Which option? Which direction?

[Domihatin]

It's all just gobbledygook and pipe dreams. Everybody was screaming and clamoring to get Wembiwoohoo and we just missed out on getting him and if we had we would have kept Dame and you know what? This would have been worse for the franchise. It's actually a good thing that we moved on from him and have now built a team that features size and length and athleticism and defense and balance and that is much more valuable than having a couple of Superstars.

I'd rather have a Deni than a Dolla. I'd rather have a Toumani than a Wembihoohaw.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

We do not have a superstar. You ain't winning shit without a superstar. Period. End of discussion.

Maybe Sharpe could be one. It's still pretty undecided at this point, but this was our best shot in a deep draft to take another guy who has a chance of becoming a superstar. Now we won't have that if we continue on this path.

I'm starting to believe that Scoot might have superstardom in him after all, if he continues improving the way he has over the past 16 months.

 

[sheed30]

As you state no the Blazers didn't HAVE to give Turner 4 years - plenty of other NBA players would have happily taken a pay raise on a one year deal.

Your also factually wrong that the Blazers HAD to spend the money in the offseason to get to the 90% cap minimum that year. If they were below the minimum the penalty was the difference went to the players on the Blazers roster. This almost happened the season prior - instead the Blazers used that cap space under the minimum salary at the deadline to take on Varejao contract along with a first round pick. Doing a bunch of deals like that sounds way better than paying Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe, and Meyers Leonard nearly $200 million for 4 years.

Please feel free to live in your delusional reality where Olshey had a good 2016 offseason.

Did you even read what was posted? it says it right there, with all teams legally obligated under the CBA to spend at least 90 percent of their caps on player salaries, that meant everyone had to have at least a payroll of at least $84.69 million — a huge leap from the 2015-16 cap figure of $70 million.

Who is actually factually wrong here? LMAO

We didnt need to resign Crabbe to that big contract either, but we would have lost him for nothing. In the end, the next season we traded him anyways to Brooklyn.

 

[blazerfan11]

Who was the Pistons superstar when Billups won the title?

Which was a Gentlemans' sweep (4 -1 ) of a Lakers team loaded with stars.

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm starting to believe that Scoot might have superstardom in him after all, if he continues improving the way he has over the past 16 months.

I don't see him as the superstar that we would need. To me, he could be Chris Paul, which would be fantastic. But we need a wing that can dominate.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I'd rather have a Toumani than a Wembihoohaw.

Now that's just crazy.

 

[Freshtown]

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Ant contract is fine, we didn’t have Scoot at that point, Dame was leaving, I don’t understand how crazy it is to hear you guys say Ant is overpaid, how you looked at the of the other guys salary around the league?

Ayton was traded for, Cronin didn’t sign him to that deal.

The Grant one is the only one you can talk about, but that was done with the intent that Dame was going to resign as we wee trying everything to please Dame at that point and make him stay. If Dame requested a trade before we signed Grant, who’s to say Cronin would have still signed him?

No one knows the real answer that

It comes down to if you want contracts that are "fine" or contracts that have enough positive value to contend for a title. Ant/Ayton/Grant types just don't provide that value. If the goal is just to eventually make the playoffs and lose than its fine.

Blazers either need a number of Camara values, or Scoot/Sharpe type to become an allstar, or some other acquisition of a player whos worth greatly exceeds their cap hit. Back in the SPAM days that wasn't as critical.

 

[Domihatin]

I'm starting to believe that Scoot might have superstardom in him after all, if he continues improving the way he has over the past 16 months.

I believe it. Look at Dame. He had four years of college to become what he was when he entered the league. Give Scoot time and I think his potential is higher. I think he can reach it. He has more dog in him than Dame and plays like a running back with a quarterback's IQ and vision.

 

[sheed30]

Everyone wants to talk about this loaded draft coming up, but how much do you trust these experts analyst?

They have been wrong more than they have been right actually. You never know how loaded a draft really is until years down the road.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Did you even read what was posted? it says it right there, with all teams legally obligated under the CBA to spend at least 90 percent of their caps on player salaries, that meant everyone had to have at least a payroll of at least $84.69 million — a huge leap from the 2015-16 cap figure of $70 million.

Who is actually factually wrong here? LMAO

We didnt need to resign Crabbe to that big contract either, but we would have lost him for nothing. In the end, the next season we traded him anyways to Brooklyn.

Go confirm with @RR7 @CJ_is_Gone @BrianFromWA or other NBA cap experts if you don't believe me. You are misunderstanding how the old CBA worked. The Blazers had no legal requirement to spend the 90% minimum in 2016. Any amount they didn't spend under that minimum would have just gone to the players on the Blazers roster.

The current CBA is different as there is an actual penalty, but that was a change only in the last few years.

 

[Domihatin]

Now that's just crazy.

