NBA/Blazers Off-Season

[thomas time]

Decent pickup for the blazers for again not having to give up much, definitely a shock about Boston and Brad Stevens

[UOducksTK1]

Centers that can't play defense or rebound, are meh to me. Robin can't rebound to save his life. With that being said, I guess Lopez is not a terrible addition. We need another center, and frankly there's not much else we could realistically land.

[thomas time]

@WojYahooNBA Portland will send Jeff Withey to Pelicans as part of 3-team deal, league source tells Y! Too bad, I would've liked to seen what he would've added. Gives blazers another roster spot though, have around 6.5 million left I think

[UOducksTK1]

@WojYahooNBA Portland will send Jeff Withey to Pelicans as part of 3-team deal, league source tells Y! Too bad, I would've liked to seen what he would've added. Gives blazers another roster spot though, have around 6.5 million left I think

Yeah honestly, I would have rather seen Withey play and give him a shot. Oh well..

[greenyellow]

With Lopez and Leonard getting the bulk of the minutes at center, there really wasn't much time for him. Sounds like Portland is going to finish with a cheap 3rd C and PG and a back-up SF.

[oregontrack]

lopez likely far exceeds withey's most optimistic ceiling. that was a great trade from a personel standpoint. you can't say no when someone offers a starting-caliber center and only demands a second round pick. let's not be crazy.

[dthomas=ddixon]

lopez likely far exceeds withey's most optimistic ceiling. that was a great trade from a personel standpoint. you can't say no when someone offers a starting-caliber center and only demands a second round pick. let's not be crazy.

Agreed. I like what Olshay is doing, acquiring assets while not really giving up much. These guys aren't going make the blazers a championship contender obviously but they're going to make them a lot more competitive. He's building a solid core.

[greenyellow]

lopez likely far exceeds withey's most optimistic ceiling. that was a great trade from a personel standpoint. you can't say no when someone offers a starting-caliber center and only demands a second round pick. let's not be crazy.

Agreed. I like what Olshay is doing, acquiring assets while not really giving up much. These guys aren't going make the blazers a championship contender obviously but they're going to make them a lot more competitive. He's building a solid core.

I think some fans are really missing how poorly the roster was constructed when he got here. He's doing a revamp/rebuild on the fly and is looking to be quite successful at getting the roster in order. Olshey never said it be a quick turnaround so fans have to give him 2-3 years before they can accurately judge, good or bad, his transactions.

[thomas time]

Blazers writer Joe Freeman has something about comparing the rosters from the final game of the 10-11 season when Olshey got here to now. The only healthy guys on the bench were Johnny Flynn, Kurt Thomas and Craig Smith. Starters were final starting lineup of 11-12 season: Nolan Smith, Wesley Matthews, Luke Babbitt, JJ Hickson, Joel Przybilla. Neil really has done an amazing job, last year the starters were really good. The bench was one of the worst of all time maybe, so adding decent guys like Robinson and Lopez with CJ and Crabbe should really help this team.

[squintsdd]

lopez likely far exceeds withey's most optimistic ceiling. that was a great trade from a personel standpoint. you can't say no when someone offers a starting-caliber center and only demands a second round pick. let's not be crazy.

I couldn't disagree more. Withey was a defensive standout that could rebound. Lopez could do neither of those things, and certainly isn't starting caliber.

I do agree that you can't say no when someone offers you a starting caliber center for a second round pick though

[pezsez1]

I couldn't disagree more. Withey was a defensive standout that could rebound. Lopez could do neither of those things, and certainly isn't starting caliber.

Lopez had a career year last season, in which he finally played without being hurt. Seemed like he was improving with time to establish a rhythm.

He may not be a monster rebounder, but he is a pretty decent rim defender, which is something this Blazers team has sorely lacked in recent years.

Give Lopez a chance. I definitely think he makes us better now than any late second-round pick possibly could, and he still has plenty of room to get better. Also, don't count out Meyers Leonard, who has the physical tools to be very good in a couple more seasons from now.

[Duck07]

Yea, Meyers is the one player whose improvement would imo, most benefit the team next year. If he can from avg 17 min with 6/4/1 to around 22min 9/9/2, combined with Lopez giving you around 26 min with 10/6/3, that is a whole lot more production than has been given from the C position. I also don't think Lopez has played alongside a 4 as talented as LMA so hopefully his upward trend continues.

Can we start making Sideshow Lopez posters? Maybe throw in a Krusty Burger for good measure?

[greenyellow]

I've actually seen more people posting Rolo candy pictures than Sideshow Bob pictures now, which kind of fits. The real Sideshow Bob is Anderson Varejao.

[Duck07]

I've actually seen more people posting Rolo candy pictures than Sideshow Bob pictures now, which kind of fits. The real Sideshow Bob is Anderson Varejao.

I don't know, I think Lopez wins by virtue of being in Groening's territory.

[oregontrack]

lopez likely far exceeds withey's most optimistic ceiling. that was a great trade from a personel standpoint. you can't say no when someone offers a starting-caliber center and only demands a second round pick. let's not be crazy.

I couldn't disagree more. Withey was a defensive standout that could rebound. Lopez could do neither of those things, and certainly isn't starting caliber.

I do agree that you can't say no when someone offers you a starting caliber center for a second round pick though

if any of this was true, withey would still be a trail blazer.