What are the Trailblazers doing?
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What are the Trailblazers doing?
- GrindCityHustle
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What are the Trailblazers doing?
Basically waive Ayton for nothing. I saw the arguments that he basically sucked defensively but expiring bigman who went to the finals?
Trade Simons for basically a mentor who they traded away to Boston. Why now?
Used their exception on Dame when he doesn't even play this year and he would have signed for the min anyway since he lives there in the off-season after getting a major buyout? Behind the door agreement with Bucks?
I thought this off-season the Blazers would have tried to get off of Grant but it seems like they are doing everything except that. His contract is actually bad now. They had the contracts to package Grant but now they would need to use young guys or picks.
I like the Blazers young guys but is this the best asset management that they could do? I feel like this is ripe for a Nate Duncan spiel on how bad this has been. It's not like they have a Flagg type talent on this roster now where they can afford to do this and experiment.
Are Portland fans uneasy or this is just part of their process?
Trade Simons for basically a mentor who they traded away to Boston. Why now?
Used their exception on Dame when he doesn't even play this year and he would have signed for the min anyway since he lives there in the off-season after getting a major buyout? Behind the door agreement with Bucks?
I thought this off-season the Blazers would have tried to get off of Grant but it seems like they are doing everything except that. His contract is actually bad now. They had the contracts to package Grant but now they would need to use young guys or picks.
I like the Blazers young guys but is this the best asset management that they could do? I feel like this is ripe for a Nate Duncan spiel on how bad this has been. It's not like they have a Flagg type talent on this roster now where they can afford to do this and experiment.
Are Portland fans uneasy or this is just part of their process?
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- cpower
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
Basically they are playing the warriors 2nd timeline game without a first timeline lol - i dont like their direction, a lot of young talent but Grant/Dame will demand a lot of touches (30 FGA between the two) plus holidays, 40/90 FGA goes to old pals. Dame is an alpha and I am afraid things are not going to be great between him and younger players
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
It's a nice group of young players with 2 much loved veterans in Dame and Jrue. Just trade Grant.
Pretty likeable team.
Maybe not competitive to the point of becoming a contender but very likeable.
Some times this is enough for a fanbase.
Pretty likeable team.
Maybe not competitive to the point of becoming a contender but very likeable.
Some times this is enough for a fanbase.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
scoot
holiday
camara
deni clingan.
thats going to be really hard to score on. goddamn. then you have sharpe the chinese guy and whatever they get for grant.
if scoot isnt a complete bust this a playoff team.
holiday
camara
deni clingan.
thats going to be really hard to score on. goddamn. then you have sharpe the chinese guy and whatever they get for grant.
if scoot isnt a complete bust this a playoff team.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
cpower wrote:Basically they are playing the warriors 2nd timeline game without a first timeline lol - i dont like their direction, a lot of young talent but Grant/Dame will demand a lot of touches (30 FGA between the two) plus holidays, 40/90 FGA goes to old pals. Dame is an alpha and I am afraid things are not going to be great between him and younger players
Dame will not play this year.
Jrue is a great vet to have around. Grant was a mistake but i don't think they can dump him anywhere on that ridiculous contract so they just have to ride it out.
They have one more year to evaluate how Scoot and Sharpe develop and then they can make a decision on those two's future next summer.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
It’s called throwing sht at the wall and see what sticks. Not rebuilding but not contending either.
Not every franchise is necessarily trying to contend for a championship in the short term or the long term. The Wizards went decades without trying to do either.
Not every franchise is necessarily trying to contend for a championship in the short term or the long term. The Wizards went decades without trying to do either.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- FreeBird23
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
I dont know, just like them
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- Calvin Klein
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
Stop trying to make Ayton something he is not
"bigman who went to the Finals"
He's played for 7 seasons now and the only good thing anyone can say is he "went to the Finals".



He's played for 7 seasons now and the only good thing anyone can say is he "went to the Finals".
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- UcanUwill
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
They drafted some young guys and surrounding them with veterans, it is similar of what Houston started to do 2 years ago. If Klingan, Scoot, Hansen, Sharpe hit, or at least some hit, they will be good.
Ayton is basically their version of Kevin Porter Jr, just a guy who does nothing to actually improve the team, they got rid of him, they hope their new centers are good. Jrue and Dame are pretty expensive, but not like they are getting to use that cap anywhere else for the next few years, they are their version of FVV.
