Blazers

[pezsez1]

The problem is that elite FAs never sign with Portland. So it doesn't really do us much good to have a bunch of salary to dole out because nobody wants to come here. That's why we end up giving huge contracts to upper-mid players. It's the best we can get. (Which goes back to why it's so vital for us to get star players through the draft.)

An X factor here is the new CBA and how teams are continuing to deal with that. I'd like to think that the Mavs trading Luka is a sign of things to come, and maybe there will be more mutual player movement to teams like Portland where players can cash in (if more teams aren't willing to be so top-heavy on contracts).

Just looking back over the past 30 years though it's tough to be optimistic about the Blazers using salary to do anything but keep guys from leaving.

[Phalanx]

The problem is that elite FAs never sign with Portland. So it doesn't really do us much good to have a bunch of salary to dole out because nobody wants to come here. That's why we end up giving huge contracts to upper-mid players. It's the best we can get. (Which goes back to why it's so vital for us to get star players through the draft.)

Every time Portland fans say this, it reminds me of Scott Frost talking about how impossible it is to recruit to Oregon. It's all baloney. Yes, maybe the all-stars would rather go to L.A. but what most free agents want to see is a chance to win. If you show them a strong core of players and a good coach and most importantly if you actually have the money to sign them, they will come. Every year I watch as all the teams with cap space blow their wads on only a few players and the rest are left scrambling for the scraps. There are always good deals at the end. I'm telling you, if you had $80 million to spend, free agents would come like raccoons to an overturned garbage can. No team is left with that much money at the end of free agency. The Blazers are never in this position though. They always spend the money overpaying their own free agents first and nothing is left. It's just a cycle that never ends because we never have a GM with any guts since LMA left.

[pezsez1]

I wish I shared your optimism, but what you're saying has literally never happened in Portland. And not only do we struggle to get all stars, we even struggle to get rotation players. I mean our best free agent signing ever is probably Rod Strickland or Brian Grant.

Maybe it's possible to get an elite FA here, but for that we'd need an elite GM -- arguably someone better than we've ever had here -- and right now we've got Joe Cronin and a steward with zero desire to upgrade.

[Duck07]

I'm not sure what plan would make you happy. To me, I would be happy if more of the contracts were performing. Thybulle and RW3 are 23.5 million that never play, $25 million next year. With Camara and Avdija playing so well on tiny contracts, and Sharpe, Scoot, and Clingan still on their rookie deals, the team really could be great if not for some bad deals.

PG Scoot
SG Sharpe
SF Avdija
PF Camara
C. Ayton, Clingan

This, along with the pocket lint on the bench, totals around 86 million in salary next year. The other 84 million goes to Grant, Simons, RW3 and Thybulle. Just let that sink in. Instead of those four, what if the Blazers had that $84 million to sign some free agents? Who would you sign? That is the opportunity that is going to waste because Cronin sucks at contracts.

I think we're getting close to finding the same lens to view this (since we're all in agreement Jodi needs to sell):

Had Cronin last year/ this summer / this year moved off Gr/Ant, (especially after bringing Deni in this season and the emergence of Tou) you now have your starting lineup from above. In no world can you let Gr/Ant stay with those players coached by Chauncey and not expect them to naturally take-over the ball. Obviously moving off those 2 contracts means you likely need to bring a bad contract or 2 in order to facilitate the trade, but those players wouldn't be coming into a situation now where there is any expectation beyond the Bench, getting cut or traded. (Tisse needed to go after Deni because it was an upgrade but if he's really injured he's harder to trade - I can see keeping RW3 for Clingan to learn from much like Brogdan/Scoot but not next year)

Keeping Gr/Ant means you don't really get to reap the benefits of the development years for Scoot/Shae/Deni/Tou/Cling and without that, you reach the point where one of your primary arguments begins: signing mid guys to high/max contracts and essentially repeating the process of a roster of overpaid average players that never has room to attract a max level guy.

Had we jettisoned Gr/Ant, we'd find out how that ^ lineup could succeed on its own and still be in a position to have the open cap space from the bad contracts brought back at about the same time you'd expect those players to really come into their own to know whether trying to "pay" that roster would make sense. That lineup is one in which everyone would be hoping could win even if the expectation was that they'd likely struggle.

The only problem with the Bucks/future picks is that there's no world in which the Gr/Ant roster benefits from that but there is one in which that ^ lineup could, be it from having real assets to make a trade or lucking into a high lottery pick that nets a promising young role player early that helps take that team into contender status.