What Camara has is infectious. He's infecting the rest of the team. They are all becoming defensive monsters and teams are afraid to play them.

Whenbeenyamaha can't infect other players with something that makes them grow super tall. They can just stand there and look up at him in awe and smell his French pits.

 

[Natebishop3]

He has more dog in him than Dame

LOL

 

[Domihatin]

LOL

Dogs scoot their butt along the floor to clean it, you ever see Lillard do that?

 

[blazerfan11]

What Camara has is infectious. He's infecting the rest of the team. They are all becoming defensive monsters and teams are afraid to play them.

Whenbeenyamaha can't infect other players with something that makes them grow super tall. They can just stand there and look up at him in awe and smell his French pits.

Deni too. He was already a wall in the paint against drivers when he was in Washington.

then there's Clingan who scares the other team from going in the paint.

 

[Domihatin]

Deni too. He was already a wall in the paint against drivers when he was in Washington.

then there's Clingan who scares the other team from going in the paint.

Absolutely! Deni is off the court making the players laugh and being kind and generous and celebrating their birthdays and giving them cakes and food like a Jewish mother and on the court he is playing with so much intensity and driving again and again and again to win and doesn't care about the lottery and all that crap. These players are starting to really care and have pride in their team and themselves and not just thinking about the crap that a lot of these so-called fans think about which is the next lottery.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

I can’t change anything, no one from the Blazers organization is going to read my post or anyone else’s and make changes, so I’m going to just enjoy the ride.

This is the funnest Blazers team I’ve seen in several years including going back to last year or two with Dame. This TEAM is playing hard, playing great defense, distributing the ball with different leading scorers every game, pushing the ball for fast breaks, throwing lobs, diving for loose balls and for the most part playing as a team. For the first time in years I’m watching every game!

I’ve accepted we don’t have much chance for the playoffs and don’t have much chance for top 3 pick and I’m ok with it. Go Blazers!!!!

 

[Natebishop3]

I can’t change anything, no one from the Blazers organization is going to read my post or anyone else’s and make changes, so I’m going to just enjoy the ride.

This is the funnest Blazers team I’ve seen in several years including going back to last year or two with Dame. This TEAM is playing hard, playing great defense, distributing the ball with different leading scorers every game, pushing the ball for fast breaks, throwing lobs, diving for loose balls and for the most part playing as a team. For the first time in years I’m watching every game!

I’ve accepted we don’t have much chance for the playoffs and don’t have much chance for top 3 pick and I’m ok with it. Go Blazers!!!!

And then what? We don't make the playoffs. We have a mediocre pick. Simons and Grant aren't worth anything more during the summer than they are right now. How do we improve the team next summer?

 

[blazerkor]

What Camara has is infectious. He's infecting the rest of the team. They are all becoming defensive monsters and teams are afraid to play them.

Whenbeenyamaha can't infect other players with something that makes them grow super tall. They can just stand there and look up at him in awe and smell his French pits.

I just can't tell how much of this bullshit is trolling. It's preposterous that you don't think we need more high end talent. We have no idea how much any of the guys we have on the roster will grow from where they are at. It's logical to stay that they will grow but it's almost crazy to count on any of these guys becoming superstar level players let alone a couple of these guys which is the way you win championships.

In an obnoxious way that somehow seems to be funny to you, you've basically said that those of us who want to increase the amount of high end, superstar talent on this team are just idiots or crybabies because we already have the championship team we should all be content with. This team hasn't even made the playoffs and only one of the guys on the team has even ever been a starter on a team that had playoff success. I don't think you're telling anyone to count on Ayton to be the best player on a championship Blazers team, so how are you not counting your chickens before they hatch?

Why isn't it the prudent approach to want at least one guy with an even greater likelihood to become a multiple MVP level player? It's a moot point now because that's not how this team is being managed and so I hope your optimism is correct. I also hope your snarky idiocy goes away. You might be the most annoying troll account in years. I realize you're probably someone who has been posting here for years who thinks they've empowered themselves to be as idiotic and confrontational as possible by making a second or maybe eighth account.

So I think you're wrong, you're offensive and you're likely not posting in good faith.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

And then what? We don't make the playoffs. We have a mediocre pick. Simons and Grant aren't worth anything more during the summer than they are right now. How do we improve the team next summer?

You make it sound like no NBA teams in history has ever improved without a top5 pick.

There's far more players that have led teams to titles after picks 10 than players drafted as a result of a team losing in the top5.

 

[blazerkor]

And then what? We don't make the playoffs. We have a mediocre pick. Simons and Grant aren't worth anything more during the summer than they are right now. How do we improve the team next summer?

