DusterBuster wrote:People said the Blazers "needed" to get their way into the lottery this year as well. Gimme what Portland has had the past 3 years over what the Sixers have had the past 3 years to get a lottery pick. Simmons may be awesome, he also may flame out. No one knows right now.
I'm not sure how it is that the choice is either what Portland has done or what Philly has done. There are more templates then that, and the template Philly has used is an extreme example, almost past the point of absurdity.
For most franchises, the draft still remains the best way to infuse top-level talent. There isn't a close second either. OKC has Durant, Westbrook, and Adams, all added with top-5 draft picks. And yes, I know Adams was an 11th pick but they got him from trading a former 3rd pick in Harden. The Warriors have Curry, Klay, and Barnes, all added with lottery picks. They have struck generational paydirt in the 2nd round though, first with Monta Ellis (who was essentially 'traded' for Bogut and Ezeli), then Draymond Green, who is both a generational talent and a generational jackass. Cleveland has Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, both secured with top draft picks. And of course that home-town fella
and you said Portland over the last 3 years. This year is a lot different then last year, but in the first 2 of those three years, Portland had Aldridge and Lillard; former #2 and #6 picks
again, high draft picks are still the best way for most teams to add top-talent
and those people, at the beginning of this year, wanting Portland to get a good lottery pick, were not advocating that Portland be Philly. That's false equivalency. There were only 15 wins separating the Blazers from a top-5 pick this year. Davis, Plumlee, and Aminu, according to win shares, added 17. Now, they are all nice role players, but does anybody really think they are core players? What would be better now, having Plumlee or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson? Portland could have filled those slots with 1 year contract players, added a top-5 pick, and have 17 million more in cap-space on July 1; and in RHJ could have potentially a dominant perimeter defender who happens to have led all NBA wings in rebounding rate. I'm not saying that would necessarily be a better position then they are in right now. But it certainly is a viable and justifiable 'plan' compared to the current one
Yes, it was fun watching the team overachieve this season and make it to the 2nd round, even though we all know the playoff success likely wouldn't have happened without injuries to Paul and Griffin.
Billy, in another thread, essentially asked how long the Blazers were going to have to settle for plan B. In reality, I think Olshey off-seasons have been a lot more plan C then B. But, by the moves Portland made last summer, they have seemingly committed to a specific plan; and that plan is to use cap-space this summer to add a high level talent. The mutual interest between the Blazers and Whiteside seem to confirm that. Maybe this summer, after all the free agency failures, the Blazers will finally find free agency success
But what if they don't? When you compared the current Portland 'template' to the Philly one, you seemed to assume the Portland plan was already a success. But if the Blazers strike out in free agency, and simply resign their 3 RFA's, probably to bloated deals, they are capped out for quite a few years, with almost no way to add talented players thru either the draft or free agency. They very well may be in a cul-de-sac. treadmill. Waiting for some big trade opportunity and hoping that their inability to attach high draft picks to a trade package doesn't leave them in 2nd place in trade bidding, time and again
in other words, whatever path they embarked on last summer could lead to frustration. We all knew last summer was a huge pivot point for Portland. Aldridge's decision forced the Blazers to pivot away from the core they had. But because of the path they chose, that leaves this summer as critical, IMO. I'm hoping they can parlay the feel-good-momentum the season ended with into something better then a status quo roster, otherwise, pivoting away from a lottery pick last summer may have been the wrong choice