Gr/Ant are like training wheels to that ^ lineup - take em the hell off already so we can see what we've got and actually plan accordingly.

[squintsdd]

I think we call all agree. Grant, Simons, and Jodi need to go. Cronin either needs to grow a pair, or he needs to go as well. We can agree to disagree on the rest, since we'll never really know unless the above happens

[Merganzer]

I think we call all ages. Grant, Simons, and Jodi need to go. Cronin either needs to grow a pair, or he needs to go as well. We can agree to disagree on the rest, since we'll never really know unless the above happens

I agree. We all want the Blazers to be the team it was 30 some years ago, able to regularly compete for a championship. Staus quo won't cut it, getting to the 1st round, year after year, in my opinion is the worst place for a team. The Blazers aren't going to attract FA's, that leaves the Draft, ideally, the lottery. Can't force Jodi to sell, but Cronin and Billups can be pushed out.

[alxtw]

I'm not sure what plan would make you happy. To me, I would be happy if more of the contracts were performing. Thybulle and RW3 are 23.5 million that never play, $25 million next year. With Camara and Avdija playing so well on tiny contracts, and Sharpe, Scoot, and Clingan still on their rookie deals, the team really could be great if not for some bad deals.

PG Scoot
SG Sharpe
SF Avdija
PF Camara
C. Ayton, Clingan

This, along with the pocket lint on the bench, totals around 86 million in salary next year. The other 84 million goes to Grant, Simons, RW3 and Thybulle. Just let that sink in. Instead of those four, what if the Blazers had that $84 million to sign some free agents? Who would you sign? That is the opportunity that is going to waste because Cronin sucks at contracts.

Imagine if we had all that going for us and a top 3 pick in this year's draft?

[Phalanx]

Pritchard is going OFF against the Blazers. Sheesh.

[Merganzer]

Blazers honored Bill Walton last night and lost to the Pistons. They were down by a lot in the 1st half, got it cut to 6 at halftime, but it was soon up to 18. They did make a run at the end, missed three consecutive 3's that would have tied the score, eventually lost by 7, 119-112.

[Phalanx]

I suspect they are in tank mode at this point. Ayton is conveniently out, Grant is in and out of the lineup. A lot of youth in the starting lineup.

[alxtw]

I suspect they are in tank mode at this point. Ayton is conveniently out, Grant is in and out of the lineup. A lot of youth in the starting lineup.

Its a bit late for us to be in tank mode. But lets hope we have the luck of Atlanta or Houston from last year in this year's lottery draft!

[Phalanx]

I suspect they are in tank mode at this point. Ayton is conveniently out, Grant is in and out of the lineup. A lot of youth in the starting lineup.

Its a bit late for us to be in tank mode. But lets hope we have the luck of Atlanta or Houston from last year in this year's lottery draft!

Nah, if the difference between winning and losing is 12th position vs. 7-8, and the playoffs seem unlikely, it's still a good decision. They were in 10th and nearly 11th when the losing started. Let's see where they end up. I notice a bunch of teams around them all starting to lose as well, so not a moment too soon if that is the strategy. Race to the bottom.

[Duck07]

I suspect they are in tank mode at this point. Ayton is conveniently out, Grant is in and out of the lineup. A lot of youth in the starting lineup.

Its a bit late for us to be in tank mode. But lets hope we have the luck of Atlanta or Houston from last year in this year's lottery draft!

Nah, if the difference between winning and losing is 12th position vs. 7-8, and the playoffs seem unlikely, it's still a good decision. They were in 10th and nearly 11th when the losing started. Let's see where they end up. I notice a bunch of teams around them all starting to lose as well, so not a moment too soon if that is the strategy. Race to the bottom.

LMAO

[pezsez1]

Blazers definitely aren't tanking right now. They're just finally playing more playoff-caliber teams that are starting to battle for seeding. This squad definitely has some spunk, but they're still no match for Western Conference playoff teams in games that really matter.

We'll know they're tanking when Ant, Grant, Deni and Sharpe go down with back spasms. Maybe even Clingan, too, he's too good on defense. Time to give the Scoot/Banton duo some serious run!

And then, yeah, we're going to need a ton of luck because we likely won't move up (down) too many spots.

[squintsdd]

Portland has arguably toughest remaining schedule left. They haven't started tanking yet, nor would I want them to. They need to see what they have that can compete with actual competition, and getting a couple of wins that no one expects would go a long ways in building confidence for next season.