what should the blazers do, go all-in or stay on course

[d-train]

What's really clear to me is Olshey is going all in to build a team. Salary limitations and Nurkic's injury rehab aside, he bolstered the lineup -- now and for the future.

1. Dame gets paid. HUGE. Don't underestimate the positive effects.
2. Bazemore > Turner
3. Makes the easy play with Little at SF
4. QO results for Jake pending
5. Hood signed -- against the odds -- for only the taxpayer-MLE

REALLY strong, smart moves operating within a tight situation of his own creation. Good job, Mr. Olshey.
Next up, obviously, is a minimum contract for a big. A vet minimum at PG makes sense.

Trades of MHEC and/or MLEC? Get that veteran BIG, and he can deal if it makes sense ... or if it just makes sense.

How did he bolster the starting lineup?

Edit: Assuming Little doesn't pull a Batum and become a starter his rookie year.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Hood > Harkless. [Though Bazemore won’t play dead] Hood, in most everyone’s view, was as good as gone.
SF starter is better.
Collins > Aminu. [Aminu walks ... and LIKELY had the door left open for him given reports of little to no communication with Chief’s agent]
PF starter is better.

I have edited my previous post and changed the word “bolstered” to another phrasing for crystal clear meaning. I understand there will be disagreement but so far this offseason, Olshey is doing a great job.

EDIT ON DAY 2 of free agency: Whiteside for Mo and Meyers is good, opportunistic work. And I like the potential of Hezonja ... especially for the minimum.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

i wonder if theres a trade in works for power forward...

we have a lot of small forwards, such as harkless, hezonja, little, hood and bazemore (both can cover guard position like evan turner) and layman if he stays... zach collins and skal labissiere are our power forwards, but im not sure thats good enough

if not some big trade, i think well bring another solid power forward and maybe another guard and maybe a center

[Blazinaway]

i wonder if theres a trade in works for power forward...

we have a lot of small forwards, such as harkless, hezonja, little, hood and bazemore (both can cover guard position like evan turner) and layman if he stays... zach collins and skal labissiere are our power forwards, but im not sure thats good enough

if not some big trade, i think well bring another solid power forward and maybe another guard and maybe a center

I think Mario gets some run at the 4

[DaVoiceMaster]

CJ did play the 2nd half of his rookie season, and was also 23 years old by his 2nd season where he got stuck behind Afflalo (essentially Kent Bazemore). He was young, and wasn't ready. His numbers showed flashes and potential, but not fully realized. Collins has shown flashes and potential, but not fully realized. Collins has been stuck behind Nurkic and later Kanter (similar to the Afflalo trade). You can't dispute that those numbers in their 2nd season are very similar.

There's no doubt that Collins needs to get bigger and better with fouling, but at his age, McCollum was still playing at Lehigh University. Collins is banging with NBA centers. All that being said, I still don't see him as a PF and think that Portland is better off trading him (which sucks for me as a big fan of his) sooner than later, seeing as though I don't see Nurkic going anywhere. Zach's long term position is Center. He even said himself in exit interviews that he thinks he's more of a Center. Personally, I hope he's packaged in a deal for a PF and he gets a chance to be a real Center somewhere else.

This season will be the deciding factor. CJ broke out in his 3rd season. Will Collins have a breakout year? I've not seen anything to suggest that yet.

CJ would have broke out his 1st year if the playing time was there.

Not disagreeing, but Fitz was disagreeing with me about Collins and used CJ as a comparison.

[Fitz303]

This season will be the deciding factor. CJ broke out in his 3rd season. Will Collins have a breakout year? I've not seen anything to suggest that yet.

CJ would have broke out his 1st year if the playing time was there.

Not disagreeing, but Fitz was disagreeing with me about Collins and used CJ as a comparison.

I'm saying not everybody comes into the NBA like Dame. Most players come in and take a couple years to really break out My comparison to CJ was legitimate as well...

This is what you said about CJ halfway through his 2nd season

Not a Nick Young fan. Ed Davis might not be bad, but backup PF is not a position the Blazers need to look to fill. What they really need is a backup wing player. Right now, Crabbe has stepped in fairly nicely, but he's young. McCollum shows a little life now and then, but I'm personally not a big fan of his. I hope he proves me wrong, but I wouldnt' hesitate to move him for a proven wing who can add some scoring. Blake, Kaman, Freeland or Robinson and a wing player is enough of a bench to help the Blazers go deep into the playoffs. Right now, they really aren't that far away. I'd be curious what Leonard, McCollum & a 2015 1st could get the Blazers. They don't need a superstar, just a serviceable wing off the bench.

That was when CJ was 23 years old. Portland tends to bring players along slowly, and big men take time. Add to that how young Collins is, and I just think it's crazy to write him off. He's shown significant flashes. Granted, Stotts doesn't have the best track record with big men, which makes me a little nervous for his development, but we'll see this upcoming season. It looks like he'll have his chance to show the world whether or not he's got it.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Wow, you're spending too much time on this is you're searching my posts from a few years ago. I dont know what context that was in, but frankly, I've been in the trade CJ camp until the playoffs this year. Now I'm okay keeping him.

[d-train]

CJ would have broke out his 1st year if the playing time was there.

Not disagreeing, but Fitz was disagreeing with me about Collins and used CJ as a comparison.

I'm saying not everybody comes into the NBA like Dame. Most players come in and take a couple years to really break out My comparison to CJ was legitimate as well...

Not to take credit away from Lillard, but the reason he got playing time and an opportunity to put up numbers is he was drafted by a team that planned on being awful and our primary goal was to give Lillard experience. There was no plan to win a lot of games.
Lillard still had to have talent to go along with an opportunity that many good young players don't get. CJ had the same talent Lillard had, but he joined a team that was trying to win games. When CJ came along, after an early injury, Blazers goal wasn't to give CJ experience. We were winning with a group of players that knew how to play and the goal was to build on what was already working.

This is the reason why I'm critical of the schizophrenic talent evaluations of Nassir Little. He joined a team for a very short season that was not built around him to succeed. He was expected to integrate his game into what the team was doing.

[RoyalWun]

So it looks like the "stay on course" plan isn't much of the plan. Even with all these moves, we still need some bigs.

[JasonStern]

So it looks like the "stay on course" plan isn't much of the plan.

the Dame/CJ/Nurk core is in tact. the Collins/Simons/Skalabrine/Trent youth development team is in tact. it's really just the middle of the roster that's been shaken up. and amazingly, Oshley has done so without giving up picks.