Game 46: Portland vs LA Lakers 6:00pm Root, Root+

[Case2012]

Largest half time come back of lebron's career.

Chauncey billups is the problem. He should be banned from the rose garden after losing a 25 point lead at home honoring the founder of rip city to the Lakers. The frickin Lakers.

I really don't think the team is the problem for the most part. Nurkic has needed to go for a while, Simons can bring back a decent wing and maybe a pick, and the entire bench can be traded for vet minimum guys. So.. maybe half the team lol is the problem. But Hart, Grant, Dame, Sharpe (he's not untouchable imo) and Payton can stay.

Fire Chaucey, hire Udoka or Pringles.

Can't wait to see what happens at the dead line.

[Myth]

I tried being patient with Billups. He hadn’t done anything to impress me, but I was trying to give him time to prove me wrong, but it just feels worse the longer we go. Our roster is performing worse than they should. It isn’t a perfect roster, but it is decent. We have a fair amount of firepower and a roster that should be better on defense than in the past, but instead of fixing problems, we are adding whole new ones, the turnovers being the biggest new problem. We’ve only looked good when Dame goes nuclear, which is less frequent these days, either because of a mild decline or the reigns being pulled back by the coach, but either way, we shouldn’t have to depend on him this much with an acceptable roster.

[PDXKnight]

Ouch, rough game this Blazer team is really struggling lately. Billups is going to have to turn this around to even have a shot at being the head coach for more than this season.

I bet he gets another year regardless unfortunately. At the rate we are going we probably blow it up in some fashion at the deadline even if it's an insignificant move it'll be something geared toward losing more than winning I'd imagine

[PDXKnight]

I tried being patient with Billups. He hadn’t done anything to impress me, but I was trying to give him time to prove me wrong, but it just feels worse the longer we go. Our roster is performing worse than they should. It isn’t a perfect roster, but it is decent. We have a fair amount of firepower and a roster that should be better on defense than in the past, but instead of fixing problems, we are adding whole new ones, the turnovers being the biggest new problem. We’ve only looked good when Dame goes nuclear, which is less frequent these days, either because of a mild decline or the reigns being pulled back by the coach, but either way, we shouldn’t have to depend on him this much with an acceptable roster.

I tried giving him credit as well but the more he talks the more he seems like he speaks super generically and in a fashion that sort of reminds me of the nate McMillan motivator rhetoric. Only apparently he can't motivate either..

I do wonder if it's too early to cut ties as this is only year 2. I think if we go into tank mode it likely doesn't matter anyhow to management who is at the helm so they probably just let it ride for 1 or 2 more years before making a significant coaching change but who knows what direction this team is in with kolde running the show

[monopoman]

Ouch, rough game this Blazer team is really struggling lately. Billups is going to have to turn this around to even have a shot at being the head coach for more than this season.

I bet he gets another year regardless unfortunately. At the rate we are going we probably blow it up in some fashion at the deadline even if it's an insignificant move it'll be something geared toward losing more than winning I'd imagine

The clock might be ticking a bit more loudly though, it's not like Lillard is 23 or something, Lillard is aging rapidly and unless they make a move to trade him we need a win now coach period.

This is not like Billups is coaching some team that has no expectations like the Rockets or something, it might not be as high of a pressure situation as some huge market team. I just think it's a much higher expectation situation then a team with a bunch of young guys and no clear superstar.

[The Sebastian Express]

I think you gotta trade Nurk and see what you can get for Simons. Great shooter, but he struggles in a lot of other areas.

[soobias]

they need/should take a page out of UTAH's book.. unfortunately ainge was 1 year ahead of us but think of the return we could've gotten. i think its a year too late and we're stuck on the treadmill until someone buys the team and cleans house.

[Moonbeam]

I think you gotta trade Nurk and see what you can get for Simons. Great shooter, but he struggles in a lot of other areas.

I think there are 2 paths out of this.

The first path is to go all-in on Dame. Portland would need to parlay the future for a chance to compete in the present. That means that virtually everyone should be on the table. I'd definitely be parting with Simons and (probably) Sharpe and Little in return for a legitimate second star. I'd probably part with Nurk as well, as much as I love him. He's got flashes of brilliance but it's still mixed with games like tonight where he just disappears. Despite being in the league 8.5 years, he still doesn't really have a vet presence and remains an enigma. The players currently on the roster who would be best suited to sticking around for this process would be Hart, GPII, and perhaps Grant and Eubanks. Chauncey would have to go as well in favor of a more established coach.

The second path is the youth movement, which would see Portland parting with Dame, as painful as that would be, along with guys like Grant, Nurkic, GPII, Hart, and Winslow at a minimum. It would be the Ant and Sharpe show, with Little possible showing out in an increased role as well. The choice of coach isn't as crucial as under the first path, so Portland could retain Chauncey, though if a coaching candidate deemed even as good as Chauncey became available, I'd move on.