Ayton is basically their version of Kevin Porter Jr, just a guy who does nothing to actually improve the team, they got rid of him, they hope their new centers are good. Jrue and Dame are pretty expensive, but not like they are getting to use that cap anywhere else for the next few years, they are their version of FVV.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
Lockdown504090 wrote:scoot
holiday
camara
deni clingan.
thats going to be really hard to score on. goddamn. then you have sharpe the chinese guy and whatever they get for grant.
if scoot isnt a complete bust this a playoff team.
Its only a matter of time before hansen starts over clingan either that or they will start both of them in the front court Portlands twin towers.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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- Sixth Man
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
They were too good to tank and too weak to compete with Lillard, so they went into the rebuilding phase and right now after few years, they're too good to tank and too weak to compete with Lillard on their roster.
Fortunately for them, West is so deep and lottery odds are flattened in comparison to the past, so maybe they'll get someone serious via draft in the next few years.
Fortunately for them, West is so deep and lottery odds are flattened in comparison to the past, so maybe they'll get someone serious via draft in the next few years.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- Pattycakes
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
I’m a biased blazers fan for life but if you don’t see the identity we’ve built in under a couple years, you’re either blind/in denial/are clueless about our team. Go cheer for the hornets or wizards messes and buzz off
Somewhere trying not to offend Texas Chuck.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- Pattycakes
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
Lockdown504090 wrote:scoot
holiday
camara
deni clingan.
thats going to be really hard to score on. goddamn. then you have sharpe the chinese guy and whatever they get for grant.
if scoot isnt a complete bust this a playoff team.
This guy gets it. Blazers will never get the respect they deserve. For once, we’ll just force it down your throats with lockdown defense and a Chauncey billups led squad with both youth and vets
Somewhere trying not to offend Texas Chuck.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
I think it was actually a nice gesture to sign Dame to that contract and I saw it as showing appreciation for his loyalty to the franchise. I don´t see their moves as an overall win for the franchise, but also not horrible.
Camara turned out to be the best piece from the Lillard trade and apparently there was either no real market for Ayton, or at least they did not like the return. So not keeping him around to maybe get one or two 2nd rounders in a future trade probably will not impact the franchise that much.
Same goes for the Simons trade. They had him for 7 seasons and apparently didn´t see him as a future piece of their team any more. Having Jrue as a mentor makes sense and there is a possibility that there will be some potential trade partners at the deadline for him.
Related to Dame I already mentioned that I kind of like this approach.Yes they pay this season 12 Million for a player that won´t play, but they are also at a point with their rebuild where teams usually sign Vets to higher salaries to have them as mentors. So those 12 Million wouldn´t have been used to sign a big game changer anyhow. It is a low risk high reward contract. If Dame comes back close to his old form, his contract will be the best non rookie contract in the league, worst case one of your greatest players will finally retire while playing for your franchise.
Camara turned out to be the best piece from the Lillard trade and apparently there was either no real market for Ayton, or at least they did not like the return. So not keeping him around to maybe get one or two 2nd rounders in a future trade probably will not impact the franchise that much.
Same goes for the Simons trade. They had him for 7 seasons and apparently didn´t see him as a future piece of their team any more. Having Jrue as a mentor makes sense and there is a possibility that there will be some potential trade partners at the deadline for him.
Related to Dame I already mentioned that I kind of like this approach.Yes they pay this season 12 Million for a player that won´t play, but they are also at a point with their rebuild where teams usually sign Vets to higher salaries to have them as mentors. So those 12 Million wouldn´t have been used to sign a big game changer anyhow. It is a low risk high reward contract. If Dame comes back close to his old form, his contract will be the best non rookie contract in the league, worst case one of your greatest players will finally retire while playing for your franchise.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
It's pretty clear what the blazers did.
Ignore the dame thing for a second and what they are doing is trying to build a long, athletic team with a defensive identity.
The Simons to jrue move is basically remove the worst defender on the team for a plus defender in the back-court and let deni + Sharpe take the offense over. They already know about Deni, this an audition year for Sharpe to understand if he is the back-court offense they will build around.
