Exclusive Vote - Anybody change their opinion on tanking this year?

[SharpesTriumph]

The Blazers are currently sitting with 22 wins. All of last year they had 21 wins. The Blazers are 3 wins behind two west playin teams. The Blazers would be in the playin currently in the East. The Blazers have won 9 of 10 games.

What is your opinion of if the Blazers should try to tank or try to win - at the start of the season compared to today?

 

[Natebishop3]

The Blazers are currently sitting with 22 wins. All of last year they had 21 wins. The Blazers are 3 wins behind two west playin teams. The Blazers would be in the playin currently in the East. The Blazers have won 9 of 10 games.

What is your opinion of if the Blazers should try to tank or try to win - at the start of the season compared to today?

I think we are setting ourselves up to be an also-ran without a star. Banking hard on Scoot or Shae becoming a star.

 

[Phatguysrule]

I think we are setting ourselves up to be an also-ran without a star. Banking hard on Scoot or Shae becoming a star.

Both will need to become stars for us to contend. Assuming Deni keeps it up.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Management should have done everything to build the talent level on this team. Up to and including trading vets who can help us beat bad teams but aren't part of the future.

Management screwed up unless they can turn Ant or Grant into an all star somehow. Either via development or trade.

 

[Cugel]

poor ownership. clueless

 

[SheedSoNasty]

We should have tanked this year to land a top pick in a talent heavy draft. I like that we are developing an identity and are finding some success, but talent ultimately wins in this league and that’s what we truly need. This flash in the pan is going to cost us long term.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

We should have tanked this year to land a top pick in a talent heavy draft. I like that we are developing an identity and are finding some success, but talent ultimately wins in this league and that’s what we truly need. This flash in the pan is going to cost us long term.

Yeah I like the Scoot/Sharpe drafts, fine with Clingan, and Camara/Deni have been awesome forwards to root for.

But this Ant Grant Ayton trio never made sense since the day it was assembled. I'd be totally fine with ONE of the three, I might be ok with TWO of them.... but holding onto ALL 3 of these guys for years as we have done makes zero sense.

Plus now all the reports we are going to tank tonight or after the allstar break. If were going to tank what the hell was the point of this 9/10 wins and getting 3 wins from the playin? This franchise needs to pick a damn direction.

 

[riverman]

Tanking should have never been a strategy. Always play the game to win and accept your ping pong balls organically. Since they are trying to win, I'm watching basketball again...when they were mailing in games and losing by 40 I was tuning completely out. You need vets to win. We have guys who want to be here and what more could you ask for in a small market? We have talent on our team that before lacked chemistry. Now that's starting to gel and it's fun to watch. Playoffs are where young stars are born, more so than the draft. I look at Phoenix and the Bucks with their multiple all stars and we kicked their butts this season. That tells you something. Defense wins championships and recently we're the number one defense in the league. Enjoy it!

 

[Hoopguru]

Tanking should have never been a strategy. Always play the game to win and accept your ping pong balls organically. Since they are trying to win, I'm watching basketball again...when they were mailing in games and losing by 40 I was tuning completely out. You need vets to win. We have guys who want to be here and what more could you ask for in a small market? We have talent on our team that before lacked chemistry. Now that's starting to gel and it's fun to watch. Playoffs are where young stars are born, more so than the draft.

Playoff basketball is what drives the NBA and why many arenas are sold out. Look at March madness and what the expansion of tourney teams has done. Most fans just want to win ng team to root for and a chance to shock the world.

 

[inconceivable]

Tanking should have never been a strategy. Always play the game to win and accept your ping pong balls organically. Since they are trying to win, I'm watching basketball again...when they were mailing in games and losing by 40 I was tuning completely out. You need vets to win. We have guys who want to be here and what more could you ask for in a small market? We have talent on our team that before lacked chemistry. Now that's starting to gel and it's fun to watch. Playoffs are where young stars are born, more so than the draft.

We need a high lottery pick for the long term (Championship hopes) and that will come at the expense of losing games this year.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Fuck the draft. Play to win.

 

[riverman]

We need a high lottery pick for the long term (Championship hopes) and that will come at the expense of losing games this year.

