The Raptors should be an example to us of how to build a better team

[riverman]

By all reports, Kawhi wasn’t thrilled to be traded to Toronto in the first place.

You missed my point entirely though. The point of the thread isn’t to trade for Kawhi, or necessarily a star. It’s to take risks and shake things up, despite success. The Raptors were the number one team in the east last year. They had the coach of the year. They had a star backcourt. They blew it all up because they wanted a ring. Meanwhile we are doubling down.

We blew it up just like other teams...when Wes went down we didn't keep that core and replace Wes with CJ...we basically blew it up...difference is we kept making the playoffs while rebuilding the team...still are....Philly, Minnesota, Knicks and Suns sure blew it up without immediate rewards.....we've remained competitive throughout the Stotts era from my view..if doubling down this season made us get to the WCF I have a problem seeing that as a problem

 

[joeBlazers]

Do you believe we need a better defensive scheme to compete at a higher level?
Do you believe we need better ball handlers and decision makers on the ball?

We blew it up just like other teams...when Wes went down we didn't keep that core and replace Wes with CJ...we basically blew it up...difference is we kept making the playoffs while rebuilding the team...still are....Philly, Minnesota, Knicks and Suns sure blew it up without immediate rewards.....we've remained competitive throughout the Stotts era from my view..if doubling down this season made us get to the WCF I have a problem seeing that as a problem

 

[blazerfan11]

My point is the Blazers have never landed a star player, not because they haven't tried. They haven't ever landed one because none want to come to Portland to play, period. If I could post stats of how often a big market team has landed a star player compared to a small market team, the graph would be hugely in favor of big market teams, and everyone knows it. So crapping all over a small market team for it's lack of ability to make monster trades in the NBA is simply illogical.

No, Carmelo Anthony was just used as a point. I was big in favor of not landing him lol.

Huh? First of all, nobody wants to go to Toronto. Second, are you talking about free agents or trades? Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto. From a small market team (San Antonio).
What keeps a "small market" team from making a monster trade? It's even possible to have two small market teams involved in a monster trade. Paul George was an MVP-level player much of the season. He was traded from Indiana to Oklahoma City.

I would like to see your graph for the last 5 years. You'd have to explain why the teams from the 3 largest markets aren't that good. Two of them stink (worst and 4th worst records in the league), two of them were lower playoff seeds and I'll be nice and give the Lakers an incomplete.

 

[oldmangrouch]

You are telling me that the Blazers have never went after a star caliber player? If so, that is obviously flawed thinking. Even if not, it is still flawed as the Raptors had exactly what the Spurs needed in trade at the time, the Blazers did not. Plus you left out the wily old veteran the Raptors were able to trade for, something that the Blazers can't seem to do no matter how much they beg the rest of the players in the league (Carmelo Anthony, hint hint).

So, no, following the Raptors lead here would still not be a good analogy.

So what's your alternative plan?

 

[Road Ratt]

Stars don't want to come to Portland via free agency, that's why you have to do it via trade. Kawhi did not want to go to Toronto. Paul George made it clear that he was going to sign with the Lakers during his free agency. Yet both Toronto and OKC took the risk and bet on their culture to try to convince both to stay. It worked for OKC for George and remains to be seen with Kawhi.

Show me where this happens to small markets teams more evenly with big market teams and you would have had a point well made. To me this just seems more like nit picking.

 

[Road Ratt]

By all reports, Kawhi wasn’t thrilled to be traded to Toronto in the first place.

You missed my point entirely though. The point of the thread isn’t to trade for Kawhi, or necessarily a star. It’s to take risks and shake things up, despite success. The Raptors were the number one team in the east last year. They had the coach of the year. They had a star backcourt. They blew it all up because they wanted a ring. Meanwhile we are doubling down.

I'd have to hear the theory on how we are suppose to blow the team up... when we can't get star players to come here in the first place.



No, the premise of this thread is still flawed. There are too many things being overlooked to make your point.

The Blazers went all the way to the WCF without Nurkic, had we had Nurkic the Blazers may very well have made it past an injured Warriors team and this thread, for obvious reasons, wouldn't even make sense right now. Due to the Nurkic injury, Enes had to play more minutes, and harder minutes to make up for the loss. He gets injured and can hardly play by the time the Blazers made it to the WCF. The Blazers dragged a beat up team, missing a very important piece, into the WCF. And yet your point is that the Blazers failed because they didn't blow up the team like the Raptors did?!?

 

[e_blazer]

The Raptors without Kawhi are basically the Blazers. Good but not great. If Kawhi stays, they’re elite. If he leaves, they’re behind Milwaukie and probably the Sixers. Maybe the Celtics.

 

[riverman]

Do you believe we need a better defensive scheme to compete at a higher level?
Do you believe we need better ball handlers and decision makers on the ball?

