DO YOU LIKE OUR BLAZERS ROSTER?

[GEE]

Don't really feel like doing a poll, but I am curious about people's overall feeling about the talent level we have, and is it enough to compete for something more than just a pay-in berth? On a scale from Zero to Ten maybe, or where do you guess we might be in Western Conference standings when the playoffs begin? Any predictions yet? Might we see Chauncey, because he likes and has confidence in all of his players, go completely unconventional and play 11 or more players on any given night? I hope so!

I, like everyone else have been skeptical of the moves Cronin has made since his promotion to the GM gig, but I for one, am really starting to believe we all could be in for a massive surprise next season. Fairly confident we will start Dame/Simons/Hart/Grant/Nurkic, which is obviously smaller than I would prefer, but I also expect Chauncey to substitute players more regularly than we are used to seeing in the Stotts era.

I think we made Smart moves, Versus Sexy ones. Getting Grant for peanuts is going to be a huge boost for us. GP2 from the Warriors may also prove brilliant, as he fits perfectly IMO as a 3rd wheel to Dame and Simons. And even though drafting Sharpe is pretty damn sexy, we may prove to have made, easily one of the best picks in this draft when we got Walker... Very high on this kid.

Guards, Wings & Bigs. This is how I see Chauncey working. Purely Old-School. With the Gs being Dame, Simons & GP2... that's really good. We'd be smart to rotate our Bigs often, so they can run the rims for a full 48. Feeling pretty good with Nurkic, Eubanks & Watford holding down the Center. And finally, the Wings. I feel we are actually quite loaded there as well: Hart, Grant, Winslow, Little & Watford.

Spot minutes for the remaining 4 when, and as often as possible... especially for Sharpe and Walker, but GB3 and Keon as well. I think it's quite possible Chauncey may have confidence in all players we have 1-15, and a couple valuable minutes early in games from any player won't hurt us one bit. Blowouts will definitely be fun to see, and I think there will be plenty of them.

Largely pulling this from my back-side, but dare I say... 4TH SEED!

[JRoy]

Short answer; no.

I don’t think this team is good enough to win anything and thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue.

The most hopeful aspect off them are the rookies; Hopefully they will prove to be solid pros.

[Ruma85]

Don't really feel like doing a poll, but I am curious about people's overall feeling about the talent level we have, and is it enough to compete for something more than just a pay-in berth? On a scale from Zero to Ten maybe, or where do you guess we might be in Western Conference standings when the playoffs begin? Any predictions yet? Might we see Chauncey, because he likes and has confidence in all of his players, go completely unconventional and play 11 or more players on any given night? I hope so!

I, like everyone else have been skeptical of the moves Cronin has made since his promotion to the GM gig, but I for one, am really starting to believe we all could be in for a massive surprise next season. Fairly confident we will start Dame/Simons/Hart/Grant/Nurkic, which is obviously smaller than I would prefer, but I also expect Chauncey to substitute players more regularly than we are used to seeing in the Stotts era.

I think we made Smart moves, Versus Sexy ones. Getting Grant for peanuts is going to be a huge boost for us. GP2 from the Warriors may also prove brilliant, as he fits perfectly IMO as a 3rd wheel to Dame and Simons. And even though drafting Sharpe is pretty damn sexy, we may prove to have made, easily one of the best picks in this draft when we got Walker... Very high on this kid.

Guards, Wings & Bigs. This is how I see Chauncey working. Purely Old-School. With the Gs being Dame, Simons & GP2... that's really good. We'd be smart to rotate our Bigs often, so they can run the rims for a full 48. Feeling pretty good with Nurkic, Eubanks & Watford holding down the Center. And finally, the Wings. I feel we are actually quite loaded there as well: Hart, Grant, Winslow, Little & Watford.

Spot minutes for the remaining 4 when, and as often as possible... especially for Sharpe and Walker, but GB3 and Keon as well. I think it's quite possible Chauncey may have confidence in all players we have 1-15, and a couple valuable minutes early in games from any player won't hurt us one bit. Blowouts will definitely be fun to see, and I think there will be plenty of them.

Largely pulling this from my back-side, but dare I say... 4TH SEED!

Very well outlined the best i see for this team is 5th seed & 2nd round. That's with everything going right as the team has a lot of question marks.

[Ruma85]

Short answer; no.

I don’t think this team is good enough to win anything and thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue.

The most hopeful aspect off them are the rookies; Hopefully they will prove to be solid pros.

thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue, What golden opportunity is that?

