[festar35Participant]

I love me some Blazers, mainly because of Roy and now Lillard, but I always support them out West, this team has a lot of questions.

I have no idea what this team will look like this coming season so I come to ask some questions, Lillard will start at PG and that is all we know, so who starts at….
SG, Henderson or McCollum? I’d give McCollum a shot here, he was fantastic in the play-offs and he a Lillard good be one of the best scoring back-courts in the NBA in a couple of seasons.

SF. Aminu or Harkless? I think the nod goes to Aminu who was a fantastic defensive player for Dallas and he will be expected to do the same in Portland, in saying that I expect Harkless to finally get some burn and show us what he can do.

PF & C, Plumlee, Vonleh, Leonard, Davis? I think the PF spot is Vonlehs due to his defensive ability more than anything, I think Plumlee who was really good in Bkn without Lopez will get the C spot. I really like Leonard, but think he will be a fantastic 6th man in Portland as he can shoot and run the floor.

[dmo21Participant]

 I think you have to go with your veterans first and make the young guys earn it. McCollum and Vonleh haven’t done anything to prove they deserve a starting spot on a NBA team. So I’d start with Lillard, Henderson, Aminu, Davis (looking for him to step up huge. Big fan of him), and Plumlee.

[dmo21Participant]

 I think you have to go with your veterans first and make the young guys earn it. McCollum and Vonleh haven’t done anything to prove they deserve a starting spot on a NBA team. So I’d start with Lillard, Henderson, Aminu, Davis (looking for him to step up huge. Big fan of him), and Plumlee.

[LA12Participant]

I recently made a MyGM save in 2K using this new Blazer roster. I made no changes to the team and put out a starting line up of:

Lillard

Henderson

Aminu

Leonard

Plumlee

I simmed the season trying to tank and take my chances trying to draft Ben Simmons. Somehow my team made it to the Finals and won the title in a sweep. On top of that, the first round pick I received from the Pelicans in a trade for some future first rounders had the lowest shot at the 1st overall pick. But somehow I snagged the second pick and Ben Simmons fell into my lap. I then won a second title in a row simulating the season once again after finishing 69-13.

Moral of the story, starting Lillard/Henderson/Aminu/Leonard/Plumlee and trying to tank will lead this team to becoming a dynasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[LA12Participant]

I recently made a MyGM save in 2K using this new Blazer roster. I made no changes to the team and put out a starting line up of:

Lillard

Henderson

Aminu

Leonard

Plumlee

I simmed the season trying to tank and take my chances trying to draft Ben Simmons. Somehow my team made it to the Finals and won the title in a sweep. On top of that, the first round pick I received from the Pelicans in a trade for some future first rounders had the lowest shot at the 1st overall pick. But somehow I snagged the second pick and Ben Simmons fell into my lap. I then won a second title in a row simulating the season once again after finishing 69-13.

Moral of the story, starting Lillard/Henderson/Aminu/Leonard/Plumlee and trying to tank will lead this team to becoming a dynasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

1. Damien Lillard, Phil Pressey, Tim Frazier
2. Gerald Henderson, CJ McCollum, Allen Crabb, Pat Connaughton
3. Al Farouq-Aminu, Mo Harkless
4. Ed Davis, Noah Vonleh
5. Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leornard, Chris Kaman

I actually like this roster. I fell like this roster have great potential, but it’s also filled with "what if’s" and questions. Questions like "Will Noah Vonleh and Mo Harkless live up to their potential and draft status", "Can Damien Lillard take the next step and lead a team", "How will Damien Lillard adjust to become the primary option", "Will Meyers Leonard and CJ McCollum carry on their postseason success to the incoming season", and "How will the offseason trades/free agents gets pan out"

 

 

 

 

[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

1. Damien Lillard, Phil Pressey, Tim Frazier
2. Gerald Henderson, CJ McCollum, Allen Crabb, Pat Connaughton
3. Al Farouq-Aminu, Mo Harkless
4. Ed Davis, Noah Vonleh
5. Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leornard, Chris Kaman

I actually like this roster. I fell like this roster have great potential, but it’s also filled with "what if’s" and questions. Questions like "Will Noah Vonleh and Mo Harkless live up to their potential and draft status", "Can Damien Lillard take the next step and lead a team", "How will Damien Lillard adjust to become the primary option", "Will Meyers Leonard and CJ McCollum carry on their postseason success to the incoming season", and "How will the offseason trades/free agents gets pan out"

 

 

 

 

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

It’s hard trying to construct a lineup that can provide enough spacing and adequate defense at the same time with this roster. For me, the linchpin for making this roster work next season is Meyers Leonard as he’ll allow spacing on the floor. The problem is trying to figure out how good of a defender is he, along with how good of a passer and post-up player as well. 

