Re-shaped Landscape: How do they Rank now?

[TBpup]

So the LeBron domino has fallen. What does that do to the rest of the landscape? If Bosh goes to Houston and they are able to match Parsons, a line-up of Howard, Bosh, Parsons, Harden and Beverly seems pretty tough to beat. Minus Bosh, they were ahead of the Blazers for about 70% of that series and lost on a historic buzzer beater. Seems like they would be much tougher than the bench additions Portland made.

Spurs - trying to add Pau Gasol. They have to age sometime, right?
OKC - Injuries to Westbrook and Ibaka have killed them in the playoffs
Clips - Added Hawes and Farmer to their bench
Rockets - Potentially best starting 5 in the NBA.
Blazers - Very solid through 7. Growth will be what 8-10 can do.
Memphis - Brutally tough when Gasol, ZBo and Conley all played.
Warriors - One of these years they will figure it out...tons of talent.
Mavs - Do they get Melo?

So did Portland do enough to move up or have other teams passed them in terms of overall and playoff expectations?

 

[magnifier661]

So the LeBron domino has fallen. What does that do to the rest of the landscape? If Bosh goes to Houston and they are able to match Parsons, a line-up of Howard, Bosh, Parsons, Harden and Beverly seems pretty tough to beat. Minus Bosh, they were ahead of the Blazers for about 70% of that series and lost on a historic buzzer beater. Seems like they would be much tougher than the bench additions Portland made.

Spurs - trying to add Pau Gasol. They have to age sometime, right?
OKC - Injuries to Westbrook and Ibaka have killed them in the playoffs
Clips - Added Hawes and Farmer to their bench
Rockets - Potentially best starting 5 in the NBA.
Blazers - Very solid through 7. Growth will be what 8-10 can do.
Memphis - Brutally tough when Gasol, ZBo and Conley all played.
Warriors - One of these years they will figure it out...tons of talent.
Mavs - Do they get Melo?

So did Portland do enough to move up or have other teams passed them in terms of overall and playoff expectations?

Well all the teams that are behind them took a step back, while the teams in front got stronger. I don't see it changing much

 

[B-Roy]

Nuggets got better with Gallo/McGee coming back and getting Afflalo for free. Pelicans will be tougher with Asik and the growth of Davis. Honestly, I think the west is more wide open than ever. Injuries are going to play a huge role in how seeding plays out. I think the Mavs are definitely worse now though. I have:

Tier 1:
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Houston

Tier 2:
Portland
Warriors
Grizzlies
Nuggets

Tier 3:
Mavericks
Pelicans

Being in the west sucks.

 

[Reep]

Spurs -Don't need to improve. Adding Gasol would only help.
Rockets - Bench and defense still an issue, but if the get CB . . .
OKC - Didn't improve, will bench growth be enough?
Blazers - FA additions solid, bench growth will determine year
Clips - FAs not enough. CP3 injury just waiting to sink them.
Warriors - I don't see them getting over the hump
Memphis - team on the way down
Mavs - Do they get Melo? Would it help if they did?

I still think Blazers are set at 4th. I still like them better than the Clips and Warriors. The only way they move up with the top three is if 1-2 young bench players really contribute. The People's Champ needs to step up and get it done.

 

[TBpup]

I still think Blazers are set at 4th. I still like them better than the Clips and Warriors. The only way they move up with the top three is if 1-2 young bench players really contribute. The People's Champ needs to step up and get it done.

Agreed but will he get any minutes with Blake playing back up PG and letting Dame play off the ball? I can see Stotts' rotation looking something like this:

PG: Dame - 30, Blake - 18
SG: Wesley - 35, Dame - 7, Blake - 6

That's 37 minutes for Damian, 35 minutes for Wesley and 24 minutes for Blake. Barton and CJ could get scraps.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

I see it like this:

Contenders

Clippers
Spurs
Blazers
Rockets
Thunder

On the verge

Warriors
Grizzlies
Mavs

Maybe in the future

Suns
Nuggets
Pelicans

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Assuming Rockets get Bosh and match on Parsons:

Battling for Top 4 position:
Spurs, OKC, Houston, Clippers

Playoff Contenders:
Blazers, Warriors, Griz, Mavs, Denver

Spoiler:

NO; Phx

 

[BigGameDamian]

I really hope there is one more Blazers trade to be made that will upgrade us at backup SF.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Assuming Rockets get Bosh and match on Parsons:

Battling for Top 4 position:
Spurs, OKC, Houston, Clippers

Playoff Contenders:
Blazers, Warriors, Griz, Mavs, Denver

Spoiler:

NO; Phx

Yep it sounds like Houston has Bosh and if it happens it will appear the Blazers will have fallen out of that top 4.

 

[Eastoff]

Bosh isn't a Rocket yet. Patty Mills is broken, he was very important to the Spurs.

 

[B-Roy]

Bosh isn't a Rocket yet. Patty Mills is broken, he was very important to the Spurs.

The Spurs are the greatest plug and play team in history. They will be fine.

