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Almost every prediction has Port coming in 15th or 14th in the Western Conference. I'm not arguing that call, just think it's crazy that Port seems like a pretty solid, fringe-playoff team in many years.

-Henderson came on at the end of the year, Simons is solid (very good on offense) and Sharpe is a legit talent
-They added Deni to Grant at the forward, that's a good starting group, with Thybulle and Murray behind them
-Ayton is (at worst) an average starting center, Clingon looks like a solid rookie and RWill (if healthy) can play some 4 too
-They have Danton, Reath, Walker and Camara for deep bench

Again, not saying they won't finish at the bottom of the West, but that's a pretty good "bad" team, right?

I don’t disagree. A lot of upside with that team. I still think they are clearly in the Lag for Flag mode this year.

Yeah they oddly have a lot of useful NBA players. Like I could see 12 of their guys cracking a rotation on most teams, even guys like Reath and Camara who were honestly pretty good last year.

The entire thing to me hinges on Scoot. They are clearly trying to make him the next guy after selecting him top 3, and it’s clear that long term it’s going to have to be 2 of Simons/Scoot/Sharpe, it can’t be all 3 of them.

But in terms of them actually playing next season, I’m not sure they should start him. Sharpe and Simons are just better players right now. So it’s a weird situation. With him on the floor they had a -13 (!!!!!) net rating across over 1800 minutes. -13, which is 3 points worse than guys like Grant, Simons, Sharpe etc. and moreover, he doesn’t space the floor, so is harder to fit into lineups that give Sharpe touches.

I know they’re trying to tank, and they are almost certainly going to finish 13th/14th in the West, but I feel like this team could be better on an absolute level than their record.

The West has too many much better teams and Portland has too many non complementary pieces. We don't know if Henderson, Deni, Ayton or Clingan are the types of players who's good individual performances translate to team wins. They are a bottom feeder right now but they might be on the way up. The only team they might finish higher than in the West is Utah.

Yeah obviously they have NBA talent. Their problem is neither their veterans (Green, Simons, Ayton) or young guys (Scoot, Clingan, Sharpe) are top of the food chain. Their vets are solid, but ideally as the 4th or 5th best players on real teams. Their young core is low key interesting, but we still have to see it first. Scoot showed flashes, but we'll see if he bounced back like Suggs did. Sharpe has shown huge potential, but he's not their yet. Still more questions than answers with that group.

The team still lacks any semblance of outside shooting, and their defense is going to need a ton of work. Billups and also the worst coach in the NBA atm.

Cligan
Deni- Walker- Camara
Grant- Murray
Sharpe
Scoot- Banton

I'm trading everyone else on the roster first chance I get. Simons, Ayton, and Thybulle need to go. All have 2 years left on their deal, and getting any asset back for them would be great. Ideally this team is able to trade one of Simons or Ayton to get another player, and then get a Top 8 pick. Same with Rob, trade him to a contender at the deadline or when he's healthy for some more picks or solid vet.

Portland has had a solid rebuild so far, and think they still have one more year to go. But I like their young guys, think they all have legit potential, and think Deni was a solid steal. He's a smart player that doe a lot off ball and in transition, and they did well getting his prime years. They are finding a lot of solid high upside bench players, and some of them could end up staying long term.

This team is still waiting for it's #1 option, and unless Scoot or Sharpe turn into that, they are going to hope for the best in the draft this year, and be smart with trading the assets they do have on roster.

I expect this team to win 30-35 games this year, and the team to look completely different after the trade deadline than the one that started the year.

I think that if enough of Portland's good defensive players (Deni, Clingan, Time Lord, Thybulle, Camara) are part of the rotation, they have the potential to be sneaky better than expected.

I can see the reverse of this where they go all out on offensive fireworks (Shaedon, Anfernee, Scoot, Ayton) at the expense of defense and lose a lot of high-scoring games.

They have the personnel to put balanced lineups on the floor that can score and defend. It's not quite 2024 Houston level because that team had better vets (and probably better young guys), but it has a chance to be close to that and win more than 30 games. It's tough because everyone in the West is just so good. 12 teams fighting hard to make the playoffs, then San Antonio with a nuclear bomb on its roster, and Utah with the ability to compete if they feel like it. It's tough to fit Portland into that picture anywhere outside the bottom 3.

They are not necessarily "bad" in terms of talent, roster, upside and so on, but relative to the other western teams, yes. It's a matter of proportion.

Yep, 14 deep.

Thybulle and Robert Williams III should be on the block for draft capital -- proven vets they really don't need.

They are deep with quality players but lacking in top end talent. I think they'll be better than the true tankers (hello Brooklyn) but not good enough to really threaten the play-in

I like their team but the WC will be a gauntlet next season. Sharpe, Deni, Clingan and hopefully Scoot provide tons of upside and should be solid young core pieces. Grant is a good dependable vet but does he match their timeline? Simons is a guy who will provide scoring. They lots of depth.

Do they have a #1 to build around or do they find that guy in the next draft? Go down the list in the WC and every contending team has a #1 franchise guy:

Minn-Edwards
Dal-Doncic
Lakers-AD
Clips-Kawhi
OKC-SGA
SAS-Wemby
Den-Jokic
Memphis-Ja
GS-Curry
PHX-Durant

I just don't see that clear #1 guy on the Blazers yet.

It really does all hinge on Scoot moving forward.

EmpireFalls wrote:It really does all hinge on Scoot moving forward.

That's basically it. It typically takes young points a few years to ramp up but I'm hoping he frequently flashes star potential this year. The rest is kinda window dressing.

Add Flagg to this core and they are set
Scoot
Sharpe
Deni
Flagg
Clingan

That is a very interesting young team. They should deal the vets and go all in. This kid Bailey would work well too, since Deni can play either forward spot

Bulls' fan here-I think we'll get the pick in '27

in the East, Charlotte also has a very good bad team.

You can generally expect between a couple to four-or-five "good" teams to have Memphis-like injuries or regressions so teams that look scary now might underperform and a team like Portland could gel into a play-in. I wouldn't necessarily make that bet on Portland specifically, but they don't play the games on paper. And every season, the NBA as a league finishes at exactly .500.

This is one reason I want Grant traded the most right now. I want to tank for Flagg, and of the vets we have discussed trading, sending him out imbalances our team to the most. If he is gone, our PF position becomes Jabari Walker (who I actually like but can’t do it alone) and a bunch of players who would be considered out of position at PF. Trading Grant allows us to tank while actually still having good young talent that we can play and develop. Kind of like how Spurs had talent but not a real point guard, which hurt their record but helped their tank without having to just bench Wemby.

Gant wrote:in the East, Charlotte also has a very good bad team.

I think Char should go for Lavine
Ball/Lavine/Miller/Bridges/Williams, with some bench pieces, is a pretty solid team

pipfan wrote:Add Flagg to this core and they are set
Scoot
Sharpe
Deni
Flagg
Clingan

That is a very interesting young team. They should deal the vets and go all in. This kid Bailey would work well too, since Deni can play either forward spot

Bulls' fan here-I think we'll get the pick in '27

Maybe, but that’s like betting on an inside straight, unlikely and not a good bet.

yeah they are a frisky team, could play spoiler to a vet team trying to make the play-in (like the Lakers/Clippers/Warriors/Nuggets)

I am not so optimistic.

There isn’t a competent pg on the roster and are very poorly coached.

Adding Avdija and Clingan do much to upgrade the atrocious defense but the loss of Brogdon will hurt more than many expect.