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Fez Forthright said:
Dennis Schroeder — one year deal, contract year and we can at least for one season end the sad experiment of Anfernee Simons getting PG minutes
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The bench will look a lot better next year running a motion offense with Zeller and hopefully Millsap as the bigs. Chauncey has been credited with helping various Clippers players with their playmaking abilities. Simons will look much better playing backup PG next year, as he won't have to constantly try to create 1v1 to bail out a stagnant offense.

Giving up on Simons to sign a mediocre small guard who isn't a good shooter or defender and has attitude problems who could leave in a year would be a huge mistake.
 
calvin natt said:
Markkanen would be a great addition. Not sure why people aren’t more open to it. Shot 40% from three, 24 year old, huge dude. Would seem to be a big man for today’s NBA.
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And we wouldn't have to play him next to Kanter so the bench 4/5 combination wouldn't be absolutely hopeless defensively. I wouldn't mind it.
 
calvin natt said:
If I ran the Blazer organization I would legit form, hire, create a group that was responsible for ‘marketing’ Portland as a FA destination. First - figure out what the real barriers are. Is it just too white? It’s the whitest in the league, but we have a lot of guys who love it and stay forever. How can we leverage Nike and adidas within the rules. What are guys saying who recruit players, cuz it ain’t working. Come up with a sales pitch or something. There has to be a better way to tackle this. Greet them at the airport with women like it’s college hoops. Who’s touring these guys around, who’s showing them the city when they arrive? How do we treat them when they play here as a visitor? Turn over every rock. Or….just sit back and complain about it
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My guess is that for such a marketing campaign to work, you'd have to convince NBA players that your city is diverse with an active nightlife scene and a large selection of top-end restaurants. There are some young men who appreciate the smaller city vibe and the easy access to nature and that sort of thing, but I'd say most young people with considerable disposable income (basketball players or not) want a great club and restaurant scene and a diverse social scene. I don't think sales pitches or recruitment displays make much of a difference--if they're going to spend a significant percentage of their year in a place, it has to have the things they're looking for and the above things are, in my opinion, what they're looking for.
 
OMG -- NeO is smiling with Norm -- HOW DARE HE !!!! ---

Some of you fans have lost your mind when it comes to NeO

I am not saying he is bad or good just saying try and use some common sense when talking about NeO .... NM .. i know that's not going to happen so not going to waste my words.

Good for NeO and he should smile he got Norm on a HELL of a deal but once the new year starts ( fiscal yr ) that's when I think we will see a few trades and going to be honest i really hope NeO takes what Dame has said to heart cause I sure as hell do not want to be saying goodbye to Dame in 6 months to a year .
 
tenor.gif
 
Minstrel said:
My guess is that for such a marketing campaign to work, you'd have to convince NBA players that your city is diverse with an active nightlife scene and a large selection of top-end restaurants. There are some young men who appreciate the smaller city vibe and the easy access to nature and that sort of thing, but I'd say most young people with considerable disposable income (basketball players or not) want a great club and restaurant scene and a diverse social scene. I don't think sales pitches or recruitment displays make much of a difference--if they're going to spend a significant percentage of their year in a place, it has to have the things they're looking for and the above things are, in my opinion, what they're looking for.
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I mean we can’t fake it, but if a guy lands in PDX and drives to Tualatin and that’s his exposure to Portland, they’re toast. I know it’s not a simple easy fix but there has to be a better way than just throwing hands up like oh well, we are who we are.
 
Winslow got the TPMLE for the Clippers. Gotta admire Ballmer's spending.
 
B-Roy was that sarcasm or legit cause Winslow is not great so if that was a shot at NeO then I think your wrong.
 
B-Roy said:
Winslow got the TPMLE for the Clippers. Gotta admire Ballmer's spending.
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Yeah, that seems like poor value for the money but if you're willing to spend any amount, it's better to have Winslow than not have him.
 
Scalma said:
yeah dude you’re totally right how dare he


You know what’s funny? Fans that shit on literally everything Olshey does are probably the only people more annoying than Olshey himself.
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Fans that stick up for the team no matter what and want to just get bounced in the first round are the most annoying.
 
RR7 said:
And there's maybe 1 poster like that here. But straw men are fun!
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Disagree. There are fans that totally state they wanna give Chauncey a chance. That they just want to watch basketball. That stick up for the Blazers even during shit signings. It has been that way for decades bruh. Would expect you to know that since you have posted here a long time.
 
SlyPokerCat said:
Disagree. There are fans that totally state they wanna give Chauncey a chance. That they just want to watch basketball. That stick up for the Blazers even during shit signings. It has been that way for decades bruh. Would expect you to know that since you have posted here a long time.
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Gosh they sound like horrible people
 
calvin natt said:
Gosh they sound like horrible people
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It's alright. We all see things different. Some of us just want to have a good time. Some of us don't want to see another ho hum season. Some of us want to see a title before we die.

I think it is completely reasonable for people to vent on a forum they have been a part of for 20 years when they are unhappy with the team. Doesn't make them any less of a fan. Nikolokulus is an example. Dude was a great poster that constantly got pooped on for seeing the glass half empty instead of half full.
 
B-Roy said:
Fischer says gun to his head, if Dame is here on opening night, CJ has probably been traded. But that is pure speculation.
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That can't be...
Dame & CJ are BFF. How will they ever live playing on separate teams?
 
Quick


The Blazers still have the taxpayer midlevel exception ($5.9 million) but do not have any urgency to sign any of the players left on the market, so they likely won’t use the TPMLE immediately, keeping their roster at 13 for the moment. The Blazers intend to go into the regular season with 14 players but are keeping spots open right now in order to maintain flexibility in trades (taking back more players than they send out).

