Low point in Blazer history

[e_blazer]

I remember watching Clyde near the end of his career demanding a trade from a Blazers team that had no prospects of competing for a title. That was sad. I can imagine that seeing Dame do the same thing would be even more sad. If this is what it takes to avoid that outcome, I can live with it.

 

[e_blazer]

Be easy on me now.....I feel, that if their plan is to keep hopefully the two picks then they should shop Dame and legitimately start the rebuild. If their plan is to couple a player with picks to acquire immediate all star quality help, in the front court to give Dame and the team a 2-3 year window to get it done great. There's zero guarantee either way, but Id rather keep Dame and trade the fucking picks for an all star. If Dame comes back healthy, with the emergence of Simons (if we keep him) and hopefully another youngster we could make some noise. If however the plan is to rebuild we will could be looking at a number of years to develop enough to be in the playoffs. NBA Hoops is all about playoff basketball as it does create the synergy that teams have a shot and its a clean sheet and fun. Only 11 teams of 30 have won the title in the last 40 years and there are only 3-4 legit teams of 30 that are serious contenders each year. Playoff basketball is what keeps the league alive as does the tourney for M Madness.

I think it’s pretty clear that the plan is your second option. I don’t think we’ll ever see the Blazers’ top pick play in a Blazers uniform. OTOH, if no trade for a proven star presents itself, then I agree that it would be time to move Dame for a Harden-esque package. Man, I hope it doesn’t go that way.

 

[Voodoo]

I may be in the minority, but I vastly prefer the team as is with a clear sense of direction over the middling reruns of yesteryear with the CJ and Dame combo. Losing is no fun if you're only watching with the intent to try and win, but if you take a step back and understand the bigger picture then it's quite enjoyable watching the development of players over the course of the rest of the season.

It gives us a better understanding of who will fit, who we should keep, and what we really have going into next year. This off season should be more interesting than most in recent memory as it will be interesting to see if Cronin decides to trade the picks, or keep them to try and add to our current squad.

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

I may be in the minority, but I vastly prefer the team as is with a clear sense of direction over the middling reruns of yesteryear with the CJ and Dame combo. Losing is no fun if you're only watching with the intent to try and win, but if you take a step back and understand the bigger picture then it's quite enjoyable watching the development of players over the course of the rest of the season. It gives us a better understanding of who will fit, who we should keep, and what we really have going into next year. This off season should be more interesting than most in recent memory as it will be interesting to see if Cronin decides to trade the picks, or keep them to try and add to our current squad.

Agreed. Before the trades we were bad and boring to watch. Now we’re bad but interesting.

In either case we were bad. In one I had little hope that things would be different in the future, while in the other I get to see options and development and have more hope for the future because it isn’t a repeat of the past, just with some names changed to provide a semblance of hope for the future.

Unfortunately too many of the “name changes” involved trading away our future.

 

[Strenuus]

I may be in the minority, but I vastly prefer the team as is with a clear sense of direction over the middling reruns of yesteryear with the CJ and Dame combo. Losing is no fun if you're only watching with the intent to try and win, but if you take a step back and understand the bigger picture then it's quite enjoyable watching the development of players over the course of the rest of the season. It gives us a better understanding of who will fit, who we should keep, and what we really have going into next year. This off season should be more interesting than most in recent memory as it will be interesting to see if Cronin decides to trade the picks, or keep them to try and add to our current squad.

You'd be surprised how not in the minority you are. Also because it's the right thing to do at this time.

 

[wizenheimer]

Dallas got Luka through a trade. And have you noticed the Blazer’s luck in the draft? Losing games to get a college player who may or may not turn out is madness.

for sure, after all, Portland has has only landed one or two good players from the draft:

Geoff Petrie
Sidney Wicks
Larry Steele
Dave Twardzik
Bill Walton
Lionel Hollins
Bob Gross
Johnny Davis
T.R. Dunn
Mychal Thompson
Ron Brewer
Darnell Valentine
Fat Lever
Clyde Drexler
Sam Bowie ---> Buck Williams
Jerome Kersey
Terry Porter
Arvydas Sabonis
Dražen Petrović
Clifford Robinson
Jermaine O'Neal
Bonzi Wells
Zach Randolph
LaMarcus Aldridge
Brandon Roy
Sergio Rodríguez
Rudy Fernández
Nicolas Batum
Damian Lillard
Will Barton
CJ McCollum
Anfernee Simons

let's see, how does the top-10 in Blazer history for points look:



