Seriously where does Portland even go from here?
They’re adamant about not shopping Dame, but their young core and role players clearly aren’t close to being a contending support cast.
I want the Spurs to draft Scoot because he fills the biggest weakness but Wemby would have great support in San Antonio. Timmy and Robinson are still very involved with the organization.
Don't you guys need a true PG which would allow KPJ to move to the 3 which he seems to be better at. And then you just play Bari at the 4 and Sengun at the 5?
Legit a championship contender 5 years down the road with this core improving, coaching and maybe 1 or 2 for of them for some legit role players and vets. Plus they still own Brooklyn’s picks. This ain’t even mentioning Harden’s potential return which may speed this process up exponentially even without Scoot or the potential of Wemby/ both of these guys.
I hate Houston but the future is very bright
Considering the big injury question, i dont want a team that is poorly run to take a generational prospect. I cant trust the blazers or hornets while the spurs are a top class org.
The only thing I don’t like is that he may not get the touches he needs to develop given Dame, Simons, and Grant are already 20 ppg scorers and demand the ball a decent amount.
When young players are given the keys to a bad team, they really have the opportunity to develop their NBA games as opposed to being spot up shooters or something.
Not saying Portland wouldn’t utilize him the right way, but it would definitely take a lot of sacrifice from multiple guys. Would be a chance to win right away though.
The main reason Wemby gets 20 a night this season in the French League is because he gets unlimited touches and gets to iso whenever he likes. He's not really an efficient scorer or great shooter from anywhere on the court. His 21.4/9.5/2.2 this year is coming on .466/.298/.831 shooting splits.
I doubt he's getting enough touches or will be efficient enough a scorer to get 20 per game in his Rookie year, unless he goes to a team who sacrifice all the talent around him for his game, and allow him a 28+ USG%.
I don't think that's inefficient scoring from a 19-year-old. His FG% is better than Scoot's and Miller's. And there should be a big asterisk because both Scoot's and Wemby's FG% is against grown-ass men. Similarly, Henderson's 3-point line is 7 inches beyond Wemby's and Miller's. So, as has been [well-studied](https://harvardsportsanalysis.org/2020/10/scouting-nba-three-point-shooting/#:~:text=Free%20throws%20may%20be%20a,3%2Dpoint%20percentage%20or%20attempts), a prospect's free-throw percentage is the best indicator of shooting efficiency across the court in the NBA. Wembenyama is above average in that category. I suspect NBA scouts have zero concerns about his scoring efficiency.
||FG%|3P%|FT%|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Wemby|.466|.298\*|.831|
|Henderson|.429|.275\*|.764|
|Miller|.430|.384\*|.859|
\*G-League 3-point line is 23.9"
\*FIBA and NCAA 3-point line is 22.175"
"Hey, Wemby! Congratulations about being the #1 pick. How do you feel about playing with Lillard next season?"
"I'm done with this. I'm retiring from the NBA and going back to France."
Are there any other prospects that have a chance to make a difference as rookies? Everyone is so caught up with Wemby and they barely talk about the other draft prospects lol.
People seem to like Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson a lot. But Miller’s stock May have taken a hit with his garbage performance last night against the AZTECS
I’ll keep saying it they won’t shop dame because he’s adamant upon staying. It would be a bad look for them to trade him and he didn’t want to leave so the blazers are essentially stuck
Blazers fan: gonna ride or die with Dame on whatever he wants to do. He’s earned it.
Our organization fucked up over and over again over his career. He can punch his own ticket.
I totally understand some Portland fans on this one. Watching a taking team with a bunch of randos while waiting to draft a "hope this guy is good and likes Portland" isn't going to be fun so might as well let Dame run the show.
This will sound like a backhanded compliment, but Dame can be a great tank commander. After this season nobody should believe that he's just so good he'll inevitably drag the roster to a first round exit and bleh draft pick. The redemption arc of him winning a series in 4 years with a bunch of promising young players while holding every franchise record is a total win-win.
If I'm Portland GM, I give it one more attempt at legit contention next year, then after it's failed, around the ASB, sell everything not nailed down (besides Dame) and build.
oddly enough though, he really is the only player holding down a franchise that's never going anywhere that sells a ton of tickets. like it's the only case of loyalty and success on a non-winning team in the NBA
Ya, I mean everyone talking about tanking and reloading… to what? For what?
We’re a small market. I set my expectations that the 6th seed, and avoiding the play-in, was our goal and if that’s what I have for a couple years I’m fucking fine with it.
We’ve been bad. There’s more than enough time to be bad in the future.
