Anyone else like the potential of what they are putting together? If they could add a big 2 guard with outside range (ideally one with "star" potential...think they regret not trading Lamarcus earlier?), then they may just have something exciting to build on. Athletic, long, and fast. PG Damian Lillard Cj McCollum Tim Frazier SG Gerald Henderson C.J. McCollum Allen Crabbe SF Al-Farouq Aminu Moe Harkless PF Ed Davis Noah Vonleh C Mason Plumlee Meyers Leonard
Lillard is good (obv) Henderson is a chucker of long 2s McCollum may be decent but no one knows for sure Aminu is what he is - good defender, poor shooter, meh everything else Ed Davis is a nice player, not sure if he's a starter on a winning team though Mason and Meyers have a chance to be a good center rotation, but neither are keeping opposing players up at night Noah Vonleh is a mystery since he was injured most of last year, but I know fans of his former team weren't at all sad to see him leave. Overall, they are... ok. Nothing for me to get excited about yet.
That team has 7-10 seed for the next 3-5 years written all over it. If they were in the East, they might be in the mix for home court in the first round, but in the West, they'll just be fodder for the 7-8 teams that are clearly more talented than them. If we're talking about Western teams with potential, let's talk about Minnesota, Utah, and Phoenix before we talk about Portland.
They're going to have a dreadful offense. Nobody besides Lillard can score. Didn't understand why they went after so many role players. Should have just stocked up on young prospects on the cheap and tank.
Blazers will be bad until they hit the jackpot in the draft. Having a big free agent leave without getting anything in return is a death knell to a franchise that cannot attract free agents.
In the West, you need an all-NBA player and 4 above average starters just to compete for the 8 seed (last year's Hornets). Meanwhile, a team with a second-tier star and 4 mediocre starters, like the Blazers, projects to be one of the worst teams in the league (last year's Minnesota).
OKC has it easy in the NW division next season. Blazers, Nuggets, Wolves will be all be lotteyr teams and the Jazz may or not be decent enough to get the 8th seed.