I can point to many areas I'd like to see improvement....making 4th qtr shots and freethrows would be a start....passing...passing..passing….without turning the ball over...taking the ball right at their bigs when they're in foul trouble...what I saw was that we make shots and clean up sloppy passes and free throws...we beat the Warriors in a series....our shooting slump came with tired legs against a really, really rested Steph Curry...every turnover or ballhog bad shot comes from needing to be better ball handlers...our starters learned a deep playoff lesson this season. Part of growing into a bona fide contender and we're much closer than I projected we'd be at this point

 

[Natebishop3]

if doubling down this season made us get to the WCF I have a problem seeing that as a problem

Do you think we will be getting back to the WCF next year?

Keep in mind that we can't afford to keep Kanter/Hood/Curry because of our salary cap. Keep in mind that Nurk will most likely miss most of the season.

 

[CupWizier]

Do you think we will be getting back to the WCF next year?

Keep in mind that we can't afford to keep Kanter/Hood/Curry because of our salary cap. Keep in mind that Nurk will most likely miss most of the season.

Nothing has been determined who we can keep and who we can't and where has it been said that Nurkic will miss most of next season? Also, were you expecting us to make the WCF this year?

 

[joeBlazers]

How do we make progress from the previous year?

 

[e_blazer]

Do you think we will be getting back to the WCF next year?

Keep in mind that we can't afford to keep Kanter/Hood/Curry because of our salary cap. Keep in mind that Nurk will most likely miss most of the season.

Why would you say Nurk will miss most of the season? I haven’t seen any official prognosis, but most speculation seems to be December. Dude’s already walking.

Seems like some of you just are pessimistic by nature.

 

[BonesJones]

I'd have to hear the theory on how we are suppose to blow the team up... when we can't get star players to come here in the first place.



No, the premise of this thread is still flawed. There are too many things being overlooked to make your point.

The Blazers went all the way to the WCF without Nurkic, had we had Nurkic the Blazers may very well have made it past an injured Warriors team and this thread, for obvious reasons, wouldn't even make sense right now. Due to the Nurkic injury, Enes had to play more minutes, and harder minutes to make up for the loss. He gets injured and can hardly play by the time the Blazers made it to the WCF. The Blazers dragged a beat up team, missing a very important piece, into the WCF. And yet your point is that the Blazers failed because they didn't blow up the team like the Raptors did?!?

With Nurkic we may have only gor the 4 seed and lost to the Jazz in the first round. Butterfly affect.

 

[Road Ratt]

With Nurkic we may have only gor the 4 seed and lost to the Jazz in the first round. Butterfly affect.

The odds are extremely low of this happening as well as Nurkic was playing this season. Your point is weak at best.

 

[BonesJones]

The odds are extremely low of this happening as well as Nurkic was playing this season. Your point is weak at best.

My point is weak? Its a possibility. The team rallied around him and played great down the stretch. He might've tried to do too much against Denver. He might not have played as well as Kanter did against OKC. Theres a full range of what ifs.

 

[Road Ratt]

My point is weak? Its a possibility. The team rallied around him and played great down the stretch. He might've tried to do too much against Denver. He might not have played as well as Kanter did against OKC. Theres a full range of what ifs.

True, but making a point with a slim chance happening, in my opinion, is a weak point. Granted there is a slight possibility of your scenario happening, but as well as Nurkic was playing this season before his injury the higher odds easily go to the Blazers doing better with him playing in this years playoffs.

 

[BonesJones]

True, but making a point with a slim chance happening, in my opinion, is a weak point. Granted there is a slight possibility of your scenario happening, but as well as Nurkic was playing this season before his injury the higher odds easily go to the Blazers doing better with him playing in this years playoffs.

Not that slim. You never know how one change can affect a bunch of seemingly unrelated things.

Basically, we shouldnt play the what-if game, because we didnt. We had Nurk last year and got swept.

 

[Natebishop3]

Why would you say Nurk will miss most of the season? I haven’t seen any official prognosis, but most speculation seems to be December. Dude’s already walking.

Seems like some of you just are pessimistic by nature.

I think our team is usually pretty cautious, especially with big men now. I could see him coming back after the All-Star break. I guess we will see.

 

[e_blazer]

With Nurkic we may have only gor the 4 seed and lost to the Jazz in the first round. Butterfly affect.

With Nurk, we might have swept the Nuggets, avoided the injuries to Hood and Kanter, and then swept the Warriors. Butterfly effect.

 

[Road Ratt]

We had Nurk last year and got swept.

Again, weak point. We didn't have this same team last year. We all know that the addition of Curry, Enes and Hood made this team what it was this year. So your point is extremely illogical.

Pulling bizarre scenarios out of thin air is a waste of time for the both of us.




The Suns could have won it all this year had they made the proper trades. (Pulled right out of my butt for your enjoyment, since I had time to waste.)