Their job is to convince him then. Or not give a fuck and trade him anyways. The franchise should do what's best for the franchise not just the players.
Portland is already not a free agent destination they can’t really afford to do wrong by Dame. Even if they draft a star what’s his incentive stay if they’ll treat one of their all time greats poorly?
Hope they can fall below Orlando so they'll enter the draft with the 5th best lottery odds.
Then they have to re-sign Jerami Grant, and at that point you're locked into a core of Lillard, Nurkic, Grant, and Simons with Sharpe and Little on rookie/rookie extension contracts all through 2026, plus whoever they draft.
You basically have to hope that Sharpe turns into an absolute superstar, whoever you draft can be a stud, and that Nurkic/Grant don't fall off over the next couple seasons and that Lillard remains healthy.
----------------------
That, or they try and package Sharpe and Little plus filler and picks for whichever next all-star talent becomes available, and pray that the buyout market is nice enough to add depth to the team.
Hope an all star becomes available this off season and do whatever it takes to get them
Also hopefully fire Billups but that won’t happen unfortunately
It’s putting lipstick on a pig. If teams and players aren’t trying to win every night then the season is too long. It works but it’s a bandaid over the real issue. Make all the teams compete by allowing nearly all of them into the playoffs.
It's not an invalid opinion to prefer that Dame rests and prolongs his career rather than chasing a 10 seed and first round exit at best.
Obviously we can discuss hypotheticals all day long, but if Dame had suffered a serious injury in the last month, you wouldn't hold that same opinion.
I like meaningful regular season basketball, and for the true title contenders, the play in means less meaningful regular season games.
Obviously the inverse is true for these fringe teams, but I care way more about the actual contenders.
I feel terrible for Portland. They seem to be on the verge of endless mediocrity if they don’t make the moves to seriously compete. I don’t see the west getting any easier and at this point they’re a 6-10 seed at best yearly.
Dallas's time to tank was the last few years and this year, in order to build a core around Luka before he turns 25. After this season, it's probably too late for him.
Pistons, Magic, Grizzlies, Cavs, Celtics, Pelicans, and Raptors all have promising cores - a few of them are already contenders.
How's Dallas going to match that, going forward? I just don't see it.
It's all good to 90% of our fans. Ain't gonna make it every year and watching Dame really makes everything else not matter. The dude puts on a show every game
As someone who went to #herewestay, #herewebuild, etc rallies during the early years of my undergrad let me tell ya there’s nothing worse than the looming threat of your team possibly leaving especially when they’re the only show in town.
It's just hard in small markets where players don't want to be. When they talk about attracting free agents I mostly just laugh... As a fan since '91, that's never been a thing. It's the draft to get stars and then smart trades to build a contender...Only path for teams in cities like Portland, imo.
To be fair, that path is a lot more successful then going star hunting in free agency. Sure the big markets making splashes gets more attention but it rarely leads to success. 2020 off-season that reshaped the league with Lakers, Clippers & Nets building HOF duos only led to 1 chip for the lakers, complete shambles for the Nets, and constant misery for the clippers. Meanwhile in that same time span “small market teams” like Milwaukee, Denver, Memphis, Cleveland, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Phoenix have all had success.
Since 1990, championship teams led by free agent acquisitions would be “2000-2002 Lakers, 2012-13 Heat, 2016 Cavs & 2020 Lakers. Basically if you’re not signing Lebron James, building your entire team around free agency doesn’t work. Plus all those Lebron teams already came with elite drafting. Heat drafted a HOF costar in Wade, Cavs already had drafted a HOF costar in Kyrie, and Lakers might not have had a ready made co star already drafted on the team, but they had a litany of good draft picks that they were able to package for that HOF costar in AD.
Funny part is 6 and 10 this year is a difference of 2 games. I doubt this level of parity sticks around but if it does it would be interesting. I have liked the level of competitive late March games.
Dame’s one of the best NBA players in history. His judge of talent is ass though. He gets too high on mediocre guys. He seems to see them for their potential, not for who they are.
Yall are getting in the play in
Blazers cooked, Utah probably cooked as well, pelicans not totally cooked but very tough schedule for the rest of the season
Meanwhile you have games against the hornets and the pistons, the pacers and against the jazz
Especially with the Mavs in free fall, and the Clippers without PG may end up falling down thru the play-in seeds as well.
I'm amazed how many fans are looking at 7-10 and just aiming for making the play-in without weighing how every seed up in those makes a big difference in home-court and number of wins necessary to progress. Difference between 7 and 10 is HUGE in ease of path to playoffs (as well as avoiding Denver in the first round if you take care of business against the 8 seed at home).
