Offseason

[Blazinaway]

Simmons would be an interesting player in Portland for he would be the point forward and being an
all nba first team defender, in conjunction with Roco, Nurk and hopefully Powell, Portland would
be solid defensively even with Dame.

The challenge would be if Nurk can stay healthy and become the Bosnian beast once again. Portland
would move Nurk back under the basket for Simmons is there to initiate the offense.

How bout playing him at "point C" a good bit of the time, he is 6'11" and 240, great P&R with Dame, great passing, good D. Get rid of Nurk and pair him with a PF that can shoot the 3 ball, Zach would be a goof fit but can one ever count on him being healthy?

[Epicurus]

Yes, and it showed how much the Nuggets wished to get rid of Nurcic.

[JasonStern]

I don't know that the Nuggets got hosed in that trade. They wanted Nurkic gone and were willing to throw in a first rounder to make it happen. It was a trade that worked pretty well for both teams, with Nurk when healthy giving the Blazers a better defensive anchor and giving the Nuggets a better fitting backup center.

I think “fair value” would’ve been a straight swap. Denver throwing in a first is what gave us the edge slightly

The Blazers also included a future 2nd and cash considerations while over half of Denver's roster was under 25. They didn't get fleeced nearly as bad as everyone here makes it seem.

Have to admit - Denver has done an solid job in the draft the last few seasons - Jokić, Murray, Nurkić, MPJ, Beasley, etc.

[PDXKnight]

Sounds like hammond is a front runner maybe the front runner as jody allen seemingly wants her.

[DusterBuster]

ESPN / Woj story on Hammon and Billups being the finalists...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31681643/sources-chauncey-billups-becky-hammon-advance-second-interviews-portland-trail-blazers

Article still says D'Antoni is still in the mix tho.

Seems like the sources are pretty clear the Jody Allen wants Hammon, that's good news as it seems like Jody is still pretty invested in the Blazers and doesn't seem aloof or ready to sell if she's throwing her weight/opinion in the mix this heavily.

[Norm2953]

It'd be interesting to see who Dame prefers amongst the finalists

[DusterBuster]

It'd be interesting to see who Dame prefers amongst the finalists

He's already publicly said he likes Billups. Who knows his feelings on Hammon, though I'm sure Dame wouldn't have a problem with them hiring her.

[PDXKnight]

ESPN / Woj story on Hammon and Billups being the finalists...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31681643/sources-chauncey-billups-becky-hammon-advance-second-interviews-portland-trail-blazers

Article still says D'Antoni is still in the mix tho.

Seems like the sources are pretty clear the Jody Allen wants Hammon, that's good news as it seems like Jody is still pretty invested in the Blazers and doesn't seem aloof or ready to sell if she's throwing her weight/opinion in the mix this heavily.

Hammon is so meh to me as a candidate. Billups excites me more

[DusterBuster]

ESPN / Woj story on Hammon and Billups being the finalists...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31681643/sources-chauncey-billups-becky-hammon-advance-second-interviews-portland-trail-blazers

Article still says D'Antoni is still in the mix tho.

Seems like the sources are pretty clear the Jody Allen wants Hammon, that's good news as it seems like Jody is still pretty invested in the Blazers and doesn't seem aloof or ready to sell if she's throwing her weight/opinion in the mix this heavily.

Hammon is so meh to me as a candidate. Billups excites me more

Why, they both have equal HC experience. Actually, Becky arguably has more, she’s been HC for a game that Pop got thrown from. Don’t believe Billups has had that. I also like Becky’s pedigree of coming up under Pop a lot, I think her coaching fundamentals will be sound. Billups has only been an assistant for a couple years under mostly Tyrone Lue I think. Becky has been learning from Pop since 2014… so in terms of experience, Becky has WAY more and under a better teacher than Billups.

Honestly, the more I think about it the more I like the idea of Hammon over Billups in terms of who has the better chance to be a successful HC. The coaching tree that Popovich has under him is pretty impressive. Some obviously have had more success than others, but by in large, it's been an impressive group:

Brett Brown
Mike Budenholzer
Alvin Gentry
Quin Snyder
Mike Brown
Monty Williams

Some better than others, sure, but there's rarely a flat-out bad coach that comes out of the Spurs coaching system.

