Obviously these young players need to step up and show they can fulfill those roles, but now there's really nobody in their way and any success this year is largely all foundational whereas that success with Ayton/Ant wouldn't have made anyone feel like any long-term answers had been solved.
I understand your reasoning, I just don't agree. Teams sign guys for one year all the time to get over the hump. Coach Altman does it too. Long term players are getting more and more rare so teams are always having to re-tool in order to field a winner. There is no doubt in my mind that Ayton would help winning more than not Ayton, and also no doubt that they could have done better than eating $25 million of his salary. I wonder if they tried offering teams to pay part of his salary, or if that is not a thing in basketball like it is in baseball. At any rate, the question will be moot at the end of this season, and maybe their way will work if somebody blows up on offense. By then I will be pulling hair out over the new Shaedon Sharpe contract or something.
I hope the new kid makes good too. Nice to see him with some dimes last night. I wonder if those plays are there when the adults are playing, but certainly, we'd rather see him do well in summer league than not well in summer league. The favorite nickname I have seen for him so far is Magic Hansen.
Ha, serves me right for following summer league. Everyone hyping this kid up after the first game got me excited. Tonight he looked every bit the 2nd-round project center he was billed as before the draft. He is a terrible rebounder, very slow on defense, and his outside shot is a joke. Anyone thinking this kid is going to somehow be an improvement over Ayton this season is nutty. Hopefully RWIII is ready to go, or it's going to be a long season.
All Hansen needs to be right now is a bench-unit project player. Clingan is our starter, and we won't miss a step with him in and Ayton out.
That said, Hansen has had two solid outings. He made a few outstanding plays today that his teammates couldn't convert on, played some good D, and was clearly locked in on ball movement. His outside shot does need work, but his mechanics are good and he'll improve. He'll be great on our second unit until he develops a bit.
pezsez1 wrote: Sat Jul 12, 2025 11:15 pm
All Hansen needs to be right now is a bench-unit project player. Clingan is our starter, and we won't miss a step with him in and Ayton out.
That said, Hansen has had two solid outings. He made a few outstanding plays today that his teammates couldn't convert on, played some good D, and was clearly locked in on ball movement. His outside shot does need work, but his mechanics are good and he'll improve. He'll be great on our second unit until he develops a bit.
His defense is also a complete work in progress. He sags way off his man and it's going to lead to getting burned by big man who can shoot from the outside. Blocking the occasional layup isn't worth as much as contesting three pointers now. I'll be curious to see if he can be an effective shot blocker when he has to play tighter to his man.
I'm less concerned with how he defends the perimeter than seeing how well he learns to defend the PNR. His athleticism has a ceiling to it of course, but some of his movement issues are just an experience thing more than looking like someone who doesn't know what they're supposed to do. He can already read the defense at a very high level and with time I'd expect him to be more smooth in his movements so that he takes better angles, doesn't shuffle his feet and lose position inside.
His rebounding isn't bad right now but he's learning when to attack the ball vs box-out as he largely focuses on boxing out his defender and allowing a teammate the rebound. There was a moment he wasn't as strong going up for the ball and got bodied twice in a 3/4 minute period. He subs out, comes back in a few minutes later and then goes up with the hard elbows and takes the ball like you want to see. The levers are moving upstairs and he just needs the time to be able to make those mistakes, learn and correct.
So far he's averaging 25mpg, 10ppg, 4.5 reb, 4 asts, 2 blks on 60% fg - 20% 3pt - 83% FT and it's hard to state just how rare it is to see a 20-year old big man directing offense at the top of the key like that.
So far he's averaging 25mpg, 10ppg, 4.5 reb, 4 asts, 2 blks on 60% fg - 20% 3pt - 83% FT and it's hard to state just how rare it is to see a 20-year old big man directing offense at the top of the key like that.
Yeah, I'm not really too worried about his defense either. Defense is largely a matter of effort and intelligence, and Yang appears to have both in spades. He just needs reps and time to adjust. I'm also going to assume he's nowhere near his athletic ceiling, and that moving to an NBA training regimen will do amazing things for him. And he seems like the type of guy who will take his training seriously.
It's all the little things that have me so excited about him. His direction of the offense, his touch, his hints of swagger, the way he picks and chooses when to take it to the rack -- everything looks fluid, not forced. Pretty special for a guy who is probably facing tougher opponents in summer league than he regularly faced in China.
buckmarkduck wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 3:09 am
Silver saying Portland needs a new arena. That’s the same tactics they used in Seattle.
The Rose Garden was built in 1995. If billion-plus arenas only have a life of 30 years, we need to give up on all of them.
I've been to the home arenas for the Raptors, Nets, Knicks, Pelicans, and Blazers. Only the Nets have a noticeably better arena, and the Pelicans a noticeably worse, and I would probably put us above MSG as well. So if we need a new arena, then half the league does, as well, apparently.