 

[BigGameDamian]

The Rockets want to trade Jeremy Lin for cap space I'm reading.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

It's a year later, so teams got a year older. This helps some teams, hurts others.

 

[Minstrel]

The Rockets want to trade Jeremy Lin for cap space I'm reading.

They have to, to be able to offer Bosh a max deal. The assumption is that they had a deal lined up.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

The Rockets want to trade Jeremy Lin for cap space I'm reading.

They will have to give him away for free basically, his salary is like 15 million this coming season. (Cap hit is 8 million)

 

[B-Roy]

Not only Jeremy Lin, but other guys too. Terrence Jones and Donatas Montiejunas can be had.

 

[Minstrel]

Tier 1
San Antonio Spurs
Houston Rockets
Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers

Tier 2
Golden State Warriors
Portland Trailblazers
Memphis Grizzlies

Tier 3
Phoenix Suns
Denver Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks
New Orleans Pelicans

Tier Worst In The NBA
Los Angeles Lakers

 

[Wizard Mentor]

a piss poor time to not have cap space!

 

[Wizard Mentor]

FIFY

Tier 1
San Antonio Spurs
Houston Rockets
Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers

Tier 2
Golden State Warriors
Portland Trailblazers
Memphis Grizzlies

Tier 3
Phoenix Suns
Denver Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks
New Orleans Pelicans

Tier Worst In The NBA
Miami Heat
Los Angeles Lakers

 

[TBpup]

a piss poor time to not have cap space!

Yes....now it gets interesting and we for all intents and purposes are out of it.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Solid through 7?

 

[B-Roy]

Yes....now it gets interesting and we for all intents and purposes are out of it.

Until next offseason when LMA gets max contract offers out the wazoo from every team with capspace....

 

[Minstrel]

FIFY

I don't think the Heat will tank completely. Wade generally breaks down by the end of the season, so should still be good for most of the year, and I suspect they'll sign at least some useful stop-gap players like Deng. I think they'll be good enough to lose their top-ten protected draft pick to Cleveland. Remember, they're still in the East.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Could we get Mike Dunleavy from the Bulls?

 

[OneLifeToLive]

So the LeBron domino has fallen. What does that do to the rest of the landscape? If Bosh goes to Houston and they are able to match Parsons, a line-up of Howard, Bosh, Parsons, Harden and Beverly seems pretty tough to beat. Minus Bosh, they were ahead of the Blazers for about 70% of that series and lost on a historic buzzer beater. Seems like they would be much tougher than the bench additions Portland made.

Spurs - trying to add Pau Gasol. They have to age sometime, right?
OKC - Injuries to Westbrook and Ibaka have killed them in the playoffs
Clips - Added Hawes and Farmer to their bench
Rockets - Potentially best starting 5 in the NBA.
Blazers - Very solid through 7. Growth will be what 8-10 can do.
Memphis - Brutally tough when Gasol, ZBo and Conley all played.
Warriors - One of these years they will figure it out...tons of talent.
Mavs - Do they get Melo?

So did Portland do enough to move up or have other teams passed them in terms of overall and playoff expectations?

San Antonio, Okc, Golden State, Dallas all didn't change much. Rockets will be better with Bosh and like that transaction for them. LA got better with Hawes. It's hard to say if Portland got better because they lost a major scorer off their bench in Williams. In Portland's case and more Neil's case, it seems he is expecting a boom out of the young guys off the bench in McCollum, Robinson and Barton. And if that is the case, they will be improved. I wouldn't assume it though, especially by not addressing a major problem two of the last two years which is bench scoring. If the young guys don't grow. You have screwed the starters again. And that could be enough to run LA out of town.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I don't think the Heat will tank completely. Wade generally breaks down by the end of the season, so should still be good for most of the year, and I suspect they'll sign at least some useful stop-gap players like Deng. I think they'll be good enough to lose their top-ten protected draft pick to Cleveland. Remember, they're still in the East.

Not if the Adam Silver and the NBA wants to change the playoff format like they said they wanted to do.

 

[tester551]

Yep it sounds like Houston has Bosh and if it happens it will appear the Blazers will have fallen out of that top 4.

Blazers were not part of the top 4 to begin with.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Yep it sounds like Houston has Bosh and if it happens it will appear the Blazers will have fallen out of that top 4.

Keep in mind, character matters and yes if a deal goes through for Bosh. Houston is better. But I can't help but see them as a team full of individual corporations with guys running up and down the court with that attitude and mindset.. I think we saw it last year with them and I think it gets worse this year with Bosh. Without proper coaching, it doesn't matter who is on that squad when that mindset is in place. You don't have that and won't for Portland. That's a huge advantage and I think they will benefit from that again next year. Just a group of really good guys.

 

[tlongII]

The Spurs are the greatest plug and play team in history. They will be fine.

No they won't. They would not have gone anywhere last year without Patty and Ginobili. They are already old and they just got another year older.

 

[B-Roy]

No they won't. They would not have gone anywhere last year without Patty and Ginobili. They are already old and they just got another year older.

Don't people say that every year? No, literally, every single year.

The Spurs are just going to keep chugging along until Duncan and Pop retire.