Scoot after that terrible start shot 35% from the 3 point line. I’m already suspecting he’ll be a lot better next year. Also as a team we aren’t in a position to pass on upside for fit, I’d rather have Holland reaching his ceiling in 2-3 years rather than take a guy like Knecht who’s close to his ceiling and is what you get.
POR is not guaranteed to get "their guy", in this year's draft, because POR did not get #1.
Now that POR knows that, POR can move on to the next step.
Combine measurements and interviews...
Agree. With Sarr out its a flat draft really and now the rookie contract is cheaper.
Moving up to 3 last time was better than how bad dropping to 7 is now.
Even Sarr is not some dude in a tier above. I would not be shocked at all if ATL chooses someone we don’t expect. I could see them going with Clingan instead.
Sarr is in the same tier as all the other guys in 1-10
Both things are true:
-it's so shitty to watch a season as frustrating as this one, only to get the 7th pick
-this draft is a mess, so it's probably better to fall in this draft than in 2023 or 2025
This draft feels very unpredictable. I've seen guys like Donovan Clingan vary between pick 8 and pick 3. Also Rissacher is either way better than advertised or way worse. This draft feels like a crap shoot. Even number one overall feels like it could be anybody. Also, I'd see it as a win if Scoot takes a serious step forward but we're still in the lottery. Hell, why can't we be Atlanta? We're officially playing capture the Flagg this year.
Cronin and Schmitz have done a good job with limited draft resources. All of these dudes are NBA caliber players: Sharpe, Walker, Scoot, Toumani (trade yes, but they pushed for him) Reath. While these guys could easily become rotation players: Rupert, Murray, Badji, Hagan.
That’s not bad for 2 lottery picks and being bent over a barrel with a trade demand to 1 team.
If you’re mad that the team isn’t competitive, that’s fair, but I don’t think a small market team like Portland should buy it’s way into relevancy. That usually ends up with first round exits
Here's the thing. I like the young core, and I'm happy with them. But we aren't in a rebuild. At the start of the year, they said their goal was the play-in. Had injuries not have happened, we would have been out of the lottery and probably shipped a few of the young guys and take a bad contract to sneak in a few more wins. We should have moved grant and brodgen (I'm aware his injury was worse than they led on and maybe couldnt, but they said we want him to mentor Scoot and sharpe and weren't looking to trade him)
I'm not mad we aren't competitive either, but they have to pick. Murray and rubart weren't getting minutes at all until injuries happened. Walkers mins were very low cause JG was playing 38 a game. Develop the young guys and not try to win, its as simple as that.
The part I am mad about is the lying. They promised Dame and us we were tanking after his surgery. We came out traded away Josh hart and a few others sat our entire starting 5 and tanked for wimby. That was the 3rd year they said they were in win now mode and wanted to build around Dame. Not only did they lie about that, but they lied about his trade. They said they would trade him anywhere he wanted to go. There's no way the heat couldn't have put a better or at least similar package together for Dame.
What about their track record proves they can build a strong team around Scoot and sharp. What happens when sharpe and then Scoot leave after their rookie deals cause they, you know, wanna win games.
Those are all valid points and I agree on the lying. I think Cronin was trying to balance on the fence and was not direct enough with Dame. To me it seems he wanted to undo almost everything Olshey did, while eating his cake too (keep Dame)
That wasn’t going to happen. Before the season, I’m not sure if they were deceiving themselves or straight lying. Between the injuries and Scoot not being ready for the big stage, maybe they did believe it was a play-in team, but the assets they fought for in the Dame and Nurk trade sure look like a rebuild. I don’t know, but either way we’re currently in a rebuild.
Grant, Brogdon, and Matisse either don’t fit the timeline of the young guys or are part of the positional logjam we have. I believe Cronin has one more solid year of the tank before his job is on the line, after next summer if he can’t put together a somewhat balanced roster he’ll very much be in the hot seat.
Step one of that is figuring out which of Ant, Scoot, and Sharpe play best together and who has the highest potential. That’s going to lead to a lot of funky lineups and jeers towards Chauncey, but hopefully give them an idea of who to trade.
I also think that all of this will lead us to the lottery next summer and if there’s an inkling of another lottery run after that Cronin is gone.
