Portland - 2016 Offseason

[Norm2953]

I'd have to agree with the notion of a PF to pair alongside of PLumlee for while I think Plumlee's
offensive game will improve, he's never going to be a player who opponent defensive's will
feel the need to account for.

I think the most likely move from Portland will be to get some picks in the 2016 draft. With the
rise in veteran player salaries, players on rookie contracts are going to be demand. I would
not be surprised for example if Alexander and Montero got a hard look in summer camp and
attention in off season workouts

[Wizenheimer]

I tend to agree with this opinion, but if I'm being absolutely honest, I would say that the improvement has to come from within. Certainly you have guys like Durant and Davis that are on the superstar trajectory from day 1, but there are many top 10 players that developed out of unlikely growth. You can make an argument that Curry would make the leap, but the leap from 21 PER all-star to 30 PER all time great is still unprecedented. Likewise Draymond Green turning from a rookie second rounder shooting 29% to DPOY superstar and triple double threat was something no one could have predicted (and this is without even talking about Klay Thompson). Then you have Kawhi Leonard, a good player for sure, but top 5? Don't think people could have guessed that one either.

Looking at our guys obviously Dame and CJ are the most likely candidates for making that jump. Dame in my opinion, is likely maxed or close to maxed out as a player. You can probably expect incremental improvements for a few more years before plateauing and declining. I think CJ though, has tremendous upside for improvement. I think he can reach Dame's current status or like an early career Curry.

Curry has reached a level where he's just going to be a bad comp for any other player. Eyes glaze over. It's practically unbelievable the things he does.

Green is interesting because he came to the league when he was 22 after 4 years in college. So that's a real similarity with Lillard and CJ. I would differ a bit on his track though. He was an unnoticed rookie. But in his 2nd season, he really took off defensively. I remember seeing him play since it wasn't that long ago. His defensive rating was 5 points better then the Warrior team, and they were the 4th best in the league. He posted 3.8 defensive win shares and a +4.4 box plus/minus...both are excellent numbers. He was doing this at 23 so his defensive future looked bright. I think the phenomenal growth with him has been as a play-maker. He doubled his assists this year from last, 3.7 vs 7.4

Kawhi is another interesting example. Now, his defense was always there, even as a 20 year old rookie but his offense has really expanded, and that's happened while he went from a 65% assisted FG Rate to a 54% rate. In the Spurs system, that's significant. What was the biggest surprise is his 3 point shooting. Going from 35% last season to 44% this season while increasing his attempts 25% is impressive, but you have to wonder if this season was predictive or something of a fluke

I know CJ will improve, smart players with good work ethics usually do. I guess I'd disagree with you on where CJ's ceiling is. When 22 year old 6'8 Green or 6'8 Kawhi can do the things they do, it jacks their ceiling way up. When 24 year old 6'3 CJ does the things he does, the ceiling doesn't climb as high.

Looking at the other guys on the roster, Harkless has shown the ability to be a two-way threat. He's got the skillset and the size. Plus he has youth on his side. Crabbe is another guy that I would look to improve.

Harkless I have hopes for, but I am concerned about his consistency. He's done well to close the season and in these playoffs. Unfortunately, it's certain that's been noticed in other front offices so I expect the price to keep Harkless has risen

Crabbe I go back and forth on. He a good shooter from mid-range and a decent one from three, but he doesn't do much else. He's a very poor rebounder for a 6'6 player. He has a lower assist rate then Ed Davis. He doesn't get to the FT line; and contrary to Mike & Mike yapping about it, he doesn't play good defense and commits a ton of bad fouls. He's kind of a one-trick pony at this point. If he gets offered a contract north of 10 million/year I hope the Blazers pass

Another factor is that players can look better based on roster compilation. I think we can all agree that the current roster has a lot of holes and is not suited to taking the most advantage of our two best players. That is something that can be improved as the years go on but it requires solid and sometimes unspectacular decision making.

