The offseason

[Mediocre Man]

While this season still has between 6 and 12 games left, I wanted to think towards next year. We can all agree this team could use some upgrades across the board.

This isn't name specific, just what I think this team needs to be considered serious contenders, which in my mind is all you can ask for.

First and most obvious need is depth along the front line. Nurk and Vonleh seem to be, at worst, solid NBA starters. Harkless also seems to be a nice fit. If we consider Turner a keeper, I don't but a lot of you do, that leaves Ed Davis, Meyers Leonar_ and Aminu as our back up bigs.

Next, I think adding a vet defensive minded true pg to this team would do wonders for the second unit.

Pushing guys down or off the bench is what we need to do. I love me some cheerleader Pat C, but he should never be in a rotation of a true contending team. Same goes for Leonar_, and Napier. Having them on the roster is fine, but they should be the 10th 11th and 12th men.

Bigs are vital for us. Nurk has shown he gets nicked up...assuming meniscus surgery and a broken leg are considered nicks. It would be great to have a guy where the drop off would be devastating if he misses a few games, or when he goes to the bench.

Just my ramblings. Not sure I said anything.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

You said you were fine with Pat C being on the roster. Fail

 

[SIeepwalker]

You said you were fine with Pat C being on the roster. Fail

I'd take him over Butters.

I'm starting to realize the season is almost over and I'm kinda bummed out... Just when we were starting to have fun, we're gonna have to wait all summer for more Nurkic

 

[BlazerCaravan]

An old but good backup C would be perfect. I'm going to talk like money is no object and Paul A is going to screw the luxury tax to get the best team possible.

I'd try to pry Tyson Chandler off of Phoenix using picks and players like Aminu and Leonard. Playing him 18 minutes a night will extend his usefulness to a couple of years. He's still giving decent PER numbers even at 34.

After you get your backup C, the parts you have left should tell you where to go next. I personally think Nurk makes Noah and Moe good enough to start for us. I like Turner and Crabbe off the bench. I want to move Aminu; let's say I moved him and Leonard for Chandler. So we need to see if Ed Davis is worth keeping around as a backup PF, or if we need to find an upgrade. We also need an upgraded wing to replace Aminu. Preferably someone with a decent three point shot because our bench tends to have trouble keeping up the offense. I don't know who I'd go after here.

 

[GDiama]

Even if Paul Allen is ok paying tax you cannot realistically expect to sign a backup C that makes 13M. I think it's already too much having everyone laugh at us having the second highest payroll and hardly making the playoffs

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Even if Paul Allen is ok paying tax you cannot realistically expect to sign a backup C that makes 13M. I think it's already too much having everyone laugh at us having the second highest payroll and hardly making the playoffs

If you give a fuck about people laughing at you then you should just switch teams. Pay for talent.

 

[GDiama]

If you give a fuck about people laughing at you then you should just switch teams. Pay for talent.

Well we don't actually pay for talent.

 

[Orion Bailey]

While this season still has between 6 and 12 games left, I wanted to think towards next year. We can all agree this team could use some upgrades across the board.

This isn't name specific, just what I think this team needs to be considered serious contenders, which in my mind is all you can ask for.

First and most obvious need is depth along the front line. Nurk and Vonleh seem to be, at worst, solid NBA starters. Harkless also seems to be a nice fit. If we consider Turner a keeper, I don't but a lot of you do, that leaves Ed Davis, Meyers Leonar_ and Aminu as our back up bigs.

Next, I think adding a vet defensive minded true pg to this team would do wonders for the second unit.

Pushing guys down or off the bench is what we need to do. I love me some cheerleader Pat C, but he should never be in a rotation of a true contending team. Same goes for Leonar_, and Napier. Having them on the roster is fine, but they should be the 10th 11th and 12th men.

Bigs are vital for us. Nurk has shown he gets nicked up...assuming meniscus surgery and a broken leg are considered nicks. It would be great to have a guy where the drop off would be devastating if he misses a few games, or when he goes to the bench.

Just my ramblings. Not sure I said anything.

I am in the camp that Turner is a keeper, and I would push him to the backup PG spot. I think he does fine the the second unit.

This is our starting lineup and I am fine with it(though I could see an improvement in SF and move or trade Harkless).

Dame/CJ/Harkless/Vonlreh/Nurk

I think that is young enough to be a contending starting lineup in 1-2 years as they grow together.

Second unit is where I think we need some work.