 

[BonesJones]

Again, weak point. We didn't have this same team last year. We all know that the addition of Curry, Enes and Hood made this team what it was this year. So your point is extremely illogical.

Pulling bizarre scenarios out of thin air is a waste of time for the both of us.




The Suns could have won it all this year had they made the right trades. (Pulled right out of my butt for your enjoyment.)

We had those three but no Nurk. Nurk is the difference between a sweep and a championship right? So we weren't worse off with Nurkic last year, compared to not having him this year but having Hood, Curry, and Kanter instead. That's your logic.

Another thing I take from this is that you dont think losing Nurkic was a major source of motivation and inspiration for the team.

You're the one trying to talk in hypotheticals.

But fine, I'll play along. If Nurk played, we wouldve swept the playoffs, and Terry is the greatest coach ever. Go team!

 

[riverman]

Do you think we will be getting back to the WCF next year?

Keep in mind that we can't afford to keep Kanter/Hood/Curry because of our salary cap. Keep in mind that Nurk will most likely miss most of the season.

next season's playoffs are a pipe dream at this point...we don't even know what other rosters are going to look like in the west or even ours...I know we keep improving and at the start of last season I said I'd be thrilled if we got to the WCF and we did....now a lot of folks seem to be trying to water that success down with buzzkill in my view...start of last season I doubt anyone here anticipated Kanter and Hood on the team. I expect change again next year...Stotts though has my support. I'm impressed with what he's accomplished.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Do you think we will be getting back to the WCF next year?

Keep in mind that we can't afford to keep Kanter/Hood/Curry because of our salary cap. Keep in mind that Nurk will most likely miss most of the season.

How can you ask or answer the first question when your second statement is an unknown????

Nate you know the roster isn't set yet....yes things look to be going a certain way but there ARE move that can be made. Why nit ask thst question once the roster is set for the season? And even then trade deadline moves might affect the question. The guys you mentioned? Two came in the middle of the season last year. Something like that might happen this year too.

Keep in mind starting last year (the year we made the wcf) we didn't have Kanter or hood either right?

 

[PCmor7]

To piggyback on this ^, next year, the Warriors' roster might not include Durant, Boogie or Klay Thompson. Igoudala will be a year older. It's not like everyone is going to get better and the Blazers get worse. There might be more of a pack next year.

 

[dviss1]

Being able to beat the traps requires having forwards who can hit a shot to penalize the opponents for doubling so hard. Chief and Harkless were totally ineffective in the GSW series. I don’t see that as being on Stotts.

This is just not true.

Being able to beat traps requires a different strategy than the wash/rinse/repeat of Pick and Roll with Dame and a big. THAT'S when the traps happen (also the repeated dribble hand offs).

To avoid the traps a different approach is needed. One where you pass to the big in the high post and then cut.

This never happened.

 

[dviss1]

TRAIL BLAZERS GET
OTTO PORTER JR.

BULLS GET
MEYERS LEONARD, EVAN TURNER, AND ONE OF #25 PICK/

This is the only one of those I do. Take the #25. I'm keeping Simons.

 

[e_blazer]

This is just not true.

Being able to beat traps requires a different strategy than the wash/rinse/repeat of Pick and Roll with Dame and a big. THAT'S when the traps happen (also the repeated dribble hand offs).

To avoid the traps a different approach is needed. One where you pass to the big in the high post and then cut.

This never happened.

Well, that last part is certainly true, but it’s also true that once a trap has been employed by the defense, being able to pass out of it to other guys who are open who can actually hit a shot is a pretty effective deterrent to trapping to begin with. The Blazers need more shooters, particularly at the forward spots.

 

[dviss1]

Well, that last part is certainly true, but it’s also true that once a trap has been employed by the defense, being able to pass out of it to other guys who are open who can actually hit a shot is a pretty effective deterrent to trapping to begin with. The Blazers need more shooters, particularly at the forward spots.

Sigh...

If you play the high post and cut, then the trap never happens....

 

[e_blazer]

Sigh...

If you play the high post and cut, then the trap never happens....

No need to sigh, I hear you. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, but once in awhile things don’t go as planned. If the post guy isn’t in a position to receive a clean pass, is it better to have other good shooters or poor ones to pass to? That’s all I’m saying.

 

[joeBlazers]

One thing I have been impressed with the Raptors is that they seem to always get the shots they actually want. They are disciplined in their execution. Players know exactly where to be, although many of them aren't veterans (Siakam, VanFleet), ...
Maybe if you have been playing for 4+ years for the same coach, then you finally figure it out. Is it safe to say that Dame, ML, CJ, Moe and Chief have been on the team something like 4 years?

No need to sigh, I hear you. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, but once in awhile things don’t go as planned. If the post guy isn’t in a position to receive a clean pass, is it better to have other good shooters or poor ones to pass to? That’s all I’m saying.