Game 19: Portland vs OKC 7:00pm SNW

[DusterBuster]

Is Melo the Blazers best FA signing in 20 years? I REALLY hope he stays next year. Dame, CJ, Hood, Melo and Nurk plus whatever we get for Baze and Hassan at the deadline could be special (Love, Iggy???).

Wait till the end of the season. Too easy to call him the best signing in 20 years

Is it though? Even ignoring the marquee name level of Melo, what FA signings have the Blazers ever had that was really impactful? In the past 20 years so, the only really impactful FA signings I can remember the Blazers signing...

Enas Kanter
Andre Miller
Mo Williams
..... Chris Kaman /shrug

It's still early, sure, but Melo doesn't exactly a high bar to step over to grab that title with how god awful the team has been at being able to attract and sign FA's.

[Case2012]

Is Melo the Blazers best FA signing in 20 years? I REALLY hope he stays next year. Dame, CJ, Hood, Melo and Nurk plus whatever we get for Baze and Hassan at the deadline could be special (Love, Iggy???).

Wait till the end of the season. Too easy to call him the best signing in 20 years

Fair. But on name value alone, Melo has to be the biggest signing in 20 years right? FA's don't come here. I hope Melo's renaissance inspires more stars to consider portland.

[DusterBuster]

Read on Twitter

[DusterBuster]

Is Melo the Blazers best FA signing in 20 years? I REALLY hope he stays next year. Dame, CJ, Hood, Melo and Nurk plus whatever we get for Baze and Hassan at the deadline could be special (Love, Iggy???).

Wait till the end of the season. Too easy to call him the best signing in 20 years

Fair. But on name value alone, Melo has to be the biggest signing in 20 years right? FA's don't come here. I hope Melo's renaissance inspires more stars to consider portland.

I think we started seeing a glimpse of that last season when Kanter signed. Granted, he's no star, but he is a name player and he had multiple teams trying to sign him before he picked Portland.

However, on the glass-half-empty side of things, this has also been a looonnnnggggg game the Blazers have played with Melo. Olshey has tried to get Melo multiple times throughout the years - all the way back from his last season in NY - and has continually stayed in contact with Melo's agent. Dame and CJ were also trying to help recruit him from way back then and have been fairly active in trying to convince him to join up ever since when they all work out together over the summers.

[Shem]

Watch on YouTube

[d-train]

I’ll be honest yes I’m happy with melo’s production but I also don’t expect him to shoot like this indefinitely & think we are all due a reality check here

He's gonna have bad games. All players do. He had a stinker in Cleveland for sure. I think just keeping expectations fairly low has really made me pretty happy with what we're seeing. I fully expect him to have some awful shooting nights, but he'll also have these types of games too.

It doesn't really matter if he misses his shots. If he plays the way he has since he got here, in the flow of the offense and making plays, he can miss every shot and he still is having a positive effect. Other than Lillard and CJ our players need a playmaker to create their opportunities. We just needed someone who can make plays and get the whole team involved.

[d-train]

Remember when the General Board said Melo was washed and would be as bad or worse than Herzonja and Tolliver....

Riiiigggghhhhhtttt.....

The signing of Melo was definitely bad news for Mario. Mario needs to keep his confidence up and he will get another chance this year.

I'm sorry, but Mario simply isn't an NBA quality player. He'd honestly be better served playing Euro ball.

I think he is an NBA player. I've been disappointed so far in some respects but I believe he is going to carve out a very long NBA career. I don't know if his career will be here in Portland, it might.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Victory GLB pic

Spoiler:

[DaVoiceMaster]

Up until the subs came in, I thought the boys might surpass The Perfect Quarter (49 points) unfortunately, Simon's came in and immediately started chucking shots. I was yelling at my TV for Stotts to take him out of the game, much like I did nearly every game last season with Aminu.

Overall, good game. 103 points from the starters is pretty amazing. Let's keep doing this!

[zzaj]

The difference with Melo vs. without is pretty extraordinary. More than just the numbers, it seems like the whole team has confidence in him, which seems to have lifted the cloud surrounding games. Nice to see the assist numbers up, and we even saw some successful fast breaking tonight. Nice rebounding in the past couple as well...

Melo is going to have bad, inefficient nights...but even at his worst he provides a threat and a gravity that neither Tolliver or Mario come close to supplying.

