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HailBlazers said:
A la the Bucks
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Ya, Nurk's addition did wonders two cover up the Dame/CJ deficiencies. Imagine if we added 2 long armed freaks who wouldn't get intimidated next to em. Moe too has the tools, but he's passive half the time.
 
Man, what I would do to land Kristaps. There's talk of him being completely fed up by the NY front office. He's not a freak athlete but he's HUGE and not intimidated by anything.
 
yuyuza1 said:
We need high flying athletes who aren't scared. Like physically imposing ones. It's amazing how physically overmatched we look. Noah has the tools, but he doesn't know how to use them.
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This is one of the reasons I like guys like Anunoby and Ojeleye in the draft.
 
Would NY be willing to let go of Porzingis if we let em dump Noah on us?

Crabbe + 3 picks + Noah + Ezeli for Joakim Noah + Porzingis + O'Quinn. They dump a ton of salary and get 3 picks.

Who says no?
 
The first thing I thought about when I saw that quote was, "Are they really that close?'

People refer to last years series and how close it was but it really wasn't. The Warriors won in 5 and Curry didn't play the first 3 games. So though the games scores were fairly close, it never felt like the Blazers were really threatening to win the series.

The same applies to game 1. Not that Golden State doesn't respect Dame/CJ but it looked like they were very sloppy, (tons of TOs early) and not that engaged because they know Portland can't beat them. If Nurkic was playing, maybe they would be a little more concerned and Jusuf would also create some actual mismatches. At halftime, the gf and I were talking about the game and we both surmised that Portland had no shot....and the score was tied.

The issue was, Dame/CJ had 48 of 56 points. We thought what the Warriors probably thought. There were NO WAY they could keep that up and score 96 points to keep the Blazers in the game and there was no threat from anyone else...as there really hasn't been for 2 years now. So when Golden State finally got bored of toying around and the game really mattered in the 4th quarter, it was a 15-2 run and the game was over.

Despite heroic scoring from Dame/CJ, it never really felt that close and though Nurk would help, and Noah would be better not having to play out of position, there is nothing about Aminu, Harkless, Turner, or Crabbe that is scaring the Warriors now or later outside of a rare explosion. Since that is 4 of your top 8 guys, and Vonleh isn't expected to score, that is a lot to make up for from Dame/CJ and Nurk....if he even plays.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Would NY be willing to let go of Porzingis if we let em dump Noah on us?

Crabbe + 3 picks + Noah + Ezeli for Joakim Noah + Porzingis + O'Quinn. They dump a ton of salary and get 3 picks.

Who says no?
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I still don't think that's enough, only because I'd do it in a heartbeat.
 
Mediocre Man said:
I've been on the Melo to Portland bandwagon in the past, but I'm off it now. We don't need guys on offense that hold the ball.

On defense, he's garbage. This team needs defense. It can score, just fine.

As for defense vs scoring, Turner is a good defender, but an awful fit because his man clogs up the lane because he can't shoot.

We have to add

A real back up center.
A vet wing defender who can stretch the defense.
A PF to either replace Vonleh or come off the bench
Just more quality depth. Unless you have have all world players, which we don't, you gotta have better players than Meyers, Aminu and Napier giving you real playoff minutes. We get better when those guys move down the depth chart
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I disagree about Napier. I think he's a very good backup point guard.
 
yuyuza1 said:
How far are these dudes from contributing, though?
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Couldn't tell you. Personally, I had a similar feeling watching Ojeleye in the tourney this year that I got watching Faried at Morehead State. I could definitely see him being a player in year 1. Anunoby is younger and probably needs more development, but surely has a higher ceiling.
 
tlongII said:
Look at the other backup point guards in the league and tell me who's better.
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Jennings, Joseph, Mills, Jack, Livingston, Smart, Rivers, Barrea, Dellavadova, Sessions, Collison, Williams, etc.

Not saying he sucks at all. Just that we need an upgrade there. Our starter scores. Maybe someone with a change of pace who plays defense?
 
Mediocre Man said:
Jennings, Joseph, Mills, Jack, Livingston, Smart, Rivers, Barrea, Dellavadova, Sessions, Collison, Williams, etc.

Not saying he sucks at all. Just that we need an upgrade there. Our starter scores. Maybe someone with a change of pace who plays defense?
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We do tend to get a lot of "Dame Jr." backup point guards. Problem is, if you ain't "Dame Prime" on offense, you're not good enough to be playing NBA ball, but if you ARE "Dame Prime" on offense, you're too good to be a backup.
 
yuyuza1 said:
How far are these dudes from contributing, though?
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This is something the Blazers need to figure the fuck out. If they want to get out of this fucking purgatory they are stuck in, they need to pick a direction. If they think they are a couple players away, then trade all those picks. If not, keep those picks and trade some of the current rotation guys.
 
I think the Blazers are at the point of being able to contend for 50 win seasons as they are now. I think they're very far away from the Warriors. The Warriors looked pretty disinterested and in cruise control most of the game, only turning it on in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Blazers lost by 12 and the spread was 14.5, or so. So a historic night from McCollum and Lillard only kept the final score a bit under expectations.

It reminds me of the Webber/Howard Washington Wizards playing the Jordan/Pippen Bulls tough in a first round series (one game required a buzzer beater from Pippen to win) and Jordan remarked after the series was over that Washington was going to be one of the teams of the future. Playing a juggernaut tough is impressive, but doesn't necessarily mean you're on the verge of becoming a juggernaut yourself. I think Lillard/McCollum/Nurkic is a nice core, but they need to add a lot of talent to that. I'd be more optimistic about the situation if they weren't already capped out to the luxury tax line.
 
