How does Portland get better this off-season

[Rhal]

Trade CJ for an upgrade at the 3. Start Laymen at the 4, I'd say fire stotts but NO and Stotts are a package imo since NO will be here for one more season and you don't want him picking a new coach when he is on thin ice already. We will have a treasure trove of expiring contracts to either facilitate trades or to trade for teams looking for capspace in the summer to make a few moves at the deadline. If NO does nothing again then he gets the boot at the end of the season as well as stotts unless we magically make it to the WCF.

 

[DDolla]

Breaking News: Olshey re-sign Layman for 200M for 4 years.

 

[Minstrel]

Trade McCollum and Nurkic for rangy wings that are passable at both defense and shooting the ball, in the pursuit of a perimeter unit that fits today's game. Start Layman at the 4 and Collins at the 5, in the pursuit of a front court that fits today's game.

You're not going to get stars in return for McCollum or Nurkic, but two-way wings, even below star level, are the coin of the realm. Layman has been a find, Collins could develop into a really good stretch 5. I think this gives Portland the best chance to field a modern, 5-out starting lineup that (hopefully) won't embarrass itself on defense at the same time. It won't be championship-level, but Portland isn't going to be championship-level without lucking into at least one more superstar somewhere.

 

[Propagandist]

They don't.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

They don't.

Someones in a good mood...

 

[BigGameDamian]

I hate to say it but if you want big changes then the Blazers need to loose in the first round again.

 

[TBpup]

I hate to say it but if you want big changes then the Blazers need to loose in the first round again.

I thought that last year as well when we were the #3 seed and got rolled. I'm not sure what more of a signal is needed.

Blazers are 5-14 in the Playoffs in the Stotts/Dame/CJ era. It's not even close to being a contender at any time and for the most part, has been completely irrelevant and not making progress.

Love the team to death....which makes it even more difficult to watch the stagnation.

 

[barfo]

Practice making free throws?

barfo

 

[BonesJones]

They don't.

/ Thread

 

[oldmangrouch]

Internal. Organic. Growth.

Let the cancer metastasize. Bold choice Cotton!

 

[tykendo]

Use the expiring contracts to improve. Finally those contracts will be potentially powerful.

 

[tykendo]

39 million (Turner,Leonard,Harkless) all will be in their last year of current contracts next season.

 

[hoopsjock]

I would start Layman or Hood, and have CJ come off the bench, and I would also play CJ less minutes unless he's "on" that night. Treat him like Pops treated Manu, there were a lot of nights Manu didn't get big minutes because he wasn't playing and Manu was better than CJ. CJ and Dame are way too ball dominant, them being on the court together creates big mismatch problems on defense. CJ seems to function better as a PG too, when he's not just thinking about scoring.

I just don't get how that's any different than what they did previously where CJ would go out early and come back with the 2nd unit. Dame plays almost 36 minutes a game, that only leaves 12 for CJ. On top of that I've felt like CJ's ball hog issues are worse when he's with the 2nd unit. For some reason if Dame is playing CJ can't play like a lead guard even when Dame is not in.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Use the expiring contracts to improve. Finally those contracts will be potentially powerful.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I just don't get how that's any different than what they did previously where CJ would go out early and come back with the 2nd unit. Dame plays almost 36 minutes a game, that only leaves 12 for CJ. On top of that I've felt like CJ's ball hog issues are worse when he's with the 2nd unit. For some reason if Dame is playing CJ can't play like a lead guard even when Dame is not in.

Well what they’re doing now sure doesnt seem to be working.

 

[KingSpeed]

Layman isn’t a given if he keeps playing well through playoffs. Scalma- would you match $70 million over 4 years for him? We might have to make a decision like that again.

 

[ripcityboy]

 

[James lamphear]

Is he too small to play shooting guard? He's played it for a long time.[/QUO
He can play on offense same as CJ but the defense end where they have trouble at due to there height.

 

[blue9]

In response to thread title: get a better coach. Seriously, that's the ONLY way this team can get significantly better. Not gonna happen with a draft pick, probably won't happen via big-time trade, and certainly won't happen through free agency.