Blazers 1st in offseason rankings!

[SlyPokerDog]

Or the last, depends on the direction you read the list.

30. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

Ed Davis (three years, $20 million); G Gerald Henderson (via trade from Charlotte); F Noah Vonleh (via trade from Charlotte); C Mason Plumlee (via trade from Brooklyn); F Mike Miller (via trade from Cleveland); F Maurice Harkless (via trade from Orlando); F Pat Connaughton (Draft rights via trade from Brooklyn)

LOST: G Arron Afflalo (signed with New York); F LaMarcus Aldridge (signed with San Antonio); G Steve Blake (signed with Brooklyn); F Nicolas Batum (traded to Charlotte); F/C Joel Freeland (signed with CSKA Moscow); G Alonzo Gee (signed with New Orleans); C Robin Lopez (signed with New York); G Wesley Matthews (signed with Dallas)


Terry Stotts On Blazers

Portland head coach Terry Stotts joins GameTime to talk Blazers basketball.

RETAINED: None

THE KEY MAN: Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. As long as Carroll keeps the Hawks a legit Super Bowl contender, Blazers owner Paul Allen's attention is at least divided, lest he concentrate full-time on his beloved basketball team in Portland.

THE SKINNY: An avalanche of bad. No matter how anyone tries to spin it, watching five players who started either all season or part of the season for your team last season -- including your franchise player -- walk away is a disaster. The team that lost in the first round to Memphis last season won 51 games, had reached the second round of the playoffs just a year earlier and had captured the hearts of Portland's fans. GM Neil Olshey applied band-aids where he could, and Aminu and Vonleh could become a solid forward duo in time, filling the lanes for Damian Lillard. But the rest, to paraphrase Gabriel Byrne in "The Usual Suspects", is window dressing. Terry Stotts will coach his butt off, and Lillard got the max and will be the man, but one man does not a good team make.

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/featur...015-offseason-grades-the-bottom-10/index.html

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Seems unduly harsh on the Rockets and the Hornets. And Utah (was Exum really that important?)

Edit: Okay, now that I actually read it, it makes more sense:

If your team is ranked in the top 10, it doesn't mean I love your team. If your team is ranked in the bottom 10, it doesn't mean I hate your team. It's an opinion that seeks to answer a question: is the team better now than at the end of last season? The ranking reflects the belief on whether, and how much, that is so. (I like certain guys in the Draft more than others, so if your team took them, I probably gave it more weight. Doesn't mean I'm right.)

Still a bit hard on Charlotte, though. Is he punishing them for not taking Boston's offer of a million picks?

 

[Nikolokolus]

In before the avalanche of "David Aldridge is a hack-fraud," and "The Blazers have a decent chance to make the playoffs," and "The media is biased against Portland."

Ready, steady, go!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I disagree with the word choice of some phrases, but there's no denying our offseason has been all about making lemonade. However, as a fan who's dealt with a couple of long slow slides into mediocrity and worse, it's nice to rip off the bandaid all at once for a change. It feels more honest.

 

[Draco]

Can't argue too much with us at the bottom. We went from a dark horse contender to long term rebuild.

The Mavs being ranked better than the Jazz, Rockets, Hornets, Kings is very stupid though. The Mavs lost their two best players. In terms of play on the court the Nets should be way down there too. They might have saved money but they added nobody good and lost Deron Williams who was at times a solid starting PG. The Jazz didn't necessarily do much to improve but they aren't worse for next year. Exum wasn't going to help win now; this hurts his long term development but not next seasons Jazz. The Rockets made good moves with upside; although losing Smith could hurt them and maybe he believes Lawson is hopeless. The Hornets and Kings look improved for next year; I don't like the long term sacrifices those clubs made but just for the roster entering next season they are both better than the end of last year.

 

[Draco]

I disagree with the word choice of some phrases, but there's no denying our offseason has been all about making lemonade. However, as a fan who's dealt with a couple of long slow slides into mediocrity and worse, it's nice to rip off the bandaid all at once for a change. It feels more honest.