There’s a problem with trying to start Lillard and McCollum in the same backcourt since both are awful defenders, so it’s imperative to have a rim-protector. Also, I don’t think Lillard and McCollum alone provides enough spacing for a lineup, so it needs one more shooter and since none of the swingmen forwards (Henderson, Aminu and Harkless) can shoot, one of the bigs has to then. Although, Connaughton could but he’s a rookie and I don’t think a lineup of Lillard-McCollum-Connaughton could defend well.

Nevertheless, Leonard is odd because he posted a 102 defensive rating last season in 15.4 MPG, as well as a 1.71 dRPM with opponents shooting 42.3% at the rim against him, yet only averaged 0.6 BPG and didn’t pick up much offensive fouls drawn with only eight with one charge last season and he was always paritcular foul-prone throughout his career and he struggles to contain guards defending the pick-and-roll. 

On offense though, he’ll have to improve his court vision and post-up game because I think more sophisticated defenses will just throw smaller defenders at him if he can’t post them up and he’s not the type to attack on a close-out or pass it out quickly, so defenders won’t sag off him and treat him much like they did to Steve Novak a couple years ago.

Anyways, this seems like a team that just needs raw production, so personally I think Stotts will just start Kaman at center and say screw it with defense, given that he’s an offensive-centric coach.

Here are a couple of lineups that could hopefully provide enough spacing and defense:

Lillard-Henderson-Connaughton-Plumlee-Leonard 

Lillard-McCollum-Henderson-Plumlee-Leonard

I actually think the Lillard-Henderson-Connaughton perimeter unit is probably the best since Henderson is a good defender and fine ball-mover, as well as Connaughton, who was a great team-defender in Notre Dame last season. Have McCollum coming off the bench to be your de-facto point guard and he’ll provide spacing for Aminu, Davis, Vonleh and Kaman.

Now, that I’ve done a deep-dived into this team, I think they’ll have the worst record out West. I thought Stotts would be good enough of a coach to handle this but this roster is really ugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

It’s hard trying to construct a lineup that can provide enough spacing and adequate defense at the same time with this roster. For me, the linchpin for making this roster work next season is Meyers Leonard as he’ll allow spacing on the floor. The problem is trying to figure out how good of a defender is he, along with how good of a passer and post-up player as well. 

There’s a problem with trying to start Lillard and McCollum in the same backcourt since both are awful defenders, so it’s imperative to have a rim-protector. Also, I don’t think Lillard and McCollum alone provides enough spacing for a lineup, so it needs one more shooter and since none of the swingmen forwards (Henderson, Aminu and Harkless) can shoot, one of the bigs has to then. Although, Connaughton could but he’s a rookie and I don’t think a lineup of Lillard-McCollum-Connaughton could defend well.

Nevertheless, Leonard is odd because he posted a 102 defensive rating last season in 15.4 MPG, as well as a 1.71 dRPM with opponents shooting 42.3% at the rim against him, yet only averaged 0.6 BPG and didn’t pick up much offensive fouls drawn with only eight with one charge last season and he was always paritcular foul-prone throughout his career and he struggles to contain guards defending the pick-and-roll. 

On offense though, he’ll have to improve his court vision and post-up game because I think more sophisticated defenses will just throw smaller defenders at him if he can’t post them up and he’s not the type to attack on a close-out or pass it out quickly, so defenders won’t sag off him and treat him much like they did to Steve Novak a couple years ago.

Anyways, this seems like a team that just needs raw production, so personally I think Stotts will just start Kaman at center and say screw it with defense, given that he’s an offensive-centric coach.

