Re: Portland Trail Blazers Thread
Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 2:40 pm
The funny thing about reading your arguments is that we can see the result of this philosophy - the Blazers aren't good. They're being payed like they are one of the top teams in the NBA, but they aren't even close. They also now have almost no flexibility for trades, and they will be just good enough every year to get a terrible draft pick. I see you carrying a lot of water for these decisions, answering everyone who brings it up, but you simply can't argue your way past reality. These guys aren't good enough to justify the salaries they are being paid. Last year, there was the hope that improving pieces for possible trades and cap room would translate into roster improvement. This year, most of that hope is gone. Nobody is going to trade for Crabbe with that salary. Nobody wants Turner for that much cap hit. Harkless, Leonard, McCollum...none of these guys were worth the money they were paid. They would have to improve by leaps and bounds to become tradeable assets.oregontrack wrote:
you don't let your franchise star hit the market. i'm sorry, i'm a little taken aback by this. i've never met anyone who has questioned the blazers for locking up lillard long term.
sure. and blazers seemed to waver on matching new jersey's offer sheet before deciding to do so. as i've said, it was a jarring amount of money for a role player, but i've since decided (as portland no doubt did at the time) that they wouldn't be able to sign anybody better with the money, so might as well take care of your own and continue to develop a young talent. you clearly don't think it was the right call. that's okay. unlike the decision to re-sign lillard to the max, the crabbe decision has proven to be pretty controversial.
again, lillard didn't make the all star team because A.) he's not curry, westbrook, or paul, and B.) it's partially a fan vote, and the fans wanted to see kobe bryant. he landed on the All NBA team, which is much more significant than an all star berth.
telling lillard "you aren't worth what we can afford to pay you, we'll let the market decide" is a GREAT way to alienate your star player, and tell any agents and players who might *ever* consider us that we're cheap bastards who don't take care of our own. nobody does this.
i agree with the notion that players are replaceable.
which is a proven, time-tested failure. which is why they matched the offer sheet for crabbe. we DO test free agency. all the time. and we whiff, hardcore. every time.
if the equation is luxury tax = contender, then fine. the blazers won't be contending this year. as a small market team who cannot, nor will they ever, sign a lucrative free agent, there is only one method to contend: luck the hell out in the draft and get yourself a few generational talents to build around (and win for awhile, then watch them bolt -- i see you there, oklahoma city). instead of putting on a fire sale and condemning the franchise and its fans to 20-win seasons and a permanent spot in the draft lottery for the foreseeable future, the powers that be chose to keep a fun, energetic collection of young talent together and watch it grow. are you a blazer fan? honest question. if you are, CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST should never be your priority.
they may never be a true contender, but i have a hard time getting behind an annual tanking effort.
To answer your question, I am a Blazer fan; I grew up watching Drexler, Porter, Kersey, Buck Williams, etc. That team was built mostly from the draft, and as the Schonze used to say, they were the best starting five in the NBA. A decade later, Bob Whitsett did a lot of trading and took advantage of Sabonis finally coming to the NBA, and we got another great team, albeit somewhat flawed in character. It can be done. Just not the way Olshey is doing it now. I'm sure he is very popular with the players, but as a fan, I think he had an awful offseason. Anyone can overpay players. That isn't what makes a GM good. The good ones get the players to buy into a vision so that they will take a little less to play on a good team.
Re: Free Agency - I think you are still not getting my argument. Obviously, Portland has a hard time bringing in the top free agents. That wasn't what I was talking about. I am talking about not throwing star money at a less talented player like Turner, I am talking about letting Crabbe be overpaid by someone else, and I am talking about letting Leonard and Harkless go out and find out there is no money left because all of the good players were already signed. The funny thing is, Olshey already proved that all of these guys are replaceable, and then he turned around and payed them as if they weren't.