And yes I realize the chance of any of these guys reaching borderline all-star status let alone bonafide star is extremely low, but everything I have read and seen about Olshey suggests that his forte is talent evaluation and player development.

we'll see, and maybe soon, because I think there are several of those "unspectacular" decisions looming this summer. Definitely the roster needs upgrades, but will Olshey be stubborn about keeping his players if they get bloated offer sheets?

[Malapropism]

Curry has reached a level where he's just going to be a bad comp for any other player. Eyes glaze over. It's practically unbelievable the things he does.

Green is interesting because he came to the league when he was 22 after 4 years in college. So that's a real similarity with Lillard and CJ. I would differ a bit on his track though. He was an unnoticed rookie. But in his 2nd season, he really took off defensively. I remember seeing him play since it wasn't that long ago. His defensive rating was 5 points better then the Warrior team, and they were the 4th best in the league. He posted 3.8 defensive win shares and a +4.4 box plus/minus...both are excellent numbers. He was doing this at 23 so his defensive future looked bright. I think the phenomenal growth with him has been as a play-maker. He doubled his assists this year from last, 3.7 vs 7.4

Kawhi is another interesting example. Now, his defense was always there, even as a 20 year old rookie but his offense has really expanded, and that's happened while he went from a 65% assisted FG Rate to a 54% rate. In the Spurs system, that's significant. What was the biggest surprise is his 3 point shooting. Going from 35% last season to 44% this season while increasing his attempts 25% is impressive, but you have to wonder if this season was predictive or something of a fluke

I know CJ will improve, smart players with good work ethics usually do. I guess I'd disagree with you on where CJ's ceiling is. When 22 year old 6'8 Green or 6'8 Kawhi can do the things they do, it jacks their ceiling way up. When 24 year old 6'3 CJ does the things he does, the ceiling doesn't climb as high.

Well yes, if you're going to dismiss my examples as improbable you're making my point for me. But look around the league and you'll see that the most successful teams are the ones that are able to guide these seemingly good players and turn them into superstars. Obviously not every player has the talent to be THAT good, but these teams are able to get one or two good hits consistently over the years. Point is, a proven player is usually not a good deal. An player that you can turn from unproven to proven is someone you can keep for under market value and thus boost your chances of increasing the overall talent of your team.

Here are another two examples:

Russell Westbrook: Went from 17 PER good player in his second year to 21 PER all star the year after. Then made ANOTHER jump into the 28PER Superstar range last two seasons. Nobody probably saw the second jump coming.

Brandon Roy: Another 4 year guard that between year 2 to year 3 went from 19 PER all-star to 24 PER superstar. Probably a more apt comparison for CJ and someone that would have likely improved even more had it not been for degenerative knees. Roy was sneaky athletic but the bulk of his effectiveness came from his craftiness and ridiculous feel for the game.

I look at CJ and there are three main reasons why I am optimistic:

1. He's got the two most valuable offensive skills right now in the NBA: Shooting and Ball Handling
2. He's got great work ethic and BBIQ. He's very blunt in his interviews, he knows what he needs to improve on.
3. He improved as the season went along. April CJ >>> November CJ

I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's a done deal, but looking up and down the roster I think CJ is the most reasonable bet. Especially since if we were having this discussion last year I think most people would be skeptical if I said he would be as good as he is now.

Harkless I have hopes for, but I am concerned about his consistency. He's done well to close the season and in these playoffs. Unfortunately, it's certain that's been noticed in other front offices so I expect the price to keep Harkless has risen

Crabbe I go back and forth on. He a good shooter from mid-range and a decent one from three, but he doesn't do much else. He's a very poor rebounder for a 6'6 player. He has a lower assist rate then Ed Davis. He doesn't get to the FT line; and contrary to Mike & Mike yapping about it, he doesn't play good defense and commits a ton of bad fouls. He's kind of a one-trick pony at this point. If he gets offered a contract north of 10 million/year I hope the Blazers pass

This offseason is our one chance to add a good free agent this year because CJ will be up for an extension the year after. I don't mind overpaying for Crabbe, especially if we don't get someone like Horford. We need to maximize the talent we have.