The minus side of this move is that the blazers are likely even worse at 3 point shooting than before (remember that for the dame discussion later)
The Blazers were much better with Clingan than with Ayton last year. DA probably saw the writing on the wall and asked out, the blazers did it to open the full MLE (remember that for the dame discussion later)
Btw, people underestimate Clingan's offensive impact, he is not a great scorer but his screen setting and offensive rebounding are a real benefit for players like scoot.
They clearly really believe in Yang, he is nowhere the defensive genius that Clingan seems to be, but he has tons of potential on offense, and let's face it,.both Clingan and Yang are giants that would benefit from not playing 36 minutes a game.
Finally, the Dame thing, basically they got him for MLE, just for the feel.good story it's fine, but, one expects that when he gets back, he will be more of a shooter than someone that can break you off the dribble as he was before. What do the blazers miss? 3 pt shooting, dame as a mentor and occasional sniper off the bench? The fit seems fine, if dame comes back as anything more, it's a huge value signing, if as a 3 point shooter off the bench, sounds market correct, if he is cooked, they basically get a great mentor, great marketing and they have the ability to keep it so far, they will not have to start paying large salaries for the young players for a while.
Ignore the dame thing for a second and what they are doing is trying to build a long, athletic team with a defensive identity.
The Simons to jrue move is basically remove the worst defender on the team for a plus defender in the back-court and let deni + Sharpe take the offense over. They already know about Deni, this an audition year for Sharpe to understand if he is the back-court offense they will build around.
The minus side of this move is that the blazers are likely even worse at 3 point shooting than before (remember that for the dame discussion later)
The Blazers were much better with Clingan than with Ayton last year. DA probably saw the writing on the wall and asked out, the blazers did it to open the full MLE (remember that for the dame discussion later)
Btw, people underestimate Clingan's offensive impact, he is not a great scorer but his screen setting and offensive rebounding are a real benefit for players like scoot.
They clearly really believe in Yang, he is nowhere the defensive genius that Clingan seems to be, but he has tons of potential on offense, and let's face it,.both Clingan and Yang are giants that would benefit from not playing 36 minutes a game.
Finally, the Dame thing, basically they got him for MLE, just for the feel.good story it's fine, but, one expects that when he gets back, he will be more of a shooter than someone that can break you off the dribble as he was before. What do the blazers miss? 3 pt shooting, dame as a mentor and occasional sniper off the bench? The fit seems fine, if dame comes back as anything more, it's a huge value signing, if as a 3 point shooter off the bench, sounds market correct, if he is cooked, they basically get a great mentor, great marketing and they have the ability to keep it so far, they will not have to start paying large salaries for the young players for a while.
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
I like their moves - move on from Ayton asap - don’t go all in on scoot if he shows signs that he isn’t a superstar but keep him as a serviceable guard- go get dame back for the fans - I love Deni (former wiz) as a good hard working smart player… underrated athlete
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- Effigy
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
They're trying to win and aren't doing the Jazz/Wizards thing of dumping nearly every player that might accidentally win them some games. This place man, if you're not in the Finals or tanking you get ripped apart. 

Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
So and so is a bad contract.
Why didn’t you just get rid of him?
Why didn’t you just get rid of him?
Reinsdorf & Co. - sell the team!!
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/12/11/chicago-bulls-phoenix-suns-bad-ownership-robert-sarver-jerry-reinsdorf
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/12/11/chicago-bulls-phoenix-suns-bad-ownership-robert-sarver-jerry-reinsdorf
Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
- thelead
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
I actually like what they’re doing. Don’t love the trade for Holiday but maybe he gets healthy and plays well. I just don’t love the gamble due to his age and contract. Everything else, including drafting Yang was good.

Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
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Re: What are the Trailblazers doing?
Simons was the odd man out and they had no intention of paying him, so flipping him for something makes sense and he was always gonna be moved before training camp,to the highest bidder. I'd say an aging supervet like Jrue and a couple of 2nds is actually a really nice haul for Simonscpower wrote:Basically they are playing the warriors 2nd timeline game without a first timeline lol - i dont like their direction, a lot of young talent but Grant/Dame will demand a lot of touches (30 FGA between the two) plus holidays, 40/90 FGA goes to old pals. Dame is an alpha and I am afraid things are not going to be great between him and younger players
Grant will be moved as well, they just have to give him some burn so that other teams can see he's healthy again (and playable)
The Dame thing is bigger than basketball. They made a gesture to the dude that's been their franchise player for years
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