Examining the Trail Blazers‘ plans going forward, Dan Devine of The Ringer suggests there are a few reasons for optimism in Portland. The team’s late-season addition of Norman Powell made an already strong offense even more potent, and the Blazers re-signed Powell to a long-term deal this summer. New head coach Chauncey Billups could also make an immediate impact and push the club harder on the defensive end, where improvement is necessary.
Still, Devine acknowledges that the Blazers didn’t exactly swing for the fences with their offseason moves, noting that there are a a lot of caveats and “maybes” in play when discussing their potential upside.
Here’s more out of Portland:
- Asked during an Instagram Live appearance whether he intends to leave Portland, Lillard replied, I’m not leaving PDX. Not right now at least” (video link via Landon Buford). Those who believe Lillard wants to stay will likely focus on his assertion that he’s not going anywhere, while those who think he wants out will probably zero in on the “not right now” portion of his response. I wouldn’t read too much into it either way — it sounds like Lillard was supplying a fairly generic answer while leaving all his options open for the future.
- Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report spoke to new NBPA president CJ McCollum about whether he believes the Blazers are capable of winning a title, teams’ free agency spending, and a handful of other topics. “I think whenever we step on the court, we have a chance to win a championship. If you don’t have that mindset and that mentality, then you shouldn’t play,” McCollum said of the Blazers. “… I feel like every year we have a chance to win a championship. But in the NBA, there’s so many things that go into that. You need a little bit of luck.”
- In the latest HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozzlan discussed the Blazers’ offseason, with Scotto noting that president of basketball operations Neil Olshey is going “all-in” on Billups and will either “sink or swim” with that head coaching hire. Scotto also suggested that McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic need to step up and play some of their best basketball in 2021/22 to give Portland a chance to contend.
SIGN PAUL MILLSAP, and a guard that can defend, and play with Lillard and/or CJ
Can they offer him more than the vet min? Seems like that’s what he’s holding out for
Yes
Blazers have $5 million remaining on MLE
They need to pay tax though
If Wolves offer Milsap 1 year $6 million, they need salary dump to get Ben Simmons
Which of these former Trailblazer greats was better during his time in Oregon… Terry Porter, CJ McCollum, Maurice Lucas, Rasheed Wallace or Brandon Roy? Feel free to make a top3
Almost like my Pacers choice of Danny Granger, Brandon Roy had his career cut short by injury. But oh my goodness this guy was amazing.
I remember one year he came back from injury and carried the Trail Blazers in the playoffs with huge buckets and tremendous play. He made the game look so easy kept things simple. Not really a three-point shooter but rather had a fantastic wing and mid-range game. Actually did it all for them, ran the point quite a bit and scored and carried them when necessary.
I’m not sure if Brandon Roy was the best Blazer or even top 10 best all-time, but he was definitely my favorite.
That was gm4 vs Dallas in the 1st rd the yr Dallas won the title. Roy led their comeback with 30+ off the bench, incredible game. He was definitely extremely versatile,tbh he was a really good 3pt shooter too. Sucks that his knees didn’t hold up but he’s gonna be a great coach either in the league or at UW
Probably would have ended up being Brandon Roy, had his career continued, but Sheed is incredibly underrated, and would be amazing if he was around nowadays
Sheed was definitely a great big man. If Portland holds onto their big 4th qtr lead to beat LAL in gm7 of the 2000 West Finals or if Detroit beats SA in gm7 of 05 Finals & goes back2back then Sheed is probably a HOFer. He’s definitely a beast. Just got named to Penny Hardaway’s staff at Memphis too & is a perfect guy to eventually be a college or NBA head coach
Wallace was a major distraction because he was unhinged for a good portion of his time in Portland & now the NBA has the Rasheed Wallace rule for Technical fouls
MJ was a distraction for yrs in Chicago even when he was no longer in the league. Bron, Dwight, Kobe, KD all distractions for their teams for one reason or another. Dame is a big distraction for Portland rn. Much like Sheed all those guys were great & carried their teams to a lot of success. Sheed got a lot of techs, mainly in Detroit tho, but more importantly he was the best player on some great Portland teams
I’m big on my recency bias, so for me it’s CJ. I think Dame ansmd CJ are better apart though, their games are quite redundant
I gotta strongly disagree about them being better apart. They’ve been ridiculously productive together. Isiah & Dumars were redundant in certain ways but they worked bc I mean they were both extremely talented guys that know how to play the game, same as CJ & Dame
Joe dumars is on a level cj could never pretend to come close to reaching ! Joe dumars is a legit hall of fame inductee cj is a zero time all star! If dame had even a joe dumars level side kick he wouldn’t be questioning his future In Portland
I’ll agree Dumars is better but you’re definitely sleeping on CJ. That guy is obviously great at basketball. His gm7 in Denver is 1 of the great postseason performances of the 21st century fr. He’s 21-23ppg for 6yrs straight now. Clearly 1 of the best guards of his era. Much like Detroit in the 80s/early 90s, this Portland team’s success will depend on more than 2guys. CJ is the 1 thing that the Blazer organization has done most right since Dame got there
Cj is comparable to him as a scorer perhaps but joe dumars was a two way 6 time all star hall of famer! Michael Jordan credited him as his toughest one on one defender ( not that he could stop him ) !