Crabbe's statistical trajectory is similar to guys like Matthews. No he's not a great player right now but again player development is key. He's spent 3 years under our system and quite frankly if you told me a year ago Crabbe would be a serviceable player I would have laughed. Speaks volumes for Olshey's regime and Portland's player development.

I understand how tempting it is to look at players and think they will never improve. Fact is, most significant player improvements are things we as fans don't see coming. Again, if I told you (specifically you, Wiz) last year that 25 year old Kemba Walker, a career 30% 3 point shooter at that point, would up his 3PT attempt rate from 29% to 37% but also improve his shooting % from 30% to 37%, you would have said I was crazy. It's a good thing guys like Crabbe and Harkless are young.

All it takes is one or two unexpected developments to change the fortunes of an entire team....

[zzaj]

I'm putting my money on Miami letting Whiteside walk and signing Horford. I think they'd be smart to do that, too.

Many have said that Dwight is a natural for Dallas, but I think that is where Whiteside is going to end up.

I have no idea what Olshey has up his sleeve, as he's bargain hunted (and found great value) on one hand and let people walk (and lost value) on the other. It's tough to determine whether he over values his players or is ok with breaking ties...

[zzaj]

Quick, when was the last time a team won a championship when it's two biggest weapons were 6'3"?

Remember when people use to say you had to have a dominating Pf or Center to win a championship? From Wilt to Kareem to Olajuwon to Walton to Shaq, David Robinson, Duncan, Gasol, Garnett and Nowitzki. Now you can't even play traditional bigs in the finals Times change fella.

We did just fine with our gaurds as weapons having a top 8 offense. First it was you can' be in the playoffs with them, now its you can't win it out with them. I'll see them fail before I deal in absolutes with them.

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

Outside of Cousins there hasn't really been any scoring, dominant Cs for quite a while...so of course the league is moving away from that.

[Wizenheimer]

I have no idea what Olshey has up his sleeve, as he's bargain hunted (and found great value) on one hand and let people walk (and lost value) on the other. It's tough to determine whether he over values his players or is ok with breaking ties...

I think it will be more clear this summer. He dumped Barton and TRob in the Afflalo trade and he brought in both of those guys. But it was clear by then what TRob was. I think it was clear before Olshey traded for him but at least he cut the loss kind of early. And he let Lopez go after bringing him in. But Leonard and Crabbe are his guys...players he invested draft picks in and who have, at certain times, shown some potential. KP would have severely overvalued them. I guess we'll find out if either gets a big offer sheet

[GreenRiddler]

Quick, when was the last time a team won a championship when it's two biggest weapons were 6'3"?

Remember when people use to say you had to have a dominating Pf or Center to win a championship? From Wilt to Kareem to Olajuwon to Walton to Shaq, David Robinson, Duncan, Gasol, Garnett and Nowitzki. Now you can't even play traditional bigs in the finals Times change fella.

We did just fine with our gaurds as weapons having a top 8 offense. First it was you can' be in the playoffs with them, now its you can't win it out with them. I'll see them fail before I deal in absolutes with them.

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

Outside of Cousins there hasn't really been any scoring, dominant Cs for quite a while...so of course the league is moving away from that.

My point was it is not a sure thing, for people said if you don't have ________ you won't win it all and in the case of a dominating big they said that and were wrong.

