Portland's Off-Season Has Officially Arrived

[BlazersBroncos]

Losing Nurk for nothing would be a tremendous blow to this team. It would set us back to the 7-8th seed purgatory. There simply isnt enough on-roster potential to compensate for losing Nurk. Thankfully the Center market is totally saturated this offseason.

It wont happen, but if we do decide to rebuild for a post-GSW era then I would target a move of Lillard for Luka. I am sold on that kid as the next big thing. And with his age, and Collins/Nurk on the roster, we could really have a team for the future. It would be so painful to move Damian, but if we can get a talent like Luka, I would pull the trigger with the knowledge that no Damian led team is getting past GSW in the next 3-4 seasons. When they decline, Lillard will be around 32 years old.

[Dame Lizard]

I've actually become less sold on the idea that Portland re-signs Nurkic this summer. They are 100% sold on Collins being a cornerstone piece, guys like Casey Holdahl have made mention multiple times that he thinks that Collins is a Center longterm. Olshey just said at the combine that they want to bring Collins closer to the basket next year. He said that playing him with Davis last year made that impossible at the time, but they want to change that.

I would no longer be surprised if they let Nurkic walk, stayed right around the tax line, and sold everybody on Zach Collins being the future at Center.

It'll be interesting to see how he develops with more playing weight on him after this offseason. This latest season he's really looked like a PF to me. I'm not convinced he's a long-term C but happy to be proven wrong. His perimeter game is even more valuable at C.

I absolutely think Olshey will resign Nurkic though. If he doesn't, he'll get even more exposed by the Turner and Leonard deals (moreso the Turner deal which was absolutely beyond ridiculous- at least Meyers had some potential I guess ).

[Downtown]

When I watch Golden State using a smaller but long limbed mobile player like Kevon Looney at center and Boston with Al Horford and have success against the traditional big men centres I have hope that Nurkic will be re-signed and continue the same kind of off season training he did last summer to stay lean and mobile.

I just think the league is realizing that there’s lots of different ways to successfully man the middle.

With that being said I’d take Karl Anthony Townes any day of the week for any player on the Blazers roster.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

Nurk said hell spend summer working on his body again

[Downtown]

Nurk said hell spend summer working on his body again

Well that's good. Last season when he was traded to Portland he used his big body to move players around on both ends of the floor but you could tell that his conditioning wasn't the best. This season it took him a good third of the season to kind of grow into his slimmer physique and figure out a different way to play. But once he did he looked fresher. So I'm hoping he gets even more conditioned for next season if he's back with the Blazers. Speed and explosive quickness is what he needs to work on along with cardio. He's strong enough but Anthony Davis exposed his slowness( like he does against everybody). Just like KAT.

[JasonStern]

Losing Nurk for nothing would be a tremendous blow to this team. It would set us back to the 7-8th seed purgatory.

you really think this team as-is is better than a 7th-8th seed, and not that the Blazers got lucky this season winning the division/reaching the #3 seed due to injuries suffered by other teams?

[Ripcity4life]

I am mixed on Nurk not because i think he is bad or anything but i think he tends to get banged up too much. I see him as a guy who will play 65 to 70 games per season cause of getting banged up. IF i were the GM i am not sure i would give him much more then a 3 yr deal worth about 12m per season.

[DusterBuster]

Losing Nurk for nothing would be a tremendous blow to this team. It would set us back to the 7-8th seed purgatory.

you really think this team as-is is better than a 7th-8th seed, and not that the Blazers got lucky this season winning the division/reaching the #3 seed due to injuries suffered by other teams?

1-2 games separated 3 from 7 basically, so if things hold true for the West next year as well, with Nurk, this team can just as easily be a 3rd seed for a second year in a row as much as they can be a 7 or 8th seed. Without Nurk, I'm not sure they can even be a 7-8th seed, probably closer to 10th seed with how much of a meat grinder the west is.

That said, I also expect a lot to change this summer. I think the Lakers land .... someone. Maybe not LeBron, but probably George and my guess is Cousins lands in LA with him. That's going to improve them quite a bit while also hurting the Thunder a lot and the Pelicans a tiny. I'm just as interested to see what the Thunder do this summer as I am the Blazers. I suspect they roll out a much more modest roster next season, but may be more consistent because of it. Pelicans won't see much of a dropoff losing Cousins imo, but that's assuming Davis can do what he did at the end of the season all year long without injury.

Memphis, Dallas, Suns and Kings should all still end up making the bottom 4 of the West aside from some shocking FA signings and unexpected trades.