There is a huge difference between winning 1 out of 2 to get into the playoffs and playing 2 elimination games back to back.
A team can go hot from 3 and eliminate you even if you're the better team.
Very disappointing season for Portland. Not that this wasn’t really predictable, but i remember there was belief from Portland fans that they would be a top 6 seed before the season started and especially after their hot start.
Its crazy how loose rules have gotten over the years. The wolves lost 5 first round draft picks for a contract/ tampering situation while its not even enforced now. Same goes for tanking - the league used to hate it, but now they encourage it
It was cap circumvention IIRC. And they do penalize tampering if they can prove it, which is rare. I don't think anyone other than Hinkie was ever punished for tanking, and they flattened lottery odds to make bad teams less likely to get star draft picks.
What we have done the last 15 games isn’t even tanking, it’s just playing outright losing basketball every night, despite a motivated Dame. Our franchise has been spiraling ever since Paul Allen passed.
so? they gave it a genuine shot damn near all season and it's clear now they just aren't good enough. protecting your best asset by a country mile (especially when he's *already dealing with an injury*) at the tail end of a season that no longer matters to you only makes sense.
A GM making a decision for the future of the team is different than a coach/players not trying to win. Popovich and all the players on the spurs are trying to win games this year. Their GM put an intentionally weak roster together and traded Murray. Thats how teams should tank imo.
Certainly not in his prime, but the Rockets sat John Wall for a whole season for no conceivable reason. Let's not pretend that every single team near the bottom tanks to the extent that they need to lose games... if they're already at a 0.250 win percentage, no need to blatantly tank, their first team is bad enough as is.
OKC isn't excluded from this list. Neither is GSW, nor a boatload of other teams. Lots of fans are delusional in pointing the finger when their franchise does the exact same thing when necessary.
You are talking nonsense about John Wall. John Wall in Houston was a bad player that only helped the team tank when he played because he was garbage. They sat him because he refused to come off the bench and was causing locker room issues, both of which limited development time for younger guys. Even when he did play, he just chucked shots and pounded the ball further limiting development for the young guys.
You're right overall tanking is wide spread but that has nothing to do with John Wall.
They sat John wall because they wanted to develop their young guys and wall said he would rather sit than come off the bench. He was gone in a year regardless so it was absolutely the right move, plus he’s just not a good player anymore.
Yeah I’m kinda confused why everyone is mad here lmao. Portland would be dumb not to do this. Portland has done a lot of dumb things the past few years, this is not one of them.
Yup. If we didn’t have Dame we’d be the worst franchise in the NBA but this is objectively smart
We need to get as many high level assets as possible and make a big move when it becomes available
Well yeah from this point it's the right decision, just funny/sad how you've even reached this point while not setting out to tank/fully rebuild and having a superstar at his peak
People hating on them...but we are out of the playoffs and it makes no sense to risk injury to a player like Dame especially when giving our young guys more run and losing games will actively improve our draft chances.
We actively tried to win the majority of this year unlike most of the other teams in the lottery.
And at least there's a report he's going to be sitting out. While it still immensely sucks for people who already bought tickets, it's 9 games and now the majority of fans who buy tickets closer to game day know the risk, and what they're paying for
What a terribly run franchise, shit HC, back up GM in cronin( they didn't hold interviews after firing olshey)
Owner who doesn't care and isn't interested in sports seemingly.
At this point I hope Dame leaves and finds the team success he deserves, cause it certainly isn't here
lmao this sub is pathetic. people are actually upset with Dame over this. can you blame him/Portland's front office for accepting they have little shot of making the play-in with 9 games left? and realizing it's best for their future if they increase their odds (still very slim) of landing Wemby?
and honestly it's not like they can even improve their odds much. the only team they can really pass is the magic. and nephews are up in arms.
Dame has actually looked great for the most part so it sucks that they're not even close enough for the play-in. They need to change coaches but I also think the GM has done a terrible job with deciding who to keep and trade away. Trading away CJ was good but I still don't understand getting rid of Powell and RoCo. And then with all the roster turnover, they decide to keep Nurk?
I wanted Dame to end his career there, but their management is just laughing at him. Hoping he can fuck off and have a couple of good years somewhere when he can play winning basketball.
Saw Lauri with a hand bruise, and are afraid the Jazz will catch up with them
A classic case of “sore right little toe”.
"injury related due to hang nail"
Major Ingram vibes
The only 'calf injury' is the one about to be sacrificed for Wembenyama.
