Shams: the ****? Simons to Boston for Holiday… real

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Mod hat on for a second: Don't make personal attacks, and if someone is frustrating you then please make use of the ignore button, it is always better to ignore a dumb post that you disagree with than to get dragged down into pointless bickering. Several folks have gone too far, and made things too personal, and if it continues then it will be addressed more directly.


Mod hat off: I personally am a bit tired by constant negativity. Anyone with half a brain can see this team isn't going to accomplish anything real until it is sold. Sell Jody Sell so that we can get a new owner who can commit to a direction. Until then we are in a holding pattern and that just is what it is, dont become an old man yelling at clouds.

This is supposed to be a place where people ostensibly enjoy following the Blazers. If you don't enjoy the current iteration of the Blazers then my personal suggestion is to find something that actually does bring you joy and come back when the ownership situation has been resolved. Spending all your time focused on the bad is not a productive thing to do, we cannot effect any change here and the other posters are not your emotional rag to vent frustrations at. We aren't responsible for the quagmire this team finds itself in and bickering about how others express their fandom helps no-one. We don't have to be serious (its just basketball) and criticizing other fans for expressing interest and excitement about this team is not gonna be very welcome.

[Wizenheimer]

Mod hat on for a second: Don't make personal attacks, and if someone is frustrating you then please make use of the ignore button, it is always better to ignore a dumb post that you disagree with than to get dragged down into pointless bickering. Several folks have gone too far, and made things too personal, and if it continues then it will be addressed more directly.


Mod hat off: I personally am a bit tired by constant negativity. Anyone with half a brain can see this team isn't going to accomplish anything real until it is sold. Sell Jody Sell so that we can get a new owner who can commit to a direction. Until then we are in a holding pattern and that just is what it is, dont become an old man yelling at clouds.

This is supposed to be a place where people ostensibly enjoy following the Blazers. If you don't enjoy the current iteration of the Blazers then my personal suggestion is to find something that actually does bring you joy and come back when the ownership situation has been resolved. Spending all your time focused on the bad is not a productive thing to do, we cannot effect any change here and the other posters are not your emotional rag to vent frustrations at. We aren't responsible for the quagmire this team finds itself in and bickering about how others express their fandom helps no-one. We don't have to be serious (its just basketball) and criticizing other fans for expressing interest and excitement about this team is not gonna be very welcome.

I've been generally negative about Portland since about the 3rd season of Olshey. The 2016 spending spree was the final straw. Mostly, Dame kept me watching but I hated the decade of CJ-->Simons at SG and I wanted better defense, better forwards, and the end of tiny guards

which is why I'm more interested in the coming season than I have been in years. The two players I hated watching the most and argued were grossly overrated were Simons and Ayton. I was half convinced Cronin was going to re-sign them. But he surprised me and dumped both of those guys. For some reason, Grant never bugged me like those two did although Grant's contract is pretty buggy

but the Blazers have better defense, more length, and no dwarf guards. The one possible dark cloud on the horizon is Chauncey deciding to bench Sharpe and start Grant. That would be more two-track idiocy

[zzaj]

Most of my negativity has surrounded the Blazers not choosing to truly tank. I have had to come to terms with the fact that ownership and management (rightfully) wants a different path than me.

I've also been negative about Chauncey, but most of that has been in the context of not truly tanking. I know that he's widely respected and liked, and no doubt that's worth a lot as a head coach. Some folks have talked about how he's gotten better as an XsOs guy...I'm not sure I've seen that.

This will be a fun year with many storylines to track. My only real hope is that injuries don't end up playing any determining path of the franchise moving forward.

[BlazersBroncos]

Most of my negativity has surrounded the Blazers not choosing to truly tank. I have had to come to terms with the fact that ownership and management (rightfully) wants a different path than me.

I've also been negative about Chauncey, but most of that has been in the context of not truly tanking. I know that he's widely respected and liked, and no doubt that's worth a lot as a head coach. Some folks have talked about how he's gotten better as an XsOs guy...I'm not sure I've seen that.

This will be a fun year with many storylines to track. My only real hope is that injuries don't end up playing any determining path of the franchise moving forward.

We might be pretty lucky the ownership group was against a tank. Its much easier to move a team to a different city when they are a directionless bottom feeder IMO. We are making moves that, in my eyes, are helpful in keeping the team in PDX.

This is the most excited I have been for a Blazers season in years. Yang is exciting, the size of this team is a HUGE breath of fresh air, development potential of Scoot / Sharpe / Camara / Deni / DC. Good hardworking, defensive first vets in Jure, MT, RWIII. Hell even the idea of Grant as a 6th man is enticing, more so at least than him as a chucking starter.

Its going to be a fun year.