Here are a couple of lineups that could hopefully provide enough spacing and defense:

Lillard-Henderson-Connaughton-Plumlee-Leonard 

Lillard-McCollum-Henderson-Plumlee-Leonard

I actually think the Lillard-Henderson-Connaughton perimeter unit is probably the best since Henderson is a good defender and fine ball-mover, as well as Connaughton, who was a great team-defender in Notre Dame last season. Have McCollum coming off the bench to be your de-facto point guard and he’ll provide spacing for Aminu, Davis, Vonleh and Kaman.

Now, that I’ve done a deep-dived into this team, I think they’ll have the worst record out West. I thought Stotts would be good enough of a coach to handle this but this roster is really ugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EspressoprodigyParticipant]

 I feel like negging you after saying Lillard and Mccollum dont provide enough floor spacing. Youre joking right?

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

 No, under the construct of that roster, it’ll be just those two as good shooting with three terrible shooters, unless Leonard proves last year wasn’t a fluke. Thats why I called him the linchpin to their team. If it proves to be a fluke, I feel like that’ll drag either McCollum’s or Lillard’s three-point percentage because defenders won’t leave one of them. 

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

 No, under the construct of that roster, it’ll be just those two as good shooting with three terrible shooters, unless Leonard proves last year wasn’t a fluke. Thats why I called him the linchpin to their team. If it proves to be a fluke, I feel like that’ll drag either McCollum’s or Lillard’s three-point percentage because defenders won’t leave one of them. 

[EspressoprodigyParticipant]

 I feel like negging you after saying Lillard and Mccollum dont provide enough floor spacing. Youre joking right?

[NCarmean18Participant]

 In my personal opinion, this is the lineup in which I see Stott rolling with to begin next season – and I will fill you in on why I feel the way I do along the way.  I am not even going to mention the point guard position because we all know who Damian Lillard is.  

Starting Shooting Guard: C.J. McCollum.  

Fortunately for C.J., he has played under Terry Stotts for his entire career (granted it has only been for two, going on three years) and the familiarity with the offense will help his chances.  Not only that, but McCollum came up big in their first round playoff exit against the Memphis Grizzlies.  After averaging around sixteen minutes per game during the regular season, McCollum got the bulk of the playing time at shooting guard due to varying injuries to both Aaron Afflalo and Wesley Mathews.  McCollum made the most of his opportunities during the biggest moment of his young NBA career.  McCollum dropped 17 PPG on an extremely efficient 56% FG and 48% 3-Pt.  He also averaged four rebounds and over a steal a game.  With that much production coming from a young, inexperienced guard at such a high level of competition, you have to give him a chance to prove what he can really do starting next to Damian Lillard.  I know that Gerald Henderson is a very good defender, but I feel that Portland will be versatile enough defensively that his presence in the starting lineup won’t be necessary just because of his perimeter defense.  Besides, McCollum is no slouch defensively either.  While the NBA is in a current transition to "small-ball," why not experiment with a young 2-guard lineup that has the scoring potential to be one of the most dominate offensive backcourts in the league?  For a young and rebuilding Trail Blazers squad, this can only help set themselves up for the future.  

 

Starting Small Forward: Al Farouq-Aminu

Al Farouq-Aminu had somewhat of a breakout season off of the bench for the Dallas Mavericks, and that landed the young forward a nice 4-year, $30 million contract early in the free agency period.  Aminu had a solid showing the playoffs last season (similar to McCollum’s) and that has earned him the opportunity to start at small forward.  This guy is extremely versatile.  He has always been known as a solid defender within the league, but he never truly enveiled what he was capable of until Dallas was defeated by Houston last season in the playoffs.  During that series, Aminu averaged a very solid statline of 11 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 SPG, & 1.5 BPG all while shooting 55% FG and 64% 3-PT.  He produced all of those numbers averaging 30 minutes a game, and he even earned enough respect from coach Carlisle, and started two games in the series.  

I think that Aminu is a very well-rounded seasoned veteran who deserves an opportunity to start for a young and up-incoming squad, and I believe the contract Portland handed him is their way of saying that they feel the same way. 

 

PF: Meyers Leonard

This is the pick that will trip some people up, and as an Illinois fan it is completely understandable for people to think that this is a homer pick – but it’s not.  In my personal opinion, Meyers Leonard did enough last season to solidify his role in the starting rotation for this new-look Blazers team.  