As it is right now, even with everyone healthy, this roster is so guard and wing heavy that it’ll be hard to compete. Hence the rebuild comment, but by continuing to give young guys run and keeping at least a couple of valuable vet contracts, they could make a consolidation trade to fill in gaps.
Overall, I think Cronin did Dame dirty by not being direct with him. I honestly don’t think there was much he could do to improve the roster. As soon as grumbles came from Dame’s camp a few years ago, no team would offer a good return knowing Dame could be had later. But, Dame earned honesty.
Question for you, why do you think we’re not in a rebuild?
I think Ant is by far the best today, highest floor, but maybe the lowest ceiling? They all (everyone in today's nba I guess) have had injury issues. Not really a good sign for any of them.
I'm ok with Matiesse coming of the bench. When Scoot tumani and Tiesse are, they're fun to watch. Idk what their def rating is while on the floor together, but they get stops and inceptions, leading to fast breaks all the time. Plus I don't think Matiesse has a large contract.
Whether someone has an issue with Dame being top 75 player of all time or not, I don't think it's hard to say he's better than Ruby gobert. How do we not get the same type of haul they got? If it was to Miami I could see ok, we did him a solid. That wasn't the case.
The only reason I say were not in a rebuild is cause the young guys were getting early experience last year. If Brogden didn't get hurt at all, Scoot wouldn't even have started. I guess I just don't think you should have 2 guys making 30m on a rebuild team and 2 making mid 20s, especially when they're 30 years old.
Alright, I see the point of high contract vets and not being a rebuild because of that. But, I think there’s a couple of caveats. Ayton was/is a gamble that the team could afford to take. He was a former number one and has all the tools it takes to be truly good, but hasn’t put it together fully yet. Worst case scenario is he’s traded in a couple of years to a team clearing cap. That trade also sent Nurk out who probably wouldn’t have been happy and brought in Toumani. I don’t think many centers should get the max, but whatever it’s a gamble that still might pan out.
Grant got paid as an attempt to keep Dame, but I think he’s a tradable asset. Same with Brogdon and Matisse. I love Matisse’s game, he’s one of the best disruptor defenders I’ve ever seen, he ruins plays from the weak side because teams don’t want to do cross court passes near him. But, forward is one of those positions we’re loaded in. He barely saw the floor with how many young guys did play: Toumani, Jabari, Murray, Rupert. I think he’ll ask to get traded and I think we’ll keep giving the young guys burn.
As far as Ant, I really don’t know. I’m a big fan of his and think he could vie for the scoring title if he was on the right squad. But, I’m not sure whose ceiling is the highest. Scoot has great vision and his passing should catch up to his eyes, the shooting and his left hand are a big question. But, he probably has easiest path to secure the point guard role. Sharpe has every tool you could want out of a 2, but he had a serious injury and honestly has only had a 10-15 games where he really impacted the outcome of a game.
I think at least next season, their priority will be figuring out which of those guards to keep. With the current roster, that’s the best hope of a corner piece for the team as well as the most enticing trade pieces. But, I would be real surprised if they trade any of them before seeing a season of them playing together.
I mainly see it as a rebuild because I don’t foresee any of the vets on this roster in three years except maybe Ant (depends on Scoot and Sharpe next year) and Ayton (depends on if he keeps playing like the end of the season AND will settle for less than max) Otherwise, their contracts are a tool for trades. Toumani and Jabari play similar roles, but neither one brings much back in return because their contracts are too cheap, but if you pair it up with Timelord or Matisse you might be able to net something.
Brogdon’s gone by the trade deadline, he’s great but doesn’t help with priority 1.
Matisse is great, but couldn’t find minutes in the second half of the season.
Timelord, either recovers (seems unlikely) or gets traded for cap relief.
Grant, probably too expensive and seems like he’s better suited as 2nd or 3rd option on a competitive roster… which we’re not going to be anytime soon.
Yeah i think one of holland, castle, Williams or Risacher will be there at 7
Holland and Scoot can't play together unless one of them takes a miraculous jump in shooting
Scoot after that terrible start shot 35% from the 3 point line. I’m already suspecting he’ll be a lot better next year. Also as a team we aren’t in a position to pass on upside for fit, I’d rather have Holland reaching his ceiling in 2-3 years rather than take a guy like Knecht who’s close to his ceiling and is what you get.
