BlazersBroncos wrote:I really dont understand what people were expecting from this offseason.
What needle mover did we miss out on? Which starting caliber SF did we miss out on w/ the MLE?
Kyle Anderson and OPJ are PF at this point, those are the only names I could think as argument for missing out on a SF. GSW fans, by all accounts, have indicated that GP2 was better guarding SF than OPJ.
Did we really think Simons would get paid the same money as Dort? Or that Nurkic, much more dynamic player on offense who you can run the offense through in the high post, would get the same as Mitch Robinson?
I dont see any issues with these deals. Maybe Nurkic by 1-1.5M, but who cares.
There isnt a SF available that is better than what Hart brings. His size is fine. We are in a league where DDR just had his best season at PF while being 6'6 220lbs for christ sake. This mysterious 6'7-6'8 SF is just not a real player.
Look at this list and find me a trade partner than has an avaliable 6'7+ SF who is better than Josh:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/players.html
We were expecting the team to take risks and take big swings... as our new GM stated he would.
Relate this to baseball... team is down 2 with a guy on second and 2 outs. Player walks up to the plate and takes 5 pitches looking. counts 3-2. He's got it in his mind he's going to not swing at that 6th pitch either... so either he's striking out, or he's walking to first.
A walk isn't the end of the world, but it's also hard to hit a homerun, or hell even hit a single to score a run when you don't swing.
If I'm being honest, this team didn't take a single risk this offseason to this point, and that's where my frustration comes in. No one is saying they need to make a move to get to contender status right away, but where were the risks and swings we were promised? I didn't see any.
I'll tell you how to take a risk... send a 2nd rounder or 2 to Chicago and unprotect that pick. Then dangle Hart, Keon, and some firsts and see wtf is out there. Or at least leak to the damn press that you're willing to unprotect that pick if you can get something good in a trade. Something.... anything.
All I saw this offseason was acquiring Grant in an admittedly good value move, which essentially held zero risk for the current team. Then taking zero swings. Cronin is going to get absolutely lambasted if this is the end of the offseason for the Blazers, and it will 100% be deserved. He promised swings... he sat there and watched 5 pitches fly right by to this point.