[Wizenheimer]

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

the Spurs gave a max deal to Aldridge this summer and cut 3' off the average distance of his FG's. His numbers are pretty interesting:

avg distance of FG's:

2010-11 - 9.3 (nate)
2011-12 - 10.6 (nate)
2012-13 - 11.7 (stotts)
2013-14 - 12.5 (stotts)
2014-15 - 12.8 (stotts)
2015-16 - 10.0 (popovich)

% of FG's at rim:

2010-11 - .320 (nate)
2011-12 - .281 (nate)
2012-13 - .215 (stotts)
2013-14 - .186 (stotts)
2014-15 - .192 (stotts)
2015-16 - .279 (popovich)

% of FG's from 16' < 3pt:

2010-11 - .238 (nate)
2011-12 - .320 (nate)
2012-13 - .384 (stotts)
2013-14 - .415 (stotts)
2014-15 - .365 (stotts)
2015-16 - .303 (popovich)

True Shooting %:

2010-11 - .549 (nate)
2011-12 - .560 (nate)
2012-13 - .530 (stotts)
2013-14 - .507 (stotts)
2014-15 - .528 (stotts)
2015-16 - .565 (popovich)

offensive rebound rate:

2010-11 - 10.1 (nate)
2011-12 - 8.6 (nate)
2012-13 - 7.2 (stotts)
2013-14 - 7.2 (stotts)
2014-15 - 7.7 (stotts)
2015-16 - 9.2 (popovich)

WinShares/48:

2010-11 - .166 (nate)
2011-12 - .169 (nate)
2012-13 - .124 (stotts)
2013-14 - .144 (stotts)
2014-15 - .165 (stotts)
2015-16 - .215 (popovich)

it's pretty obvious Popovich values efficiency and his big men doing some big man things. As far as efficiency, this has been Aldridge's best season and he has career marks in a lot of categories.

[Jsun947]

Olshey has said he has 0 intention of trading CJ. A 2 guard like Butler or Oladipo I think is a better fit next to Lillard but those guys aren't available for a reason. And even if they were we have no assets to trade for them. A tandem of Lillard, Butler, CJ would be amazing where CJ can play about 10 minutes off the bench at PG and around 20 at SG while Butler is on the bench or when we could slide him to SF for a few minutes.

That's a total pipe dream that's never going to happen though, and realistically there isn't a SG on the market that's obtainable and better than CJ. He will get a $20-$25 mil per year pay day as an extension too so we need to start living in a world where this is an absolute.

If we strike out on guys like Parsons, Horford, Whiteside, etc, and we really make no signings of significance other than resigning some of our own guys we're going to basically be capped out for the foreseeable future. That's likely the worst spot we could be in.

[zzaj]

Remember when people use to say you had to have a dominating Pf or Center to win a championship? From Wilt to Kareem to Olajuwon to Walton to Shaq, David Robinson, Duncan, Gasol, Garnett and Nowitzki. Now you can't even play traditional bigs in the finals Times change fella.

We did just fine with our gaurds as weapons having a top 8 offense. First it was you can' be in the playoffs with them, now its you can't win it out with them. I'll see them fail before I deal in absolutes with them.

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

Outside of Cousins there hasn't really been any scoring, dominant Cs for quite a while...so of course the league is moving away from that.

My point was it is not a sure thing, for people said if you don't have ________ you won't win it all and in the case of a dominating big they said that and were wrong.

Right-o. And my point is that an NBA team (sorry Wiz, West Linn doesn't count) has never won a Championship (at least that I can remember--and that's going back farther than I'd like to divulge) with option 1 and option 2 both being 6'3".

My initial point had nothing to do with dominant Cs or anything you are bringing up, as far as I can tell. But at least there is plenty of precedent for dominant Cs winning championships.

I still stand by my belief that the Lillard/CJ ceiling is lower than championship level.

[WarFan]

Just dropping my two cents in here as I've really enjoyed watching the Blazers this year and in the current series.

Barnes is not the answer for you guys. I think Harkless could still develop into a similar player and would be a much better value re-signed for around 3/24 compared to 4/80 or whatever it takes to max Barnes.

Ezeli would be a great fit but his injury issues are definitely concerning. GS knows best how serious his issues are so I'd be pretty worried if they let him walk in RFA because I'd probably match just about anything if I thought his injuries were likely past him or flukey.