Defense is definitely a deciding factor in this one, but I do think CJ is overlooked for not being as good as Dame (or Klay, as a second option). He’s a very, very good player who may just never quite reach that next level in most people’s eyes.
1) Rasheed 2) CJ 3) Roy
Terry, Mighty Mo & when healthy Brandon
I think I might go Terry as well
Brandon Roy was easily the best on that list. Can’t be a serious question
I think the Blazers took a step backwards. They lost some players but didn’t replace them. Even Carmelo Anthony contributed quite a bit to this team and resurrected his career.. he was a perfect fit after stumbling elsewhere… But he’s gone. That was a little bit of scoring punch Off the Bench.
Blazers are going nowhere.
They are screaming for a firesale/rebuild tbh
Yeah if signing Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore are your major “additions” then even losing someone of Melo’s caliber hurts.
I know Olshey said it isn’t the roster that’s the problem. His offseason moves certainly made it clear he believes that statement.
Melo’s caliber… The guy was out of the league before Portland gave him a chance. I have all the respect for Melo and he proved he’s still got something left in the tank as a backup, but no team is winning or losing based on Melo at this point.
Exactly—comment was more of an indictment on who they signed than praise for Melo.
Funny seeing a Warriors fan talking about another team screaming for a fire sale/rebuild when his own team is teetering on the precipice of one themselves.
It’s a matter of time Lillard is gone might as well trade him sooner rather than later CJ is a really good player unfortunately poortland won’t win a chip anytime soon GO LAKERS!!
Don’t expect Dame to ever play for the Flakers
Dame is a good fit for Lakers
Trade via third team
Olshey’s concept of talent doesn’t win. He got lucky in consecutive drafts a few years back with small-college guards.
Melo was a defensive liability. I still think they need to trade CJ and bring in a guard who can play some defense.
“Not right now”…so what about, like…now?
lol
You see CJ the harder one works, the luckier one gets, right?
I mean when you start depending or counting on luck to win, simply means you ain’t good enough to win, just be honest & say we will never win, we ain’t good enough, fans love honesty & we can take it, no one likes to be taken for a ride, man!
“Not now at least” = Lillard will definitely leave at some point if the Blazers do not take another step. The signals he’s sending could not be anymore clear.
So whereas with a guy like Beal we’re just speculating that he’ll end up leaving the Wizards, Lillard is a ticking time bomb that is guaranteed to go off within the next year it would seem.
Olshey has done absolutely nothing to improve one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA the last several years & he’s actually hurt the defensive side when he didn’t re sign Enis Kanter & replaced him with Cody Zeller
?? Kanter isn’t defensively strong. Olshey tried defense with getting Jones & Covington, Jones at a premium, and this year is dropping Melo. He’s trying but does not have the right instincts.
i really hope your a troll because for the past half decade enes Kanter has famously been one of the worst centers defensively in the entire nba while Cody Zeller is widely regarded as a versatile big with very good lateral quickness.
What metrics measure Kanters defense? From the eye test, he’s one of the best post defenders they’ve had in the last decade
Dame and CJ remind me of the Wizards when they had Wall and Beal.
2 elite guards, couple nice playoff runs and some memorable moments but nothing great. The team tries to build around them somewhat but both players take up most the payroll. Both teams don’t really draft well to bring in more talent. Then eventually one of them probably leaves?
Wizards ended up holding onto Wall for to long then he got the massive extension, he got injured for two season and they ended up trading him for Russ (used goods). Then trading Russ for a bunch of vet role players and risk losing Beal.
For Portland I believe they have hung onto CJ for too long, they have done a better job getting talent to go around their stars but it still hasn’t resulted in much. Now the problem is their star player Dame is thinking he wants out. If you hold onto him for another season your not going to get a win now package in return, you’ll be rebuilding.
What Portland needs to do is bite the bullet and trade either Dame or CJ now. If it’s Dame then take back a young win now player and picks. If it’s CJ hope and pray you get a good offer.