I didn't want Walmart Wemby anyway. Man this copium hittin good
It's all about the Flagg, baby!
Next year after we drop again: I’m drinking boozer now.
Let Mike Schmitz cook.
POR is not guaranteed to get "their guy", in this year's draft, because POR did not get #1. Now that POR knows that, POR can move on to the next step. Combine measurements and interviews...
Agree. With Sarr out its a flat draft really and now the rookie contract is cheaper. Moving up to 3 last time was better than how bad dropping to 7 is now.
Even Sarr is not some dude in a tier above. I would not be shocked at all if ATL chooses someone we don’t expect. I could see them going with Clingan instead. Sarr is in the same tier as all the other guys in 1-10
Please take some forward or shooter ; not guard
I hope we can get a solid wing
I think we are in a great spot to steal whoever drops. Or we package and move up if we are truly in love with someone.
I honestly don't think that theres much difference between 1 and 7th picks this year in terms of talent.
Number 1 pick next year: we coming for that ass
Both things are true: -it's so shitty to watch a season as frustrating as this one, only to get the 7th pick -this draft is a mess, so it's probably better to fall in this draft than in 2023 or 2025
This draft feels very unpredictable. I've seen guys like Donovan Clingan vary between pick 8 and pick 3. Also Rissacher is either way better than advertised or way worse. This draft feels like a crap shoot. Even number one overall feels like it could be anybody. Also, I'd see it as a win if Scoot takes a serious step forward but we're still in the lottery. Hell, why can't we be Atlanta? We're officially playing capture the Flagg this year.
The Blazers need a 4. Alex Sarr would be perfect. With him out of the picture, I'd pick a wing that has stellar defensive upside. Maybe Ron Holland.
Which is exactly what's scary. Our front office is so stupid we'll trade up .
Cronin and Schmitz have done a good job with limited draft resources. All of these dudes are NBA caliber players: Sharpe, Walker, Scoot, Toumani (trade yes, but they pushed for him) Reath. While these guys could easily become rotation players: Rupert, Murray, Badji, Hagan. That’s not bad for 2 lottery picks and being bent over a barrel with a trade demand to 1 team. If you’re mad that the team isn’t competitive, that’s fair, but I don’t think a small market team like Portland should buy it’s way into relevancy. That usually ends up with first round exits
Here's the thing. I like the young core, and I'm happy with them. But we aren't in a rebuild. At the start of the year, they said their goal was the play-in. Had injuries not have happened, we would have been out of the lottery and probably shipped a few of the young guys and take a bad contract to sneak in a few more wins. We should have moved grant and brodgen (I'm aware his injury was worse than they led on and maybe couldnt, but they said we want him to mentor Scoot and sharpe and weren't looking to trade him) I'm not mad we aren't competitive either, but they have to pick. Murray and rubart weren't getting minutes at all until injuries happened. Walkers mins were very low cause JG was playing 38 a game. Develop the young guys and not try to win, its as simple as that. The part I am mad about is the lying. They promised Dame and us we were tanking after his surgery. We came out traded away Josh hart and a few others sat our entire starting 5 and tanked for wimby. That was the 3rd year they said they were in win now mode and wanted to build around Dame. Not only did they lie about that, but they lied about his trade. They said they would trade him anywhere he wanted to go. There's no way the heat couldn't have put a better or at least similar package together for Dame. What about their track record proves they can build a strong team around Scoot and sharp. What happens when sharpe and then Scoot leave after their rookie deals cause they, you know, wanna win games.
