Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Phalanx
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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StevensTechU wrote:The 'trade Lillard' talk is interesting. I understand comparing production, but sports is a business. I point that out because Lillard puts butts in the seats, sells jerseys, and has appeal outside of Portland. The franchse would be losing a ton of money by trading him and propping up Shabazz instead.
You might have a point...do you have evidence that attendance has increased since Lillard signed his ultra-max deal? Winning more games also puts butts in the seats, and when a team wins in the playoffs, there are more games to sell tickets to as well.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Phalanx wrote:
oregontrack wrote:it's too bad that the all star game is still a thing. didn't lillard finish 2nd team all nba two years ago and not sniff the all star team? anything that includes a fan vote is going to wind up dumb.
I believe the coaches choose the reserves. The bottom line is that Lillard isn't in the top tier of point guards in the West.
the only person i see making the argument that he is is lillard himself on twitter, which i chalk up to a pro athlete having a competitive ego.

he's a fine player but the west is stacked.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Jamal Murray absolutely embarrassed Portland's guards tonight, going 14 of 19 for 38 points. Part of Lillard's trouble in his quest for All-Star glory is that despite all his hype, he is often the second-best point guard on the court at any time because he just won't defend his opponent. He was total garbage on defense tonight, just standing around watching. SMH.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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since i'm sure i embedded that wrong:

@jwquick: Zach Collins has been so good with his interior defense. And to think, he is only 20

he's been fun to watch these last six weeks, since stotts decided to give him some run. i HATE the meyers leonard comparisons to this kid because collins was born with more defensive instincts than leonard has developed in 25 years. he's got all-nba defensive potential in the years to come as he bulks up (which he needs to do). fun watching him switch off and defend smaller guys; he's still got the footwork and speed to stay with a lot of guards, something i haven't seen in a legit blazer big man in years.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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hey lillard is an all-star after all. as i said i don't really care about the AS nods, but he seems to so good on him.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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while i do not think we'll be trading dame, the blake griffin trade is a good example of how if a player can at least suit up and give an honest effort there's always going to be a team willing to trade for said player.

griffin, like dame, is in that "very good but not elite" category and owed roughly nine hundred bajillion dollars on an existing deal, and detroit couldn't trade for him and that fat contract fast enough. if push ever came to shove, i've no doubt that a team like orlando wouldn't absorb every last cent of lillard's contract.

this theory does not work for evan turner, sadly.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Phalanx wrote:
StevensTechU wrote:The 'trade Lillard' talk is interesting. I understand comparing production, but sports is a business. I point that out because Lillard puts butts in the seats, sells jerseys, and has appeal outside of Portland. The franchse would be losing a ton of money by trading him and propping up Shabazz instead.
You might have a point...do you have evidence that attendance has increased since Lillard signed his ultra-max deal? Winning more games also puts butts in the seats, and when a team wins in the playoffs, there are more games to sell tickets to as well.
Yea let me pull out my statistical analysis...
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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oregontrack wrote:while i do not think we'll be trading dame, the blake griffin trade is a good example of how if a player can at least suit up and give an honest effort there's always going to be a team willing to trade for said player.

griffin, like dame, is in that "very good but not elite" category and owed roughly nine hundred bajillion dollars on an existing deal, and detroit couldn't trade for him and that fat contract fast enough. if push ever came to shove, i've no doubt that a team like orlando wouldn't absorb every last cent of lillard's contract.

this theory does not work for evan turner, sadly.
Yea, it's not Damian's contract that's killing the Blazers. It's Turner and Meyers Leonard's.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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oh i agree, there was just some discussion previously about the prospect of trading dame.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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lukeyrid13 wrote:Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
draft picks for depth > FA market? Just because of the salary differences.

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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by StevensTechU »

lukeyrid13 wrote:Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
This is exactly why I'm so against the "Do something for the sake of doing something" gripes that I hear from every corner of the Portland metro area.

Wait, be patient, and take well conceived risks.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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lukeyrid13 wrote:Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
Yep. it's odd that the Blazers are so impatient as to make the moves you mentioned. But refuse to even explore a trade involving Lillard. The only way I see of actually creating a team that could get out of the 6,7,8 in the West purgatory.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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Merganzer wrote:
lukeyrid13 wrote:Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
Yep. it's odd that the Blazers are so impatient as to make the moves you mentioned. But refuse to even explore a trade involving Lillard. The only way I see of actually creating a team that could get out of the 6,7,8 in the West purgatory.
I think the 'best' move the Blazers could make, would be a trade with the Cavs for the Brooklyn pick. They're the only team with a top 10 pick that would even consider trading it. I could see Cleveland trading Kevin Love and the Nets pick for CJ. I don't think it would make sense to add another high usage rate player into the fold from the Cavs point of view, but advanced stats say CJ is either on par or better than Steph and Klay as a 3 point shooter.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Merganzer »

lukeyrid13 wrote:
Merganzer wrote:
lukeyrid13 wrote:Turner, Harkless and Leonard are all negative assets at this point. Take them off of the books, as well as Vonleh and Davis who are expiring and the Blazers are arguably in the same category(.500 team) and would instead be sitting at around 70 million on the books(Excluding: Varejao and Nicholson buyouts).

All of that to say; if the Blazers had been patient and only been willing to give big money to star players they'd be so much better off. Overpaying average/role players has always been the downfall of so many NBA teams. Pat Connaughton(700k) and Shabazz Napier(2.5 million) are more impactful than Crabbe and Turner, who make almost 40 million combined.
Yep. it's odd that the Blazers are so impatient as to make the moves you mentioned. But refuse to even explore a trade involving Lillard. The only way I see of actually creating a team that could get out of the 6,7,8 in the West purgatory.
I think the 'best' move the Blazers could make, would be a trade with the Cavs for the Brooklyn pick. They're the only team with a top 10 pick that would even consider trading it. I could see Cleveland trading Kevin Love and the Nets pick for CJ. I don't think it would make sense to add another high usage rate player into the fold from the Cavs point of view, but advanced stats say CJ is either on par or better than Steph and Klay as a 3 point shooter.
Yes, the "best" and "only" moves available to the Blazers is like the one you describe here. FA's are not a realistic option, that leaves trades and the draft, which your idea includes. The Blazers need to shake up the status quo
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