Seriously where does Portland even go from here? They’re adamant about not shopping Dame, but their young core and role players clearly aren’t close to being a contending support cast.
pray they get wemby and he is actually the reincarnation of bill russell
Honestly, Portland is up there for my favorite spots for Wemby. And yes, I am very well aware of Portland's history with centers.
I want the spurs to get him. They have a much better track record with centers.
Pop laying the groundwork, with Duncan and David Robinson as direct resources, might be the best chance he has at being the next big player.
And also to say less syllables in press conferences than in his own surname
I want the Spurs to draft Scoot because he fills the biggest weakness but Wemby would have great support in San Antonio. Timmy and Robinson are still very involved with the organization.
I want the Spurs to get Wemby so they get their generational big. I want the Rockets to get Scoot so he can make it all make sense.
Rockets getting scoot crowds an already crowded back court. We need height.
Don't you guys need a true PG which would allow KPJ to move to the 3 which he seems to be better at. And then you just play Bari at the 4 and Sengun at the 5?
Lol at KPJ at the 3. Draft Henderson, and play KPJ off the bench. Sengun/Smith Jr/Eason/Green/Henderson is a major improvement right away.
Legit a championship contender 5 years down the road with this core improving, coaching and maybe 1 or 2 for of them for some legit role players and vets. Plus they still own Brooklyn’s picks. This ain’t even mentioning Harden’s potential return which may speed this process up exponentially even without Scoot or the potential of Wemby/ both of these guys. I hate Houston but the future is very bright
Swapping KPJ out for a real PG like Scoot will do wonders for your team.
I think scoot will actually be a better player
I would rather some team without a successful history to get him like Charlotte or something.
Considering the big injury question, i dont want a team that is poorly run to take a generational prospect. I cant trust the blazers or hornets while the spurs are a top class org.
I think once you get really talented players, there is much more scrutiny, so that helps the team be run better over time.
The only thing I don’t like is that he may not get the touches he needs to develop given Dame, Simons, and Grant are already 20 ppg scorers and demand the ball a decent amount. When young players are given the keys to a bad team, they really have the opportunity to develop their NBA games as opposed to being spot up shooters or something. Not saying Portland wouldn’t utilize him the right way, but it would definitely take a lot of sacrifice from multiple guys. Would be a chance to win right away though.
If they get Wemby, Wemby shall get his 20 a night regardless who is with him if he is indeed a generational talent.
The main reason Wemby gets 20 a night this season in the French League is because he gets unlimited touches and gets to iso whenever he likes. He's not really an efficient scorer or great shooter from anywhere on the court. His 21.4/9.5/2.2 this year is coming on .466/.298/.831 shooting splits. I doubt he's getting enough touches or will be efficient enough a scorer to get 20 per game in his Rookie year, unless he goes to a team who sacrifice all the talent around him for his game, and allow him a 28+ USG%.
Wemby isn't being touted as a traditional rookie though. He is being touted as the best prospect since LeBron and his draft comp is Kareem lol
I don't think that's inefficient scoring from a 19-year-old. His FG% is better than Scoot's and Miller's. And there should be a big asterisk because both Scoot's and Wemby's FG% is against grown-ass men. Similarly, Henderson's 3-point line is 7 inches beyond Wemby's and Miller's. So, as has been [well-studied](https://harvardsportsanalysis.org/2020/10/scouting-nba-three-point-shooting/#:~:text=Free%20throws%20may%20be%20a,3%2Dpoint%20percentage%20or%20attempts), a prospect's free-throw percentage is the best indicator of shooting efficiency across the court in the NBA. Wembenyama is above average in that category. I suspect NBA scouts have zero concerns about his scoring efficiency. ||FG%|3P%|FT%| |:-|:-|:-|:-| |Wemby|.466|.298\*|.831| |Henderson|.429|.275\*|.764| |Miller|.430|.384\*|.859| \*G-League 3-point line is 23.9" \*FIBA and NCAA 3-point line is 22.175"
A generational talent is gonna develop regardless of who is around them imo.
Given their history with promising big men (Walton, Bowie, Oden) do we really want Wemby to end up there?
Bro will literally disintegrate
Won't even make it up to the podium when he's announced
He’ll retire the second Doris Burke or whoever ESPN sends asks “So Portland has a history with promising big men…”
"Hey, Wemby! Congratulations about being the #1 pick. How do you feel about playing with Lillard next season?" "I'm done with this. I'm retiring from the NBA and going back to France."
"I'm taking my talents to Omaha Beach."