[DusterBuster]

That said, the PR around Hammon being the first woman coach to be a finalist is a bit disconcerting for her actually getting the gig imo. Feels like they're pushing that out there as a way to get a good PR story, but less of a letdown since you had that story running for a few days if they don't hire her. Hopefully, I'm just being a cynical marketing-minded here and that's not the case/

[BlazersBroncos]

Hammon is a great candidate, but by hiring her you have to assume the media blitz will, for at least a very large portion of this season, basically turn the team into the Portland Hammons. It could be a pretty difficult thing to deal with, not just for her but for the team losing its identity to a media blitz obsessing about a coaches sex.

I get its a big deal, and talk about it a bit. But end of the day you know that ESPN is going to go **** over the opportunity to talk about the implications of a female head coach, minimizing her actual talent to talk endlessly about the social implications or whatever and in the end becoming the thing they think they are against. Its really unfair to her.

But I trust the character of this team to overcome any media overplaying in terms of Becky. If she seems to be the best for the job, go get her.

[DusterBuster]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Keep in mind that Dwight is pretty much the Press Secretary for Olshey, so this is likely being fed directly from Olshey to Jaynes to post on Twitter. Probably some truth to it somewhat, but also likely just to not discourage some other candidates who they still may want to interview.

[DusterBuster]

Hammon is a great candidate, but by hiring her you have to assume the media blitz will, for at least a very large portion of this season, basically turn the team into the Portland Hammons. It could be a pretty difficult thing to deal with, not just for her but for the team losing its identity to a media blitz obsessing about a coaches sex.

I get its a big deal, and talk about it a bit. But end of the day you know that ESPN is going to go **** over the opportunity to talk about the implications of a female head coach, minimizing her actual talent to talk endlessly about the social implications or whatever and in the end becoming the thing they think they are against. Its really unfair to her.

But I trust the character of this team to overcome any media overplaying in terms of Becky. If she seems to be the best for the job, go get her.

Yeah, no question there would be a big media blitz and tons of focus on the Blazers for at least the early part of the season. But yeah, not super concerned about her ability to handle the pressure and tune it out, not from a Pop protege and the Blazers culture under Dame (assuming no major shakeup there).

[JasonStern]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Keep in mind that Dwight is pretty much the Press Secretary for Olshey, so this is likely being fed directly from Olshey to Jaynes to post on Twitter. Probably some truth to it somewhat, but also likely just to not discourage some other candidates who they still may want to interview.

I believe it. The front office under Olshey has been pretty tight-lipped. Solid chance what we're hearing is a combination of sports writer speculation and hype from agents. It's not like being a "finalist" for the job hurts Hammon, Billups, D'Antoni, etc.'s reputations.

[Mike lorenzo]

Mavs fan in peace, I love Dame so I like to read them and see how they are doing ..
I think Simons will cost them Covington / CJ .. Frankly it seems like a perfect fit, on a Draymond role .. How about this..

KP / Simons to Blazers

KP
Collins
Simons
Powell
Lillard ... seems quite unstoppable

CJ / Covington at 76ERS

Nurkic / Hill / DJJ to MAVS

[Waynearchetype]

Mavs fan in peace, I love Dame so I like to read them and see how they are doing ..
I think Simons will cost them Covington / CJ .. Frankly it seems like a perfect fit, on a Draymond role .. How about this..

KP / Simons to Blazers

KP
Collins
Simons
Powell
Lillard ... seems quite unstoppable

CJ / Covington at 76ERS

Nurkic / Hill / DJJ to MAVS

Not bad value wise

[JRoy]

Mavs fan in peace, I love Dame so I like to read them and see how they are doing ..
I think Simons will cost them Covington / CJ .. Frankly it seems like a perfect fit, on a Draymond role .. How about this..

KP / Simons to Blazers

KP
Collins
Simons
Powell
Lillard ... seems quite unstoppable

CJ / Covington at 76ERS

Nurkic / Hill / DJJ to MAVS

Counting on both Collins and KP to be healthy seems pretty optimistic.

[BlazersBroncos]

KP
Collins
Simons
Powell
Lillard

Love it on paper, and if KP and Ben had a killers mentality that team wins a chip. But they dont. Adding both those personalities could be a potential train wreck IMO.

[Norm2953]

KP would be joining the long list of injured big men. It gets old seeing 7 foot guys sitting on the sidelines
in street clothes

[Blazinaway]

Read on Twitter

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