Realistic Wish List???

[GEE]

Dame by all accounts is out for this season... until further notice at least. I think the "Strategy" should consist of Hockey-like line changes having 9-10 playing on the regular. Chauncey will need to be smart and reactive with subbing players, but we have tons of depth IMHO. Could use it's own (Prefered linups) thread, maybe with a poll, but I hope for this next season:

Jrue / Scoot
Sharpe / Thybulle
Camara / Grant
Deni / RWIII
Clingan / Yang

Next year, when Dame returns to play game #1, and the level of improvement shown by Scoot, things definitely might change at the top. Of course we upgraade if we can, where we can, but I like this team overall moving forward. Simply adding Dame to the above is a nice worse-case scenario me thinky. Players 11+ ain't too shabby either. I'm Stoked honestly and can't wait for next season to begin.

Lastly, in regards to Scoot, I think all of his wishes just came true getting the opportunity to learn Defense mainly this season from Jrue... and Offense from a willing player coach in Dame. The kid is definitely "Gifted".... Stupid Cronin.

[oldfishermen]

Trade '"speculation" involving Williams & Jrue continues.

Unless a no brainer trade develops that upgrades the roster. I am happy with the blend of savvy vets and developing youth.

As far as who starts and minutes played? We have all season to experiment and figure it out.

[BlazersBroncos]

Trade '"speculation" involving Williams & Jrue continues.

Unless a no brainer trade develops that upgrades the roster. I am happy with the blend of savvy vets and developing youth.

As far as who starts and minutes played? We have all season to experiment and figure it out.

From what I have seen all the speculation has been baseless and near financially impossible ideas from LAL lower rung talking heads. I just dont see it.

[dckingsfan]

PG: if he is still here will be Jrue but with a heavy dose of Scoot. And lots of starts because Jrue will inevitably be injured.

I think that Billups goes with the 3-forward lineup that he rolled out that played D.
So - Camara, Grant & Deni with Thybulle & Sharpe off the bench and Rupert stepping in for when any of the 5 go down.

C: Clingan with Reath as the backup until Yang is ready (and that might not be until next year, then again - the kid surprises).

I don't think Williams will play meaningful minutes due to injuries. And yes, Dame won't play this season.

That is an incredibly thin line-up. Not to happy with the two-ways or "development" contracts.

I would give this off-season a C. Some good, some bad but just staying the same (or falling a bit behind) in the competitive west.

[PDXKnight]

If Lakers are serious about Jrue I saw an idea of Vincent + Rui + knect for Holiday. Vincent would be a buy out id imagine but I think i could be ok with this trade if we could squeeze a 1st out of LA as well. Feels like an out from the 2 final years along with a decent roi for Ant

[BlazersBroncos]

If Lakers are serious about Jrue I saw an idea of Vincent + Rui + knect for Holiday. Vincent would be a buy out id imagine but I think i could be ok with this trade if we could squeeze a 1st out of LA as well. Feels like an out from the 2 final years along with a decent roi for Ant

I would be shocked if PDX did this. The FO didnt trade for Holiday because they wanted to flip him. They want him to lead this team to a play in spot and be a tone setter for Scoot. Extra plus in he defends and can play both G slots. LAL also just signed Smart - cant see them moving Rui for another guard - they end up really small.

Pretty out on Dalton myself FWIW. Probably value him as a high'ish SRP. Dude stunk in SL, got benched for being a turnstile and is close to 25.

That is an incredibly thin line-up. Not to happy with the two-ways or "development" contracts.

Surprised to see this. If anything is to be said about this team in a positive one of the top traits to me is depth.

Holiday, Scoot, Sharpe, Thybulle, Deni, Grant, Camara, Clingan, RWIII - thats 9 guys who, if needed, could play 30mpg and not make me sweat (Granted RWIII and health + DC and fouls)

Reath is a nice bubble rotation big.

Yang, Rupert are the EOB developmental youngsters. Love, Wesley, Cissoko as 15th men / 2-way guys.

Not sure how adding a guy like Trey Lyles would move the needle. If someone gets hurt you just sign a VM until it shakes out. I suppose I would have gone a different direction w/ Love and Wesley (I am fine w/ Sidy on a 2-way - hard to find that type of 'body'). But its really not a big deal IMO.

Jrue / Scoot
Sharpe / Thybulle
Camara / Grant
Deni / RWIII
Clingan / Yang

This would be my hope - caveat being Grant will play as the backup for both forward spots - no way he only eats the minutes Camara doesnt play at SF (Which would be under 18-20). Yang will be closer to that Rayan level of rotation than the backup C on the Depth Chart - but should get run as RWIII is going to get injured, wont play B2B and likely is rested otherwise quite often.