Yeah I'm glad we didn't try to add a Dale Davis, Shareef Abdur-Rahim or give Theo Ratliff $11 million per season. I kind of think the West being so damn strong right now helps us in a way; if we were in the East we might've been able to just bring back Rolo/Wes add an average starter and have a real shot at winning a playoff series. But with the West having 6 of the 7 best NBA teams theres no chance. It forces us to do a more strategic rebuild.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Yeah I'm glad we didn't try to add a Dale Davis, Shareef Abdur-Rahim or give Theo Ratliff $11 million per season. I kind of think the West being so damn strong right now helps us in a way; if we were in the East we might've been able to just bring back Rolo/Wes add an average starter and have a real shot at winning a playoff series. But with the West having 6 of the 7 best NBA teams theres no chance. It forces us to do a more strategic rebuild.

Acquire young talent and weather the storm, yep. If Philly was in the West, their tactics wouldn't seem so brazen.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

In before the avalanche of "David Aldridge is a hack-fraud," and "The Blazers have a decent chance to make the playoffs," and "The media is biased against Portland."

Ready, steady, go!

Anyone with the name Aldridge can fuck off.

(am I doing that right?)

 

[santeesioux]

All we need is a Ben Simmons level prospect next year and to sign a Derozen type FA and we'll be a playoff team again.

 

[e_blazer]

Anyone with the name Aldridge can fuck off.

(am I doing that right?)

We can't see what your hands are doing, Sly, but if it feels good ....

 

[e_blazer]

The only thing that bugs me about this is that it's strictly seen through the lens of the coming season. Yeah....that's going to be ugly...real ugly. That said, I think Olshey gets points for pivoting solidly towards a rebuild. Unlike Cuban, who just can't bring himself to admit that it's over, Olshey didn't run out and get guys who could have kept the team at a mid-tier level in perpetuity. He could have re-signed Lopez and Wes at the bloated figures that they got, or made moves to get similar guys who are solid vets, but unable to help move the needle towards contention. I guess that would have earned a better grade from Aldridge, but it would have been a pathetic GM move. Instead, he went young, kept his cap space, gained some draft picks and is aiming at getting help in the lottery and via unbalanced trades. At least now we have a shot at being relevant a couple of years down the road.

 

[magnifier661]

In before the avalanche of "David Aldridge is a hack-fraud," and "The Blazers have a decent chance to make the playoffs," and "The media is biased against Portland."

Ready, steady, go!

82-0

 

[BlazerCaravan]

82-0

105-0! (7+82+16)

 

[BonesJones]

All we need is a Ben Simmons level prospect next year and to sign a Derozen type FA and we'll be a playoff team again.

NO DEROZEN. He'd make this team worse. Id rather have Rudy Gay than Derozen.

If you just mean a borderline allstar, then I agree 100%.

 

[BonesJones]

Yeah I'm glad we didn't try to add a Dale Davis, Shareef Abdur-Rahim or give Theo Ratliff $11 million per season. I kind of think the West being so damn strong right now helps us in a way; if we were in the East we might've been able to just bring back Rolo/Wes add an average starter and have a real shot at winning a playoff series. But with the West having 6 of the 7 best NBA teams theres no chance. It forces us to do a more strategic rebuild.

problem is, 3 or 4 years from now, I think the West will be just as strong

TOP TIER
Golden State - Will be just as good as this year
Oklahoma City - If Durant returns, they'll still be a contender
Clippers - Paul will be older but Griffin will be more info his prime. They should be at the same level as they are now.
Houston - Assuming Dwight doesn't bolt, they could be better with the cap raise by adding more solid free agents

IFFY:
San Antonio - Many and Timmy should be retired by then.. and we have no clue how good a team led by Parker, Kawhi, and that other guy will be.
Memphis - Z-Bo will be on the decline, but with his party style, who knows how steep it will be?
New Orleans - An Anthony Davis led team should always end up in the playoffs. If they add some real players around him, they could be a top 5 team in the league
Minnesota - With all the top level prospects they're getting, they could be a dark horse contender
Utah - They have a ton of solid young pieces. Who knows how good or bad they will be
Lakers - You never know who will flick there in free agency, or who they'd steal in a trade. Plus they got good prospects to boot.
Portland? - They got solid young pieces, a good GM, and cap space...