Turner/Crabbe/???/Aminu/????

I think we need a good backup SF and C. I just don't think Davis has the big enough body to be a steady 5. He is too slow to be a four.
Unfortunately I see Davis/Leonard/Napier as our trade pieces to try to improve. Not alot to work with but this is something I would like to see happen:

Trade Davis and Napier to the Nets for Justin Hamilton, our backup Center

Meyers has no trade value right now. I honestly think the best thing to do is let him get healthy and be on the bench next year. we will need that third body, but he should not be part of the regular rotation until we get a solid big man coach and he learns a few more things(even possible?)
He is still a larger than average body for Center and Could be useful for fouls, etc.

That leaves us with our picks. I would like to trade our pick and Memphis pic to move up to 12 spot to draft TJ Leaf.
@PtldPlatypus led me to Justin Jackson. We use CLE pick to draft him.

Now we are looking more like this:

Dame
CJ
Harkless
Vonleh
Nurkic

Turner
Crabbe
Jackson
Aminu
Hamilton

Napier
Connaughton
Laymen
TJ Leif
Leonard


I think that is a solid 15 to walk into next season with. A very young team(probably still the youngest) with tons of growth potential, a big three with complimentary pieces that will fit well with them and most of all we shed Aprox 7 mill walking into next season. Not close to enough to sign Nurk and VOnleh, but it gets us closer. Then we watch the season progress and we see who (Crabbe/Turner) will provide us the best trade. Honestly hoping for more draft picks in a trade for one of these two. It will keep our salary down and keep us young with more future potential. If we can manage to trade Crabbe for a pick, there is our Nurk money right there.

I font know if this is enough to make us true contenders and keep us there for the long haul, but as of now I cant think of many other ways to keep it going.
Bringing in Justin Hamilton at 26 on a $3mill contract as our backup. TJ Leif and Justin Jackson as our future. Id say I would be absolutely ecstatic if we were sitting something close to this by next season.

 

[Orion Bailey]

An old but good backup C would be perfect. I'm going to talk like money is no object and Paul A is going to screw the luxury tax to get the best team possible.

I'd try to pry Tyson Chandler off of Phoenix using picks and players like Aminu and Leonard. Playing him 18 minutes a night will extend his usefulness to a couple of years. He's still giving decent PER numbers even at 34.

After you get your backup C, the parts you have left should tell you where to go next. I personally think Nurk makes Noah and Moe good enough to start for us. I like Turner and Crabbe off the bench. I want to move Aminu; let's say I moved him and Leonard for Chandler. So we need to see if Ed Davis is worth keeping around as a backup PF, or if we need to find an upgrade. We also need an upgraded wing to replace Aminu. Preferably someone with a decent three point shot because our bench tends to have trouble keeping up the offense. I don't know who I'd go after here.

I dont know if I agree, I think AMinu is good for our D on the bench, but if you are going that route, I would try to replace him in the draft with TJ Leif. He would giver you that shot you are looking for.
But I would actually like to see something more like I posted above.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I am in the camp that Turner is a keeper, and I would push him to the backup PG spot. I think he does fine the the second unit.

This is our starting lineup and I am fine with it(though I could see an improvement in SF and move or trade Harkless).

Dame/CJ/Harkless/Vonlreh/Nurk

I think that is young enough to be a contending starting lineup in 1-2 years as they grow together.

Second unit is where I think we need some work.

Turner/Crabbe/???/Aminu/????

I think we need a good backup SF and C. I just don't think Davis has the big enough body to be a steady 5. He is too slow to be a four.
Unfortunately I see Davis/Leonard/Napier as our trade pieces to try to improve. Not alot to work with but this is something I would like to see happen:

Trade Davis and Napier to the Nets for Justin Hamilton, our backup Center

Meyers has no trade value right now. I honestly think the best thing to do is let him get healthy and be on the bench next year. we will need that third body, but he should not be part of the regular rotation until we get a solid big man coach and he learns a few more things(even possible?)
He is still a larger than average body for Center and Could be useful for fouls, etc.

That leaves us with our picks. I would like to trade our pick and Memphis pic to move up to 12 spot to draft TJ Leaf.
@PtldPlatypus led me to Justin Jackson. We use CLE pick to draft him.