[oldfishermen]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

[PDXKnight]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

Everyone knows jrue is better even Boston knew that before the trade but is it a good trade for us?

Id contend even still its just an oddball move for the blazers: the logjam once scoot and eventually Dame are back, the extra money, and draft repercussions. Ill give Cronin the grace of not knowing Dame would sign here but regardless once we signed Dame the trade became all the more meh. And if jrue on the bad sign of 30 (35) has a major injury which isnt out of the question at that age, the last 1-2 years suddenly become toxic

[oldfishermen]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

Everyone knows jrue is better even Boston knew that before the trade but is it a good trade for us?

Id contend even still its just an oddball move for the blazers: the logjam once scoot and eventually Dame are back, the extra money, and draft repercussions. Ill give Cronin the grace of not knowing Dame would sign here but regardless once we signed Dame the trade became all the more meh. And if jrue on the bad sign of 30 (35) has a major injury which isnt out of the question at that age, the last 1-2 years suddenly become toxic

I do not see a logjam once Scoot and Dame return. Jrue can play SG, which is the Blazers weakest position.

BTW, I am firmly on the win side. Intentionally losing is bad sportsmanship, on many levels. I hate losing.

[DusterBuster]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

Everyone knows jrue is better even Boston knew that before the trade but is it a good trade for us?

Id contend even still its just an oddball move for the blazers: the logjam once scoot and eventually Dame are back, the extra money, and draft repercussions. Ill give Cronin the grace of not knowing Dame would sign here but regardless once we signed Dame the trade became all the more meh. And if jrue on the bad sign of 30 (35) has a major injury which isnt out of the question at that age, the last 1-2 years suddenly become toxic

I do not see a logjam once Scoot and Dame return. Jrue can play SG, which is the Blazers weakest position.

BTW, I am firmly on the win side. Intentionally losing is bad sportsmanship, on many levels. I hate losing.

Yeah, I'm with you on this fisher.

I can see Knight's point, it still was kind of an odd move admittedly, but I also understood why Cronin did it. My bigger hesitation was how Jrue might look this year after kinda a rough season in Boston and starting to somewhat show his age. I'm happy to say that - so far - last season seems to have been more of an aberration than a sign of serious decline for Jrue. Jrue had done 2 title runs in 4 seasons. At his age, playing regularly into June will take its toll the following season. So I think Jrue had his kinda down season in 24-25 that allowed him to be a bit more fresh for this season.

It's also just simply a different situation where he's asked to do a bit more than when he was in Boston and after a few rumblings he might have been unhappy here, reports out of camp from those around the team were completely different that he was actually stoked to be on this team. I think he likes that he can kinda be more of a core piece again vs the uber-role player he was with Milwaukee and Boston.

The other question I had about Jrue was his deal obviously. It's rich and especially with the concern of age and decline being what it was, it made the deal pretty eyebrow raising. But after a few games and him settling into his role here, he's worth every damn penny and if it ever needed to come to it, he will be tradable for real assets the duration of his contract (save for some unexpected injury). Then even more so after what happened off the court after Game 1, Jrue has been worth his weight in gold. I have to imagine he (and likely Dame) are playing a huge part in doing what they can to keep this thing moving forward.

I don't know if any of this rambling makes sense other than I love the early returns of this trade. I hope the best for Ant, I'm not rooting for him to have a bad season or even care to comp their seasons throughout. Ant's a good enough dude and hope the best for him, but he'll never be a true team leader in the NBA, and the Blazers desperately needed that.

I also am with you about when Dame comes back... I think the team would be remiss to not see what a Dame/Holiday backcourt looks like at least for a little. They both openly admitted they have wanted to play together for a long time. What to do about Scoot and Shaedon... we'll see. So far, if Dame is even an 80% of his old self, he should be the starting PG with Jrue at SG, Scoot and Sharpe can come off the bench. I mean, it's obviously unconventional, but if everyone is healthy...

Dame/Scoot
Holiday/Sharpe
Camara/Thybulle
Deni/Grant
Clingan/RW3/Yang

That 9 man roster is impressive and could be something. Backup C is the biggest hole since Yang is proving to be a project and RW hasn't proven he can stay healthy, but the Blazers also have what's proving to be a really strong smallball lineup with Deni at the 5.

[mighty_duck]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

You forgot one stat:
.......Simons.....Jrue
2025...27m.....32m
2026....0.......34m
2027...0........37m

Simons started really bad last year too, then heated up as the season went on.

But I have no buyer's regret. Don't miss Ant and his empty calories one bit.

[PDXKnight]

Update, Simons is off to a bad start in Boston. Jrue beats Simons in every catagory, and its not close.

