How long will it take before Portland is a legit contender??

[JordansBulls]

How long will it take before Portland is a legit championship contender?

Could they surprise everyone this year and be in the mix as a title contender if Oden is a 20 and 10 player?


No one expected the Hornets last year to be that good, I'm wondering if Portland will be that team this year.

[Bskey]

Around 3 years for a real run at the title I think. Making the playoffs could be as soon as this year but I highly doubt Blazers will be getting to the WCF let alone be the champs.

[Devilzsidewalk]

roughly 511 days, 13 hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds

give or take a few seconds

[Red Robot]

Portland is way too inexperienced. The Blazers are still one of the youngest teams in the league and one of the younger teams in history. The team will be relying on the contributions of rookies and even Roy and Aldridge will be in just their their third years. Portland has a bright future, but they'll be lucky to make the playoffs this season.

[BiggieSmalls]

I think that the blazers can make the playoffs this year, and depending on matchups and everything, they could make some noise in the playoffs. if they can get homecourt in the first round by winning the division than i think they could surprise people, but they will most likely get the 6,7 or 8 seed.

brandon roy has said recently that he is sick of all the talk about portland being good eventually or that they are a team to watch in the future, he said he wants to win now and be contenders now and he feels that they have the opportunity to do that. we are pretty stacked so who knows, anything can happen, especially the way sports have gone the last few years, too much parody, too many surprises and too many unexpecteds.

[GuyverX]

Let's see Greg Oden play first, shall we?

[SabasRevenge!]

Portland is way too inexperienced. The Blazers are still one of the youngest teams in the league and one of the younger teams in history. The team will be relying on the contributions of rookies and even Roy and Aldridge will be in just their their third years. Portland has a bright future, but they'll be lucky to make the playoffs this season.

I believe they'll actually be younger than last year, when they were the third youngest team in NBA history, because they're adding Fernandez, Bayless, Batum and possibly Koponen. I don't expect them to make a serious run next year, but I do expect them to make the playoffs if they can stay reasonably healthy; they're too deep and too talented. A favorable first round match up could land them in the second round and that would be quite an accomplishment for this young team in the West.

There has been some talk about them not having veterans, but I think that's overblown. Brandon Roy is a veteran IMO, and a very steady one at that; I'd say he's more of a veteran than some players who are 10 years older. Blake and Przybilla are also veterans on that team.

I agree that we need to wait and see about Greg Oden, but I also beleive that it's almost a forgone conclusion that he'll be an excellent player if he can stay healthy. He's simply too big, strong, skilled, athletic, and smart for me to think he won't succeed.

[BballFanAddict]

Talk of contention or even playoff participation for next year will quickly disipate, and they will be compared to Chicago of last year, after the first 15 to 20 games next season. The Blazers first 15 to 20 games are absolutely brutal. They literally play each of the toughest western conference foes (predominantly on the road) and then hit a eastern conference swing. If Portland can come out of this at .500, and if Oden lives up to some of they hype, and if the team is healthy, then maybe they can make a push for the 8th seed.

I am a Blazer nutjob, but I am also a realist. If they surprise like NO it would be a shock to me. I do not think NO was quite as young top to bottom as Portland is this year. And, CP3 is a super star.

If the Blazers can complete the season without any serious injuries; while growing, maturing, and playing better as the season progresses; and, finally, making the 8th seed - then the season will be a success in my mind. The season after next is when they could pull a New Orleans. But, honestly, I do not see them contending (barring a significan trade with their cap space next summer) until the 3rd season with Oden.

[Apollo64]

Probably in a couple of years, they will have some playoff experience by then and a lot of the current powerhouses of the West will be a lot older and/or in rebuilding mode.

[NO-KG-AI]

Not this coming season, but the next, I think they give someone a real scare this year in the playoffs, and the next year they are legit contenders.

I think they feel a lot like the Hornets, I think Roy is going to improve, Aldridge will be like a better David West at some point in his career, Oden is going to be Tyson Chandler on steroids, with shot blocking, and they are deeper and more athletic, they could make some noise right now.

They won 41 games, and health permitting, they should be markedly better, so low 50's in wins wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Alex_De_Large]

1.000 days.

[Flash3]

First, they are going to have to make the post-season, and then we can talk about them being a title contender.

I'd say if they can make the post-season this season, and make some noise, even if they lose, they enter another class in the league, but still to be a title contender (for anyone in that matter) a lot of things have to go right.

There's no set time table for winning a title.....

[iamworthy]

All depends on the development of G.Oden. Ask this question again when he plays at least 1 NBA game.

[Bucky O'Hare]

I'm leaning towards never. Oden is extremely injury prone, Roy looks like he could be as well. Bayless is a blackhole who does little outside of shot chucking. Their SF position is sub-par. And Aldridge is soft, as he doesn't block shots nor rebound particularly well.

I think they'll peak as a 45 win team.