The Blazers have been running more short PnR the past couple of games, to great success. That is a powerful play when it includes Melo and it will really open up the court if the Blazers mix that in consistently.

Not the start any of us wanted, but the Blazers have a chance to make a mini run here if they continue to play this well.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Just imagine what they could do if they had a few practices together.

[Norm2953]

Melo is a guy who was a great player and still knows how to play the game when he physically
can't produce on a night to night basis. One can say he's doing what the team hoped Pau would
do as a veteran guy to help young players like Little and Simons.

One can't get carried away with these games played before holidays like Thanksgiving for its
hard for these bad teams to motivate themselves on the road.

[DusterBuster]

The signing of Melo was definitely bad news for Mario. Mario needs to keep his confidence up and he will get another chance this year.

I'm sorry, but Mario simply isn't an NBA quality player. He'd honestly be better served playing Euro ball.

I think he is an NBA player. I've been disappointed so far in some respects but I believe he is going to carve out a very long NBA career. I don't know if his career will be here in Portland, it might.

I'd take that bet. Easy money. If he gets a guaranteed contract after his rookie deal, it'll be a miracle.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

every once in a while, blazers have a game like this, team play, ball movement, assists and then we revert back to iso crap

history has shown that games like this are exception, so i fully expect us to go back to the same iso crap weve been watching for years, but imagine, just imagine if the blazers keep this style of play and imagine nurk back in the team with his passing

[Waynearchetype]

every once in a while, blazers have a game like this, team play, ball movement, assists and then we revert back to iso crap

history has shown that games like this are exception, so i fully expect us to go back to the same iso crap weve been watching for years, but imagine, just imagine if the blazers keep this style of play and imagine nurk back in the team with his passing

True, but i think you are underestimating how bad CJ was for this first set of games. I think a few games ago he was hovering around a 12 per. Even if we don't play as good of team basketball, I think we can at least get a bump from our 2nd best player normalizing his stats.

[Blazinaway]

amazing what a difference a healthy Dame makes, and Whiteside looks like he is moving better as wel, add a threat like Carmelo and all of a sudden we look and are playing more like a team, If Melo can stay somewhere near this level what makes a big difference. Gotta give props to Rodney too as his play has been very, very good. And Skal's effort last night impressed me

[Dzon Dilindzer]

every once in a while, blazers have a game like this, team play, ball movement, assists and then we revert back to iso crap

history has shown that games like this are exception, so i fully expect us to go back to the same iso crap weve been watching for years, but imagine, just imagine if the blazers keep this style of play and imagine nurk back in the team with his passing

True, but i think you are underestimating how bad CJ was for this first set of games. I think a few games ago he was hovering around a 12 per. Even if we don't play as good of team basketball, I think we can at least get a bump from our 2nd best player normalizing his stats.

i hope to see lineup lillard - cj mccollum - hood - collins - nurkic, all of them except nurk can hit the three and with the proper ball movement, this team would get a lot of good looks and nurk would have a lot of space to operate on the block, but also its important to remember that nurk is a willing passer from the low post too, so he would pass the ball to the 3pt line

then you have anthony and simons as main scoring options off the bench, theres whiteside too who can get buckets... blazers could really be dangerous team come playoffs, but only if were healthy and if we play proper basketball, its not that hard really, just play for the team and not for your own numbers

stop iso crap, go with the best shot, best look possible... we have shooters on the perimeter and we have nurk and whiteside down low, if you move the ball like you should, you would get a lot of good looks, on the perimeter or at the low post

[Wizenheimer]

I was wearing out my remote, switching back and forth between the Duck game and the Blazer game. I swear, every time I was watching the Blazers in the first half they didn't miss a shot and the score was climbing and climbing. By the way, the Ducks trailed by 19 points with 16 minutes left in the game, and they won by 2. That kind of 2nd half comeback happens sometimes in NBA games. It's a lot more rare for college games. Dana Altman might be the best basketball coach in Oregon

* what were the Kings thinking when they traded Skal for Swanigan? of course, it is the Kings

* I can't tell if Moses Brown is just a doofus, or if he has potential. I guess he could be a doofus with potential

Is Melo the Blazers best FA signing in 20 years? I REALLY hope he stays next year. Dame, CJ, Hood, Melo and Nurk plus whatever we get for Baze and Hassan at the deadline could be special (Love, Iggy???).