.........Simons...Jrue
PER...13 3.....21.6
FG%...43.1....48.2
3PT%..29.4....38.5
FT%....66.7.....77.8
REB.....2.0.......5.5
AST......1.7.......7.8
PPG.....11.7.....17.8

You forgot one stat:
.......Simons.....Jrue
2025...27m.....32m
2026....0.......34m
2027...0........37m

Simons started really bad last year too, then heated up as the season went on.

But I have no buyer's regret. Don't miss Ant and his empty calories one bit.

Yeah definitely I dont miss ant

[dckingsfan]

This was strictly a trade for cap space for Boston. They would be happy to tank and not make the playoffs to get a lottery pick in this year's draft.

But it is the east... so they will need to tank HARD.

[Walton1one]

So, when Dame comes back and starts (of course) and Jrue starts (of course), Sharpe (Y5 @ $22+mil/year) AND Scoot (Y4) will be coming off the bench?

So, are they considered bad picks by then?

[Walton1one]

This was strictly a trade for cap space for Boston. They would be happy to tank and not make the playoffs to get a lottery pick in this year's draft.

But it is the east... so they will need to tank HARD.

Would be just like SA...miss the playoffs in a year with a loaded draft and then get lucky in the lottery and land a generational player.

Meanwhile...POR makes the playoffs, forfeits their pick to CHI, in a loaded draft, and cements themselves as also rans for the next several years'.

Wonderful....

[dckingsfan]

This was strictly a trade for cap space for Boston. They would be happy to tank and not make the playoffs to get a lottery pick in this year's draft.

But it is the east... so they will need to tank HARD.

Would be just like SA...miss the playoffs in a year with a loaded draft and then get lucky in the lottery and land a generational player.

Meanwhile...POR makes the playoffs, forfeits their pick to CHI, in a loaded draft, and cements themselves as also rans for the next several years'.

Wonderful....

San Antonio looks really good - I watched one of the games and was like - damn. They aren't missing the top 6, IMO unless they have some tragic injuries.

Portland/Chicago - Smh, it sucks that there is even a possibility. I really don't see anyway we sneak into a top 6 slot but knowing our luck we play two very injured teams in the play-in and make the playoffs... sigh.

[Walton1one]

I meant years' ago, when SA tanked and got Tim Duncan...

As far as I was aware if they make the play in and win then they "make" the playoffs" therefore losing their pick?

Yes, if a team wins both its play-in tournament games to secure the 7th or 8th seed, they lose their lottery pick eligibility. However, a team that participates in the play-in but is eliminated in the first round (either the 7/8 or 9/10 game) remains eligible for the draft lottery, and a team that loses both play-in games is also lottery-eligible.

Lottery eligibility: A team is eligible for the lottery if it does not make the main playoffs. The play-in tournament is a separate event from the main playoffs, with its own set of rules.

[JasonStern]

So, when Dame comes back and starts (of course) and Jrue starts (of course), Sharpe (Y5 @ $22+mil/year) AND Scoot (Y4) will be coming off the bench?

So, are they considered bad picks by then?

Sharpe - no. Proven capable of being a starter. That's a decent return for the #7 pick.

Scoot, maybe? It depends on his development, and the development of his peers. Wembanyama seems to be the only sure beacon of light on that 2023 draft.

Your main gripe is not committing to a full rebuild or committing to a win now strategy. So now we're capped out, but don't have those shiny new toys to play with.

[mojomarc]

I've been generally negative about Portland since about the 3rd season of Olshey. The 2016 spending spree was the final straw. Mostly, Dame kept me watching but I hated the decade of CJ-->Simons at SG and I wanted better defense, better forwards, and the end of tiny guards

Don't sell yourself short, Wiz. You've been negative for much longer than that. But we love our cranky ol' grampa

[cucad8]

So, when Dame comes back and starts (of course) and Jrue starts (of course), Sharpe (Y5 @ $22+mil/year) AND Scoot (Y4) will be coming off the bench?

So, are they considered bad picks by then?

It's MAYBE a problem that's a year away. And we're gonna start whining about it now? jeebus

[Walton1one]

So, when Dame comes back and starts (of course) and Jrue starts (of course), Sharpe (Y5 @ $22+mil/year) AND Scoot (Y4) will be coming off the bench?

So, are they considered bad picks by then?

It's MAYBE a problem that's a year away. And we're gonna start whining about it now? jeebus

It is not a "maybe" problem, it is a FOR SURE problem, and reflects poorly on a front office that drafted a guy 3/4 years ago at #3 and have him coming off the bench for a couple of 36yr olds, oh and Sharpe coming off the bench as well.

[cucad8]

It's not a for sure problem just because you choose to look at the glass as half pissed in all the time.