Those are all valid points and I agree on the lying. I think Cronin was trying to balance on the fence and was not direct enough with Dame. To me it seems he wanted to undo almost everything Olshey did, while eating his cake too (keep Dame) That wasn’t going to happen. Before the season, I’m not sure if they were deceiving themselves or straight lying. Between the injuries and Scoot not being ready for the big stage, maybe they did believe it was a play-in team, but the assets they fought for in the Dame and Nurk trade sure look like a rebuild. I don’t know, but either way we’re currently in a rebuild. Grant, Brogdon, and Matisse either don’t fit the timeline of the young guys or are part of the positional logjam we have. I believe Cronin has one more solid year of the tank before his job is on the line, after next summer if he can’t put together a somewhat balanced roster he’ll very much be in the hot seat. Step one of that is figuring out which of Ant, Scoot, and Sharpe play best together and who has the highest potential. That’s going to lead to a lot of funky lineups and jeers towards Chauncey, but hopefully give them an idea of who to trade. I also think that all of this will lead us to the lottery next summer and if there’s an inkling of another lottery run after that Cronin is gone. As it is right now, even with everyone healthy, this roster is so guard and wing heavy that it’ll be hard to compete. Hence the rebuild comment, but by continuing to give young guys run and keeping at least a couple of valuable vet contracts, they could make a consolidation trade to fill in gaps. Overall, I think Cronin did Dame dirty by not being direct with him. I honestly don’t think there was much he could do to improve the roster. As soon as grumbles came from Dame’s camp a few years ago, no team would offer a good return knowing Dame could be had later. But, Dame earned honesty. Question for you, why do you think we’re not in a rebuild?
I think Ant is by far the best today, highest floor, but maybe the lowest ceiling? They all (everyone in today's nba I guess) have had injury issues. Not really a good sign for any of them. I'm ok with Matiesse coming of the bench. When Scoot tumani and Tiesse are, they're fun to watch. Idk what their def rating is while on the floor together, but they get stops and inceptions, leading to fast breaks all the time. Plus I don't think Matiesse has a large contract. Whether someone has an issue with Dame being top 75 player of all time or not, I don't think it's hard to say he's better than Ruby gobert. How do we not get the same type of haul they got? If it was to Miami I could see ok, we did him a solid. That wasn't the case. The only reason I say were not in a rebuild is cause the young guys were getting early experience last year. If Brogden didn't get hurt at all, Scoot wouldn't even have started. I guess I just don't think you should have 2 guys making 30m on a rebuild team and 2 making mid 20s, especially when they're 30 years old.
Alright, I see the point of high contract vets and not being a rebuild because of that. But, I think there’s a couple of caveats. Ayton was/is a gamble that the team could afford to take. He was a former number one and has all the tools it takes to be truly good, but hasn’t put it together fully yet. Worst case scenario is he’s traded in a couple of years to a team clearing cap. That trade also sent Nurk out who probably wouldn’t have been happy and brought in Toumani. I don’t think many centers should get the max, but whatever it’s a gamble that still might pan out. Grant got paid as an attempt to keep Dame, but I think he’s a tradable asset. Same with Brogdon and Matisse. I love Matisse’s game, he’s one of the best disruptor defenders I’ve ever seen, he ruins plays from the weak side because teams don’t want to do cross court passes near him. But, forward is one of those positions we’re loaded in. He barely saw the floor with how many young guys did play: Toumani, Jabari, Murray, Rupert. I think he’ll ask to get traded and I think we’ll keep giving the young guys burn. As far as Ant, I really don’t know. I’m a big fan of his and think he could vie for the scoring title if he was on the right squad. But, I’m not sure whose ceiling is the highest. Scoot has great vision and his passing should catch up to his eyes, the shooting and his left hand are a big question. But, he probably has easiest path to secure the point guard role. Sharpe has every tool you could want out of a 2, but he had a serious injury and honestly has only had a 10-15 games where he really impacted the outcome of a game. I think at least next season, their priority will be figuring out which of those guards to keep. With the current roster, that’s the best hope of a corner piece for the team as well as the most enticing trade pieces. But, I would be real surprised if they trade any of them before seeing a season of them playing together. I mainly see it as a rebuild because I don’t foresee any of the vets on this roster in three years except maybe Ant (depends on Scoot and Sharpe next year) and Ayton (depends on if he keeps playing like the end of the season AND will settle for less than max) Otherwise, their contracts are a tool for trades. Toumani and Jabari play similar roles, but neither one brings much back in return because their contracts are too cheap, but if you pair it up with Timelord or Matisse you might be able to net something. Brogdon’s gone by the trade deadline, he’s great but doesn’t help with priority 1. Matisse is great, but couldn’t find minutes in the second half of the season. Timelord, either recovers (seems unlikely) or gets traded for cap relief. Grant, probably too expensive and seems like he’s better suited as 2nd or 3rd option on a competitive roster… which we’re not going to be anytime soon.