NBA/Blazers Off-Season

[oregontrack]

i think we can safely pencil in okc, the clips, san antonio, and houston into the western conference playoffs.

golden state and memphis seem good bets too, don't get me wrong. but golden state lost their bench, and steph curry is playing on glass ankles. he goes down and andre iguodala isn't getting the warriors into the playoffs all by himself. memphis lost an outstanding coach who was perfect for that team, and zach randolph is on the decline. again, a solid bet to make the top 8, but i wouldn't be as shocked to see them falter as, say, those top four teams.

really, i see a handful of teams fighting for those last two spots. i didn't forget about denver, i just think firing karl was a bonehead move, they've yet to do anything of note in FA, lost iggy, galinari is coming back from an ACL, andre miller is 38, ect ect.. are we better than the nuggets?

the lake show obviously lost dwight. nash, pau, and kobe are all a year older, and kobe is obviously coming back from the most significant injury of his career. are we better than the lakers?

i like trey burke's potential and they did well for themselves in the golden state trade, but utah also lost their frontcourt (millsap/jefferson). they definitely lack scoring punch. are we better than utah?

minnesota has looked like a sleeper for years on paper, but something always goes wrong. they have a LOT of firepower, but they're also minnesota. are we better than the t-wolves?

the hornets have turned a train wreck into one of the most asset-filled franchises in the association. are they still just a tad too young? are we better than new orleans?

mavs are in limbo, with an aging superstar and an owner who won't take the time to rebuild through the draft. jose calderon? ehh. i think i'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll do better than dallas.

phoenix and sac-town are in full tank mode.

are we a top 8 team?

[Boom]

i think we can safely pencil in okc, the clips, san antonio, and houston into the western conference playoffs.

golden state and memphis seem good bets too, don't get me wrong. but golden state lost their bench, and steph curry is playing on glass ankles. he goes down and andre iguodala isn't getting the warriors into the playoffs all by himself. memphis lost an outstanding coach who was perfect for that team, and zach randolph is on the decline. again, a solid bet to make the top 8, but i wouldn't be as shocked to see them falter as, say, those top four teams.

really, i see a handful of teams fighting for those last two spots. i didn't forget about denver, i just think firing karl was a bonehead move, they've yet to do anything of note in FA, lost iggy, galinari is coming back from an ACL, andre miller is 38, ect ect.. are we better than the nuggets?

the lake show obviously lost dwight. nash, pau, and kobe are all a year older, and kobe is obviously coming back from the most significant injury of his career. are we better than the lakers?

i like trey burke's potential and they did well for themselves in the golden state trade, but utah also lost their frontcourt (millsap/jefferson). they definitely lack scoring punch. are we better than utah?

minnesota has looked like a sleeper for years on paper, but something always goes wrong. they have a LOT of firepower, but they're also minnesota. are we better than the t-wolves?

the hornets have turned a train wreck into one of the most asset-filled franchises in the association. are they still just a tad too young? are we better than new orleans?

mavs are in limbo, with an aging superstar and an owner who won't take the time to rebuild through the draft. jose calderon? ehh. i think i'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll do better than dallas.

phoenix and sac-town are in full tank mode.

are we a top 8 team?

Unfortunately yes

[Boom]

My way to early western conference prediction

1) San Antonio - Kawhi Leonard has made steady improvement and I think they will sign 1-2 more vets to fill out their deep roster.
2) Clippers - JJ Redick & Jared Dudley are both significant upgrades on the wing and they will fit nicely with CP.
3) Houston - They still have some moves to make. I think Asik should net them some nice pieces.
4) OKC - Should have never traded Harden.. and now they're counting on Jeremy Lamb to be a rotation player?
5) Memphis - Solid group of mostly vets.
6) PDX - Made significant upgrades to the leagues worst bench.
7) GSW - I think losing Jarret Jack and Carl Landry were significant loses. Not in love with Andre Iguodala.
8) Denver - by default

Lakers, Mavs, & maybe Minnesota will make a run for the 8th seed... the rest of them are in full on tank mode.

[thomas time]

Ya I was thinking about this last night, I think those six will most likely for sure, so gotta pass Denver or Lakers to sneak in. Will Galinari be back for the season? Blazers would be better off missing the playoffs for one more year, as next year's draft is going to be deep. Either way they should be fun to watch if they stay healthy now that they ACTUALLY HAVE a bench.