Being an Illinois fan, I tend to follow the Portland Trail Blazers pretty heavily for not being a fan of their team – and that’s because I love to follow the young careers of professional athletes from the U of I, and thus have been following Leonard’s career pretty closely for going on four years now.  For those not familiar with the Trail Blazers team or head coach Terry Stotts, he likes to keep consistent rotations.  Through two seasons, it was difficult for Meyers Leonard to crack an NBA rotation because he was still a bit raw offensively, and wasn’t big enough to bang with NBA bodies early in his career.  In year three of his career however, Leonard showed off an impressive offensive arsenal that included a highly efficient three-point stroke.  Leonard didn’t get much playing time early in the year, but after the injuries amounted in the middle of the season for the Trail Blazers, Meyers Leonard got an opportunity to showcase his talents – and he delivered.  After that moment when fans and the coaches alike got a chance to witness the potential Leonard had after being selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft – everyone alike began to rejoice and ponder how Leonard would turn out for the rest of the season.  

Leonard this past season averaged the most points (5.9) and rebounds (4.5) in his young NBA career.  While those numbers are not staggering, this other statline is pretty interesting.  This was not much talked about since it was such a small sample size, but Meyers Leonard actually finished the season with a 50-40-90 spread.  He shot 51% FG, 42% 3-PT, and 94% FT.  Whether it is a small sample size or not, those shooting numbers are extremely impressive – especially considering Leonard is 7’1" and 245 lbs.  

Leonard actually played pretty well in the stretch-four role on offense whenever LaMarcus Aldridge was not in the game.  After learning the game from LaMarcus for three years, I feel like Leonard will really have an opportunity to breakout fully.  Do I expect those numbers to continue with 30 minutes per?  Definitely not.  However with the familiarity with the system and coach, and impressive growth both physically and with his shooting numbers last season, I don’t know how you can’t at least attempt to replicate an LA-like presence from that position.  It’s ultimately up to Leonard to improve his defense and become a smart defended who does not pick up cheap fouls.  If he can learn to do that, the sky is the limit for this young mobile bigman.  

 

Starting Center: Mason Plumee

Plumlee has the perfect skillset in my mind to compliment Leonard at the four.  Mason is a solid rim protector who showed the ability to finish around and above the rim efficiently during his time in Brooklyn.  He played extremely well whenever he was the starter, but fizzled off a bit after Brook Lopez returned from injury and went on that monsterous tear that he went on.  

Mason’s a good rebounder and scorer around the rim, but he is going to have to improve from the free throw line in order to remain a starter on this team.  A career 55% FT shooter is not going to get it done, especially if the team has a similar played in Ed Davis who is a solid veteran, and can provide more efficiency on both ends of the floor.  

Plumlee is going to have his hands full next season, but if he comes the play there is no reason to believe that he isn’t a starting-calibur center within this league.  

Those are my thoughts and opinions, feel free to let your opinions fly.  Thanks for reading. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NCarmean18Participant]

 In my personal opinion, this is the lineup in which I see Stott rolling with to begin next season – and I will fill you in on why I feel the way I do along the way.  I am not even going to mention the point guard position because we all know who Damian Lillard is.  

Starting Shooting Guard: C.J. McCollum.  

Fortunately for C.J., he has played under Terry Stotts for his entire career (granted it has only been for two, going on three years) and the familiarity with the offense will help his chances.  Not only that, but McCollum came up big in their first round playoff exit against the Memphis Grizzlies.  After averaging around sixteen minutes per game during the regular season, McCollum got the bulk of the playing time at shooting guard due to varying injuries to both Aaron Afflalo and Wesley Mathews.  McCollum made the most of his opportunities during the biggest moment of his young NBA career.  McCollum dropped 17 PPG on an extremely efficient 56% FG and 48% 3-Pt.  He also averaged four rebounds and over a steal a game.  With that much production coming from a young, inexperienced guard at such a high level of competition, you have to give him a chance to prove what he can really do starting next to Damian Lillard.  I know that Gerald Henderson is a very good defender, but I feel that Portland will be versatile enough defensively that his presence in the starting lineup won’t be necessary just because of his perimeter defense.  Besides, McCollum is no slouch defensively either.  While the NBA is in a current transition to "small-ball," why not experiment with a young 2-guard lineup that has the scoring potential to be one of the most dominate offensive backcourts in the league?  For a young and rebuilding Trail Blazers squad, this can only help set themselves up for the future.  