Besides adding a high quality big, I think Evan Turner would be the best fit of realistic FA options as his ball-handling and playmaking ability would really help the lineup if he replaced one of Crabbe or Henderson in the rotation. It would be very similar to when the Warriors added Iguoadala, in that he'd allow Dame/CJ to work off the ball some and could take harder defensive assignments.

Horford would be nice, but I'd rather save the cap space a year and make a run at Ibaka or Milsap in 2017. That would also give a little time to see if another star big hits the trade market like Cousins, Jordan, Love or Favors. Or with the right development next year, trading for Robin Lopez or someone similar might be all it takes.

Good luck.

[Downtown]

I would be comfortable with adding Evan Turner, letting Henderson go, same with Kaman(of course), try to tie up Harkless with a reasonable offer(since he's so young and has room to grow as well as having some versatility), and make one year offers to Leonard and Crabbe. Plus have Olshey try to bring in a couple more of his dumpster diving projects.

The more I read this thread the more I'm starting to believe the big name free agent isn't on the horizon and we may as well hang onto whatever cap space they have and see what next season's trade deadline may reveal. I know the definition of a treadmill team but without trade assets and no obvious free agents you can't force things. The only other way possible I could see is to do sign and trades with Leonard and Crabbe but it takes two to tango and that possibility is remote.

[Wizenheimer]

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

Outside of Cousins there hasn't really been any scoring, dominant Cs for quite a while...so of course the league is moving away from that.

My point was it is not a sure thing, for people said if you don't have ________ you won't win it all and in the case of a dominating big they said that and were wrong.

Right-o. And my point is that an NBA team (sorry Wiz, West Linn doesn't count) has never won a Championship (at least that I can remember--and that's going back farther than I'd like to divulge) with option 1 and option 2 both being 6'3".

I agree with your main points but there is one example:

the 1988-90 Detroit Pistons with Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. Both of them were in the 6'2-6'3 range. Of course, that was a pretty unique team with a deep, talented front-line and about a half dozen guys on the team in the running for DPOY. Thomas and Dumars were both defenders of Chris Paul caliber, and Lillard/CJ will never be at that level defensively. And even with Thomas/Dumars being the first two options, there wasn't nearly as big a gap between them and their rotational teammates as there is with Lillard/CJ. They only combined for 36 points compared with the 46 for the Portland pair, and their combined usage was much lower. And of course, that was about 7 CBA's ago....different era

My initial point had nothing to do with dominant Cs or anything you are bringing up, as far as I can tell. But at least there is plenty of precedent for dominant Cs winning championships.

I still stand by my belief that the Lillard/CJ ceiling is lower than championship level.

the top talent on teams is what wins championships. Portland will have to be competitive at the level of the best 3 players vs best 3 players...

Warriors are a major mismatch

Curry vs Lillard
Green vs CJ
Klay vs Plumlee

Blazers don't win at any slot and the gaps are huge
----------------------------
Spurs?

Kahwi vs Lillard
Aldridge vs CJ
Parker vs Plumlee

again, major mismatch
-----------------------------
Cavs?

Lebron vs Lillard
Kyrie vs CJ
Love vs Plumlee

mismatch
------------------------------
OKC?

Durant vs Lillard
Westbrook vs CJ
Ibaka vs Plumlee

mismatch
------------------------------
Clippers? (healthy of course)

Paul vs Lillard
Griffin vs CJ
Jordan vs Plumlee
----------------------------------

Portland gets swamped in top end talent by all those teams, and sadly, Lillard doesn't come out on top in any of his head-to-head matchups. That's especially true if Portland has no other scoring/play-making threat other then CJ, which then allows opponents to focus heavy defense on Lillard and ratchet down his efficiency

so, if the Blazers are losing the #1 vs #1 matchup, they better win at #2; unfortunately, the gaps there are probably bigger then the gaps at #1