I don't think the west will get any easier. A couple of the teams like San Antonio and Memphis might fall off, but you'll have teams like New Orleans and Minnesota replacing them.

 

[Draco]

problem is, 3 or 4 years from now, I think the West will be just as strong

TOP TIER
Golden State - Will be just as good as this year
Oklahoma City - If Durant returns, they'll still be a contender
Clippers - Paul will be older but Griffin will be more info his prime. They should be at the same level as they are now.
Houston - Assuming Dwight doesn't bolt, they could be better with the cap raise by adding more solid free agents

IFFY:
San Antonio - Many and Timmy should be retired by then.. and we have no clue how good a team led by Parker, Kawhi, and that other guy will be.
Memphis - Z-Bo will be on the decline, but with his party style, who knows how steep it will be?
New Orleans - An Anthony Davis led team should always end up in the playoffs. If they add some real players around him, they could be a top 5 team in the league
Minnesota - With all the top level prospects they're getting, they could be a dark horse contender
Utah - They have a ton of solid young pieces. Who knows how good or bad they will be
Lakers - You never know who will flick there in free agency, or who they'd steal in a trade. Plus they got good prospects to boot.
Portland? - They got solid young pieces, a good GM, and cap space...

I don't think the west will get any easier. A couple of the teams like San Antonio and Memphis might fall off, but you'll have teams like New Orleans and Minnesota replacing them.

Well I disagree. Dwight is losing athleticism every year he's nowhere near the MVP candidate he was in Orlando. A couple years from now he'll likely be a very average starter or maybe even an occasional backup. PG's decline very fast after 30 so those Clippers could be a two man Blake DeAndre show; that's a solid 50 win team but not necessarily a contender. The Thunder have Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, Adams all becoming free agents and likely won't keep them all especially with that horrific Kanter contract.

Golden State looks the best of the bunch but even they will have to deal with the decline of an aging Bogut and Iggy; Curry and others on max contracts, plus they are unlikely to have such prestige health.

Yes I'd expect the TWolves or Jazz or Pelicans or whomever to greatly improve as a team as the Spurs and Grizzlies decline; but chances are they become solid playoff teams; not legit multi year title contenders. We are in an extremely unusual period where 6 teams in the West have legit chances to win an NBA title. This normally doesn't happen. If we wait a few years yes there will still be a great team or two we have to beat to contend. But odds are against there being this gauntlet of six great teams all at once all in our conference.

 

[THE HCP]

problem is, 3 or 4 years from now, I think the West will be just as strong

TOP TIER
Golden State - Will be just as good as this year
Oklahoma City - If Durant returns, they'll still be a contender
Clippers - Paul will be older but Griffin will be more info his prime. They should be at the same level as they are now.
Houston - Assuming Dwight doesn't bolt, they could be better with the cap raise by adding more solid free agents

IFFY:
San Antonio - Many and Timmy should be retired by then.. and we have no clue how good a team led by Parker, Kawhi, and that other guy will be.
Memphis - Z-Bo will be on the decline, but with his party style, who knows how steep it will be?
New Orleans - An Anthony Davis led team should always end up in the playoffs. If they add some real players around him, they could be a top 5 team in the league
Minnesota - With all the top level prospects they're getting, they could be a dark horse contender
Utah - They have a ton of solid young pieces. Who knows how good or bad they will be
Lakers - You never know who will flick there in free agency, or who they'd steal in a trade. Plus they got good prospects to boot.
Portland? - They got solid young pieces, a good GM, and cap space...

YOU PUT SA AND MEMPHIS IN THE SAME GROUP AS OUR BLAZERS?????