imagine that....all 10 were drafted by Portland

in other words, for Portland, it's the draft much more than trades and free agency that has landed it's best players. Now, I suppose you could argue that Portland didn't tank to get most of those players. In one way it's true; the Blazers were just a bad team at times. But in a very real way it's not true because Portland has definitely tanked seasons other than this one. I saw it

obviously, the draft is a win-some-lose-some proposition. There are no guarantees. But there are no guarantees to any transaction, whether it's a draft pick, trade, or a signing. It's about maximizing the odds

right now, Portland's best assets are Dame, Simons, and their draft pick. Dame's value is diminshed because of his injury. Ant's value is limited because he'll be RFA. But the draft pick has the best immediate value. It's a floating value right now because of not knowing where it will land. But for damn sure, if a half-dozen extra losses are the difference between a #2 pick and a #10 pick, those 6 losses have a fuckofalot more value than 6 meaningless wins

by the way, saying Dallas got Docic thru trade is distortion. They traded draft picks, just like Portland landed Aldridge and Roy in the 2006 draft

 

[Mediocre Man]

Also it’s not the fault of the strategy that we picked the wrong players

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Yeah to me this is really bad Karma.
The team is intentionally losing at this point.
If you want to say it’s the front office and not the coach or players then I would reply that the entire organization is doing this and that includes the coach and players.
Sorry but nothing good comes from intentionally losing in my opinion.

 

[RR7]

Yeah to me this is really bad Karma.
The team is intentionally losing at this point.
If you want to say it’s the front office and not the coach or players then I would reply that the entire organization is doing this and that includes the coach and players.
Sorry but nothing good comes from intentionally losing in my opinion.

You think players are intentionally playing worse than they normally could?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Yeah to me this is really bad Karma.
The team is intentionally losing at this point.
If you want to say it’s the front office and not the coach or players then I would reply that the entire organization is doing this and that includes the coach and players.
Sorry but nothing good comes from intentionally losing in my opinion.

Philly is the best team in the east….maybe the league

Cleveland got good quick

OKC did as well



It works with some good scouting and some luck

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Philly is the best team in the east….maybe the league

Cleveland got good quick

OKC did as well



It works with some good scouting and some luck

We’ll see I guess?
What I see is them working hard to lose and hoping for a chance to get at least back to where they were?
Only way I see them changing their fortune is getting extremely lucky and landing a #1 pick and getting the pels pick in the 6-8 range and then signing a solid FA to go with Dame, Nurk, Simons and Little. Then hoping they stay healthy. Then hoping the picks they get work out well. Then hoping Dame and Simons combo doesn’t do exactly the same thing Dame/CJ did.

So many things have to go right.

 

[blazerkor]

We’ll see I guess?
What I see is them working hard to lose and hoping for a chance to get at least back to where they were?
Only way I see them changing their fortune is getting extremely lucky and landing a #1 pick and getting the pels pick in the 6-8 range and then signing a solid FA to go with Dame, Nurk, Simons and Little. Then hoping they stay healthy. Then hoping the picks they get work out well. Then hoping Dame and Simons combo doesn’t do exactly the same thing Dame/CJ did.

So many things have to go right.

Those are some pretty narrow ranges of possibilities that end in success. You neglect trades completely. You depend on a solid FA which is kind of unlikely but don't seem to see more likely options to improve. You discount the possibility that if Dame/Ant doesn't work that one will be traded for a piece that fits better with the other. You also seem to think that if we draft with the first pick that he won't start immediately and be one of our best players like most first picks are. You also neglect that this draft is a more than a one man race or at least that's how many see it... so landing the second pick is almost as valuable. Understanding that their are many many paths to getting better than we were is important. Obviously there are more paths to us being only as good as we were or worse but that doesn't make those outcomes more likely because we have a lot of people working towards getting better which has an effect on the outcome.

 

[Predator]

You can’t honestly tell me that some of those teams we threw on the court in the 2000s were legitimate attempts to try and win games.

Putting a product out on the court that you KNOW has NO SHOT to win is much, much worse than deciding to tank the last 30 games of the season when you’re so far behind the 8 ball.

The only person twisting themselves like a pretzel to justify their position is… OP.

 

[Phatguysrule]

I’ve been watching Blazer basketball longer than some of you have been alive, and this is the lowest point of all, as far as I’m concerned. We’re conceding the last twenty games of the season in hopes of getting a slightly better draft pick, which is sickening. Young guys like Watford and Williams and Simons are playing their butts off, and Billups is doing the best coaching he can, but the front office is doing everything they can to make sure the team loses. They’ve already removed a healthy Nurkic, and they’ll invent a reason to take another player out of the lineup if they have to. It’s embarrassing and dispiriting for our young guys, and it’s extremely bad karma. I don’t even want to watch this anymore.