[Wizenheimer]

Losing Nurk for nothing would be a tremendous blow to this team. It would set us back to the 7-8th seed purgatory.

you really think this team as-is is better than a 7th-8th seed, and not that the Blazers got lucky this season winning the division/reaching the #3 seed due to injuries suffered by other teams?

1-2 games separated 3 from 7 basically, so if things hold true for the West next year as well, with Nurk, this team can just as easily be a 3rd seed for a second year in a row as much as they can be a 7 or 8th seed. Without Nurk, I'm not sure they can even be a 7-8th seed, probably closer to 10th seed with how much of a meat grinder the west is.

That said, I also expect a lot to change this summer. I think the Lakers land .... someone. Maybe not LeBron, but probably George and my guess is Cousins lands in LA with him. That's going to improve them quite a bit while also hurting the Thunder a lot and the Pelicans a tiny. I'm just as interested to see what the Thunder do this summer as I am the Blazers. I suspect they roll out a much more modest roster next season, but may be more consistent because of it. Pelicans won't see much of a dropoff losing Cousins imo, but that's assuming Davis can do what he did at the end of the season all year long without injury.

Memphis, Dallas, Suns and Kings should all still end up making the bottom 4 of the West aside from some shocking FA signings and unexpected trades.

I think the Blazers are in a tough spot this summer, but OKC looks like they will be in an even worse spot

Portland will be about 10M under the tax line with 9 players (counting Layman). If PG walks, and that seems very probable, OKC will only be about 4M under the tax line with 9 players. The decision to trade for Melo keeps looking worse and worse

not only that, OKC's franchise player has a game that sure appears to throttle the talent and production of teammates, while Portland's franchise player's game complements his teammates....and he provides better leadership. Then, factor in that OKC's franchise player will be making 42.5M a year while Portland's will be making 29.8M....yikes?

for Portland, the Nurkic-Davis negotiations will be interesting. I don't expect much drama from the Davis situation although there is a chance, not sure how high, he could sign elsewhere....I think his game has good value around the league. Nurkic is where some drama could develop, and he sure seems to have a thin skin. I can still see scenarios where another team might make a "big" offer to him, although in all cases, those teams might start out by trying to fry bigger fish. Which represents a risk for Portland if the Nurkic talks drag out. Some team may rotate to him as a 2nd or 3rd option in free agency. I can imagine that the Nurkic talks could start out with the sides being 10M/year apart and pretty stuck in their positions.

as for Napier/Connaughton...does it really matter? If either or both sign for really cheap, I guess that's fine, although I think Portland should be rotating in deeper rotation players every year on the chance they might find a gem in the rough. But seeing who the Blazers were 'targeting' at the combine (a bunch of taller combo guards and combo wings) makes me think they are willing to move on from Bass and Pat. I mean, is a Napier/Connaughton combo going to be significantly better then a Baldwin/24th-pick combo?

[ETGoHome]

Spoiler:

you really think this team as-is is better than a 7th-8th seed, and not that the Blazers got lucky this season winning the division/reaching the #3 seed due to injuries suffered by other teams?

1-2 games separated 3 from 7 basically, so if things hold true for the West next year as well, with Nurk, this team can just as easily be a 3rd seed for a second year in a row as much as they can be a 7 or 8th seed. Without Nurk, I'm not sure they can even be a 7-8th seed, probably closer to 10th seed with how much of a meat grinder the west is.

That said, I also expect a lot to change this summer. I think the Lakers land .... someone. Maybe not LeBron, but probably George and my guess is Cousins lands in LA with him. That's going to improve them quite a bit while also hurting the Thunder a lot and the Pelicans a tiny. I'm just as interested to see what the Thunder do this summer as I am the Blazers. I suspect they roll out a much more modest roster next season, but may be more consistent because of it. Pelicans won't see much of a dropoff losing Cousins imo, but that's assuming Davis can do what he did at the end of the season all year long without injury.

Memphis, Dallas, Suns and Kings should all still end up making the bottom 4 of the West aside from some shocking FA signings and unexpected trades.