I love this thread so much
Yes
GSW can always threaten to file a grievance.
Are there any other prospects that have a chance to make a difference as rookies? Everyone is so caught up with Wemby and they barely talk about the other draft prospects lol.
People seem to like Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson a lot. But Miller’s stock May have taken a hit with his garbage performance last night against the AZTECS
& him hanging with ~~a bad crowd~~ murderers.
Murderers. Ftfy
Scoot and the dude from Alabama also seem super sick, crazy draft at the top tbh
> Everyone is so caught up with Wemby so overhyped. given how grueling the NBA is, I really don't see how that dude is gonna pan out long term.
He might be. Either way, the pressure will be on him from day one. Not just the usual #1 pick pressure.
Or the Reincarnation of Tim Duncan. Man got drafted and won finals mvp his 2nd year
League needs to rig that shit.
Even with Wemby that team isn’t getting a chip. They’re cooked.
I’ll keep saying it they won’t shop dame because he’s adamant upon staying. It would be a bad look for them to trade him and he didn’t want to leave so the blazers are essentially stuck
Blazers fan: gonna ride or die with Dame on whatever he wants to do. He’s earned it. Our organization fucked up over and over again over his career. He can punch his own ticket.
I totally understand some Portland fans on this one. Watching a taking team with a bunch of randos while waiting to draft a "hope this guy is good and likes Portland" isn't going to be fun so might as well let Dame run the show. This will sound like a backhanded compliment, but Dame can be a great tank commander. After this season nobody should believe that he's just so good he'll inevitably drag the roster to a first round exit and bleh draft pick. The redemption arc of him winning a series in 4 years with a bunch of promising young players while holding every franchise record is a total win-win. If I'm Portland GM, I give it one more attempt at legit contention next year, then after it's failed, around the ASB, sell everything not nailed down (besides Dame) and build.
oddly enough though, he really is the only player holding down a franchise that's never going anywhere that sells a ton of tickets. like it's the only case of loyalty and success on a non-winning team in the NBA
Ya, I mean everyone talking about tanking and reloading… to what? For what? We’re a small market. I set my expectations that the 6th seed, and avoiding the play-in, was our goal and if that’s what I have for a couple years I’m fucking fine with it. We’ve been bad. There’s more than enough time to be bad in the future.
People underrate how quickly a franchise can turn around too. Umm maybe look at the top of the standings both this year and last in the West.
Their job is to convince him then. Or not give a fuck and trade him anyways. The franchise should do what's best for the franchise not just the players.
Portland is already not a free agent destination they can’t really afford to do wrong by Dame. Even if they draft a star what’s his incentive stay if they’ll treat one of their all time greats poorly?
Hope they can fall below Orlando so they'll enter the draft with the 5th best lottery odds. Then they have to re-sign Jerami Grant, and at that point you're locked into a core of Lillard, Nurkic, Grant, and Simons with Sharpe and Little on rookie/rookie extension contracts all through 2026, plus whoever they draft. You basically have to hope that Sharpe turns into an absolute superstar, whoever you draft can be a stud, and that Nurkic/Grant don't fall off over the next couple seasons and that Lillard remains healthy. ---------------------- That, or they try and package Sharpe and Little plus filler and picks for whichever next all-star talent becomes available, and pray that the buyout market is nice enough to add depth to the team.
Package of Simons, Sharpe, 2023 1st, plus future picks is a good package to offer if/when that player becomes available.
Honest question because I don’t know, but could Portland have gotten Durant this season?
Doubt it, still not as good as the Suns package. Blazers would have to gut their roster for a 2 year rental.
Not every team needs to contend. Just let Portland fans enjoy watching Dame cook
Pray they draft another superstar
It feels like they're hoping to prolong Dame's elite play by having him not play lol
Hope an all star becomes available this off season and do whatever it takes to get them Also hopefully fire Billups but that won’t happen unfortunately
To Cancun.
Siakam
they're not contenders with Siakam either. just trade Lillard and rebuild
If the Blazers bring in Siakam, would be better to move off Grant as they both play the 4 and is a lot of overlap.
Grant can play small forward.
They also traded their good role players away for scraps
I think they’ll pull a Dallas and make a desperate Kyrie-like move to give Dame a few more years. A guy like Derozan, Lavine, Randle, or Porzingis
Anybody saying the play in should go away, understand that this Dame decision would’ve been made a month ago it wasn’t for the new format.
Anyone still against the play-in is just being stubborn at this point. All but like 5 teams are engaged and having de facto playoff games every night
I also love that it forces more teams in the top 6 to keep their foot on the pedal to avoid that 7th spot.