I'm not sure whether Portland will fully embrace either path, but those seem to me like the most viable ways to proceed. I'm more inclined with the first path, myself. None of the young talent on the team feels destined for stardom to me, and I want to see at least one more good run at a deep playoff run with Dame in tow. I don't begrudge anyone for feeling that Option 2 is the better way forward, though I'd caution proponents that there's no guarantee that a youth movement wouldn't just lead to a half decade or more of .300 basketball and months clamoring for losses and ping pong balls.

[PDXKnight]

I think you gotta trade Nurk and see what you can get for Simons. Great shooter, but he struggles in a lot of other areas.

I think there are 2 paths out of this.

The first path is to go all-in on Dame. Portland would need to parlay the future for a chance to compete in the present. That means that virtually everyone should be on the table. I'd definitely be parting with Simons and (probably) Sharpe and Little in return for a legitimate second star. I'd probably part with Nurk as well, as much as I love him. He's got flashes of brilliance but it's still mixed with games like tonight where he just disappears. Despite being in the league 8.5 years, he still doesn't really have a vet presence and remains an enigma. The players currently on the roster who would be best suited to sticking around for this process would be Hart, GPII, and perhaps Grant and Eubanks. Chauncey would have to go as well in favor of a more established coach.

The second path is the youth movement, which would see Portland parting with Dame, as painful as that would be, along with guys like Grant, Nurkic, GPII, Hart, and Winslow at a minimum. It would be the Ant and Sharpe show, with Little possible showing out in an increased role as well. The choice of coach isn't as crucial as under the first path, so Portland could retain Chauncey, though if a coaching candidate deemed even as good as Chauncey became available, I'd move on.

I'm not sure whether Portland will fully embrace either path, but those seem to me like the most viable ways to proceed. I'm more inclined with the first path, myself. None of the young talent on the team feels destined for stardom to me, and I want to see at least one more good run at a deep playoff run with Dame in tow. I don't begrudge anyone for feeling that Option 2 is the better way forward, though I'd caution proponents that there's no guarantee that a youth movement wouldn't just lead to a half decade or more of .300 basketball and months clamoring for losses and ping pong balls.

Option 1 leaves us limited in cap maneuverability

[Village Idiot]

I think you gotta trade Nurk and see what you can get for Simons. Great shooter, but he struggles in a lot of other areas.

I think there are 2 paths out of this.

The first path is to go all-in on Dame. Portland would need to parlay the future for a chance to compete in the present. That means that virtually everyone should be on the table. I'd definitely be parting with Simons and (probably) Sharpe and Little in return for a legitimate second star. I'd probably part with Nurk as well, as much as I love him. He's got flashes of brilliance but it's still mixed with games like tonight where he just disappears. Despite being in the league 8.5 years, he still doesn't really have a vet presence and remains an enigma. The players currently on the roster who would be best suited to sticking around for this process would be Hart, GPII, and perhaps Grant and Eubanks. Chauncey would have to go as well in favor of a more established coach.

The second path is the youth movement, which would see Portland parting with Dame, as painful as that would be, along with guys like Grant, Nurkic, GPII, Hart, and Winslow at a minimum. It would be the Ant and Sharpe show, with Little possible showing out in an increased role as well. The choice of coach isn't as crucial as under the first path, so Portland could retain Chauncey, though if a coaching candidate deemed even as good as Chauncey became available, I'd move on.

I'm not sure whether Portland will fully embrace either path, but those seem to me like the most viable ways to proceed. I'm more inclined with the first path, myself. None of the young talent on the team feels destined for stardom to me, and I want to see at least one more good run at a deep playoff run with Dame in tow. I don't begrudge anyone for feeling that Option 2 is the better way forward, though I'd caution proponents that there's no guarantee that a youth movement wouldn't just lead to a half decade or more of .300 basketball and months clamoring for losses and ping pong balls.

I think we are on third path. Unintentionally suck and hope we luck into a high lottery pick. Who needs to tank when the coaching and execution are so uninspiring.

In either option the question is whether Chauncey gets canned now in hopes of turning this ship around or during the off-season as part of a re-build, but in any case he has shown that he is neither a good motivator nor a good tactician

[BlazersBroncos]

Ya, I dont think this franchise has the ball to hard restart and I dont think we have the assets to flip this roster into a full blown 'win now' team. Were stuck in the middle path IMO.

[Blazinaway]

Just gets worse and worse, for god sakes blow it up

[Goldbum]

Rui to LAL ...
Can we get Deni and Gafford for GP2 in a 3 team deal?

[Norm2953]

It's curious how the pendulum swings with this board with Dame.

At this point, I don't see a path forward with pushing all chips in with Dame for that should have
been done at last year's draft. Like it or not, we should be rolling with Ant/Sharpe being our
back court for the next 10 years. Those naturally gifted guys like Sharpe will eventually have
the ball in their hands and they can run with Little and perhaps Walker as the core of the new
Blazers.

Team needs to jettison the notion of competing with Dame for that quality big that has been'
missing since Nurk stopped being the Bosnian beast is not walking through the door via trade
unless the Blazers just pay the price for Siakum. That price would be the Blazers youth and
future picks for a team that might not still get out of the first round of the playoffs.