I think the Blazers are in a tough spot this summer, but OKC looks like they will be in an even worse spot

Portland will be about 10M under the tax line with 9 players (counting Layman). If PG walks, and that seems very probable, OKC will only be about 4M under the tax line with 9 players. The decision to trade for Melo keeps looking worse and worse

not only that, OKC's franchise player has a game that sure appears to throttle the talent and production of teammates, while Portland's franchise player's game complements his teammates....and he provides better leadership. Then, factor in that OKC's franchise player will be making 42.5M a year while Portland's will be making 29.8M....yikes?

for Portland, the Nurkic-Davis negotiations will be interesting. I don't expect much drama from the Davis situation although there is a chance, not sure how high, he could sign elsewhere....I think his game has good value around the league. Nurkic is where some drama could develop, and he sure seems to have a thin skin. I can still see scenarios where another team might make a "big" offer to him, although in all cases, those teams might start out by trying to fry bigger fish. Which represents a risk for Portland if the Nurkic talks drag out. Some team may rotate to him as a 2nd or 3rd option in free agency. I can imagine that the Nurkic talks could start out with the sides being 10M/year apart and pretty stuck in their positions.

as for Napier/Connaughton...does it really matter? If either or both sign for really cheap, I guess that's fine, although I think Portland should be rotating in deeper rotation players every year on the chance they might find a gem in the rough. But seeing who the Blazers were 'targeting' at the combine (a bunch of taller combo guards and combo wings) makes me think they are willing to move on from Bass and Pat. I mean, is a Napier/Connaughton combo going to be significantly better then a Baldwin/24th-pick combo?

With the limited amount of cap flexibility, there's going to be some good players available at the minimum or TPMLE. If you can bring back Shabazz and Connaughton on team friendly deals then I'd be okay with it, but I think I'd much rather see them try to find the next Tyreke Evans type of deal out there. There's a couple guys every year that get signed to below market deals and end up being great values.

Portland's best bet is probably trying to get someone who gets squeezed out of the MLE market and has to take the TPMLE. Belinelli, Hezonja, Ilyasova, Monroe, Jerami Grant, Mbah Moute might be some names to watch. I don't think all those guys end up signing for cheap, but a couple may slip through the cracks and hopefully the Blazers jump on a opportunity like that.

I don't think there's much chance the Allen Crabbe TPE gets used unless they are able to dump salary elsewhere, but it'll still be interesting to watch. There's also other ways it could be used beyond just acquiring a veteran role player so we'll see if Olshey gets creative.

[JasonStern]

as for Napier/Connaughton...does it really matter?

yes? both played meaningful playoff minutes. not surprisingly, the Blazers were swept.

But seeing who the Blazers were 'targeting' at the combine (a bunch of taller combo guards and combo wings) makes me think they are willing to move on from Bass and Pat.

and lose an asset for nothing?

[Wizenheimer]

But seeing who the Blazers were 'targeting' at the combine (a bunch of taller combo guards and combo wings) makes me think they are willing to move on from Bass and Pat.

and lose an asset for nothing?

and don't forget the value of "continuity"

[Norm2953]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

[Fitz303]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

That would really suck. I hope that's not the case. He's obviously become a fan favorite, but he really is a valuable player on this team. Honestly, I'd rather lose Nurk than Davis

[Downtown]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

That would really suck. I hope that's not the case. He's obviously become a fan favorite, but he really is a valuable player on this team. Honestly, I'd rather lose Nurk than Davis

While I would love to see Ed back I would understand that it could be too expensive to re-sign both him and Nurkic.

But I also posted the scenario a while back where we didn’t get either one to return and where that would leave the team.

Only time will tell how it goes.

[PDXKnight]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

Can anyone confirm the validity of this?

[Norm2953]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

Can anyone confirm the validity of this?

Got it straight from his letter carrier.

[PDXKnight]

A heads up about Ed Davis...

I work for the USPS and understand Ed Davis has sold his house in Portland and it seems very likely from
NO's comments about wanting to move Zach closer to the basket that he knows he's leaving in free
agency.

Can anyone confirm the validity of this?

Got it straight from his letter carrier.

Hmm well I do believe it. As much as I'd hate to lose him I do think Nurk is the more logical option

[Norm2953]

There is little doubt the development of Zach Collins is going to be Portland's priority
going into next season. He's the mobile big who can go out on the perimeter to defend today's
bigs and Portland feels he's got a reliable mid range shot who can make a a 3 pointer if left
open.

I do think Portland will opt to sign Nurkic but perhaps for 2-3 seasons for Zach's development
is going to take some time. Portland has got to get better up front but I do wonder if their
admission that the GSW and the Rockets are going to be tough for the forseeable future is
going to change how aggressive they will be to improve the team for next season. Personally,
I'd love to add another talented young piece to the roster with an eye towards 2021 as opposed
to 2019.

[Downtown]

I wouldn’t put a lot of thought into this. It could be that a lot of players do this because they just don’t know if they’ll be back and it’s simply a prudent thing to do.