The one hope I have for this roster being improved in the offseason is that Joe has another Jerami/Deni deal in the works. I don't like the fact that Joe doesn't move quicker on these things but he has had some success doing it and alluded to the idea that he's going to do it again this off season, in his presser yesterday. I'm not sure that will be enough to change our trajectory from a team that makes the playoffs but loses in the first round on average to a contender but I doubt it.

So I hope Joe lands another good player with one of his raincheck trades but I'm also left hoping that we get lucky in an extremely unlikely way in the lotto. If we make the playoffs this season and Joe has a deal he's slowly working on then maybe our trajectory is better than I think it is at this moment.

 

[wizenheimer]

This is were common sense comes in, you do realize that summer was the year the NBA media contract kicked in and the salary cap had a huge jump? Every single team had money to spend on free agents, so regardless on who it was, we needed to spent money.?

Portland didn't need to piss money away in 2016; Olshey just decided to act like a drunk....maybe he was drunk

that summer, and I'm doing this from memory so correct me if I'm wrong. Olshey gave out over 345M on contracts for:

CJ-Turner-Crabbe-Meyers-Harkless-Layman-Ezeli. Not an all-star in sight and only one legitimate starter....for 345M. Ezeli got 8.5M and didn't play a game

that was like going to the store and paying $67/pound on turkey burger

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Key leaders on champs the last 10 years;

#15 Giannis
#15 Kawhi
#17 Jrue Holiday
#27 Pascal Siakam
#28 Tony Parker
#29 Derrick White
#35 Draymond Green
#39 Khris Middleton
#41 Jokic
#57 Ginobili

 

[inconceivable]

Camara is Jimmy Butler

Deni is Luka

Sharpe is Booker

Scoot is CP3

 

[Mediocre Man]

There’s a lot of lemmings out there.

It’s why the team never has to try to make deep playoff runs. The fans are fine with purgatory. I’m old enough, and blessed enough to have been in the MC for the championship finals during the Walton years. Then for the Drexler teams, and finally for the Sheed teams. Winning a few games during the season means nothing to me

 

[wizenheimer]

Go confirm with @RR7 @CJ_is_Gone @BrianFromWA or other NBA cap experts if you don't believe me. You are misunderstanding how the old CBA worked. The Blazers had no legal requirement to spend the 90% minimum in 2016. Any amount they didn't spend under that minimum would have just gone to the players on the Blazers roster.

The current CBA is different as there is an actual penalty, but that was a change only in the last few years.

I can't remember but it may have been that under the old CBA a team under the floor couldn't share in the luxury tax pay-out. Maybe that's wrong

that's the main penalty under the new CBA; other than teams losing any cap-space they have under the floor

 

[blazerkor]

Camara is Jimmy Butler

Deni is Luka

Sharpe is Booker

Scoot is CP3

Wow! If that's the case we already have a dynasty and those saying that we don't need anymore high end talent are right. I would love what you posted to be right, I just think the odds are low that any of the guys besides Sharpe gets there. I think Booker looks like the likely ceiling for Sharpe, the rest of the guys have a low likelihood of reaching the level of the players you're saying that they are. Deni is only two years younger than Luke so him ascending that much almost seems impossible. Tou could have a very Jimmy Butler path ahead of him but it was not likely that Butler reached his apex so it's hard to count on someone else doing it. Scoot looks like he's going to be all star level but CP3 level seems only a little bit overly optimistic.

I guess we'll see but again I hope you're right because we will win multiple championships if those comps are accurate.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I think you would find I'm a super nice guy; online with this stuff, I definitely have a different persona and a lot of posturing to go along with the amount of dislike I have for tanking and draft chasing. And I have a fervent love and support for this team. I've been a fan since I won a ticket in the fourth grade and got to go see Drexler and company play in 1989 against the Sonics.

I guess I think of forms and online conversations as a different world and we are more like avatars and not real people with invested feelings, to a point. I don't mean to sound like a jerk or be nasty, I like to try to further this philosophy: TO BUILD, NOT TO REBUILD. We already have gone through a rebuild for some time now and we have great pieces that we just need to keep together and build. Don't need to rebuild every year.

I agree. My only thought is that this is considered one of best drafts on a minute. They still haven’t drafted “the” guy, so why not take a shot this year instead of playing guys that aren’t long for the team and stunting the growth of the “future”?

Then Joe says we are gonna build around Scoot and Sharpe….which they should, but the Condictor has them playing limited minutes on a bench role?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Camara is Jimmy Butler

Deni is Luka

Sharpe is Booker

Scoot is CP3

So then by this logic, is Clingan Shaq, Wilt or Russell?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Key leaders on champs the last 10 years;

#15 Giannis
#15 Kawhi
#17 Jrue Holiday
#27 Pascal Siakam
#28 Tony Parker
#29 Derrick White
#35 Draymond Green
#39 Khris Middleton
#41 Jokic
#57 Ginobili

Camara is probably our leader. Who on our team is as good as the best player on those title teams?