Game 76: Portland vs Atlanta 4:30pm Chargetv and KUNP

[DusterBuster]

I have a bad gut feeling the 8 spot will get the #1 pick this year in the lottery… meaning these last meaningless games the Blazers will win means they miss it by a slot… and the Spurs unreal luck in the lottery will continue as they pair Wemby with Flagg.

[Norm2953]

Most likely Flagg will end up where the NBA wishes him to be for I could imagine him in
Philly instead of NO or Utah

[Case2012]

I have a real suspicion Flagg ends up in SA with Wemby and dominate the next 12 years. I feel the same way about the 8th spot. No idea what they're doing, just insane malpractice every step of the way. Deni is great and all but he probably single handedly cost us Flagg putting up these really cool stat lines that are absolutely meaningless unless we use him to trade for Giannis or something.

I can actually see us landing Flagg by some miracle and Billups playing Deni in favor of him too. I would look real hard at getting a huge return for Deni if we lucked out and got Flagg. I would imagine he would command at least 3 picks at this point. I just think we should suck a while longer to ensure we get a star in the draft we can control for a minimum of 8 years, whereas Deni is already on his second deal and will probably get a max contract while we're still fighting for a play-in spot at the rate we're going unless we get really lucky in the draft.

[BlazersBroncos]

I can actually see us landing Flagg by some miracle and Billups playing Deni in favor of him too. I would look real hard at getting a huge return for Deni if we lucked out and got Flagg. I would imagine he would command at least 3 picks at this point. I just think we should suck a while longer to ensure we get a star in the draft we can control for a minimum of 8 years, whereas Deni is already on his second deal and will probably get a max contract while we're still fighting for a play-in spot at the rate we're going unless we get really lucky in the draft.

Strongly disagree with this. Deni is showing excellent runway to becoming a legit '3rd option on a good team' caliber talent. If we somehow got Flagg, the fact you can pair him immediately with a guy like Deni is incredible. Winning the Cooper lotto makes me MORE determined to keep Deni. Flagg is the type of talent that you build around right away, not someone you tank for another year or two for more lotto tickets.

For me if we lucked into Flagg the big pivot is I would be willing to attach assets to Grant to move off his deal for a expiring summer 2026. A generational talent like Flagg is one of the few things that I think could get FA interest in PDX (Not to mention we could always use cap space to take a player in a trade).

[Walton1one]

Right now POR is 9th in lotto odds, 1 game ahead of SA @ #8

1 loss behind CHI
2 losses behind PHX & MIA

Then they would be @ #12

all b\c they are chasing a play in that is beyond a longshot. Billups playing guys 38+ minutes with 6 games left in the season, ridiculous

POR is 4 games in the loss column behind SAC & DAL, which is really 5 games b\c both teams have the tiebreaker over them

DAL has 6 games left
SAC has 7 games left

If DAL wins 2 games, POR cannot pass them. They play ATL @ home, then back to back away games @ LAC, then LAL @ home, @ TOR & @ MEM

If SAC wins 3 games, POR cannot pass them. They play @ WAS, @ CHA, @ CLE, @ DET, then have DEN, LAC & PHX at home

Of course if POR loses a game, those numbers (2/3) drop

POR is @ TOR, @ CHI, SA @ home, @ UTA, then home vs GS & LAL

The only thing POR is going to accomplish with this stupidity is to guarantee themselves the 12th pick in the draft instead of the 8th/9th. All b\c the GM is an idiot. It will be a good day when he is eventually fired.

[Pattycakes]

I have a bad gut feeling the 8 spot will get the #1 pick this year in the lottery… meaning these last meaningless games the Blazers will win means they miss it by a slot… and the Spurs unreal luck in the lottery will continue as they pair Wemby with Flagg.

A lot of “blazers fans” have bad gut feelings and no matter how much of a better position we’re in than we have been in a while, it seems like personal problems.

I don’t mean that disrespectful, just mean damn is our fan base traumatized. Surfing this, sports two, rip city Reddit… it’s either open minded excitement or the most toxic doom vibes.

And like bro, I’m exhausted of explaining this, but we own milwaukees outcome from 2028-2030, basically have a potential starting lineup going forward, no real long term albatross contracts, and oh yeah - we stole Deni and Toumani which secure our 3-4 position for a decade.

We need to work on thankfulness. Dame broke up with us, that is not Scoot or Cronins fault. We need to accept that whole era was disappointing and it ended in a majorly disappointing way, but the Gods obviously are smiling on us when you breakdown what we actually walked away with by trading Dame even 5 years after it would have been ideal. We STILL got a treasure chest. And guess who did that. Cronin. Patience.

That’s more than a gut feeling - it’s reality.