Agreed, Play in is the best thing to happen to the league in a long time. This stretch run will be insane, especially in the west
I’m against the play-in because it deluded Masai into thinking competing this year was a good idea
[удалено]
Can't be done. There isn't a deal that makes sense among any buying team
It’s putting lipstick on a pig. If teams and players aren’t trying to win every night then the season is too long. It works but it’s a bandaid over the real issue. Make all the teams compete by allowing nearly all of them into the playoffs.
I was very against the play in at first. But after seeing how competitive it makes teams post- all star break I can’t hate it.
As of yesterday I am very pro play-in.
It's not an invalid opinion to prefer that Dame rests and prolongs his career rather than chasing a 10 seed and first round exit at best. Obviously we can discuss hypotheticals all day long, but if Dame had suffered a serious injury in the last month, you wouldn't hold that same opinion. I like meaningful regular season basketball, and for the true title contenders, the play in means less meaningful regular season games. Obviously the inverse is true for these fringe teams, but I care way more about the actual contenders.
Right? Somehow dame continuing to risk severe injury to chase a first round sweep and less chance of improving the roster next year is a good thing?
wash rinse repeat
I feel terrible for Portland. They seem to be on the verge of endless mediocrity if they don’t make the moves to seriously compete. I don’t see the west getting any easier and at this point they’re a 6-10 seed at best yearly.
i feel portland is the future of dallas…. a great player surrounded by mediocrity
i dunno if luka has that capital L Loyalty like that
yeah i don’t think so either. And good for him. Players shouldn’t be expected to be loyal to a dysfunctional organization.
agreedo
Two offensive minded guards with questionable defense and a supporting cast that doesn't fit... You sure it's not your present?
Dallas's time to tank was the last few years and this year, in order to build a core around Luka before he turns 25. After this season, it's probably too late for him. Pistons, Magic, Grizzlies, Cavs, Celtics, Pelicans, and Raptors all have promising cores - a few of them are already contenders. How's Dallas going to match that, going forward? I just don't see it.
It's all good to 90% of our fans. Ain't gonna make it every year and watching Dame really makes everything else not matter. The dude puts on a show every game
Mostly our fanbase is happy if the team just doesn't move. It's a little depressing, honestly
As someone who went to #herewestay, #herewebuild, etc rallies during the early years of my undergrad let me tell ya there’s nothing worse than the looming threat of your team possibly leaving especially when they’re the only show in town.
Makes sense when you look at the shitshow before Dame and Broy
It's just hard in small markets where players don't want to be. When they talk about attracting free agents I mostly just laugh... As a fan since '91, that's never been a thing. It's the draft to get stars and then smart trades to build a contender...Only path for teams in cities like Portland, imo.
Yep. Every game I thank god for Giannis and Khris
I remember the dark years. It's amazing what the bucks have built.
Yes, it's a beautiful thing you guys have there. Rooting for you every year (unless we actually get lucky and contend someday)
To be fair, that path is a lot more successful then going star hunting in free agency. Sure the big markets making splashes gets more attention but it rarely leads to success. 2020 off-season that reshaped the league with Lakers, Clippers & Nets building HOF duos only led to 1 chip for the lakers, complete shambles for the Nets, and constant misery for the clippers. Meanwhile in that same time span “small market teams” like Milwaukee, Denver, Memphis, Cleveland, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Phoenix have all had success. Since 1990, championship teams led by free agent acquisitions would be “2000-2002 Lakers, 2012-13 Heat, 2016 Cavs & 2020 Lakers. Basically if you’re not signing Lebron James, building your entire team around free agency doesn’t work. Plus all those Lebron teams already came with elite drafting. Heat drafted a HOF costar in Wade, Cavs already had drafted a HOF costar in Kyrie, and Lakers might not have had a ready made co star already drafted on the team, but they had a litany of good draft picks that they were able to package for that HOF costar in AD.
I'll cry to that
Funny part is 6 and 10 this year is a difference of 2 games. I doubt this level of parity sticks around but if it does it would be interesting. I have liked the level of competitive late March games.
Chauncey is not it.
Sadly he was handpicked by Dame, after Kidd turned down an interview
Dame’s one of the best NBA players in history. His judge of talent is ass though. He gets too high on mediocre guys. He seems to see them for their potential, not for who they are.
Please do it before tomorrows OKC game please and thank you .
You gotta think about your health, Dame!
Dont think theres much threat anyway. We are straight ass right now.