[dckingsfan]

If Lakers are serious about Jrue I saw an idea of Vincent + Rui + knect for Holiday. Vincent would be a buy out id imagine but I think i could be ok with this trade if we could squeeze a 1st out of LA as well. Feels like an out from the 2 final years along with a decent roi for Ant

I would be shocked if PDX did this. The FO didnt trade for Holiday because they wanted to flip him. They want him to lead this team to a play in spot and be a tone setter for Scoot. Extra plus in he defends and can play both G slots. LAL also just signed Smart - cant see them moving Rui for another guard - they end up really small.

Pretty out on Dalton myself FWIW. Probably value him as a high'ish SRP. Dude stunk in SL, got benched for being a turnstile and is close to 25.

That is an incredibly thin line-up. Not to happy with the two-ways or "development" contracts.

Surprised to see this. If anything is to be said about this team in a positive one of the top traits to me is depth.

Holiday, Scoot, Sharpe, Thybulle, Deni, Grant, Camara, Clingan, RWIII - thats 9 guys who, if needed, could play 30mpg and not make me sweat (Granted RWIII and health + DC and fouls)

Reath is a nice bubble rotation big.

Yang, Rupert are the EOB developmental youngsters. Love, Wesley, Cissoko as 15th men / 2-way guys.

Not sure how adding a guy like Trey Lyles would move the needle. If someone gets hurt you just sign a VM until it shakes out. I suppose I would have gone a different direction w/ Love and Wesley (I am fine w/ Sidy on a 2-way - hard to find that type of 'body'). But its really not a big deal IMO.

Jrue / Scoot
Sharpe / Thybulle
Camara / Grant
Deni / RWIII
Clingan / Yang

This would be my hope - caveat being Grant will play as the backup for both forward spots - no way he only eats the minutes Camara doesnt play at SF (Which would be under 18-20). Yang will be closer to that Rayan level of rotation than the backup C on the Depth Chart - but should get run as RWIII is going to get injured, wont play B2B and likely is rested otherwise quite often.

Let me explain my thinking.

Holiday shouldn't play 30 minutes per game. RWIII can't without being injured, he might not play 400 minutes this year. Clingan can't do that yet (conditioning and foul trouble).

That leaves (Scoot), Sharpe, Thybulle, Deni, Grant and Camara. So, I am not too worried about the wing/forward rotation.

Inevitably Jrue is going to have to take games off and will have injuries. So Scoot is going to need to have some 40 minute games

Also, we don't really have anyone behind Clingan at this point (other than Reath, maybe he steps up) and we don't have a small ball PF - that is a bit thin, IMO.

And yes, to Yang, Rupert as good development prospects. Not so much with Love, Wesley & Cissoko. That just isn't great roster management - it is adequate roster management.

So, overall a "C".

[BlazersBroncos]

What really is a small-ball PF today if Deni and Camara dont fit that bill?

[dckingsfan]

What really is a small-ball PF today if Deni and Camara dont fit that bill?

No, they don't.

[PDXKnight]

What really is a small-ball PF today if Deni and Camara dont fit that bill?

No, they don't.

6'6" or 6'7" seems like the cutoff

[dckingsfan]

What really is a small-ball PF today if Deni and Camara dont fit that bill?

No, they don't.

6'6" or 6'7" seems like the cutoff

It isn't just height that should be the metrics for a small ball C. Deni, Camara and Grant just don't have that bulk that is needed (opinion).

[PDXKnight]

No, they don't.

6'6" or 6'7" seems like the cutoff

It isn't just height that should be the metrics for a small ball C. Deni, Camara and Grant just don't have that bulk that is needed (opinion).

Id agree with the center position not so much the 4 which has evolved largely into something like an old school 3 from the 90's. You can get away with playing a true 3 a lot easier than playing two slow centers these days even if that player lacks in build, Aminu and Harkless played 4 in spots and we somehow made the wcf that year

[dckingsfan]

6'6" or 6'7" seems like the cutoff

It isn't just height that should be the metrics for a small ball C. Deni, Camara and Grant just don't have that bulk that is needed (opinion).

Id agree with the center position not so much the 4 which has evolved largely into something like an old school 3 from the 90's. You can get away with playing a true 3 a lot easier than playing two slow centers these days even if that player lacks in build, Aminu and Harkless played 4 in spots and we somehow made the wcf that year

Shmaybe. But then your forwards have to rebound and only Deni does that... I mean, all of our forwards sans Deni rebound like guards. Just sayin'

We are probably going to need to disagree on this one. But... I do get where you are coming from - we just don't have those 3s or 4s.

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

[Wizenheimer]

It isn't just height that should be the metrics for a small ball C. Deni, Camara and Grant just don't have that bulk that is needed (opinion).