[GEE]

RUI to the Lakers pisses me off!!!

[BlazersBroncos]

Like it or not, we should be rolling with Ant/Sharpe being our back court for the next 10 years.

Sharpe doesnt look to have much if any natural playmaking abilities. So thats 10 years of Ant handling the ball as a full blown PG. I would eat my own eyes if that was the case.

Shadeon needs a PG that can find him and allow him to use his explosiveness. I really dont see Ant as that guy. Someone like Garland would be ideal, but we all know there isnt a way to get him.

If we blow it up, the whole squad minus Sharpe should be on the chopping block. And if we can get a few nice FRP for Ant, we should do it.

[Case2012]

I don't really care about Rui,I care that the Lakers are trying to make the most of an all time talent on their roster and that the blazers expect to have a decent bench while trotting out super young players. Cronin just feels like more of Olshey in a lot of ways, one foot in the youth movement and one foot towards being in the playoffs.

I'm going with the first option and trading all of your youth and picks for difference makers. I've been screaming this for years while Dame's prime slips away.

Despite all the claims and evidence that Ms Allen isn't cheap, there's no way in hell she fires Chauncey with that much salary guaranteed, but which we desperately need to do if we're not blowing it up.

Nurkic is a slow, plotting defender that gives actual effort about 25% of the time. When he does, he's great, but even then he still makes about 1/5 layups seemingly. He needs to go. How do we upgrade at the 5 when he's got 3 more years at 18 million a year? Insane giving Nurkic that money.

Simons can shoot, sometimes... He's crazy streaky. He doesn't do anything else either. He's the secondary ball handler that doesn't pass the ball, rebound or play defense. If he could at least consistently facilitate for others he'd be worth keeping but he lacks a pg IQ.
.
Love Hart but he's out of position and as much as I want to keep him, someone on Twitter pointed out how he has a history of complaining about Portlands weather, late night restaurant options etc. I think we'd have to drastically over pay him to stay and that would be pointless if it was to continue playing him out of position. I think he needs to play the 2 and handle the secondary playmaking to stay.

Grant is a good offensive player most of the time, but I'm not really seeing the defensive motor he was heralded as having before he arrived. He also doesn't rebound or create for others very often despite how much he touches the ball. We can't have a 4 that doesn't rebound. He's a 3, straight up. Keep him but move him to SF where he would be more effective defensively.

I don't care about Payton. He's injured every other game anytime he stubs his toe it seems like, so he should be available too. I'm hopeful that he changes the trend and we see some consistent play because ideally I would keep him for his defense.


Sharpe might be good some day but I'm not sold. He's young, high potential gifted athlete, etc. But if he's the piece that gets us a star or even a dpoy candidate like OG, I'm making that trade.

I like Eubanks. He plays hard but he's a back up.

I think we need to move Simons and Nurkic for a pf and center so Hart and Grant can slide up to their natural positions. If we need to attach Sharpe to Nurkic and free up our picks to get OG then so be it. We'd be elite defensively with Hart,OG,Grant and hopefully Turner somehow if we can convince Indy to take another shooting guard...

People on here crap on Randle but I think he'd be a perfect pick and roll option with Dame. He creates very well out of the post and he actually rebounds. He's 6'8 260 and made of muscle. If the price is too high for OG, I like him as a second option. I would consider moving Grant for him tbh, he's a better overall player and locked in for a few more seasons. I'm not sure we can get any of those guys without attaching picks though.

Randle is back to form after a down year. I think we fd up not getting him on the cheap last year because I think he's an all-star. Turner is also young enough to stay with indy and a big reason they're in the play off picture. Even if he's expiring I think he's got a high price tag. I'm not sure Sharpe bridges the gap of Nurks deal so I'm adding a first. Might add one to Simons as well for Randle.

We could roll out Dame, Hart, Grant, Randle and Turner if we freed up our picks. All of those guys are willing passers as well which we desperately need as we're at the very bottom in assists year after year.

Sign some vet minimum guys to fill out the roster alongside Payton, Eubanks and Winslow. Another scorer like melo or sweet Lou. Both are reliable scorers even at their age, they would drastically improve the bench scoring which is historically bad. Literally the worst bench in the league. It's not that crazy of an idea.

[Case2012]

Do you think we could pull off Simons for Randle straight up? And then maybe Nurkic plus Sharpe for Turner? I would add a first and maybe some seconds if it gets us that starting line up.

Dame /Payton
Hart/ Nas (I think he can play 2-4)
Grant/ Winslow
Randle/ Watford?... Melo lmao...
Turner/ Eubanks

That starting line up has perimeter defense, shooting, playmaking at 4 of the 5 positions, rebounding and rim protection. The bench should be decent on defense but still lacks scoring unless we grab a journey man shooter or 2.

[JRoy]

RUI to the Lakers pisses me off!!!

Pennies on the dollar.

[JasonStern]

I don't have anything nice to say, so I am not going to say anything at all.
Made the mods day easier at least.