Wait till the end of the season. Too easy to call him the best signing in 20 years

Is it though? Even ignoring the marquee name level of Melo, what FA signings have the Blazers ever had that was really impactful? In the past 20 years so, the only really impactful FA signings I can remember the Blazers signing...

Enas Kanter
Andre Miller
Mo Williams
..... Chris Kaman /shrug

It's still early, sure, but Melo doesn't exactly a high bar to step over to grab that title with how god awful the team has been at being able to attract and sign FA's.

well if you go back 22 years, there was Brian Grant. 20 years ago they signed Greg Anthony. But that was at least 3 CBA's ago. The rules are more restrictive now

I think Ed Davis and Aminu were pretty good signings. Aminu was frustrating to watch at times but he was kind of Portland's glue guy for 4 straight playoff teams. And Davis brought a lot to the floor in limited minutes

Is Melo the Blazers best FA signing in 20 years? I REALLY hope he stays next year. Dame, CJ, Hood, Melo and Nurk plus whatever we get for Baze and Hassan at the deadline could be special (Love, Iggy???).

I don't see how Portland could do both: trade their expirings for a non-expiring deal(s), AND re-sign Melo. If they did trade for somebody like Love, they'd be right up next to the tax line. Unless Melo is willing to sign for another vet minimum, Portland would have to use the MLE or BAE to give him more money, and doing that would hard-cap them wiping out any flexibility they have.

I suppose they could go big and trade for a huge contract like Love or Griffin. Then re-sign Hood for about 10 million. They'd then already be over the tax-line. Then use the taxpayer MLE on Melo (that doesn't hard-cap), then fill out the roster with more vet minimum deals. But that would probably leave them paying a ton of tax...as in the 30-50M range. And the next year they'd be in the repeater tax

Bazemore and a 1st might get Gallinari, and Gallo has an expiring deal too....Presti seems to want as many future 1sts as possible. And of course, we could all start saying Gallo & Melo

[GEE]

Remember when the General Board said Melo was washed and would be as bad or worse than Herzonja and Tolliver....

Riiiigggghhhhhtttt.....

The signing of Melo was definitely bad news for Mario. Mario needs to keep his confidence up and he will get another chance this year.

I'm sorry, but Mario simply isn't an NBA quality player. He'd honestly be better served playing Euro ball.

Mario is currently a valuable 3rd stringer. I don't think he's a bad player, in fact I think his BB IQ might be quite high, and he has skills. I think his problem, was having to play against starting NBA PFs mostly. If Mario slims down and cuts a little weight off this summer, he could get meaningful P/T as our 3rd string SF/PF at best. He is cheap, and there is a role for him.

As to AT, he's pretty bad, but I don't think anyone thought he'd ever be in a single starting lineup this year. Tolliver is what he is, also cheap, veteran 3rd string Forward. You need these guys, but you just don't want to NEED these guys. Gasol's role, I always felt similar about too. 3rd C / Player coach type role, More coach than player.

And so far, Melo has unexpectedly, been really good for this team in lots of ways. It also makes Olshey look pretty smart again, with the ULTIMATE reclamation acquisition.

[d-train]

I'm sorry, but Mario simply isn't an NBA quality player. He'd honestly be better served playing Euro ball.

I think he is an NBA player. I've been disappointed so far in some respects but I believe he is going to carve out a very long NBA career. I don't know if his career will be here in Portland, it might.

I'd take that bet. Easy money. If he gets a guaranteed contract after his rookie deal, it'll be a miracle.

I believe he's had nothing but guaranteed contracts. His best contract so far wasn't his rookie deal. It was his first deal after his rookie contract. His team didn't pickup the 4th year option on his rookie deal and didn't make a QO, which isn't good. And, his options for his 2nd contract after his rookie deal were not as good as his 1st contract, which isn't good. The Melo signing is certainly a setback for him. I'm sure he signed with Blazers because he thought he had a guaranteed role, and now that role is guaranteed to be Melo's role and not his. He could be thinking the current situation isn't what he signed up for and it's another wasted year. I believe if he is patient and stays ready, he can still prove he has value. IMO, there is no doubt he's better than Layman and Layman got a good contract. The problem for Mario is he isn't a shooter. Shooting is the best job security skill for mid-level NBA players.

As far as your bet, I'll take that bet. He'll get another guaranteed deal in the NBA (his 4th).