Id agree with the center position not so much the 4 which has evolved largely into something like an old school 3 from the 90's. You can get away with playing a true 3 a lot easier than playing two slow centers these days even if that player lacks in build, Aminu and Harkless played 4 in spots and we somehow made the wcf that year

Shmaybe. But then your forwards have to rebound and only Deni does that... I mean, all of our forwards sans Deni rebound like guards. Just sayin'

We are probably going to need to disagree on this one. But... I do get where you are coming from - we just don't have those 3s or 4s.

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

* last thing first: I find it amusing how Blazers fans will do mental gymnastics to justify having two slow-footed C's. I got sick of hearing people, last season, saying Ayton could play PF. No he couldn't, and he didn't. I don't believe Clingan and Ayton were ever on the floor together. And Clingan and Hansen won't be either. The only real justification for keeping both is that they are both still on rookie scale deals for the next 3 seasons. But after they graduate from their rookie deals, I believe the Blazers will have to choose one and move the other

* as far as a PF behind Deni, I'm still a bit baffled about the Blazers deciding to keep Reath and waive Jabari Walker. Jabari was an effective small-ball C and has the mobility to play PF. I don't think Reath has that combination of skills

[dckingsfan]

Id agree with the center position not so much the 4 which has evolved largely into something like an old school 3 from the 90's. You can get away with playing a true 3 a lot easier than playing two slow centers these days even if that player lacks in build, Aminu and Harkless played 4 in spots and we somehow made the wcf that year

Shmaybe. But then your forwards have to rebound and only Deni does that... I mean, all of our forwards sans Deni rebound like guards. Just sayin'

We are probably going to need to disagree on this one. But... I do get where you are coming from - we just don't have those 3s or 4s.

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

* last thing first: I find it amusing how Blazers fans will do mental gymnastics to justify having two slow-footed C's. I got sick of hearing people, last season, saying Ayton could play PF. No he couldn't, and he didn't. I don't believe Clingan and Ayton were ever on the floor together. And Clingan and Hansen won't be either. The only real justification for keeping both is that they are both still on rookie scale deals for the next 3 seasons. But after they graduate from their rookie deals, I believe the Blazers will have to choose one and move the other

* as far as a PF behind Deni, I'm still a bit baffled about the Blazers deciding to keep Reath and waive Jabari Walker. Jabari was an effective small-ball C and has the mobility to play PF. I don't think Reath has that combination of skills

Respectfully, we weren't taking about the Blazers (having two bigs on the floor at once).

Agreed on Walker. We kept Reath (and previously extended) Murray. Mind bogglingly lazy. As were the two-way contracts. As was not signing a PF before we took on Lillard.

[Wizenheimer]

Respectfully, we weren't taking about the Blazers (having two bigs on the floor at once).

?

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

[dckingsfan]

Respectfully, we weren't taking about the Blazers (having two bigs on the floor at once).

?

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

Just a general note in the NBA that having two bigs on the floor doesn't usually work well (ducks when you think about Cleveland, although how did that work out in the playoffs).

I don't see any chance of having Clingan and Yang on the floor at the same time unless it is a "break glass" moment. That is all.

And it was reflective of a point you made that most teams play some small ball and we really aren't set-up well for that.

Make sense?

[Wizenheimer]

Respectfully, we weren't taking about the Blazers (having two bigs on the floor at once).

?

BTW, complete agreement on playing two slow Cs at the same time, it just doesn't work in this era of the NBA.

Just a general note in the NBA that having two bigs on the floor doesn't usually work well (ducks when you think about Cleveland, although how did that work out in the playoffs).

I don't see any chance of having Clingan and Yang on the floor at the same time unless it is a "break glass" moment. That is all.

And it was reflective of a point you made that most teams play some small ball and we really aren't set-up well for that.

Make sense?

sure....I was just riffing on the kind of loopy idea that Ayton/Clingan or Clingan/Yang could play together

[dckingsfan]

?

Just a general note in the NBA that having two bigs on the floor doesn't usually work well (ducks when you think about Cleveland, although how did that work out in the playoffs).

I don't see any chance of having Clingan and Yang on the floor at the same time unless it is a "break glass" moment. That is all.

And it was reflective of a point you made that most teams play some small ball and we really aren't set-up well for that.

Make sense?

sure....I was just riffing on the kind of loopy idea that Ayton/Clingan or Clingan/Yang could play together

Gotcha... agreed that is a pretty silly idea.

Both will probably only be drop coverage Cs. All good if you have a really good core of defenders around them.

[BlazersBroncos]

I am not Kris fan but he had a GTD contract so FO likely didnt want to eat that salary. At least he has shown some defensive hustle. Guy has the yips though.

As for Reath v Walker - I think we just stuck with the guy that was already signed and let Walker search for options that had better routes to consistent PT. Doing a solid like that isnt too crazy for end of bench guys.