Portland simply doesn't win the matchups at any of the top-3 slots until they fall away from the contenders and are matched up against other pretenders

now, Malapropism argues that Portland will have to depend on organic growth of the current players on the roster, and that CJ has the most room to grow...that his ceiling could be a lot higher then the player he is today. He's going to get better, but I don't see as high a ceiling as Malapropism does. And even if I'm off on this, is it really realistic to expect CJ to improve so much he'd be at a higher level then the current Russel Westbrook, or Aldridge, or Draymond Green, or Blake Griffin? In other words, will he be better then Lillard in a couple of years? Sure doesn't seem likely

[Epicurus]

Sure the league has become more perimeter oriented, but I don't think the Cavs/Golden State/San Antonio would think twice about adding any of those players you mentioned.

the Spurs gave a max deal to Aldridge this summer and cut 3' off the average distance of his FG's. His numbers are pretty interesting:

avg distance of FG's:

2010-11 - 9.3 (nate)
2011-12 - 10.6 (nate)
2012-13 - 11.7 (stotts)
2013-14 - 12.5 (stotts)
2014-15 - 12.8 (stotts)
2015-16 - 10.0 (popovich)

% of FG's at rim:

2010-11 - .320 (nate)
2011-12 - .281 (nate)
2012-13 - .215 (stotts)
2013-14 - .186 (stotts)
2014-15 - .192 (stotts)
2015-16 - .279 (popovich)

% of FG's from 16' < 3pt:

2010-11 - .238 (nate)
2011-12 - .320 (nate)
2012-13 - .384 (stotts)
2013-14 - .415 (stotts)
2014-15 - .365 (stotts)
2015-16 - .303 (popovich)

True Shooting %:

2010-11 - .549 (nate)
2011-12 - .560 (nate)
2012-13 - .530 (stotts)
2013-14 - .507 (stotts)
2014-15 - .528 (stotts)
2015-16 - .565 (popovich)

offensive rebound rate:

2010-11 - 10.1 (nate)
2011-12 - 8.6 (nate)
2012-13 - 7.2 (stotts)
2013-14 - 7.2 (stotts)
2014-15 - 7.7 (stotts)
2015-16 - 9.2 (popovich)

WinShares/48:

2010-11 - .166 (nate)
2011-12 - .169 (nate)
2012-13 - .124 (stotts)
2013-14 - .144 (stotts)
2014-15 - .165 (stotts)
2015-16 - .215 (popovich)

it's pretty obvious Popovich values efficiency and his big men doing some big man things. As far as efficiency, this has been Aldridge's best season and he has career marks in a lot of categories.

Yet when we understand suboptimization and look instead to team efficiency, we get:
P 14 111,5
S 14 110.5
S 16 110.3
P 16 108.8
S 15 108.5
S 13 108.3
P 15 108.2
P 13 105.8

Doesn't seem from the non-subotimizaton view which coach values offensive efficiency more, or even gets it.

[Soulyss]

My point was it is not a sure thing, for people said if you don't have ________ you won't win it all and in the case of a dominating big they said that and were wrong.

Right-o. And my point is that an NBA team (sorry Wiz, West Linn doesn't count) has never won a Championship (at least that I can remember--and that's going back farther than I'd like to divulge) with option 1 and option 2 both being 6'3".

I agree with your main points but there is one example:

the 1988-90 Detroit Pistons with Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. Both of them were in the 6'2-6'3 range. Of course, that was a pretty unique team with a deep, talented front-line and about a half dozen guys on the team in the running for DPOY. Thomas and Dumars were both defenders of Chris Paul caliber, and Lillard/CJ will never be at that level defensively. And even with Thomas/Dumars being the first two options, there wasn't nearly as big a gap between them and their rotational teammates as there is with Lillard/CJ. They only combined for 36 points compared with the 46 for the Portland pair, and their combined usage was much lower. And of course, that was about 7 CBA's ago....different era

My initial point had nothing to do with dominant Cs or anything you are bringing up, as far as I can tell. But at least there is plenty of precedent for dominant Cs winning championships.

