So I'm going a bit off on a tangent here...
Even the most optimistic of us thought the Blazers as currently constructed would get 41-42 wins and sneak into the playoffs. Lillard and Batum are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Some want to explore trading LMA, some want to either trade JJ at the deadline or renounce him in FA.
But if I'm reading this thread correctly, then the majority of you think that keeping the exact same team (without Babbitt, Williams, Smith Sasha and Price and without a draft pick this summer) and just adding 5M in salaries to fill up the bench (edit: and the 2.5M room exception) will make us a contender? If we do that, it's probably the last chance we have at anything more than an MLE contract for 3-4 years---when Lillard's going to get close to the (if not THE) max. I'm with you in not seeing JJ and LMA as the frontcourt that's hoisting a trophy. But you can't sign JJ to 7-10M a year for the next 4 years as a "backup PF-C/Carl Landry Plus" and still actually get a starting big man, especially without a draft pick this year and only later picks going forward.
Now, if our core was Hibbert/LMA/Batum/Wes/Lillard, resign JJ with bird rights and use the MLE to fill out, then maybe you've got something. But that ship sailed.