Welcome to the modern NBA. Unfortunately this is the only way mid markets can compete in our situation.

I don't think we'll be in this situation again after this season.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Those are some pretty narrow ranges of possibilities that end in success. You neglect trades completely. You depend on a solid FA which is kind of unlikely but don't seem to see more likely options to improve. You discount the possibility that if Dame/Ant doesn't work that one will be traded for a piece that fits better with the other. You also seem to think that if we draft with the first pick that he won't start immediately and be one of our best players like most first picks are. You also neglect that this draft is a more than a one man race or at least that's how many see it... so landing the second pick is almost as valuable. Understanding that their are many many paths to getting better than we were is important. Obviously there are more paths to us being only as good as we were or worse but that doesn't make those outcomes more likely because we have a lot of people working towards getting better which has an effect on the outcome.

Ha Ha. They just tried trades. Sorry.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

you don't have to watch. nobody will miss you

Why can’t I see this thread?

 

[blazerkor]

Ha Ha. They just tried trades. Sorry.

If that Pelicans pick doesn't convey I expect a whole different "they" to be the ones making moves this off season. If it does convey the current "they" have already said that those trades weren't made to free up room for free agents this summer but to help facilitate trades. So although I thought that we received woefully too little in the trades we just recently made, I think they were made with the idea of recouping value in trades this summer. I don't think that's a perfect idea but it's better than the limited ones that you suggested. Also, unlike what you posited, I have no fucking clue what all of the possibilities are that could make us better.

I do know that if we do have two lotto picks, the ability with cash or a second rounder to take the conditions off of the pick we owe the Bulls and therefore free up all of our FRPs 2025-29 for trades, the 20M TPE, Bledsoe's contract that in theory can bring back more than 23M and other contracts that aren't seen as core pieces of what we're trying to do going forward, that we could make some pretty impactful trades.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

If that Pelicans pick doesn't convey I expect a whole different "they" to be the ones making moves this off season. If it does convey the current "they" have already said that those trades weren't made to free up room for free agents this summer but to help facilitate trades. So although I thought that we received woefully too little in the trades we just recently made, I think they were made with the idea of recouping value in trades this summer. I don't think that's a perfect idea but it's better than the limited ones that you suggested. Also, unlike what you posited, I have no fucking clue what all of the possibilities are that could make us better.

I do know that if we do have two lotto picks, the ability with cash or a second rounder to take the conditions off of the pick we owe the Bulls and therefore free up all of our FRPs 2025-29 for trades, the 20M TPE, Bledsoe's contract that in theory can bring back more than 23M and other contracts that aren't seen as core pieces of what we're trying to do going forward, that we could make some pretty impactful trades.

All complete and total speculation.
Fact still remains this is one of the lowest points of Blazer Basketball. Is it the lowest? Well that’s all to be seen right? Just as much as this COULD be a quick reset this could be a very long and troubling time for this franchise. Might even turn into the new Kings or Knicks.

 

[Strenuus]

Yeah to me this is really bad Karma.
The team is intentionally losing at this point.
If you want to say it’s the front office and not the coach or players then I would reply that the entire organization is doing this and that includes the coach and players.
Sorry but nothing good comes from intentionally losing in my opinion.

The organization set up the talent pool with which the coach can draw from.

The players are playing to get contracts.

Logic and common sense make this really easy.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

The organization set up the talent pool with which the coach can draw from.

The players are playing to get contracts.

Logic and common sense make this really easy.

Actually the team is the laughing stock of the league right now and way too many are embracing it.

 

[Blazinaway]

Actually the team is the laughing stock of the league right now and way too many are embracing it.

whatever, before the all star break we won 4 straight with a still depleted roster and beat some good teams. We need that lotto pick and were going nowhere in any case, so why not play the young guys and get the best pick possible? Loys of games/minutes here for guys like Keon/Williams/Brown etc are invaluable and could increase their worth and accelerate their development

 

[Fairly-Hard]

whatever, before the all star break we won 4 straight with a still depleted roster and beat some good teams. We need that lotto pick and were going nowhere in any case, so why not play the young guys and get the best pick possible? Loys of games/minutes here for guys like Keon/Williams/Brown etc are invaluable and could increase their worth and accelerate their development

So with Keon/Williams/ Brown we are gonna win the championship next year right? Or will it be the year after that?
Chances are better this team will struggle to make the playoffs again with the built in excuse that the new guys will need time to gel while we all pray Lillard or Nurk don’t get injured again.
If one of them do go down do they just “Tank” again so it makes you feel better about losing?
Might be another chance at a lottery pick again or do they even have a pick next year?