I still stand by my belief that the Lillard/CJ ceiling is lower than championship level.

the top talent on teams is what wins championships. Portland will have to be competitive at the level of the best 3 players vs best 3 players...

Warriors are a major mismatch

Curry vs Lillard
Green vs CJ
Klay vs Plumlee

Blazers don't win at any slot and the gaps are huge
----------------------------
Spurs?

Kahwi vs Lillard
Aldridge vs CJ
Parker vs Plumlee

again, major mismatch
-----------------------------
Cavs?

Lebron vs Lillard
Kyrie vs CJ
Love vs Plumlee

mismatch
------------------------------
OKC?

Durant vs Lillard
Westbrook vs CJ
Ibaka vs Plumlee

mismatch
------------------------------
Clippers? (healthy of course)

Paul vs Lillard
Griffin vs CJ
Jordan vs Plumlee
----------------------------------

Portland gets swamped in top end talent by all those teams, and sadly, Lillard doesn't come out on top in any of his head-to-head matchups. That's especially true if Portland has no other scoring/play-making threat other then CJ, which then allows opponents to focus heavy defense on Lillard and ratchet down his efficiency

so, if the Blazers are losing the #1 vs #1 matchup, they better win at #2; unfortunately, the gaps there are probably bigger then the gaps at #1

Portland simply doesn't win the matchups at any of the top-3 slots until they fall away from the contenders and are matched up against other pretenders

now, Malapropism argues that Portland will have to depend on organic growth of the current players on the roster, and that CJ has the most room to grow...that his ceiling could be a lot higher then the player he is today. He's going to get better, but I don't see as high a ceiling as Malapropism does. And even if I'm off on this, is it really realistic to expect CJ to improve so much he'd be at a higher level then the current Russel Westbrook, or Aldridge, or Draymond Green, or Blake Griffin? In other words, will he be better then Lillard in a couple of years? Sure doesn't seem likely

Beat me to the Thomas/dumars duo... That said, I think long term the blazers need a oversized 6'6+ SG that has elite defensive skills and can either shoot or slash enough to be a threat. If that happens I see CJ going to the Manu role, still playing and getting paid for starter minutes. Need defense? Keep the big SG in, need offense? Bring in CJ next to Dame...

[Wizenheimer]

Beat me to the Thomas/dumars duo... That said, I think long term the blazers need a oversized 6'6+ SG that has elite defensive skills and can either shoot or slash enough to be a threat. If that happens I see CJ going to the Manu role, still playing and getting paid for starter minutes. Need defense? Keep the big SG in, need offense? Bring in CJ next to Dame...

a lot of people have suggested CJ as a super sub. But in 1 year he's likely to get a giant pay-day. Probably way too much money to not be a starter. Andre Igiuoadala is kind of a super sub. He makes 12 million/year. CJ might get twice that

[wjun15]

KEVIN DURANT

DAME-CJ-KD

best offensive 1-3 in history. just outscore people.

[Dan Z]

After exploring other options what about a trade for Kosta Koufos (if Sacramento is looking to clear cap space)?

[tundraknight]

A Big 3 of Lillard, Paul George, and Anthony Davis would be a Dynasty.

[Norm2953]

Likely the #1 priority this off season will be to work with Plumlee on his offensive game. It
will start (if he's willing) in summer camp working with the coaches on a go to move
followed by individual workouts this summer and fall to find spots on the court where he
can score. We've seen glimpses of a hook shot which might end up being his go to move
for he could really help if he can score 8-10 PPG.

As far as free agency goes, I'm not for signing Turner for the guy can't shoot and we're
not loaded with scoring threats like the GSW to carry a non-shooter playing significant
minutes. Portland will talk with Henderson's agent and if the price is right, will bring
him back and likely will let the market set the price for their RFA's. The goal this
off season will be to use their apparent $40 Million cap space to sign an upgrade to
their playing rotation. It might help if we can really make the GSW work hard to
close out Portland in the eyes of free agents.