Now we are looking more like this:

Dame
CJ
Harkless
Vonleh
Nurkic

Turner
Crabbe
Jackson
Aminu
Hamilton

Napier
Connaughton
Laymen
TJ Leif
Laymen


I think that is a solid 15 to walk into next season with. A very young team(probably still the youngest) with tons of growth potential, a big three with complimentary pieces that will fit well with them and most of all we shed Aprox 7 mill walking into next season. Not close to enough to sign Nurk and VOnleh, but it gets us closer. Then we watch the season progress and we see who (Crabbe/Turner) will provide us the best trade. Honestly hoping for more draft picks in a trade for one of these two. It will keep our salary down and keep us young with more future potential. If we can manage to trade Crabbe for a pick, there is our Nurk money right there.

I font know if this is enough to make us true contenders and keep us there for the long haul, but as of now I cant think of many other ways to keep it going.
Bringing in Justin Hamilton at 26 on a $3mill contract as our backup. TJ Leif and Justin Jackson as our future. Id say I would be absolutely ecstatic if we were sitting something close to this by next season.

You have Layman in there twice but you at least made it plural to Laymen

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I dont know if I agree, I think AMinu is good for our D on the bench, but if you are going that route, I would try to replace him in the draft with TJ Leif. He would giver you that shot you are looking for.
But I would actually like to see something more like I posted above.

My analysis is pre-coffee, but you know my opinions on Aminu anyway!

 

[Orion Bailey]

You have Layman in there twice but you at least made it plural to Laymen

Thats Lame Man!

HAHAHA

Good catch. I think I was subconsciously trying to avoid typing Leonard as that third string Center. I will fix. HAHAHAHA

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Thats Lame Man!

HAHAHA

Good catch. I think I was subconsciously trying to avoid typing Leonard as that third string Center. I will fix. HAHAHAHA

I'll be honest I'd rather have two Laymans!

 

[GDiama]

I am in the camp that Turner is a keeper, and I would push him to the backup PG spot. I think he does fine the the second unit.

This is our starting lineup and I am fine with it(though I could see an improvement in SF and move or trade Harkless).

Dame/CJ/Harkless/Vonlreh/Nurk

I think that is young enough to be a contending starting lineup in 1-2 years as they grow together.

Second unit is where I think we need some work.

Turner/Crabbe/???/Aminu/????

I think we need a good backup SF and C. I just don't think Davis has the big enough body to be a steady 5. He is too slow to be a four.
Unfortunately I see Davis/Leonard/Napier as our trade pieces to try to improve. Not alot to work with but this is something I would like to see happen:

Trade Davis and Napier to the Nets for Justin Hamilton, our backup Center

Meyers has no trade value right now. I honestly think the best thing to do is let him get healthy and be on the bench next year. we will need that third body, but he should not be part of the regular rotation until we get a solid big man coach and he learns a few more things(even possible?)
He is still a larger than average body for Center and Could be useful for fouls, etc.

That leaves us with our picks. I would like to trade our pick and Memphis pic to move up to 12 spot to draft TJ Leaf.
@PtldPlatypus led me to Justin Jackson. We use CLE pick to draft him.

Now we are looking more like this:

Dame
CJ
Harkless
Vonleh
Nurkic

Turner
Crabbe
Jackson
Aminu
Hamilton

Napier
Connaughton
Laymen
TJ Leif
Leonard


I think that is a solid 15 to walk into next season with. A very young team(probably still the youngest) with tons of growth potential, a big three with complimentary pieces that will fit well with them and most of all we shed Aprox 7 mill walking into next season. Not close to enough to sign Nurk and VOnleh, but it gets us closer. Then we watch the season progress and we see who (Crabbe/Turner) will provide us the best trade. Honestly hoping for more draft picks in a trade for one of these two. It will keep our salary down and keep us young with more future potential. If we can manage to trade Crabbe for a pick, there is our Nurk money right there.

I font know if this is enough to make us true contenders and keep us there for the long haul, but as of now I cant think of many other ways to keep it going.
Bringing in Justin Hamilton at 26 on a $3mill contract as our backup. TJ Leif and Justin Jackson as our future. Id say I would be absolutely ecstatic if we were sitting something close to this by next season.

I don't know this Justin Jackson guy but draftexpress has us getting him with the 12th pick which means he ll probably go lottery.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I don't know this Justin Jackson guy but draftexpress has us getting him with the 12th pick which means he ll probably go lottery.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/justin-jackson

 

[Hobbesarable]

While this season still has between 6 and 12 games left, I wanted to think towards next year. We can all agree this team could use some upgrades across the board.