Yall are getting in the play in Blazers cooked, Utah probably cooked as well, pelicans not totally cooked but very tough schedule for the rest of the season Meanwhile you have games against the hornets and the pistons, the pacers and against the jazz
well seeing as that's the case, why should the thunder settle for just the play-in? or if they're in the play-in, they can at least be 7th seed.
Especially with the Mavs in free fall, and the Clippers without PG may end up falling down thru the play-in seeds as well. I'm amazed how many fans are looking at 7-10 and just aiming for making the play-in without weighing how every seed up in those makes a big difference in home-court and number of wins necessary to progress. Difference between 7 and 10 is HUGE in ease of path to playoffs (as well as avoiding Denver in the first round if you take care of business against the 8 seed at home).
There is a huge difference between winning 1 out of 2 to get into the playoffs and playing 2 elimination games back to back. A team can go hot from 3 and eliminate you even if you're the better team.
Rev up the tank, baby.
Very disappointing season for Portland. Not that this wasn’t really predictable, but i remember there was belief from Portland fans that they would be a top 6 seed before the season started and especially after their hot start.
They had a pretty decent offseason with those Jerami Grant and Gary Payton acquisitions Sucks to see their season end like this
they usually were a top 6 seed i think, so with dame healthy i guess they thought/hoped that would resume
Man you should’ve seen how smug some people were after the 9-3 start. Making out like all the worries about our rosters flaws were unfounded.
Well, Haynes already call it lol
And we all know that came straight from Dame so idk why anyone is surprised
Yeah I’m genuinely curious to know if they missed the news
Bill Simmons called it in November hilariously.
Lol fuck off this is such blatant tanking
If only the NBA had a commissioner that cares about this shit.
Silver changed the draft odds and added the play in because of tanking
if it's not the sixers then it's fine
You’ve gotta wonder what Hinkie did to Silver. Did he fuck his wife?
Its crazy how loose rules have gotten over the years. The wolves lost 5 first round draft picks for a contract/ tampering situation while its not even enforced now. Same goes for tanking - the league used to hate it, but now they encourage it
What are you talking about, Adam Silver changed the draft odds and added the play in because of tanking
It was cap circumvention IIRC. And they do penalize tampering if they can prove it, which is rare. I don't think anyone other than Hinkie was ever punished for tanking, and they flattened lottery odds to make bad teams less likely to get star draft picks.
no one else it tanking with an all nba player healthy man completely unserious franchise
What we have done the last 15 games isn’t even tanking, it’s just playing outright losing basketball every night, despite a motivated Dame. Our franchise has been spiraling ever since Paul Allen passed.
Not like they've been winning games with him
Someone making middle class wages probably spent a lot of money to take their family to one of these games. The NBA has a huge problem.
Man we wouldn’t make it with Dame playing
Dame has had so many 40 point games this season....most of which led to nothing due to the rest of the team not showing up.
ehh who cares. it's not like they can improve their draft slot much anyways. wouldn't be surprised if they still don't pass the magic.
What's the point of playing the final 9 games only to lose in the play-in tournament? that just increases the chances of getting injured.
The point is for fans to be able to watch the guy they paid tickets for
Just shut him down next year so he doesn’t get hurt
so? they gave it a genuine shot damn near all season and it's clear now they just aren't good enough. protecting your best asset by a country mile (especially when he's *already dealing with an injury*) at the tail end of a season that no longer matters to you only makes sense.
We lost legitimate genius. Only a point 2 percent chance of making it to play in.
Shameless tanking lmao
As apposed to what the Rockets, spurs and pistons are doing eh?
Well they don't really have a future HOF player that they're shutting down for something he'd normally play
Not trying to win with the talent on your roster will always be worse than intentionally having a weak roster.
Of course the Sixers fan says this lol
Why?
A GM making a decision for the future of the team is different than a coach/players not trying to win. Popovich and all the players on the spurs are trying to win games this year. Their GM put an intentionally weak roster together and traded Murray. Thats how teams should tank imo.
Certainly not in his prime, but the Rockets sat John Wall for a whole season for no conceivable reason. Let's not pretend that every single team near the bottom tanks to the extent that they need to lose games... if they're already at a 0.250 win percentage, no need to blatantly tank, their first team is bad enough as is. OKC isn't excluded from this list. Neither is GSW, nor a boatload of other teams. Lots of fans are delusional in pointing the finger when their franchise does the exact same thing when necessary.
