Portland

Lillard is definitely the alpha dog now, if he wasn’t before.

Lillard / McCollum

Henderson

Aminu / 

Plumlee / Davis

Leonard /Vonleh

Good young team, just need to update the wings.

Lillard is definitely the alpha dog now, if he wasn’t before.

Lillard / McCollum

Henderson

Aminu / 

Plumlee / Davis

Leonard /Vonleh

Good young team, just need to update the wings.

 Lillard is fool’s gold. Low % chucker who doesn’t make his teammates better. They should trade him to Philly for Noel, and let McCollum be their no-defense chucker but on a rookie contract.

 Lillard is fool’s gold. Low % chucker who doesn’t make his teammates better. They should trade him to Philly for Noel, and let McCollum be their no-defense chucker but on a rookie contract.

Portland has always been one of the better organization in the league in the last few decades. I expect them to miss the playoffs this season (but still be competitive), but they will rebound in no time with Aldridge’s departure. They have always been a team that rebuilds/reloads quickly. Everyone thought they would be in trouble when Brandon Roy suffered his injury but they have recovered well.

Even during their “Jailblazers” days, they blew that team up and quickly re uilt their team without having to be awful for too long.

Portland has always been one of the better organization in the league in the last few decades. I expect them to miss the playoffs this season (but still be competitive), but they will rebound in no time with Aldridge’s departure. They have always been a team that rebuilds/reloads quickly. Everyone thought they would be in trouble when Brandon Roy suffered his injury but they have recovered well.

Even during their “Jailblazers” days, they blew that team up and quickly re uilt their team without having to be awful for too long.

 I think despite what management says, they had a feeling that Aldridge was going to leave.  They moved Batum before Aldridge left them.  I really like the moves they made this offseason to bring in young players to start the rebuilding with.  They probably won’t make the playoffs but they can see what these young players can do with more minutes.  At the same time they’ll get a chance to get a lottery pick to add more talent.  

 I think despite what management says, they had a feeling that Aldridge was going to leave.  They moved Batum before Aldridge left them.  I really like the moves they made this offseason to bring in young players to start the rebuilding with.  They probably won’t make the playoffs but they can see what these young players can do with more minutes.  At the same time they’ll get a chance to get a lottery pick to add more talent.  

 If Lilard is a "fools gold", why would Philly want him for Noel? Hypotehtically of course because that’s a load of crap. 

I’m no Lilard apologist, I think he’s a tad overrated myself, but he’s a solid No.2 option I think. Portland would be the second best team in the East and was a top 4 seed in the loaded West. They got ravaged by injuries and Memphis destroyed them. Doesn’t mean they were terrible, and their turnaround coincided with Lilard getting drafted. 

I am a big fan of what Portland has done as well. They have a bunch of guys now that are low risk high reward moves where if one of two of them emerge, you’ve got something cooking again. 

Vonleh/Plumlee/Harkless/McCollum could all be usefull players on a good team. None of them is going to cost a ton—maybe Plumlee given what run in the mill centers get paid these days but he also could be worth it. 

I’ve always been a sucker for Harkless and keep thinking he’ll break out eventually. Either way, he’ll be fresh out of excuses this time if he doesnt. This is his golden opportunity to emerge as a starting wing. 

 If Lilard is a "fools gold", why would Philly want him for Noel? Hypotehtically of course because that’s a load of crap. 

I’m no Lilard apologist, I think he’s a tad overrated myself, but he’s a solid No.2 option I think. Portland would be the second best team in the East and was a top 4 seed in the loaded West. They got ravaged by injuries and Memphis destroyed them. Doesn’t mean they were terrible, and their turnaround coincided with Lilard getting drafted. 

I am a big fan of what Portland has done as well. They have a bunch of guys now that are low risk high reward moves where if one of two of them emerge, you’ve got something cooking again. 

Vonleh/Plumlee/Harkless/McCollum could all be usefull players on a good team. None of them is going to cost a ton—maybe Plumlee given what run in the mill centers get paid these days but he also could be worth it. 

I’ve always been a sucker for Harkless and keep thinking he’ll break out eventually. Either way, he’ll be fresh out of excuses this time if he doesnt. This is his golden opportunity to emerge as a starting wing. 

 Portland has 7 players who could have break out seasons. CJ, Vonleh, Leonard, Aminu, Harkless, Plumlee, and Davis. They won’t all have career years, but they’ll all have an opportunity to. Stotts is a coach who likes to have a solid rotation, but he will reward good play ( with minutes). Throw in Henderson, Crabb and Tim Frazier and it will be interesting to see who stands out ( other than Lillard of course). Hopefully Portland can find a couple of gems and have a fast rebuild.

 Portland has 7 players who could have break out seasons. CJ, Vonleh, Leonard, Aminu, Harkless, Plumlee, and Davis. They won’t all have career years, but they’ll all have an opportunity to. Stotts is a coach who likes to have a solid rotation, but he will reward good play ( with minutes). Throw in Henderson, Crabb and Tim Frazier and it will be interesting to see who stands out ( other than Lillard of course). Hopefully Portland can find a couple of gems and have a fast rebuild.