 

[Natebishop3]

On the contrary, this is the first time in years that I have felt better about the future of the team. Being an also-ran for years without any possibility for improvement was depressing and boring.

 

[wizenheimer]

Actually the team is the laughing stock of the league right now and way too many are embracing it.

oh for chrissakes....nobody but Portland fans give a shit about the Blazers one way or the other. Certainly not enough to make them the league "laughing-stock". That honor goes to the Lakers

 

[Propagandist]

I’ve been watching Blazer basketball longer than some of you have been alive, and this is the lowest point of all, as far as I’m concerned. We’re conceding the last twenty games of the season in hopes of getting a slightly better draft pick, which is sickening. Young guys like Watford and Williams and Simons are playing their butts off, and Billups is doing the best coaching he can, but the front office is doing everything they can to make sure the team loses. They’ve already removed a healthy Nurkic, and they’ll invent a reason to take another player out of the lineup if they have to. It’s embarrassing and dispiriting for our young guys, and it’s extremely bad karma. I don’t even want to watch this anymore.

If are as old as you claim, your avatar becomes pretty pervy...

As to lowest point ever?!? That is crazy talk. "Embarrassing and dispiriting to our young guys," you say? How about not playing at all? How about being buried on the bench without getting a chance to show they can contribute? This is their audition.

Remember Sheed throwing the towel in Sabas's face? Remember the quote unquote Jail Blazer era? Remember Bonzi spitting on the a-hole Danny Ferry or flipping off a fan? Remember Martell over Chris Paul and the other astonishingly unlucky draft choices? How about Raymond Felton? How about Z-bo punching the reprehensible Patterson or drag racing downtown or having fucking dog fights on his property in LO? Quintel Woods abandoned an injured dog in an alley and once gave his playing card as a substitute for his driver's license? Gary Trent Sr. once assaulted his girlfriend with his pointer finger.... I mean, I could go on forever.

This here is just housekeeping. Purging the Olshey-ness out of the team. Ask the team barometer Damian Lillard. He gets "what we are trying to do."

 

[Fairly-Hard]

oh for chrissakes....nobody but Portland fans give a shit about the Blazers one way or the other. Certainly not enough to make them the league "laughing-stock". That honor goes to the Lakers

You obviously are not paying attention though I agree the Lakers are in a desperate spot.
Thing is they will be better than the Blazers this year and they can pull a rebuild off in a year or two. They actually have a team and place players want to go to.

 

[Blazinaway]

You obviously are not paying attention though I agree the Lakers are in a desperate spot.
Thing is they will be better than the Blazers this year and they can pull a rebuild off in a year or two. They actually have a team and place players want to go to.

dang you are full of chit, get over yourself! lol

 

[Fairly-Hard]

dang you are full of chit, get over yourself! lol

Get over myself? What?
Nothing I have said promotes me?
The Blazers suck right now. The Blazers will most likely continue to suck for a while.
If you can’t see that then open your damn eyes.
I agree with the OP. This is one of the lowest points of the franchise. Yes I have been watching for many many years.
Let’s hope a bunch of things that have to go right happen or this will surely not end quickly.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

You obviously are not paying attention though I agree the Lakers are in a desperate spot.
Thing is they will be better than the Blazers this year and they can pull a rebuild off in a year or two. They actually have a team and place players want to go to.

The Lakers are in a terrible spot, they traded away young talent and got only two trade chips worth a damn (Aging Lebron and fragile AD). Believe they also gave up some future draft picks. This team is going to be bad for several years when Lebron ages or leaves. Best chance they have to correct things is trade AD or Lebron asap before their value drops more. Right now AD is worth a good player and couple of draft picks at most. Lebron still has value but I wouldn’t want him past maybe 2 years

 

[Fairly-Hard]

The Lakers are in a terrible spot, they traded away young talent and got only two trade chips worth a damn (Aging Lebron and fragile AD). Believe they also gave up some future draft picks. This team is going to be bad for several years when Lebron ages or leaves. Best chance they have to correct things is trade AD or Lebron asap before their value drops more. Right now AD is worth a good player and couple of draft picks at most. Lebron still has value but I wouldn’t want him past maybe 2 years

No argument on much of that except it’s “The Lakers” and you know as well as anyone that they have much more to work with on a yearly basis than the Blazers will.
You are simply trying to make yourself feel better about the Blazers sucking by saying the Lakers suck so we must not be in that bad a spot.
Doesn’t work that way sorry.