That’s not how we got Tou or Deni or DA. playoffs are how those guys become champions. Not losing for their rookie replacements. I don’t believe in tanking as a way to build a winner Being the youngest team in the league helps long term plans and we’re that now

 

[inconceivable]

That’s not how we got Tou or Deni or DA. playoffs are how those guys become champions. Not losing for their rookie replacements. I don’t believe in tanking as a way to build a winner Being the youngest team in the league helps long term plans and we’re that now

One more tank job for this year's draft then aim for the playoffs starting next year. Patience.

 

[wizenheimer]

I think we are setting ourselves up to be an also-ran without a star. Banking hard on Scoot or Shae becoming a star.

here's an interesting question:

the Dame/CJ teams of Olshey's loopy vision had a 6 year run. In that 6 years the Blazers won 274 games (covid adjusted) averaging 46 wins a season. If this Blazer team had a 6 year run, could it average more than 46 wins? Technically, you could start the clock at the beginning of last season when it generated 21 wins since it's fundamentally the same team as now, and it sure looks like Cronin only wants to adjust around the periphery, while keeping most of the vets

personally I think 46 wins would be round the ceiling of this team. And wouldn't that just be another zip-code in purgatory; but this time without an all-NBA player?

(by the way, in that 6 year stretch, Dame accounted for 66.3 winshares; about 11 winshares a season. I'm not sure that winshares = wins, but I imagine it's transferrable althoug remembering Dame's heroics it may have been more. That would drop that 46 win average down to 35 before adding back whatever a the Dame replacement would generate. it almost certainly won't be 11 though)

now, I really don't think the Blazers will be able to pay for Simons/Ayton/Sharpe/Scoot/Camara/Clingan all on new contracts; not to mention Avdija, Grant, Timelord, but that's another discussion

 

[wizenheimer]

That’s not how we got Tou or Deni or DA.

lol...wut?

they got all 3 of those guys from trading Dame...that's how; after 11 seasons, 7 all-star games, and 7 all-NBA selections

 

[blazerkor]

Maybe we will play to win the rest of the season but how likely is it that after our 2/12 game against Denver that our rotation will be: Banton, Rupert, Murray, Walker, Clingan, Reath, Moore, McGowans and Minaya? We had 28 wins going into the all star break not last season but the season before 2022-23 and we ended up with 33 wins. I think we'll likely, even if everyone is available for the next four games, still only have 23 wins going into the all star break, maybe 24. I could see us ending up with just 28 wins. I could see that netting us the 5th slot in this upcoming lottery.

Again though maybe we play to win for the rest of the season, we'll likely come up just short of the play-in, maybe even make the play-in but not likely the playoffs. That would put us between 11 and 14 in the lotto and most likely with whatever pick we have for lotto odds. Damn this would be the wrong draft to be picking 14th in and what would we have to show for it? Some of.you would feel like we did the moral thing and that's fucking it. Sure game experience but we've got a ton of that already this season.

It'll be interesting to see what we do.

 

[THE HCP]

The Blazers are currently sitting with 22 wins. All of last year they had 21 wins. The Blazers are 3 wins behind two west playin teams. The Blazers would be in the playin currently in the East. The Blazers have won 9 of 10 games.

What is your opinion of if the Blazers should try to tank or try to win - at the start of the season compared to today?

We used to make the playoffs EVERY season and it wasn’t enough, so why would it be now to just MAYBE squeak in and get swept by OKC? What will that do?
We continue on this course….. forget that, this last 10 games will set us back YEARS. Sorry. Still a fan though.

 

[riverman]

lol...wut?

they got all 3 of those guys from trading Dame...that's how; after 11 seasons, 7 all-star games, and 7 all-NBA selections

through trades, not the draft...context matters.. Dame was one of the luck of the draw draft picks...Meyers Leonard, not so much.

 

[Phatguysrule]

That’s not how we got Tou or Deni or DA. playoffs are how those guys become champions. Not losing for their rookie replacements. I don’t believe in tanking as a way to build a winner Being the youngest team in the league helps long term plans and we’re that now

None of those guys are going to get us a championship caliber player unless we package them to trade for one.

But then we'll be lacking enough talent to build around that player...

 

[Phatguysrule]

through trades, not the draft...context matters

We don't have enough assets to trade our way to championship level talent.

We're going to have to rely on getting extremely lucky now that we've screwed up this draft.

