You really think "many" people would see us making the playoffs as 100 percent negative? I don't think anyone reading most of the posts about getting a high draft pick could realistically conclude that.
I think getting a better draft pick this year is a bigger win for the Blazers than getting into the playoffs. I won't be mad if they make it in. I just think that the team needs more talent, and I think our best opportunity to do that is through the draft, either by picking a player that makes us better or by having a pick to put into a trade that makes us better. If we make the playoffs, we don't have a draft pick, and we'll have to pull off a really good trade and/or making a bigger splash in free agency than we do normally. We can do that, but we also can do both of those things with a high draft pick which gives us more room for error and a better chance of hitting it big.
I like having a team that is always competitive. But I also like to have a team that can challenge to go deep into the playoffs. Barring Vonleh turning into a much better offensive player than he's looking so far, I don't think you can expect any of these other guys to make a CJ-like jump, and that team is at best a borderline playoff team. Get stuck in there and it's hard to get out. However, you add some kind of dynamic presence to the current mix, and suddenly you have a team that might be in the top four in the West for half a decade or more. I'll take missing the playoffs for that over fighting for the eighth spot until Lillard's career is over.
The Blazers aren't the 76ers. The Blazers have talent and the Blazers can play with and sometimes beat very good teams. But they don't have enough of the former to consistently do the latter, so we need more.
Aside from the fact that we've won more than I thought we would, this season has gone pretty close to what I think it had to be for the team to become the best it could be in the next couple of years. I don't root for losses or go to bed mad if we win. I think a lot of fans feel the same way as I do. Like someone else said, this is an 82-game preseason. I think we win pretty much however it turns out, but I think having the lottery pick is the best scenario.