Today was a good day for Portland.

OKC matched Enes Kanters contract = relief that We aren’t paying him to be the worst defender 6’11 and over.

Get a talented but underperforming Moe Harkless for a second rounder. He is someone that I hoped they would target once Batum was traded. I used to trade for him on 2k so I’m happy that he is there. He was playing decent the season before last. Wasn’t going to play much if he stayed in Orlando this year.

Next years draft pick is lottery protected so it will be safe. 

Today was a good day for Portland.

OKC matched Enes Kanters contract = relief that We aren’t paying him to be the worst defender 6’11 and over.

Get a talented but underperforming Moe Harkless for a second rounder. He is someone that I hoped they would target once Batum was traded. I used to trade for him on 2k so I’m happy that he is there. He was playing decent the season before last. Wasn’t going to play much if he stayed in Orlando this year.

Next years draft pick is lottery protected so it will be safe. 

 They have prepared for this for a while by the looks of things. I wish they still had Barton instead of Henderson although Henderson is a good player in his own right. I’m excited to watch this team.

 They have prepared for this for a while by the looks of things. I wish they still had Barton instead of Henderson although Henderson is a good player in his own right. I’m excited to watch this team.

 They have made too many moves in one off season for the Blazers to be good this year.  It will take a whole season just to figure out roles for the team. 

 They have made too many moves in one off season for the Blazers to be good this year.  It will take a whole season just to figure out roles for the team. 

 Well yeah when Aldridge left everything changed for the Blazers. They needed to go into rebuild mode and I think they’ve done about as well as a team can do when they lose their franchise player for nothing. 

Got a lottery pick in Vonleh who has upside but might take time because he’s 19. 

Got a toolsy wing who to this point has shown glimpses of two-way potential in Harkless. If he turns into even a solid 3rd wing, that was a good trade. 

Got an athletic 7 footer in Plumlee to go along with Leonard. Gotta think one of the two emerges as a solid starter. 

All of them will get to learn on the job next year, Portland will probably be picking in the top 5, but there’s a lot of young talent—hasn’t been tapped into yet so there’s upside. If even two of those pieces turn into good players, Portland’s rebuild is sped up big time. 

 Well yeah when Aldridge left everything changed for the Blazers. They needed to go into rebuild mode and I think they’ve done about as well as a team can do when they lose their franchise player for nothing. 

Got a lottery pick in Vonleh who has upside but might take time because he’s 19. 

Got a toolsy wing who to this point has shown glimpses of two-way potential in Harkless. If he turns into even a solid 3rd wing, that was a good trade. 

Got an athletic 7 footer in Plumlee to go along with Leonard. Gotta think one of the two emerges as a solid starter. 

All of them will get to learn on the job next year, Portland will probably be picking in the top 5, but there’s a lot of young talent—hasn’t been tapped into yet so there’s upside. If even two of those pieces turn into good players, Portland’s rebuild is sped up big time. 

Robin Lopez left as well during FA season so they lost 3 starters to FA and traded away another in Batum. They replaced Batum with two fair pieces and as said above I think they knew that Aldridge was going to leave when they traded Batum given that LMA and Batum had talked about having a long term commitment to the franchise before. If you want to keep your best player then trading away one of his key running mates would not have been a bright idea so I think they knew Aldridge was gone then.

The key thing is they have tied Lillard up long term so any scenario where he could refuse to sign a long term extension or try to force a trade are gone. If he did ever want a move, he is tied down for 6 years and so Portland would get a top dollar package for him.

At least they have a building block in Lillard and he has a function team around him and they will have future cap space going forward. The team will likely fall back next year but if they can get Vonleh and Leonard developed they won’t be in too bad shape.

Portland seem like a team that could do with taking a step back next year to then take a step forward, have a quiet season, get a good lottery pick then move forward from next year onwards.

Robin Lopez left as well during FA season so they lost 3 starters to FA and traded away another in Batum. They replaced Batum with two fair pieces and as said above I think they knew that Aldridge was going to leave when they traded Batum given that LMA and Batum had talked about having a long term commitment to the franchise before. If you want to keep your best player then trading away one of his key running mates would not have been a bright idea so I think they knew Aldridge was gone then.

The key thing is they have tied Lillard up long term so any scenario where he could refuse to sign a long term extension or try to force a trade are gone. If he did ever want a move, he is tied down for 6 years and so Portland would get a top dollar package for him.

At least they have a building block in Lillard and he has a function team around him and they will have future cap space going forward. The team will likely fall back next year but if they can get Vonleh and Leonard developed they won’t be in too bad shape.

Portland seem like a team that could do with taking a step back next year to then take a step forward, have a quiet season, get a good lottery pick then move forward from next year onwards.