[Dame Lizard]

Short answer; no.

I don’t think this team is good enough to win anything and thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue.

The most hopeful aspect off them are the rookies; Hopefully they will prove to be solid pros.

Even worse, we signed Lillard to a supermax extension, when he'll be a 36 year old guard, when he already had 2 guaranteed years + 1 player option on his contract.

[GEE]

Even worse, we signed Lillard to a supermax extension, when he'll be a 36 year old guard, when he already had 2 guaranteed years + 1 player option on his contract.

I think this was a mistake obviously, but if Dame plays at a peak Dame level, while adapting his game(which will be necessary) by improving his D and passing, moving better without the ball(ala Curry), and taking fewer and better shots, I strongly believe we could be really, really good next season, But Dame will definitely need to play better. If he does, which I know he can(I've seen flashes of it in him), he could be worth the money. He could be the difference between a play-in berth and a legit shot.

Dame got the retirement package for sure. I just hope he can live up to it.

[DaVoiceMaster]

When is the last time the Blazers had a player, with Lillards talent, who wanted to go the distance with the team? That just doesnt happen. Did they over pay? Yes, but I think all athletes are overpaid. Lillard has been a fantastic leader, one of the best in the league, and the Blazers are rewarding him. They rewarded Simon's & Nurkic a bit with their new contracts, as well for sitting out last season. I still think they are 1-2 players away from competing, but if any of these young guys can step up, maybe we won't have to wait as long.

Can Little step up this year? I'm excited about Walker. I have no clue about Sharpe. What will Keon do this year? GBIII and Louzada can go away for cap relief. I just dont see either player doing much. I hope they prove me wrong though.

There are so many factors, not just for their own team but the other teams in the conference/league, that determine where a team will finish that it is impossible to guess right now. I would imagine #6 is probably their peak, but who knows. Maybe it is #2 or #10.

[soobias]

my fear is that the team as a whole will play really good on both ends of the court, but there will be too many times where guys just watching DAME while he plays hero ball (which he's good at). to me it'll be kinda like KOBE without phil jackson and the triangle .

this is not to crap on DAME just my observation and i hope im wrong.

[PDXKnight]

If we are gonna make it very far with Dame we need a second all star. To me Jerami Grant is not that guy so unless we can get some kind of Deal where we give up a boatload of picks for an actual all star (in which case we may need sharpe or someone else like keon to pan out into a legit stud with a good ceiling to throw in that sort of package), I don't think we get there. It's possible we could land a home run deal but they don't come along every day. The other option is hope and pray Hart or simons turns into am all star. Hart is still fairly young and can maybe be a surprise all star with how well he plays defense even if scoring isn't super high. Simons probably has higher odds of reaching that sort of value but then the fit next to Dame is a major question.

I think our best hope perhaps is some team is super high on simons and if we want to win now get a major star like if Brooklyn is high on him find a package of perhaps simons +Keon+ 4 unprotected first round picks for KD. Yeah KD is getting up there but if we could land him next to Dame that'd be worth the roll if bkn would go for it. If we can't get a major sidekick next to Dame trade dame and rebuild around simons. That, I'd contend, is probably our best route to success given Dames relatively short window in the grand scheme of things. But I'm also a realist and imagine we try win with Dame and the results will likely not be any better than the federal reserve is at preventing recessions

[Goldbum]

So Iike this team ALOT.
Are we unbalanced? Yes.
Are we a little small with Hart at SF?Yes.

But here's the thing AnT ran the pick and roll last year than better than CJ ever has... that's huge and Nurkic/Walker/Watford can all play make out of that action. Sharpe's potential is higher than any non Dame player we've had since... IDK. I think Walker will be able to help us at the 3-5 (although it may take him till Christmas to really get rolling) Keon is a ready-made Hart replacement if they move on . GP2 might just be a Smarter Marcus Smart and the versatility of those hybrid wing/bigs is exciting

[m0ng0]

I disagree with alot of what has happened since the off season but it is what we have and I really hope it works out! I really enjoyed the team playing before Ant and Nurk took the rest of th season off. I hope im wrong but I see bubble team

[JRoy]

Short answer; no.

I don’t think this team is good enough to win anything and thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue.

The most hopeful aspect off them are the rookies; Hopefully they will prove to be solid pros.

thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue, What golden opportunity is that?

Disgruntled star.

Multiple picks (oops) and expiring contracts.

Should have punted.

[Ruma85]

Short answer; no.

