Nurkic $12,000,000
Trevor Ariza $12,200,000
Rodney Hood $5,718,000
Zach Collins $4,240,200
Anfernee Simons $2,149,560
Nassir Little $2,105,520
Caleb Swanigan $2,033,160
Mario Hezonja $1,737,145
Wenyen Gabriel $1,445,697
Gary Trent Jr. $1,416,852
Carmelo Anthony $2,159,029
Jaylen Adams $163,356

There's an additional $5 M or so being wasted in the stretched contracts of Varejao, Anderson and Ezeli. That's on Neil, but is it that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things?

So, everyone below Ariza is making a relative pittance, at least in the NBA's distorted view of the word pittance. We'd probably prefer that guys like Swanigan and Hezonja were replaced with more productive guys, but they're hardly budget busters. I doubt anyone begrudges Nurk his $12 M despite the fact that he only played 8 regular season games. Ariza is making more than he will ever again, but for a starter of his experience he's not making outlandish money. Olshey can dump all but $1.8 M of that by waiving him before the start of next season if he wants.

So that leaves the Big 3 contracts. Whiteside was a bandage for this season's loss of Nurk. Looking back at it, I'm not sure our record isn't better having kept Leonard and Harkless, but bottom line, Whiteside comes off the books unless Olshey goes insane and re-signs him. Nobody is going to question Dame's contract. So, what it really comes down to is where it always comes down to around here: CJ McCollum. Could his money be spent on a player or players who would fit better with the team's needs? Most around here would say YES! I'm in the, okay, but show me who we're getting mode.
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You forgot about Pau Gasol. How much did he get paid?
 
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