I'm well aware it's just a negotiating tactic, but I just want to call out the bullshit.
buckmarkduck wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 3:09 am
Silver saying Portland needs a new arena. That’s the same tactics they used in Seattle.
The Rose Garden was built in 1995. If billion-plus arenas only have a life of 30 years, we need to give up on all of them.
I've been to the home arenas for the Raptors, Nets, Knicks, Pelicans, and Blazers. Only the Nets have a noticeably better arena, and the Pelicans a noticeably worse, and I would probably put us above MSG as well. So if we need a new arena, then half the league does, as well, apparently.
I'm well aware it's just a negotiating tactic, but I just want to call out the bullshit.
100%. I don't get it. Maybe fit in some more restrooms, but other than that, what is wrong with the arena? Nothing.
buckmarkduck wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 3:09 am
Silver saying Portland needs a new arena. That’s the same tactics they used in Seattle.
The Rose Garden was built in 1995. If billion-plus arenas only have a life of 30 years, we need to give up on all of them.
I've been to the home arenas for the Raptors, Nets, Knicks, Pelicans, and Blazers. Only the Nets have a noticeably better arena, and the Pelicans a noticeably worse, and I would probably put us above MSG as well. So if we need a new arena, then half the league does, as well, apparently.
I'm well aware it's just a negotiating tactic, but I just want to call out the bullshit.
Nothing Oregonians can't take care of with a few more taxes /s
buckmarkduck wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 3:09 am
Silver saying Portland needs a new arena. That’s the same tactics they used in Seattle.
The Rose Garden was built in 1995. If billion-plus arenas only have a life of 30 years, we need to give up on all of them.
I've been to the home arenas for the Raptors, Nets, Knicks, Pelicans, and Blazers. Only the Nets have a noticeably better arena, and the Pelicans a noticeably worse, and I would probably put us above MSG as well. So if we need a new arena, then half the league does, as well, apparently.
I'm well aware it's just a negotiating tactic, but I just want to call out the bullshit.
Nothing Oregonians can't take care of with a few more taxes /s
We're gonna have to pay to register our kayaks, inner tubes, and paddle boards. Might as well make us register our lawn mowers and leaf blowers for the extra money.
buckmarkduck wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 3:09 am
Silver saying Portland needs a new arena. That’s the same tactics they used in Seattle.
The Rose Garden was built in 1995. If billion-plus arenas only have a life of 30 years, we need to give up on all of them.
I've been to the home arenas for the Raptors, Nets, Knicks, Pelicans, and Blazers. Only the Nets have a noticeably better arena, and the Pelicans a noticeably worse, and I would probably put us above MSG as well. So if we need a new arena, then half the league does, as well, apparently.
I'm well aware it's just a negotiating tactic, but I just want to call out the bullshit.
Nothing Oregonians can't take care of with a few more taxes /s
We're gonna have to pay to register our kayaks, inner tubes, and paddle boards. Might as well make us register our lawn mowers and leaf blowers for the extra money.
This is the first new tax that has pissed me off in maybe my whole lifetime. One correction is that inner tubes are the lone exempt* flotation device.
Last edited by StevensTechU on Wed Jul 16, 2025 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well, Magic Hansen's outside shot looked a lot better last night. Hopefully that game was more a harbinger of things to come than the other night.
It's funny to think that a new buyer can just up and move the team out of Portland if they want to. For some reason I thought NBA heads would keep that from happening, but instead, Silver seemed to be laying the same groundwork that got the Sonics shipped out. It's interesting that they didn't just sell to Uncle Phil who would definitely have kept the team in Portland. As if they intentionally wanted to move them to some preferred destination.
I think if the Blazers moved I would probably lose interest pretty easily in the NBA altogether.
Phalanx wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 6:37 pm
Well, Magic Hansen's outside shot looked a lot better last night. Hopefully that game was more a harbinger of things to come than the other night.
It's funny to think that a new buyer can just up and move the team out of Portland if they want to. For some reason I thought NBA heads would keep that from happening, but instead, Silver seemed to be laying the same groundwork that got the Sonics shipped out. I think if the Blazers moved I would probably lose interest pretty easily in the NBA altogether.
I pretty much already have. I'll occasionally turn a game on, but I'm not invested in the team like i was when I was younger. If I'm being honest, I'm pretty much a bandwagon fan at this point. Once Jodi refused to sell right away it was pretty obvious things for the Blazers were going to get worse. If new ownership is committed to keeping the team in Portland, which I'm not holding out for, maybe I'll become more interested again
Why do I feel like the plan is to move the NBA team and stick Portland with a WNBA team instead? Maybe with the decline of Intel and shrinking population in Multnomah County, that is all Portland rates now?