Minstrel said:
I think the Blazers are at the point of being able to contend for 50 win seasons as they are now. I think they're very far away from the Warriors. The Warriors looked pretty disinterested and in cruise control most of the game, only turning it on in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Blazers lost by 12 and the spread was 14.5, or so. So a historic night from McCollum and Lillard only kept the final score a bit under expectations.

It reminds me of the Webber/Howard Washington Wizards playing the Jordan/Pippen Bulls tough in a first round series (one game required a buzzer beater from Pippen to win) and Jordan remarked after the series was over that Washington was going to be one of the teams of the future. Playing a juggernaut tough is impressive, but doesn't necessarily mean you're on the verge of becoming a juggernaut yourself. I think Lillard/McCollum/Nurkic is a nice core, but they need to add a lot of talent to that. I'd be more optimistic about the situation if they weren't already capped out to the luxury tax line.
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Welp. I don't have anything to add now. Thanks (I guess?)
:wink:
 
Mediocre Man said:
This is something the Blazers need to figure the fuck out. If they want to get out of this fucking purgatory they are stuck in, they need to pick a direction. If they think they are a couple players away, then trade all those picks. If not, keep those picks and trade some of the current rotation guys.
Click to expand...

I guess the big question is, which window will we try to climb through when it opens? Dame is 26, but Nurk is 22. That means, in theory, if we want to maximize our chances, we should operate as if our window opens all the way in 2018-2019 (when Dame is 28), and closes all the way in 2026-2027 (when Nurk is 32). That's a HUGE window.

Luckily, I think all of our needs (provided Nurkic is healthy and playing) are in shoring up our bench. So maybe you keep your picks this year, knowing you have two years to try and develop talent, but then start trading for vets during the 2018-19 offseason to tool up for the big run.
 
julius said:
If they can upgrade Aminu and Leonard, it'll go a long way to whether or now they are not that "far away".
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I don't follow NCAA, but it can't be that hard to find players who - even as rookies - would out-play these two jokers. I think, regardless of whether we draft or trade the picks, it's a given that our bench will be better next season. And that's all we need - a better bench. It would be nice to have a better PF, but we've already seen Noah play better as long as he has Nurkic to siphon confidence from.
 
I don't want 40 year old vets.....to me Tyson Chandler is way too old...Javale McGee I believe is a free agent and he'd be a great backup to Nurk. Shot blocking defender
 
riverman said:
I don't want 40 year old vets.....to me Tyson Chandler is way too old...Javale McGee I believe is a free agent and he'd be a great backup to Nurk. Shot blocking defender
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I'd prefer to have a player who can win two out of three Tic-Tac-Toe games.
 
Close or not, here's what I'd like:
1) 3 & D SF
2) 3 & D PF (preferably one that can rebound and finish at the rim)
3) Sparkplug off the bench.

We don't need 5, or even 4 great offensive juggernauts. Add acouple of guys who play D and can hit the 3, and we become championship contenders imho. An interesting team example is the Raptors: 3 stars + Demarre Carroll + Serge Ibaka. If we had Carroll and Ibaka, we'd be absolutely set in terms of starting lineup.

Some of the offseason questions include: "to what extent are the guys we have 3 & D?"
Crabbe: Has 3. D is marginal. Makes too much $$$.
Vonleh: Currently scared to shoot, D is ok. rebounding is ok, finishing at rim is mediocre. Can he improve?
Aminu: Has D. If he had the 3, he'd be perfect - he doesn't.
ET: good enough D? Not quite good enough 3.
Harkless: not sure how to evaluate. If his 3 was a little better....
 
Mediocre Man said:
I've been on the Melo to Portland bandwagon in the past, but I'm off it now. We don't need guys on offense that hold the ball.

On defense, he's garbage. This team needs defense. It can score, just fine.

As for defense vs scoring, Turner is a good defender, but an awful fit because his man clogs up the lane because he can't shoot.

We have to add

A real back up center.
A vet wing defender who can stretch the defense.
A PF to either replace Vonleh or come off the bench
Just more quality depth. Unless you have have all world players, which we don't, you gotta have better players than Meyers, Aminu and Napier giving you real playoff minutes. We get better when those guys move down the depth chart
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Oh C'mon...You don't think Meyers is an all world player?
 
yuyuza1 said:
Would NY be willing to let go of Porzingis if we let em dump Noah on us?

Crabbe + 3 picks + Noah + Ezeli for Joakim Noah + Porzingis + O'Quinn. They dump a ton of salary and get 3 picks.

Who says no?
Click to expand...

I'd think the offer would have to include at least CJ. Maybe CJ and 2 or 3 of the picks.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Would NY be willing to let go of Porzingis if we let em dump Noah on us?

Crabbe + 3 picks + Noah + Ezeli for Joakim Noah + Porzingis + O'Quinn. They dump a ton of salary and get 3 picks.

Who says no?
Click to expand...
New York, as bad as Noah's contract is 3 picks in the 15-25 range, Crabbe, an expiring contract, and a developing PF aren't enough to land Porzingod. He's just too young and has way too high of a ceiling to let go without an all star coming back.
 
I would trade CJ for Porzingis.

Dame
Crabbe
Harkless
Porzingis
Nurk

All young.

All versatile.
 
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