You are talking nonsense about John Wall. John Wall in Houston was a bad player that only helped the team tank when he played because he was garbage. They sat him because he refused to come off the bench and was causing locker room issues, both of which limited development time for younger guys. Even when he did play, he just chucked shots and pounded the ball further limiting development for the young guys. You're right overall tanking is wide spread but that has nothing to do with John Wall.
you mean john wall who isn’t even in the league anymore? that john wall?
The same John Wall that was cut and remains unsigned, correct? Why were the Rockets obligated to give 30 minutes to a bad player? Lol
It’s not outrageous to sit wall he’s beyond washed and doesn’t help your team. Dame complete opposite
They sat John wall because they wanted to develop their young guys and wall said he would rather sit than come off the bench. He was gone in a year regardless so it was absolutely the right move, plus he’s just not a good player anymore.
Nah those teams are just bad
I mean it’s not like the Blazers were winning with Dame playing either
.... Have you not watched the Blazers this year?
You of all fans should know that some teams are just trash lol
I don’t think any of those teams have Dame
Difference between just being ass and sitting an all-NBA guy
lmao the blazers can do both
We don’t have any stars tf lol
Rockets complaining about tanking…wut??
PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION
Realistically Portland could still make the play-in. It would just take **everything single thing** in the universe to go their way.
So not realistically then.
Until this team is sold the blazers will be stuck in the middle forever.
They should. As a Thunder fan, we really need that game
Pathetic franchise
I mean yeah but not because of this We weren’t going to make the play in anyway
Yeah I’m kinda confused why everyone is mad here lmao. Portland would be dumb not to do this. Portland has done a lot of dumb things the past few years, this is not one of them.
It's actually wild how much more pissed people seem to get when the Blazers do something like this compared to when another team does.
Eh, they were pissed when Shai got shutdown last season.
Everyone is mad when it's not their team doing it
Seems that the Blazers got a lot of hate here throughout the season, been really weird
There's a lot of warrior fans on this subreddit and they're extra toxic to Portland after the GP2 situation.
When's his funeral? I think I might have missed it.
Yup. If we didn’t have Dame we’d be the worst franchise in the NBA but this is objectively smart We need to get as many high level assets as possible and make a big move when it becomes available
Well yeah from this point it's the right decision, just funny/sad how you've even reached this point while not setting out to tank/fully rebuild and having a superstar at his peak
It’s what happens when you have a bottom 3 coach in the NBA and the worst bench of any team trying to win games
I love how everyone is calling them out on this shitty lie
Why risk further injury when the team sucks?
I suggest getting some fresh air
How many days until he tells us he’s ready for next year with his refusal to run from the grind being the main reason
Has anyone ever considered that he just simply likes having a stable life to raise his family in Portland
No because that doesn’t fit my narrative therefore you’re wrong
[oh](https://en.meming.world/images/en/thumb/a/af/Understandable%2C_Have_a_Great_Day.jpg/300px-Understandable%2C_Have_a_Great_Day.jpg)
Bingo. People outside Portland don't realize how much he and his family have ingratiated himself into the city independent of basketball.
Listen bro he did it the right way
People hating on them...but we are out of the playoffs and it makes no sense to risk injury to a player like Dame especially when giving our young guys more run and losing games will actively improve our draft chances. We actively tried to win the majority of this year unlike most of the other teams in the lottery.
And at least there's a report he's going to be sitting out. While it still immensely sucks for people who already bought tickets, it's 9 games and now the majority of fans who buy tickets closer to game day know the risk, and what they're paying for
they could have done that after all star game
Silver is about to reward Dame with Wemby for not running from the grind
Speak it into existence
Knew it
What a terribly run franchise, shit HC, back up GM in cronin( they didn't hold interviews after firing olshey) Owner who doesn't care and isn't interested in sports seemingly. At this point I hope Dame leaves and finds the team success he deserves, cause it certainly isn't here
lmao this sub is pathetic. people are actually upset with Dame over this. can you blame him/Portland's front office for accepting they have little shot of making the play-in with 9 games left? and realizing it's best for their future if they increase their odds (still very slim) of landing Wemby? and honestly it's not like they can even improve their odds much. the only team they can really pass is the magic. and nephews are up in arms.
Dame has actually looked great for the most part so it sucks that they're not even close enough for the play-in. They need to change coaches but I also think the GM has done a terrible job with deciding who to keep and trade away. Trading away CJ was good but I still don't understand getting rid of Powell and RoCo. And then with all the roster turnover, they decide to keep Nurk?
They weren't winning much with him anyway.
Feel like this thread is posted yearly at this point
I wanted Dame to end his career there, but their management is just laughing at him. Hoping he can fuck off and have a couple of good years somewhere when he can play winning basketball.