 

Starting Small Forward: Al Farouq-Aminu

Al Farouq-Aminu had somewhat of a breakout season off of the bench for the Dallas Mavericks, and that landed the young forward a nice 4-year, $30 million contract early in the free agency period.  Aminu had a solid showing the playoffs last season (similar to McCollum’s) and that has earned him the opportunity to start at small forward.  This guy is extremely versatile.  He has always been known as a solid defender within the league, but he never truly enveiled what he was capable of until Dallas was defeated by Houston last season in the playoffs.  During that series, Aminu averaged a very solid statline of 11 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 SPG, & 1.5 BPG all while shooting 55% FG and 64% 3-PT.  He produced all of those numbers averaging 30 minutes a game, and he even earned enough respect from coach Carlisle, and started two games in the series.  

I think that Aminu is a very well-rounded seasoned veteran who deserves an opportunity to start for a young and up-incoming squad, and I believe the contract Portland handed him is their way of saying that they feel the same way. 

 

PF: Meyers Leonard

This is the pick that will trip some people up, and as an Illinois fan it is completely understandable for people to think that this is a homer pick – but it’s not.  In my personal opinion, Meyers Leonard did enough last season to solidify his role in the starting rotation for this new-look Blazers team.  

Being an Illinois fan, I tend to follow the Portland Trail Blazers pretty heavily for not being a fan of their team – and that’s because I love to follow the young careers of professional athletes from the U of I, and thus have been following Leonard’s career pretty closely for going on four years now.  For those not familiar with the Trail Blazers team or head coach Terry Stotts, he likes to keep consistent rotations.  Through two seasons, it was difficult for Meyers Leonard to crack an NBA rotation because he was still a bit raw offensively, and wasn’t big enough to bang with NBA bodies early in his career.  In year three of his career however, Leonard showed off an impressive offensive arsenal that included a highly efficient three-point stroke.  Leonard didn’t get much playing time early in the year, but after the injuries amounted in the middle of the season for the Trail Blazers, Meyers Leonard got an opportunity to showcase his talents – and he delivered.  After that moment when fans and the coaches alike got a chance to witness the potential Leonard had after being selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft – everyone alike began to rejoice and ponder how Leonard would turn out for the rest of the season.  

Leonard this past season averaged the most points (5.9) and rebounds (4.5) in his young NBA career.  While those numbers are not staggering, this other statline is pretty interesting.  This was not much talked about since it was such a small sample size, but Meyers Leonard actually finished the season with a 50-40-90 spread.  He shot 51% FG, 42% 3-PT, and 94% FT.  Whether it is a small sample size or not, those shooting numbers are extremely impressive – especially considering Leonard is 7’1" and 245 lbs.  

Leonard actually played pretty well in the stretch-four role on offense whenever LaMarcus Aldridge was not in the game.  After learning the game from LaMarcus for three years, I feel like Leonard will really have an opportunity to breakout fully.  Do I expect those numbers to continue with 30 minutes per?  Definitely not.  However with the familiarity with the system and coach, and impressive growth both physically and with his shooting numbers last season, I don’t know how you can’t at least attempt to replicate an LA-like presence from that position.  It’s ultimately up to Leonard to improve his defense and become a smart defended who does not pick up cheap fouls.  If he can learn to do that, the sky is the limit for this young mobile bigman.  

 

Starting Center: Mason Plumee

Plumlee has the perfect skillset in my mind to compliment Leonard at the four.  Mason is a solid rim protector who showed the ability to finish around and above the rim efficiently during his time in Brooklyn.  He played extremely well whenever he was the starter, but fizzled off a bit after Brook Lopez returned from injury and went on that monsterous tear that he went on.  

Mason’s a good rebounder and scorer around the rim, but he is going to have to improve from the free throw line in order to remain a starter on this team.  A career 55% FT shooter is not going to get it done, especially if the team has a similar played in Ed Davis who is a solid veteran, and can provide more efficiency on both ends of the floor.  

Plumlee is going to have his hands full next season, but if he comes the play there is no reason to believe that he isn’t a starting-calibur center within this league.  