[zzaj]

I have a bad gut feeling the 8 spot will get the #1 pick this year in the lottery… meaning these last meaningless games the Blazers will win means they miss it by a slot… and the Spurs unreal luck in the lottery will continue as they pair Wemby with Flagg.

A lot of “blazers fans” have bad gut feelings and no matter how much of a better position we’re in than we have been in a while, it seems like personal problems.

I don’t mean that disrespectful, just mean damn is our fan base traumatized. Surfing this, sports two, rip city Reddit… it’s either open minded excitement or the most toxic doom vibes.

And like bro, I’m exhausted of explaining this, but we own milwaukees outcome from 2028-2030, basically have a potential starting lineup going forward, no real long term albatross contracts, and oh yeah - we stole Deni and Toumani which secure our 3-4 position for a decade.

We need to work on thankfulness. Dame broke up with us, that is not Scoot or Cronins fault. We need to accept that whole era was disappointing and it ended in a majorly disappointing way, but the Gods obviously are smiling on us when you breakdown what we actually walked away with by trading Dame even 5 years after it would have been ideal. We STILL got a treasure chest. And guess who did that. Cronin. Patience.

That’s more than a gut feeling - it’s reality.

I love that you feel confident enough to post your "reality".

I doubt Cronin will even be GM when MIL's picks come to fruition.

[BlazersBroncos]

I have a bad gut feeling the 8 spot will get the #1 pick this year in the lottery… meaning these last meaningless games the Blazers will win means they miss it by a slot… and the Spurs unreal luck in the lottery will continue as they pair Wemby with Flagg.

A lot of “blazers fans” have bad gut feelings and no matter how much of a better position we’re in than we have been in a while, it seems like personal problems.

I don’t mean that disrespectful, just mean damn is our fan base traumatized. Surfing this, sports two, rip city Reddit… it’s either open minded excitement or the most toxic doom vibes.

And like bro, I’m exhausted of explaining this, but we own milwaukees outcome from 2028-2030, basically have a potential starting lineup going forward, no real long term albatross contracts, and oh yeah - we stole Deni and Toumani which secure our 3-4 position for a decade.

We need to work on thankfulness. Dame broke up with us, that is not Scoot or Cronins fault. We need to accept that whole era was disappointing and it ended in a majorly disappointing way, but the Gods obviously are smiling on us when you breakdown what we actually walked away with by trading Dame even 5 years after it would have been ideal. We STILL got a treasure chest. And guess who did that. Cronin. Patience.

That’s more than a gut feeling - it’s reality.

But are you really adressing the poor decision to go for the play-in rather than tank for a better pick here?

I am with you in thinking the Dame return was actually quite great - especially in hindsight with his defense really getting to turnstile level and now the blood clotting. We basically traded Dame for Deni, Camara, Ayton, RWIII, 2029 MIL FRP UNP and 2 UNP MIL swaps. Thats a HELL of a return in my book. It looks even better now as Dame being out for who knows how long, and MIL not really playing at a contender level even when he is healthy, is making Giannis asking out more likely by the day. Once the Freak days are gone MIL is going to be in a really, really tough spot. Not a FA destination, doesnt own their own picks. There is a chance all 3 MIL picks that we more-or-less control could be lotto.

But on the other hand I do agree w/ the other poster that going for a play-in rather than trying to get into that 7/8 slot and having a much higher chance of jumping into the Top-4 was the smart play.

I actually do like Cronin. I think he may overvalue the vets, but on the other hand I also dont think there is, or ever was, much of a market for them. That Jerami contract is far and away the worst move Cronin pulled since taking over as GM. Gambling on Ayton and RWIII - thats fine by me - but its clear both have not worked out (which is OK since they expire soon). The dumping of RoCo and Powell - fine by me as well, albeit we should have gotten some SRP. The Dame trade was a home run. The CJ trade was also quite good at the time. Our drafting has been good so far - albeit Kris is a stinker.

The one true area where I dont trust Cronin is paying his own guys.

[DusterBuster]

I have a bad gut feeling the 8 spot will get the #1 pick this year in the lottery… meaning these last meaningless games the Blazers will win means they miss it by a slot… and the Spurs unreal luck in the lottery will continue as they pair Wemby with Flagg.

A lot of “blazers fans” have bad gut feelings and no matter how much of a better position we’re in than we have been in a while, it seems like personal problems.

It absolutely is. You're not breaking news. 30 years of being a Blazer/NBA fan and watching the Spurs get generational players multiple times throughout that stretch will do that.

That said, not sure wtf you're talking about with practicing gratefulness is about. This is **** sports, not a self-improvement class lol. I'll be grateful when this team shows it has an actual clear plan for improving and being better beyond topping out at a 42 win roster.

[The Sebastian Express]

I don't mind Cronin. But I think holding onto Ant and Grant this year was an unwise decision and I think it's disheartening to not tank this year. I will of course disavow all this if we get a top three pick and will ask forgiveness if we get the first, but.

