The Cavs target LMA

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tester551 said:
Even if Blazers return everyone, I doubt the Blazers will win 54-games next season. We have a lot of fortunate breaks this last year. Talent wise, this team is closer to a 45-48 win team.
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Which is why I wouldn't be surprised if Neil dealt LMA.

This team played on all cylinders in the playoffs, 48 min. of pure hustle and the Spurs showed that this team isn't close to being a real contender.
 
tester551 said:
Even if Blazers return everyone, I doubt the Blazers will win 54-games next season. We have a lot of fortunate breaks this last year. Talent wise, this team is closer to a 45-48 win team.
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Good points in this post

The Blazers were 21-22 vs teams .500 or better

31-9 at one point in the season. Went 23-19 after that to get to 54-28.

Staying the course is foolish. Just adding a bench won't make the Blazers a contender.

Neil needs to make some real moves and decisions this offseason.
 
RoyToy said:
Good points in this post

The Blazers were 21-22 vs teams .500 or better

31-9 at one point in the season. Went 23-19 after that to get to 54-28.

Staying the course is foolish. Just adding a bench won't make the Blazers a contender.

Neil needs to make some real moves and decisions this offseason.
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Blazers were 7th in the league record wise and now this is shocking... we were also 7th in the league against .500 teams. Thats why that 21-22 isn't an actual bad stat looking at it. We also went through a stretch where we lost a ton of close games and if you look at the end of the season standing we were 8-9 in games decided by 3 points. Every team close to us had significantly better record in games decided by 3 points or less, and that is something that can be improved upon by improving execution and you don't have to make major changes to do that.
We also had 3, or was it 4?, 4 games in 5 night stretches while only one other team in the entire league had 2 and that was PHX, and that is brutal no matter what teams your playing.
You can say staying the course if foolish, I think there are things that are easily improved upon and freaking out and moving key pieces just to make a move would be foolish.
 
Schilly said:
Of course it's a risk... any draft pick is, any trade is. A GM will always evaluate the situation, simply saying "F*** No" simply because it's a pick is a perfect way to stay mediocre. Taking the pick is a great way to come out like a champ for rolling the dice... or looking like a complete fool. I remember when we had the #1 pick there were a lot of posters that would have preferred the #2, because the risk of messing up on #1.

I personally don't think this team has a ton of ceiling room to improve, maybe some on the bench, but not the starters. Adding a FA makes us a little better, but I don't think it makes us a title contender by any means.
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Stay mediocre? We won 54 games (same as Heat) and advanced to 2nd round. Blazers are a near elite team. The Hornets are mediocre.
 
Unless you are a legit contender you are mediocre. IMO we aren't a legit contender.
 
Rhal said:
Blazers were 7th in the league record wise and now this is shocking... we were also 7th in the league against .500 teams. Thats why that 21-22 isn't an actual bad stat looking at it. We also went through a stretch where we lost a ton of close games and if you look at the end of the season standing we were 8-9 in games decided by 3 points. Every team close to us had significantly better record in games decided by 3 points or less, and that is something that can be improved upon by improving execution and you don't have to make major changes to do that.
We also had 3, or was it 4?, 4 games in 5 night stretches while only one other team in the entire league had 2 and that was PHX, and that is brutal no matter what teams your playing.
You can say staying the course if foolish, I think there are things that are easily improved upon and freaking out and moving key pieces just to make a move would be foolish.
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7th? We were tied for the 5th best record in the league!
 
Schilly said:
Unless you are a legit contender you are mediocre. IMO we aren't a legit contender.
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That is not true at all. Look up the definition of mediocre. The Timberwolves are mediocre. Then there are above average teams like Phoenix and Memphis. Then there is the fringe contenders like us, Indiana, and the Clippers. Then there are the juggernauts like SA! OKC (kinda) and Miami. We have two all NBAers both of wok significantly improved last season and still have room to grow especially since they have a reputation of working hard in the offseason. We will challenge for 60 wins this season even if we stand pat.
 
Def of mediocre: of only moderate quality, not very good

http://www.google.com/search?q=mediocre&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

The Blazers are very good. Only 5 teams beat a 50+ win team in the playoffs this year. We were one of them. We won 59 total games this year and have two All Stars one of whom (Lillard) is on the rise and has said he this he can win MVP in this league. Aldridge is also coming off the most improved year of his career and played like a BEAST in the playoffs.
 
Schilly said:
LA isn't getting better.
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That's what people said last year. And then he jumped up 2 points and 2 rebounds in his averages and had back to back 43+ point games in the playoffs. Aldridge has made it a habit of working hard in the offseason and adding a new wrinkle to his game every year. He still has room to grow.
 
KingSpeed said:
That's what people said last year. And then he jumped up 2 points and 2 rebounds in his averages and had back to back 43+ point games in the playoffs. Aldridge has made it a habit of working hard in the offseason and adding a new wrinkle to his game every year. He still has room to grow.
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He still isn't going to get better to the extent we need. I love LA and his game but he really is capped out and frankly we needed him to have back to back 40+ point games to win the series against Houston.
 
Steph Curry and that Jason guy (can't remember his name) both said Aldridge is the third best player in the NBA. Of course, Cleveland wants to trade a draft pick for him.
 
tester551 said:
Even if Blazers return everyone, I doubt the Blazers will win 54-games next season. We have a lot of fortunate breaks this last year. Talent wise, this team is closer to a 45-48 win team.
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So none of our young players will get better? That's hard to believe. That being said no one is saying stand pat. We need to use the MLE wisely.