Those are my thoughts and opinions, feel free to let your opinions fly.  Thanks for reading. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nick5354Participant]

 Wow that Portland team is BAD. Like those guys are good, future successful players in the NBA but it looks ugly all on the starting line up.

Boy oh Boy is Lillard going to go off this year and post ALOT of points.  

 

[nick5354Participant]

 Wow that Portland team is BAD. Like those guys are good, future successful players in the NBA but it looks ugly all on the starting line up.

Boy oh Boy is Lillard going to go off this year and post ALOT of points.  

 

[ThenilonatorParticipant]

 I agree with nick5354! I’m actually starting to think this squad is being over valued! All I’ve heard for weeks is how much potential this team has, truth is Aminu and Henderson have had plenty of chances (both serviceable but not starters), I like Davis but he struggled to get minutes on bad teams. Vonleh was flicked too quickly by Charlotte for me to believe he is ready to break out. McCollum will have a big year but for me this will be Ben Simmons team next year!

[ThenilonatorParticipant]

 I agree with nick5354! I’m actually starting to think this squad is being over valued! All I’ve heard for weeks is how much potential this team has, truth is Aminu and Henderson have had plenty of chances (both serviceable but not starters), I like Davis but he struggled to get minutes on bad teams. Vonleh was flicked too quickly by Charlotte for me to believe he is ready to break out. McCollum will have a big year but for me this will be Ben Simmons team next year!

[herceg_bukuParticipant]

 I really hope Leonard gets his shot, he is just as athletic as Plumlee is, but more offensivly gifted (worked his butt off too). Also i like McCollums game as well, they should definetely look for them to develop them with more minutes.

[herceg_bukuParticipant]

 I really hope Leonard gets his shot, he is just as athletic as Plumlee is, but more offensivly gifted (worked his butt off too). Also i like McCollums game as well, they should definetely look for them to develop them with more minutes.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Leonard and Plumlee are good, and I think Noah Vonleh will get going.  The West is BIG so at least the Blazers have some talented bigs (at least with potential).

The whole league is stacked with great point guards, so the Blazers are fortunate to have Damian Lillard.  

This team could break the record for pick and rolls in the season.  

I can also see Damian Lillard breaking Nick Van Exel’s unofficial record for ill-advised long range jumpers.

The West is loaded at the top, but from about the 7th seed down its basically wide open.  If the Blazers get hot early, I think they can hang in there.

I would probably bring McCollum off the bench as a scoring sixth man.  

Their wings aren’t the best, but as long as they can defend some and not take a ton of bad shots, it can be a plus for them.  I like Aminu as a role player.

This team lacks shot creators.  The only top shelf one is Lillard.  Then, where else do you go to get shots?  Lillard (and McCollum to an extent) will have to create the offense for EVERYBODY.  If you wanna model this current Blazers team after a successful team in the past, may I suggest the Isiah Thomas-led Bad Boys Pistons?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Think Harden shattered Van Exel’s bad long two record last season…. I agree on McCollum. He’s a good [maybe eventually really good/great] scoring combo off the bench, but I wouldn’t start him. You could use him in a small lineup for stretches with Lillard at the 1, McCollum at the 2 and Henderson at the 3. If I’m not mistaken, weren’t the Blazers the best team in the league record wise for the fist 3rd of last season? Obviously their personnel is pretty different, but if they have a favorable early schedule I agree they could get hot and hang for a bit, but on paper I have a hard time seeing them make the top 8 out West. They lost too much and didn’t get enough in return.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Think Harden shattered Van Exel’s bad long two record last season…. I agree on McCollum. He’s a good [maybe eventually really good/great] scoring combo off the bench, but I wouldn’t start him. You could use him in a small lineup for stretches with Lillard at the 1, McCollum at the 2 and Henderson at the 3. If I’m not mistaken, weren’t the Blazers the best team in the league record wise for the fist 3rd of last season? Obviously their personnel is pretty different, but if they have a favorable early schedule I agree they could get hot and hang for a bit, but on paper I have a hard time seeing them make the top 8 out West. They lost too much and didn’t get enough in return.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Leonard and Plumlee are good, and I think Noah Vonleh will get going.  The West is BIG so at least the Blazers have some talented bigs (at least with potential).

The whole league is stacked with great point guards, so the Blazers are fortunate to have Damian Lillard.  