But I swear to God if we hold onto Chauncey next year or give him an extension I will seriously question if I can watch next year. (I mean I would, but I would still question).

[DusterBuster]

I don't mind Cronin. But I think holding onto Ant and Grant this year was an unwise decision and I think it's disheartening to not tank this year. I will of course disavow all this if we get a top three pick and will ask forgiveness if we get the first, but.

But I swear to God if we hold onto Chauncey next year or give him an extension I will seriously question if I can watch next year. (I mean I would, but I would still question).

I actually don't necessarily think Cronin is a terrible GM either. He's just very run of the mill and not particularly strong as projecting that he has any sort of plan of what he's doing long-term. Maybe he does and its just purely a personality thing, but I prefer a GM who - when it's clear something isn't working - is proactive to fix it vs just sit on his hands til something forces him to make a change.

[dckingsfan]

I don't mind Cronin. But I think holding onto Ant and Grant this year was an unwise decision and I think it's disheartening to not tank this year. I will of course disavow all this if we get a top three pick and will ask forgiveness if we get the first, but.

But I swear to God if we hold onto Chauncey next year or give him an extension I will seriously question if I can watch next year. (I mean I would, but I would still question).

I actually don't necessarily think Cronin is a terrible GM either. He's just very run of the mill and not particularly strong as projecting that he has any sort of plan of what he's doing long-term. Maybe he does and its just purely a personality thing, but I prefer a GM who - when it's clear something isn't working - is proactive to fix it vs just sit on his hands til something forces him to make a change.

This. But if you are playing a zero sum game and are good with a middle of the road GM... hmmm?

You have to look at the good with the bad.

1) How has he drafted?
2) How has he done with signing FAs and resigning our players?
3) How has he done with gathering draft assets?
4) How has he done with our trades?

[DusterBuster]

I don't mind Cronin. But I think holding onto Ant and Grant this year was an unwise decision and I think it's disheartening to not tank this year. I will of course disavow all this if we get a top three pick and will ask forgiveness if we get the first, but.

But I swear to God if we hold onto Chauncey next year or give him an extension I will seriously question if I can watch next year. (I mean I would, but I would still question).

I actually don't necessarily think Cronin is a terrible GM either. He's just very run of the mill and not particularly strong as projecting that he has any sort of plan of what he's doing long-term. Maybe he does and its just purely a personality thing, but I prefer a GM who - when it's clear something isn't working - is proactive to fix it vs just sit on his hands til something forces him to make a change.

This. But if you are playing a zero sum game and are good with a middle of the road GM... hmmm?

You have to look at the good with the bad.

1) How has he drafted?
2) How has he done with signing FAs and resigning our players?
3) How has he done with gathering draft assets?
4) How has he done with our trades?

1) average
2) below average
3) average
4) above average

So basically 2 C's, 1 B and 1 D... which combined makes for a C grade average, which is.... average.

[zzaj]

I don't mind Cronin. But I think holding onto Ant and Grant this year was an unwise decision and I think it's disheartening to not tank this year. I will of course disavow all this if we get a top three pick and will ask forgiveness if we get the first, but.

But I swear to God if we hold onto Chauncey next year or give him an extension I will seriously question if I can watch next year. (I mean I would, but I would still question).

I actually don't necessarily think Cronin is a terrible GM either. He's just very run of the mill and not particularly strong as projecting that he has any sort of plan of what he's doing long-term. Maybe he does and its just purely a personality thing, but I prefer a GM who - when it's clear something isn't working - is proactive to fix it vs just sit on his hands til something forces him to make a change.

This. But if you are playing a zero sum game and are good with a middle of the road GM... hmmm?

You have to look at the good with the bad.

1) How has he drafted?
2) How has he done with signing FAs and resigning our players?
3) How has he done with gathering draft assets?
4) How has he done with our trades?

My .5 cent...

1) Average - He hasn't really made any draft picks outside of consensus + Murray and selling off of 2nds.
2) Failed - Overpays. Typical PDX FAs.
3) Failed - Simons and Grant should have netted draft assets starting at least a year ago.
4) Above average- Hard to really measure the Lillard trade yet, but I'll give him an above average for not caving to Miami.

This above is largely ignoring the "Rebuild" concept--which would also grade out as a massive "Failed" from me.

[Walton1one]

DAL down to 1 game, SAC still at 3

[Norm2953]

That game with SA might be for lottery positioning

[Dame Lizard]

I went to my first NBA game tonight, Boston vs Miami.

While loving the general NBA spectacle, I didn't really care who won. Until I remembered that the Heat and Portland have similar records, so for the sake of our tank I started cheering for Miami. Thankfully they got the win!