[Roger Murdock]

I'm leaning towards never. Oden is extremely injury prone, Roy looks like he could be as well. Bayless is a blackhole who does little outside of shot chucking. Their SF position is sub-par. And Aldridge is soft, as he doesn't block shots nor rebound particularly well.

I think they'll peak as a 45 win team.

Dude you are such a hater. Missing 1 season does not make somebody extremely injury prone. Roy is one of the best young studs in the league. Aldridge will complement oden extremely well. You sound like your making stuff up to make up for getting ripped off on that trade on draft night.

And to say they will peak as a 45 win team, when they won 42 games last year (IIRC) is ignorant. They are adding one of the best center prospects of all time, a great PG prospect, a good SG prospect, have a good coach and a great core that will grow within itself.

This team will win compete for playoffs next year, and i fully expect them to win a title with oden still on his rookie contract.

[Flash3]

I'm leaning towards never. Oden is extremely injury prone, Roy looks like he could be as well. Bayless is a blackhole who does little outside of shot chucking. Their SF position is sub-par. And Aldridge is soft, as he doesn't block shots nor rebound particularly well.

I think they'll peak as a 45 win team.

Dude you are such a hater. Missing 1 season does not make somebody extremely injury prone. Roy is one of the best young studs in the league. Aldridge will complement oden extremely well. You sound like your making stuff up to make up for getting ripped off on that trade on draft night.

And to say they will peak as a 45 win team, when they won 42 games last year (IIRC) is ignorant. They are adding one of the best center prospects of all time, a great PG prospect, a good SG prospect, have a good coach and a great core that will grow within itself.

This team will win compete for playoffs next year, and i fully expect them to win a title with oden still on his rookie contract.

You do know that on 7 teams have won an NBA Title in the past 25 year, Seven! -- And, there have been other teams that have had some of the best players the league has seen in Karl Malon, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and others alike, yet they never won a title.

What makes you so confident that the Blazers, who have yet to even make the post-season, and have a major piece of their team in question, will win a title over the next 3 years? -- You don't go from not making the playoffs for a few season, winning a title over night. I don't think you understand how hard it is to win a title, let alone just make the NBA Finals......

[Wade2k6]

I'd say 2-3 years until theyre a legitimate title team. Roy/Aldridge might be going into their 3rd year, but Oden is pretty much a rookie with no experience at the NBA level, and Bayless is a rookie. Then their role players that they're expecting production from are all rookies as well: Fernandez, Batum. They're an extremely young team and I'd say they need another 2-3 years before they can really be legitimate title contenders.

[SabasRevenge!]

I'm leaning towards never.

You've got a track record of irrationally hating on the Blazers a mile long, so I can't say I'm surprised by this.

Oden is extremely injury prone,

He is still 20. Microfracture surgery is scary, but there now a list of young players who have come back even better after surgery. Injuries are the only thing that can stop him from becoming a great player. He's simply too gifted.

Roy looks like he could be as well.

He was played into the ground last season and a menisectomy is a very minor procedure. He'll be back soon. He carried the team on his back last year and he'll have a lot more help this year. Did you want to say anything about his game?

Bayless is a blackhole who does little outside of shot chucking.

This is a pretty ridiculous judgment. He didn't chuck during SL, he attacked the basket. He's much more of an attacker than a chucker. He's 19 years old, will he suddenly stop working on his game as well? Will he eternally be the Arizona PG who was shuffled to SG because of injuries and an incompetent coach? Have you even seen him play?

Their SF position is sub-par.

Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, Nicolas Batum. 23, 21, and 19. Like the rest of your "points" here, you might want to give it another year or two before passing judgment. Their SF position might be mediocre this year, but what about next? Will Webster and Outlaw suddenly stop working on their games?

And Aldridge is soft, as he doesn't block shots nor rebound particularly well.

Did you even watch Aldridge in the second half of last season? He is not a soft player. He's actually got a fair mean streak and he is very versatile on both ends. If by "soft" you mean he can hit the 18-20 footer, then yes, he's soft. He also has a fair stable of post moves and has become much stronger since his rookie campaign. He may have seemed soft when he was a thin 20 yo, but not anymore.

I think they'll peak as a 45 win team.

I'm just curious, how do they compare to the Pacers? I see that you're already proclaiming "Hibbert>Oden"

[RoyceDa59]

Two seasons from now.

[thegreatblaze]

I'm leaning towards never. Oden is extremely injury prone, Roy looks like he could be as well. Bayless is a blackhole who does little outside of shot chucking. Their SF position is sub-par. And Aldridge is soft, as he doesn't block shots nor rebound particularly well.

I think they'll peak as a 45 win team.

You've been sipping the hateraid as long as I've seen you posting, but this is just laughable. Talk about taking the worst possible case scenario and running with it.

Blazers won 41 games last season, I highly doubt we'll top off as a 45 win team.

PS - Roy Hibbert is the definition of a stiff. There's a reason he went 17th.