This team could break the record for pick and rolls in the season.  

I can also see Damian Lillard breaking Nick Van Exel’s unofficial record for ill-advised long range jumpers.

The West is loaded at the top, but from about the 7th seed down its basically wide open.  If the Blazers get hot early, I think they can hang in there.

I would probably bring McCollum off the bench as a scoring sixth man.  

Their wings aren’t the best, but as long as they can defend some and not take a ton of bad shots, it can be a plus for them.  I like Aminu as a role player.

This team lacks shot creators.  The only top shelf one is Lillard.  Then, where else do you go to get shots?  Lillard (and McCollum to an extent) will have to create the offense for EVERYBODY.  If you wanna model this current Blazers team after a successful team in the past, may I suggest the Isiah Thomas-led Bad Boys Pistons?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 The West is really good but a bit older.  The Mavs don’t impress me much.  I think the Blazers are better than the Suns and they are supposed to compete for a playoff spot.  The Pelicans are one major Anthony Davis injury away from being a 30 win team.  Even if everything goes according to plan (and better) the Pelicans will be fighting for a 6th or 7th seed.

The important stuff is there: an all-star point guard and good, athletic bigs.  Not a ton of talent on the wing, but Aminu is a solid role player, and I like Pat Connaughton as a guy who can come off the bench with McCollum and score, shoot, and get active.  

I just looked at their roster and they have a couple of catch and shoot veteran 3 point snipers in Mike Miller and Dorell Wright.

If they make things easy on themselves they should win between 40 and 45 games.  42 or 43 wins out West could get you in the playoffs this year.

 

 

 

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 The West is really good but a bit older.  The Mavs don’t impress me much.  I think the Blazers are better than the Suns and they are supposed to compete for a playoff spot.  The Pelicans are one major Anthony Davis injury away from being a 30 win team.  Even if everything goes according to plan (and better) the Pelicans will be fighting for a 6th or 7th seed.

The important stuff is there: an all-star point guard and good, athletic bigs.  Not a ton of talent on the wing, but Aminu is a solid role player, and I like Pat Connaughton as a guy who can come off the bench with McCollum and score, shoot, and get active.  

I just looked at their roster and they have a couple of catch and shoot veteran 3 point snipers in Mike Miller and Dorell Wright.

If they make things easy on themselves they should win between 40 and 45 games.  42 or 43 wins out West could get you in the playoffs this year.

 

 

 

 

 

[T Rex]

 They should have traded Lillard, which would have made it much easier to re-sign LaMarcus, Wes, and Robin. 

But they didn’t.

But they still should.

McCollum can probably bring 85% of what Lillard can with more minutes, and this team might as well get some draft picks and young players for Lillard, while improving their own draft position slightly.

Yes, slightly, because Lillard isn’t as good as Kyrie Irving was when the Cavs were bottoming out every single year before LeBron came back.

But they won’t trade him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[T Rex]

 They should have traded Lillard, which would have made it much easier to re-sign LaMarcus, Wes, and Robin. 

But they didn’t.

But they still should.

McCollum can probably bring 85% of what Lillard can with more minutes, and this team might as well get some draft picks and young players for Lillard, while improving their own draft position slightly.

Yes, slightly, because Lillard isn’t as good as Kyrie Irving was when the Cavs were bottoming out every single year before LeBron came back.

But they won’t trade him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThenilonatorParticipant]

 Didn’t dorell wright just sign in China?

[ThenilonatorParticipant]

 Didn’t dorell wright just sign in China?

[HitsterParticipant]

 Portland have had to retool losing their franchise player in LMA plus effectively ever other starter bar Damian Lillard. I believe they probably knew that LMA was likely to leave so they started to prepare for this by moving his long term team mate Batum and got Henderson and Vonleh back.

Robin Lopez, Afflalo and Matthews all moved on for big money and whilst Portland may have wanted to retain Matthews they were probably wary about over paying a guy pushing 29 once LMA had moved on.

Plumlee, Aminu and Davis have been added to give depth in the frontcourt and in Aminu’s case probably more at SF,

The various frontcourt combos have been discussed above, personally I’d start Davis and Leonard at PF and C. Leonard although younger than Plumlee has actually been in the NBA a season longer and I’ve always liked his skillset and would look to use him as a finesse 5. He doesn’t need to play huge minutes as Vonleh, Plumlee and veteran Kaman will need playing time too,

Guys like Leonard, Henderson etc are in contract year so will want to perform well to get an extension or put themselves in the shop window.