 

[Denny Crane]

YOU PUT SA AND MEMPHIS IN THE SAME GROUP AS OUR BLAZERS?????

Rookie mistake.

 

[THE HCP]

Rookie mistake.

That's just flat out blasphemy Denny! Even you can see that right?

 

[Denny Crane]

That's just flat out blasphemy Denny! Even you can see that right?

SA and Memphis no doubt.

SA did add LMA to a team a year away from championship.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

just a fun look at in and out per game all added up this is what we came up with:

Out: 84.7 ppg/38.8rpg/20.9apg/214.7mpg (some of this is obviously skewed because I'm adding everyone's per game stats even Gee and Wright)

In: 47.1ppg/31.2rpg/9.5apg/142.9mpg

If guys like Leonard, CJ and Dame take it to the next level and add in more minutes for Vonleh, Aminu and Hendo. I wonder how close we end up to actually breaking even possibly.

 

[THE HCP]

SA and Memphis no doubt.

SA did add LMA to a team a year away from championship.

AND DAVID WEST!

 

[THE HCP]

just a fun look at in and out per game all added up this is what we came up with:

Out: 84.7 ppg/38.8rpg/20.9apg/214.7mpg (some of this is obviously skewed because I'm adding everyone's per game stats even Gee and Wright)

In: 47.1ppg/31.2rpg/9.5apg/142.9mpg

If guys like Leonard, CJ and Dame take it to the next level and add in more minutes for Vonleh, Aminu and Hendo. I wonder how close we end up to actually breaking even possibly.

My prediction Dame will pick up that scoring slack and average 69.3 ppg!

 

[Sinobas]

Here's a trivia challenge, can anyone remember an offseason where we added 4 new starters? The biggest roster swap I could reacall was 1996-97, when we added Kenny Anderson, JR Rider and Rasheed Wallace.

 

[barfo]

Here's a trivia challenge, can anyone remember an offseason where we added 4 new starters? The biggest roster swap I could reacall was 1996-97, when we added Kenny Anderson, JR Rider and Rasheed Wallace.

I think the 1970 offseason we added 5.

barfo

 

[BonesJones]

YOU PUT SA AND MEMPHIS IN THE SAME GROUP AS OUR BLAZERS?????

Its not a grouping, more of just a label of "We don't have a clue how good these teams will be 3 years from now"

 

[BonesJones]

Rookie mistake.

How long do I have to post here to not be considered a "rookie"?...

 

[Draco]

YOU PUT SA AND MEMPHIS IN THE SAME GROUP AS OUR BLAZERS?????

It was a valid point. I'm assuming you skipped over the "4 years from now" preface.

 

[Draco]

How long do I have to post here to not be considered a "rookie"?...

Not sure; he calls me one because I joined six days after him... 7 years ago.

 

[stampedehero]

problem is, 3 or 4 years from now, I think the West will be just as strong

TOP TIER
Golden State - Will be just as good as this year
Oklahoma City - If Durant returns, they'll still be a contender
Clippers - Paul will be older but Griffin will be more info his prime. They should be at the same level as they are now.
Houston - Assuming Dwight doesn't bolt, they could be better with the cap raise by adding more solid free agents

IFFY:
San Antonio - Many and Timmy should be retired by then.. and we have no clue how good a team led by Parker, Kawhi, and that other guy will be.
Memphis - Z-Bo will be on the decline, but with his party style, who knows how steep it will be?
New Orleans - An Anthony Davis led team should always end up in the playoffs. If they add some real players around him, they could be a top 5 team in the league
Minnesota - With all the top level prospects they're getting, they could be a dark horse contender
Utah - They have a ton of solid young pieces. Who knows how good or bad they will be
Lakers - You never know who will flick there in free agency, or who they'd steal in a trade. Plus they got good prospects to boot.
Portland? - They got solid young pieces, a good GM, and cap space...

I don't think the west will get any easier. A couple of the teams like San Antonio and Memphis might fall off, but you'll have teams like New Orleans and Minnesota replacing them.

+ Bones.....Phoenix is not worth a mention?