Regarding LMA, he has skills that few big men have. Personally I enjoy watching him. Find the missing piece while keeping him. It is the smarter move IMO
 
Schilly said:
He still isn't going to get better to the extent we need. I love LA and his game but he really is capped out and frankly we needed him to have back to back 40+ point games to win the series against Houston.
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EXACTLY. That's how great he is! We needed him to back to back 40+ games for us to win the series so that's what he did! He's a winner who is on the rise. With one year under our belt with this starting 5, we'll challenge for 60 wins this year.
 
BigGameDamian said:
Aldridge looked like a legitimate MVP candidate last season, averaging 23.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 blocks per game, helping the Trail Blazers reach the second round of the postseason. Horford was limited to just 29 games in the 2013-2014 season, averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 blocks per game.
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Obviously then, the smart move for Portland would be to move a player entering his prime, and who looks like an MVP candidate, for some scrubs and the #1 pick from Cleveland. On the off chance that the #1 pick turns out to possibly be worthy of MVP consideration in 4-5 years.
 
KingSpeed said:
That is not true at all. Look up the definition of mediocre. The Timberwolves are mediocre. Then there are above average teams like Phoenix and Memphis. Then there is the fringe contenders like us, Indiana, and the Clippers. Then there are the juggernauts like SA! OKC (kinda) and Miami. We have two all NBAers both of wok significantly improved last season and still have room to grow especially since they have a reputation of working hard in the offseason. We will challenge for 60 wins this season even if we stand pat.
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60 wins if we stand pat?:biglaugh: stop dreaming.
 
I think our best options are either to trade the supposedly MVP candidate (who can't play defense at all and is not the best offensive player even on our team) for someone who is more likely to be an MVP candidate and will probably be as good as Lamarcus by mid-season (Exum) while allowing us to play just one player who doesn't play defense for 40+ mpg, instead of two.
Lillard, Exum, Batum, T-Rob, Rolo is a better defensive lineup and probably a better lineup offensively, right now.
We can trade him, then draft badly with Parker or Embiid, not sure I'd even trade him for Wiggins because we would just have 2 Batums, but for Exum - I make this trade.

The other scenario I would accept is bring everyone for another year then hope Stotts grows enough balls to use the bench effectively.
 
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How the hell do you replace Wesley and LMA with Exum and TROb and think that there's ANY chance that it's a better offensive lineup right now?
 
KingSpeed said:
Stay mediocre? We won 54 games (same as Heat) and advanced to 2nd round. Blazers are a near elite team. The Hornets are mediocre.
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I don't think the Blazers a near elite. I think the Blazers would have lost in the 2nd round if we played either the Clippers or OKC. Which is why you have to ask yourself just how much better can this team get? Both Aldridge and Batum are already pretty much at there peak now.
 
Blazer4ever said:
I think our best options are either to trade the supposedly MVP candidate (who can't play defense at all and is not the best offensive player even on our team) for someone who is more likely to be an MVP candidate and will probably be as good as Lamarcus by mid-season (Exum) while allowing us to play just one player who doesn't play defense for 40+ mpg, instead of two.
Lillard, Exum, Batum, T-Rob, Rolo is a better defensive lineup and probably a better lineup offensively, right now.
We can trade him, then draft badly with Parker or Embiid, not sure I'd even trade him for Wiggins because we would just have 2 Batums, but for Exum - I make this trade.

The other scenario I would accept is bring everyone for another year then hope Stotts grows enough balls to use the bench effectively.
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I keep reading people saying this and it makes me wonder everytime, did they watch any Blazer games and actually pay attention other then the Spurs series?
 
Blazer4ever said:
I think our best options are either to trade the supposedly MVP candidate (who can't play defense at all and is not the best offensive player even on our team) for someone who is more likely to be an MVP candidate and will probably be as good as Lamarcus by mid-season (Exum) while allowing us to play just one player who doesn't play defense for 40+ mpg, instead of two.
Lillard, Exum, Batum, T-Rob, Rolo is a better defensive lineup and probably a better lineup offensively, right now.
We can trade him, then draft badly with Parker or Embiid, not sure I'd even trade him for Wiggins because we would just have 2 Batums, but for Exum - I make this trade.

The other scenario I would accept is bring everyone for another year then hope Stotts grows enough balls to use the bench effectively.
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Good lord.
 
Almost every Blazer game possible. Aldridge is a pathetic defensive player. I'm pretty sure (no joke) that I could do a better job on defense than he does.
Doesn't come to help, almost never even lifts his hands above his head, gets almost no blocks, doesn't box-out at all (as a PF!), gets most of his rebounds because RoLo boxed out for him, you could see RoLo was afraid to come out on Parker cause he couldn't trust LaMarcus to have his back OR box-out.
With Lillard and Lamarcus each playing 40mpg and with a coach who doesn't know how to teach defense, we can't be a good defensive team.
 
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
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This seemed appropriate here
 
Ok, ok, so u all don't freak out:
I would rather get Exum without giving up LaMarcus, La is a good offensive player with a natural ability to play outside as a PF, also to go inside. He's also a decent one-on-one defender as long as he has RoLo behind him.
But, he's one of the worst team-defenders on the team, he doesn't show any effort or understanding on defense. If the question is "would you trade LA for Exum?" I would and I think it takes until mid-season for you to acknowledge it would have been a good trade.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Absolutely.

But there is something to be said about voicing your opinion if you believe strongly.

Maybe.
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Sure. It's a free country/forum. I definitely don't think it's out of line or as preposterous to suggest trading Aldridge as some do. Some comments, though...
 
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