This isn't name specific, just what I think this team needs to be considered serious contenders, which in my mind is all you can ask for.

First and most obvious need is depth along the front line. Nurk and Vonleh seem to be, at worst, solid NBA starters. Harkless also seems to be a nice fit. If we consider Turner a keeper, I don't but a lot of you do, that leaves Ed Davis, Meyers Leonar_ and Aminu as our back up bigs.

Next, I think adding a vet defensive minded true pg to this team would do wonders for the second unit.

Pushing guys down or off the bench is what we need to do. I love me some cheerleader Pat C, but he should never be in a rotation of a true contending team. Same goes for Leonar_, and Napier. Having them on the roster is fine, but they should be the 10th 11th and 12th men.

Bigs are vital for us. Nurk has shown he gets nicked up...assuming meniscus surgery and a broken leg are considered nicks. It would be great to have a guy where the drop off would be devastating if he misses a few games, or when he goes to the bench.

Just my ramblings. Not sure I said anything.

I agree with most of what you said, MM.

Here are my quick thoughts.

I like our starters: Nurkic, Vonleh, Harkless, CJ, and Dame.

I hope Olshey trades Meyers and either Crabbe or Turner. Then go BPA in the draft unless they are able to trade for good bench players.

I would like to see our team acquire defensive back-up players: a 4/5 player and a 1/2 player.

 

[Blazers Roy]

-First priority: get rid of Turner,Leonard,Davis,Ezeli for expiring contracts. Way too many placeholders in this team.

-Don't trade the picks for something stupid, just draft the best you can.

-Try to be creative in the minimum\mid level FA market, try to find the next Hassan Whiteside\Wesley Matthews. (Neil would say: "this is unrealistic, if there was another Whiteside on the market than he would've been signed already." lol).

-Try to get Jimmy Butler for all the draft picks and whatever they want outside of our big 3 (P.George will leave us like Lamarcooz and Bulls management is on the Kings' level of stupidity).

 

[MarAzul]

until we get a solid big man coach and he learns a few more things

This seems to be about right on target. Two questions here and perhaps only one applies.
Can Meyer learn to play as he should with the assets he has.

If the answer is no, why did it take 4 years to learn?
If the answer is yes, why the hell don't the Blazers have the coach?

 

[riverman]

I like Turner and a healthy Ed Davis coming off the bench....they are good defenders...

This seems to be about right on target. Two questions here and perhaps only one applies.
Can Meyer learn to play as he should with the assets he has.

If the answer is no, why did it take 4 years to learn?
If the answer is yes, why the hell don't the Blazers have the coach?

I think his drop off was huge when we fired Kim Hughes...like he lost his designated driver

 

[oldfisherman]

This summer is the time to shift into the “win now” gear.

As of this morning, our three picks are 17, 20, & 26. I doubt there is a win now player available at those picks.

We have a good core, and we have depth. The problem is, we need to upgrade our depth if we want to contend, and not just be a border line playoff team forever.

Trade as many of the picks as necessary to upgrade our depth. I am not worried about who sits at the end of the bench. We need to upgrade the players that can step up if one of our starters goes down with an injury.

Olsheys specialty appears to be trading for young talented players who are out of favor with their GM. It started with ROLO, Harkless, Vonleh and now the Beast.

I would look for Olshey to make a similar trade or two this summer. Package draft picks with bad contracts for young talent with a year or two of experience.

 

[MarAzul]

I like Turner and a healthy Ed Davis coming off the bench....they are good defenders...

I think his drop off was huge when we fired Kim Hughes...like he lost his designated driver

Something is not right here. I don't understand it.

 

[Orion Bailey]

This seems to be about right on target. Two questions here and perhaps only one applies.
Can Meyer learn to play as he should with the assets he has.

If the answer is no, why did it take 4 years to learn?
If the answer is yes, why the hell don't the Blazers have the coach?

That's tough. I think the answer might have been yes at one time, but it is fairly apparent if that door hasn't closed, its swinging shut with good momentum. I posted my consensus based off of a good conversation BC and I had the other day about his issues being a processing thing. I think if he was taught from day one, where he should be in different situations, and how to use his body and footwork ,etc. Then it could have been ingrained into him and thus his processing would be much quicker, but he hasn't had that steady big man coach, nor has he had a consistent environment that allows him to try to work on the same things consistently.
Unfortunately, I think the ship has now sailed when you add his injury troubles.
I would mostly blame management on this, seriously. Them and Stott's have insisted on trying to form him into a player that he too wants to be. But the reality of the game is when it matters, he needs to be down low in the paint causing havoc with that body. He was not put into a position of consistency under the basket and it shows in his inconsistent and hesitant decisions on what to do and when to do it.

