Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Portland 125 Golden State 108. Durant got 40, 28 for Thompson, JaVale McGee was the only other Warrior in double figures (10). The Blazers got 30 from McCollum, Lillard , 28. Joining the guard duo in double figures for the Blazers were, Collins, Turner, 12, Davis, Nurkic, Napier, 10. Blazers, 40-26, extend their winning streak to 9, and have won 9 of their last 10 games. Next game: Miami on Monday.

I think that Olshey has a tight window in which to do his dealing; imagination is not likely. I have written that I don't believe either Lillard or CJ will be traded because Olshey-Allen, know that they are what brings the fans in. This traps Olshey when it comes to negotiating with Lillard, CJ. He starts high.
I feel like Lillard and CJ both want the team to get better, Lillard, unlike LA, actually does want to go down as the greatest Blazer ever, and so their contract negotiations have not been contentious. If the team can keep this play going, end up in the top 4, an FA could be possible.

i know GS was down some guys, but we were still outnumbered 3 all stars to 1 friday night. that was a nice win and a great rose garden (sorry... moda) atmosphere. let’s keep it going against the heat tomorrow night.

Wade, Whiteside not expected to play for Heat tonight against the Blazers.

ah that’s too bad, always a pleasure to see wade play.

pelicans lost last night, we’ve got a 2-game lead for 3rd.

10 in a row!

things got needlessly anxious after a 19 point evaporated to 3, but they got the job done. lillard with 32 and 10 assists, nurk 27 & 16 boards.

Make it 10 in a row for the Trail Blazers; 41-26, 3rd in the West. Lillard goes for 32 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds. Heat got with in 3 in the 4th, but the Trail Blazers rolled down the stretch. Nurkic, 27 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists. CJ McCollum, 17 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and Evan Turner, 13 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds. Next up, Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday. The 41 wins equals the total for last season.

oregontrack wrote:edit: does anyone but phalanx disagree? lillard is such an open and shut case i’ll go to my death fighting you on this, but I’m willing to be persuaded on CJ if i hear a compelling argument. considering the timing of the deal, though, i just can’t imagine he’d go much lower. olshey already “won” by not needing to give up the full max. and before you fight me on that “only” being about $800k per year, remember again that the deal was signed in 2016, and at that time nobody knew where the cap was going to plateau at. the cap had just skyrocketed, and some expected it to keep going up (hence all the big money spent around the league that summer). getting CJ to sign for a fixed amount, and not a % of the cap, was considered a win for Portland at the time.

I'm not going to try to argue with your giant post, which more or less repeats what you have been saying all along, that Olshey could not do but what he did, which was to sign two guys for half the cap. I disagree, and while Lillard is playing great ball right now (which no doubt gives you boldness to bring all this up again), the window the Blazers have for winning is likely limited to this season, since they don't have the space to re-sign everyone, thanks in large part to those two contracts. In fact, if they want to stay under the luxury tax, they have enough to sign their 1st-round pick and maybe Ed Davis. That's it. I note that they just signed Wade Baldwin through next season. It doesn't necessarily mean they won't retain Napier, but it's not a great harbinger of things to come in my mind. So, we can just sit back and enjoy this winning streak, and this summer, you can resign yourself to fate, and I will still go on believing it wasn't necessary.

ha. you do you, then.

regarding our (current) seeding, i'm so glad we've finally mastered the fine art of beating teams that we should be beating. the schedule to close out march is not kind, this current win streak will be huge in keeping us in position to host the first round.

(upon looking up our april schedule, that, too, is difficult. buckle up.)

I expect Nurkic to be motivated to play well down the stretch, since he is playing for a contract. He had a monster game last night, 27 pts 16 rebs 3 assists 3 blocks. When he plays like that, the Blazers have a nice inside-outside balance that makes them harder to beat. They are going to miss that when he likely signs elsewhere this summer.

Lillard is playing out of his mind.

Phalanx wrote:...They are going to miss that when he likely signs elsewhere this summer.

I believe Nurkic is a restricted free agent this year?

yes he is, I'm guessing he'll be back with the blazers next season unless some team goes way over board. Of course we know what happen two summers ago, but either way I think Nurk will be with the blazers next season.

The Blazers would have to go far into the luxury tax to sign Nurkic, and a multi-year deal would send them into the repeater tax in 2019-20. Besides this, there would still be at least three open roster spots to fill since they would lose Napier, Connaughton, and Ed Davis, and every spot filled (presumably with a minimum salary) would add to the tax. I'm not sure why people are assuming the Blazers will do this to themselves, having had such a hard time dumping salary this year. They would have to do the signing assuming they could get rid of one of their big contracts before next year ended. Are any of them suddenly more tradeable? Maybe Turner is, now that he has proclaimed that he is earning his money to anyone who will listen?

I'm just not seeing it. I think Nurkic will likely walk, and the Blazers will resign Ed Davis. I think that's why they didn't trade Davis at the deadline. They will probably just give Collins and Swanigan more minutes, or maybe draft a center.

i think phalanx is right. and furthermore, i fully expect some team with money to spend and in search of a big man to step up and sign nurk to one of those toxic offer sheets that portland almost assuredly cannot match (likely front-loaded to drive up the luxury dollars paul allen would need to spend to keep him). given nurk's so-so play this year -- and zach collins' emergence -- i am ok with this.

collins, (re-signing davis), chief, swanigan, and god help me meyers leonard as a 5th option inside is still a formidable front line. we lose some of the easy buckets nurk can provide, but that's the cost of doing business.