 

[wizenheimer]

through trades, not the draft...context matters

again....WUT?

it wasn't thru trades, plural, it was from one trade of the franchise player. He doesn't have another franchise player as trade leverage. And that franchise player was landed with a 6th pick

 

[riverman]

again....WUT?

it wasn't thru trades, plural, it was from one trade of the franchise player. He doesn't have another franchise player as trade leverage. And that franchise player was landed with a 6th pick

I said trades have made us better than ping pong balls....Dame was traded...not drafted by the Bucks..we traded him. welcome to 2025..the three guys mentioned were also not drafted by the Blazers. Pretty simple to understand if you follow my drift. That 6th pick demanded a trade after a bunch of failed drafts to build a winner around him...now we're seeing a rebuild through trades for our best players...it's a strategy I can get behind. I understand a lot of fans want the ping pong balls and think they'll end up with Flagg but we're not the Wizards bad enough for that anyway. Hopefully our rookies will develop but our best players are not rookies. I'll die on the anti tanking hill but you are welcome to see ping pong balls as the goal for success. Choices

 

[wizenheimer]

I said trades have made us better than ping pong balls....Dame was traded...not drafted by the Bucks..we traded him. welcome to 2025..the three guys mentioned were also not drafted by the Blazers. Pretty simple to understand if you follow my drift. That 6th pick demanded a trade after a bunch of failed drafts to build a winner around him...now we're seeing a rebuild through trades for our best players...it's a strategy I can get behind.

c'mon man....I'm not saying Dame wasn't traded. I'm saying that template has no fucking relevance to the Blazers right now because they don't have an asset anywhere close to Dame's value.

you listed 3 players as proof trading is better than high draft picks and all 3 players came from the Dame trade. They won't be trading Grant for a better wing; they won't be trading Ayton for a better C; they won't be trading Simons for a better SG. Their only realistic avenue is draft picks

 

[riverman]

c'mon man....I'm not saying Dame wasn't traded. I'm saying that template has no fucking relevance to the Blazers right now because they don't have an asset anywhere close to Dame's value.

you listed 3 players as proof trading is better than high draft picks and all 3 players came from the Dame trade. They won't be trading Grant for a better wing; they won't be trading Ayton for a better C; they won't be trading Simons for a better SG. Their only realistic avenue is draft picks

The trades the front office made for vets has us the number one defense in the league winning 9 of 10 against good teams with all stars....I would trade two guys for draft capital...Thybulle and Reath ...I wouldn't sell low on Grant or Ayton...Grant is a great defender of guys like KD...for what it's worth I'd probably be a lousy GM and you'd probably be a great one but I see it the way I see it. Ant is the guy I think should be our 6 man but I'd trade him in a heartbeat if there were a taker. I wouldn't sell low on him either though

 

[THE HCP]

again....WUT?

it wasn't thru trades, plural, it was from one trade of the franchise player. He doesn't have another franchise player as trade leverage. And that franchise player was landed with a 6th pick

Just remember the only person who should get credit for us landing Dame is Joel Przybilla.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

I want the option play to win using your young stars and bringing the vets off the bench. Although I’m happy to keep Ayton starting

 

[Phatguysrule]

Just remember the only person who should get credit for us landing Dame is Joel Przybilla.

Eh? Care to walk me through this?

 

[Phatguysrule]

The trades the front office made for vets has us the number one defense in the league winning 9 of 10 against good teams with all stars....I would trade two guys for draft capital...Thybulle and Reath ...I wouldn't sell low on Grant or Ayton...Grant is a great defender of guys like KD...for what it's worth I'd probably be a lousy GM and you'd probably be a great one but I see it the way I see it. Ant is the guy I think should be our 6 man but I'd trade him in a heartbeat if there were a taker. I wouldn't sell low on him either though

I would agree. At this point there is no reason to sell low on anybody. We've missed our opportunity to tank.

 

[blazerfan11]

I think we are setting ourselves up to be an also-ran without a star. Banking hard on Scoot or Shae becoming a star.

Camara is already a defensive star of the most important type. Defending multiple positions.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Like I said - if we go ahead and try to make a run at the playin then I can understand standing pat here at the deadline.

But all the rumors are we are going to start sitting guys and tanking soon. Possibly tanking tonight or maybe around the allstar break. Danny Marang mentioned this as well last night. In that case what was the point of getting these 22 wins or having any of these vets on the roster dating back to the summer?

This franchise needs to pick a damn lane.