This summer is the time to shift into the “win now” gear.

As of this morning, our three picks are 17, 20, & 26. I doubt there is a win now player available at those picks.

We have a good core, and we have depth. The problem is, we need to upgrade our depth if we want to contend, and not just be a border line playoff team forever.

Trade as many of the picks as necessary to upgrade our depth. I am not worried about who sits at the end of the bench. We need to upgrade the players that can step up if one of our starters goes down with an injury.

Olsheys specialty appears to be trading for young talented players who are out of favor with their GM. It started with ROLO, Harkless, Vonleh and now the Beast.

I would look for Olshey to make a similar trade or two this summer. Package draft picks with bad contracts for young talent with a year or two of experience.

The problem with that is we don't have the money to go after big time paid players. I think we are going to have to ride through the start of next year with the picks we use. With any luck one of them becomes solid and can bump any one of Aminu, Crabbe, Turner, Davis down tot he bottom of the bench, not because they suck, but because we hit good in the draft and these players or even one of them has quickly become a solid off the bench role player. This will then allow us the opportunity to make a trade at the deadline to shed some more salary by getting rid of Crabbe/Turner. If we are really lucky, the two guys I just mentioned above would afford us the luxury of trading both, especially if they play well starting next season.

I really think our best way for success is in this draft and getting a couple guys that can bring most of what Crabbe and Turner can bring....at a fraction of the cost. We use the money to sign Vonleh and Nurk. The picks we get from a potential Crabbe and Turner trade could then be used to bring a stud in if needed and we would then be in a much better position to afford them.

Bottom line is a couple/few guys are going to have to go in order for anyone to be added to this roster and that includes re-signing Nurk and Vonleh.

The last line I bolded I could see NO doing as well, but NO has also proven to be pretty darned good at the draft. I think he can move up with the first to for a role player off the bench and take Justin Jackson who looks fairly underrated at this point.
What I do not see him doing is using our picks to try to go after a Jimmy Butler. Trading CJ for Jimmy Butler, etc.
I really feel they are sod, they now have their big three and so the moves will be outside of that.

 

[rasheedfan2005]

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/justin-jackson

i couldnt get over how bad that song is to enjoy the basketball. rap went from easily rapping the last word of lines to multisyllable rhymes to just repeating the same line over and over to a beat.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Find another Nurkic-like situation:

Go after Mario Hezonja, Dragan Bender or Stanley Johnson.

 

[Orion Bailey]

i couldnt get over how bad that song is to enjoy the basketball. rap went from easily rapping the last word of lines to multisyllable rhymes to just repeating the same line over and over to a beat.

 

[rasheedfan2005]

much better ty. always hard for me to judge college talent until i see them move at nba speed, but i like his little 1 handed floater. took dame and cj some time to learn that and he seems to already have it.

 

[MarAzul]

I would mostly blame management on this, seriously.

Spot on again.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Lillard/McCollum/Nurk: Very Good
Vonleh: Good
Aminu/Harkless: Fine-Good
Davis (if healthy): Fine

ET/Crabbe: Fine-Good, but Salary lowers him to Meh-Fine
Butters: Meh-Fine, but Salary lowers him to Bad-Meh

Ezeli/PatC/TimQ: Expirings-Gone (have to make room for picks)
Layman/Bazz: 3rd stringers-Hanging On

Two Possible Strategies:
1) Consolidation Trade: Trade anyone not Good or Very Good for someone who is.
2) Value Town: Trade a player for another player in the same category who hasn't been given a shot, i.e. Buy Low. Have that player become Good/Very Good.

Regardless of those strategies, 2 of the 3 Meh-Fine and Bad-Meh players need to be replaced by similar players who cost less, so we can pay Nurk and Vonleh.

 

[illmatic99]

TJ Warren and Richaun Holmes are better versions of Moe and Vonleh. Two guys to consider.

Both of em are wasted on their current rosters.

 

[GDiama]

I'd love to have Holmes, he is doing it all. Blocks, rebs, 3 pts. If the Sixers don't find someone to trade for Okafor maybe Holmes will be available at a low price. Warren I don't think is available. He is their only SF.