Lillard has happily agreed his extension so any chance of him looking to bolt has been averted. He could be a legit contender to break into the top 5 in the scoring chart and should make the top 10 easily. He averaged 21ppg last season alongside LMA at 23.4ppg, I could see Lillard having enough shots and skill to push onto 23ppg at least and maybe as high as 25ppg.

Portland still have a load of cap space and so are well positioned to take any salary dumps which could bring in extra draft picks etc to help with rebuilding. 

I don’t see them winning much above 32-35 games this coming season IMO but with cap space, a good coach, an All Star level player in Lillard, a decent draft pick (Simmons, Skal, Brown) would all be nice fits but at worse probably a top 10 lottery pick. They could easily add a decent FA or two next year and soon get back in contention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Portland have had to retool losing their franchise player in LMA plus effectively ever other starter bar Damian Lillard. I believe they probably knew that LMA was likely to leave so they started to prepare for this by moving his long term team mate Batum and got Henderson and Vonleh back.

Robin Lopez, Afflalo and Matthews all moved on for big money and whilst Portland may have wanted to retain Matthews they were probably wary about over paying a guy pushing 29 once LMA had moved on.

Plumlee, Aminu and Davis have been added to give depth in the frontcourt and in Aminu’s case probably more at SF,

The various frontcourt combos have been discussed above, personally I’d start Davis and Leonard at PF and C. Leonard although younger than Plumlee has actually been in the NBA a season longer and I’ve always liked his skillset and would look to use him as a finesse 5. He doesn’t need to play huge minutes as Vonleh, Plumlee and veteran Kaman will need playing time too,

Guys like Leonard, Henderson etc are in contract year so will want to perform well to get an extension or put themselves in the shop window.

Lillard has happily agreed his extension so any chance of him looking to bolt has been averted. He could be a legit contender to break into the top 5 in the scoring chart and should make the top 10 easily. He averaged 21ppg last season alongside LMA at 23.4ppg, I could see Lillard having enough shots and skill to push onto 23ppg at least and maybe as high as 25ppg.

Portland still have a load of cap space and so are well positioned to take any salary dumps which could bring in extra draft picks etc to help with rebuilding. 

I don’t see them winning much above 32-35 games this coming season IMO but with cap space, a good coach, an All Star level player in Lillard, a decent draft pick (Simmons, Skal, Brown) would all be nice fits but at worse probably a top 10 lottery pick. They could easily add a decent FA or two next year and soon get back in contention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrentSuriaga01Participant]

Nuggets comes to my mind when I think about them right now. 

[BrentSuriaga01Participant]

Nuggets comes to my mind when I think about them right now. 

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 LA was 30 years old – Lillard is young & he is their future… When I remember that in 2006 & 2007 the Blazers drafted Roy, Aldridge & Oden I think Every expert thought they were the Next Great team in the NBA but injuries killed them & robbed the fans of what could have been a great team… I really like the trades they maed, they have a Long way to go & they have some rebuilding to do but Lillard is a great player, Vonleh is a monster & we’ll see how he develops but that Portland team even though they were very good was not going to win anything, it’ll be fun for the fans to have some young players to root for as they develop & if they hit on the next two drafts who knows – Believe me when Golden State began a rebuild in 2009 by losing some Vets No One thought they would win a Title just a few years later…. So good luck to the Blazers & their fans…

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 LA was 30 years old – Lillard is young & he is their future… When I remember that in 2006 & 2007 the Blazers drafted Roy, Aldridge & Oden I think Every expert thought they were the Next Great team in the NBA but injuries killed them & robbed the fans of what could have been a great team… I really like the trades they maed, they have a Long way to go & they have some rebuilding to do but Lillard is a great player, Vonleh is a monster & we’ll see how he develops but that Portland team even though they were very good was not going to win anything, it’ll be fun for the fans to have some young players to root for as they develop & if they hit on the next two drafts who knows – Believe me when Golden State began a rebuild in 2009 by losing some Vets No One thought they would win a Title just a few years later…. So good luck to the Blazers & their fans…

[Author]

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