I don’t think this team is good enough to win anything and thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue.

The most hopeful aspect off them are the rookies; Hopefully they will prove to be solid pros.

thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue, What golden opportunity is that?

Disgruntled star.

Multiple picks (oops) and expiring contracts.

Should have punted.

basically who durant & beal?

why trade multiple picks and expiring contracts just to make a trade.

[JRoy]

thought there was a golden opportunity to rebuild that the FO chose not to pursue, What golden opportunity is that?

Disgruntled star.

Multiple picks (oops) and expiring contracts.

Should have punted.

basically who durant & beal?

why trade multiple picks and expiring contracts just to make a trade.

Better picks.

I’m talking about a rebuild, not a retool around Lillard.

[Norm2953]

I'm not greatly enthused about this roster but it is what it is for I've been thinking for months,
there was nothing Cronin could have done to compete in the western conference with the top
4 clubs being the WC GSW, Memphis, Phoenix and probably a healthy LC Clippers.

Add to those top 4 clubs, the Wolves added Gobert, Lakers might end up with Kyrie, Pelicans
might have Zion, Dallas, Denver, while the OKC Thunder and Rockets have a lot of young talent

Getting back to Portland, If Nurk misses any significant time this season, they have a former 2
way player (Watford) and Eubanks who rarely got off the bench in SA and Brooklyn. It's a recipe
for failure to depend on a guy who like Nazr Little is always hurt. Real chance Portland could be
better but in a really tough western conference does it really matter but it would not be the end
of the world if Portland finished the season in the mid-late lottery, for they could use another
lottery talent in a 2023 draft, which is deep in SF, PF with an elite player in Victor at center.

[Ruma85]

Disgruntled star.

Multiple picks (oops) and expiring contracts.

Should have punted.

basically who durant & beal?

why trade multiple picks and expiring contracts just to make a trade.

Better picks.

I’m talking about a rebuild, not a retool around Lillard.

not worth it, if dame was 35 i would understand it

[JRoy]

basically who durant & beal?

why trade multiple picks and expiring contracts just to make a trade.

Better picks.

I’m talking about a rebuild, not a retool around Lillard.

not worth it, if dame was 35 i would understand it

Pretend to contend is nothing new to Blazer fans

[Ruma85]

Better picks.

I’m talking about a rebuild, not a retool around Lillard.

not worth it, if dame was 35 i would understand it

Pretend to contend is nothing new to Blazer fans

They made the wcf a couple years ago so i’m sure they are not pretending but okay, you never know how i season will unfold alot thunfa can change throughout a season that’s what nakes things exciting as fans.

[m0ng0]

What would make it fun is if we knew we had a shot, or a glimmer of hope for the future, but we have none, selling tickets, rewarding "loyalty" guarantees us 4+ years of treadmill blazer life. Buckle up folks it's going to be a long boring ride ..

[PDXKnight]

What would make it fun is if we knew we had a shot, or a glimmer of hope for the future, but we have none, selling tickets, rewarding "loyalty" guarantees us 4+ years of treadmill blazer life. Buckle up folks it's going to be a long boring ride ..

I do like one thing about cronin: he's willing to take risks to shake things up. The norm trade was still awful the grant trade was solid and the cj trade was decent so up to now he's kind of a mixed bag. He can make that transition from average to good/ great if 1 of 2 happens (or both). 1, he's a great talent evaluator and can draft Like Burford which would be maybe the best case for a small market team barring some major luck or 2, he's a gm who can hit home runs in the trade market or free agency even with portlands limitations of not being seen as a major destination for athletes. Both are incomplete in nature as he's only been gm a short time.

What is yet to be seen is what happens once he acquires more of "his guys." Yes that dreaded phrase that I swear we coined in Portland to describe players a Blazers gm wouldn't trade for prime Jordan or Bird. Ok being a little facetious here but yeah once guys like sharpe Keon and/or others cronin drafts or brings here through trade become integral parts of this roster is cronin gonna be willing to let go of one If the right deal comes along for where we are? Because if the answer to that is no and we are once again turning down a shot at a roster of Vince Carter and Paul pierce, or turning down drafting bpa Chris Paul only to run sebastian Telfair, 1 workout webster, and trout then he can go to the unployment office for all I care. Yeah maybe some of these trades worked out in our favor in the long run in some ways, but holy heck if these are the trades we heard in the rumor mill I wonder what else we've turned down? Yes can't be perfect but the blazers have been pretty spot on at making the wrong decision in repeat in the last 20 years if not more