And that’s where the rubber meets the road in this offseason for Portland: trades.
 
SlyPokerCat said:
It's alright. We all see things different. Some of us just want to have a good time. Some of us don't want to see another ho hum season. Some of us want to see a title before we die.

I think it is completely reasonable for people to vent on a forum they have been a part of for 20 years when they are unhappy with the team. Doesn't make them any less of a fan. Nikolokulus is an example. Dude was a great poster that constantly got pooped on for seeing the glass half empty instead of half full.
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I totally want to see a Blazers championship in my lifetime. I want Dame to stay and retire a Blazer. I'm not happy with the offseason moves thus far, but I understand Portland's position when it comes to FA. It's still hard to see so many other teams get better year after year while the Blazers get the scraps. I know the Blazers were very limited in FA, but there were some guys they could have got that went elsewhere. It is sad we are waiting to see if we can get an over the hill Millsap.

There are few moves of Olsheys that I am happy with over the years, but there are many more that make me shake my head. Is he a bad GM? Is Portland just a hard place to bring good players? Either way, he's had 9 years. He's been far too conservative. No balls. It's time to go. That will likely happen after this season. Maybe. If things go to hell, Vulcan might be content keeping him around for a rebuild.

I am looking forward to seeing Billips coach. To see if he can change things from the sideline. I will watch next season regardless of what happens. I have too. The Blazers are part of my DNA.

You can vent and you can you be a fan. I don't think one discludes you from the other. In fact, fans vent because they are so passionate about their team. Maybe there are people out there that just like to complain, but for the most part we all just want the best roster we can get. We want the Blazers to be contenders. We want a championship. We want a parade. We want that with Lillard.
 
https://theathletic.com/2756983/202...ian-lillard-will-encounter-at-the-crossroads/

LOTS of good stuff here

The big offseason swing many expected from the Blazers was never going to come in free agency. Portland had limited tools — only the TPMLE — which wasn’t enough to lure Nicolas Batum back for a second tour as a Blazer (he went to the Clippers for the minimum). They also couldn’t convince Kelly Oubre to take the TPMLE, even though Damian Lillard told me he made a pitch to him at the end of the regular season.

“It wasn’t anything deep other than would he be open to it, and he said he was,” Lillard told The Athletic. “I liked Oubre as a complement to other guys I thought we would be able to get. We didn’t get them.”
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We went after Oubre and Batum with the TPMLE, not enough.

But it sounds like Portland is not actively shopping McCollum. I don’t know whether that is because Portland doesn’t agree with how teams value McCollum, or whether Neil Olshey is overly infatuated with him, but the general tone I’ve heard is the Blazers won’t move him just to have a different look next season. The trade has to make them better, and so far, other teams haven’t met that bar.

There is still time to make an offseason deal, but it is looking more and more likely that Olshey will run back the same starting five with an improved bench and then assess where the Blazers are at the February trading deadline. In the past, Olshey has said it’s easier to find a willing partner at the trade deadline than the summer, because in February, there are 10 teams trying to chase a title, whereas in August, there are 25 teams thinking they have a chance.
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We aren't shopping CJ.

The objective to this offseason, if we are under the assumption the franchise wants to keep Lillard engaged, was to elevate Portland into a contender. That obviously has not happened. Not even close. This looks like a 44-win team that finishes seventh or eighth in the West. As of today, this roster is not better than the Lakers, Clippers, Utah, Phoenix, Denver or Golden State — and maybe not Dallas.

Yet, Portland’s analytics team believes the Blazers’ starting lineup of Lillard, McCollum, Powell, Covington and Jusuf Nurkic ranks among the league’s best. Last season, that lineup played 745 possessions and had a 117.4 offensive rating and a 104.1 defensive rating. The net +13.3 was bettered only by the starting five of Brooklyn, the Clippers and Philadelphia.
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Portland's analytics team is operating under best case scenario.....stupid.

So if a trade doesn’t materialize, Olshey will be banking on the success of a 28-game run at the end of last season with Powell and Nurkic in the starting lineup and the idea that Zeller, Snell and a better version of Jones will bolster the bench. Add in that new head coach Chauncey Billups can be a difference-maker on the sideline.

It’s a big ask from Olshey, and one that will likely be contemplated by Lillard during his long flight back from Tokyo this weekend. Lillard has been kept informed of the Blazers’ thinking and moves, but this week, he said he has been focused more on Team USA and the pursuit of the gold medal than his future.

Once Lillard touches down in Portland, the real offseason begins. When he arrives, he will find a franchise at a crossroads — and three signs pointing in different directions.

The first sign points to Olshey delivering a trade that changes his view of the Blazers’ trajectory.

The second sign points to Olshey convincing him that running it back, and being patient, is the best route.

The third sign points to Lillard asking for a trade out of Portland.

Only Lillard knows which sign he will follow. In the meantime, a franchise and a region holds its breath.
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Pretty accurate. Olshey is going to do his best to convince Dame we can run it back, because he doesn't want to have to take any risks. Or I guess Dame could be fed up. We'll see next week.
 
Dame
B-Roy said:
https://theathletic.com/2756983/202...ian-lillard-will-encounter-at-the-crossroads/

LOTS of good stuff here



We went after Oubre and Batum with the TPMLE, not enough.



We aren't shopping CJ.



Portland's analytics team is operating under best case scenario.....stupid.



Pretty accurate. Olshey is going to do his best to convince Dame we can run it back, because he doesn't want to have to take any risks. Or I guess Dame could be fed up. We'll see next week.
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Gross
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Extra infuriating: Batum signed for them for the minimum to allow them to offer more money to a worse player, when we offered Batum the TPMLE...
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Not much we could have done about that though.
 
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