[Phenom]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

[Duck24]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

Same with OKC behind the Clippers and Rockets. Redick is a nice player but still can't guard a chair, which teams like OKC will find a way to exploit. Howard is obviously one of the best big men in the league but he's not going to move Houston from a 7 seed to a 2 seed.

[Duck07]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

Same with OKC behind the Clippers and Rockets. Redick is a nice player but still can't guard a chair, which teams like OKC will find a way to exploit. Howard is obviously one of the best big men in the league but he's not going to move Houston from a 7 seed to a 2 seed.

Its going to be interesting to see how Dwight responds to his first bit of adversity now that he's in Houston. The West has a lot of 2-Star teams and after they deal Asik we'll see where they are at. If Damian or Nic blossom into that "star" level of play this season, Portland isn't too far from being one of those teams in the mix, either.

[oregontrack]

houston dodged a BIG bullet in that dwight didn't demand josh smith come with him. parsons is such a good fit for that team. add josh smith, who is a star in this league in his mind only, and you'd have a backcourt where neither he nor lin can shoot a lick. teams would pack the interior and force the rockets to lay some bricks. if harden had an off night, forget about it.

boom raised a legitimate point with OKC. they replaced harden with martin, who was a big step down. now they're replacing martin with a second year guy. i can think of a worse duo to carry so much of the scoring load, but durant and westbrook have a LOT of carrying to do.

[Boom]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

What's so special about Golden State?

Bogut & Curry are injury prone and they don't have anyone replacing Jarret Jack & Carl Landry.

Jarret Jack was a big reason why they were somewhat competitive against the Spurs in the playoffs.

[Boom]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

Same with OKC behind the Clippers and Rockets. Redick is a nice player but still can't guard a chair, which teams like OKC will find a way to exploit. Howard is obviously one of the best big men in the league but he's not going to move Houston from a 7 seed to a 2 seed.

And who's going to do that? Jeremy Lamb & Thabo Sefolosha Redick isn't a terrible defender either. He's no worse than GSW starting backcourt.

The Thunder are going to need Durant & Westbrook to score 60+ against the top teams in the league.

[Boom]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

Same with OKC behind the Clippers and Rockets. Redick is a nice player but still can't guard a chair, which teams like OKC will find a way to exploit. Howard is obviously one of the best big men in the league but he's not going to move Houston from a 7 seed to a 2 seed.

Its going to be interesting to see how Dwight responds to his first bit of adversity now that he's in Houston. The West has a lot of 2-Star teams and after they deal Asik we'll see where they are at. If Damian or Nic blossom into that "star" level of play this season, Portland isn't too far from being one of those teams in the mix, either.

I also think there is real potential that CJ McCollum will be a 6th man candidate.

Last years leading scorer off the bench was Meyers Leonard with 5.5pts. I think McCollum will more than double that.

[oregontrack]

agreed. i think crabbe is a d-leaguer more often than not this upcoming year, and we see a LOT of McC at the 2 running alongside lillard. i don't think we're going to concern him with a lot of point guard duties, instead telling him to do what comes natural: score the basketball.

[thomas time]

Nugget's to sign Hickson for 3 years, not sure how much playing time he'll get with Faried. I wonder if he had no offers to start from any team?

[Duck24]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

What's so special about Golden State?

Bogut & Curry are injury prone and they don't have anyone replacing Jarret Jack & Carl Landry.

Jarret Jack was a big reason why they were somewhat competitive against the Spurs in the playoffs.

And they just signed Igoudala who is a great wing defender and rebounder as well as Harrison Barnes, coming into his second year and improving. Landry is a big loss, I will give you that but they do have some cap space to play around with so we will see what happens with that. As for Jack, he is so hit or miss, it isn't even funny. I was glad to see him do well but he also made some of the stupidest plays I think I've ever seen in the post season, especially in end of game situations. Do you really think that Portland will improve that much just by adding a rookie coming off an injury, sideshow Bob, and Dorrell Wright?

[Boom]

GSW behind the Blazers? No way.

What's so special about Golden State?

Bogut & Curry are injury prone and they don't have anyone replacing Jarret Jack & Carl Landry.

Jarret Jack was a big reason why they were somewhat competitive against the Spurs in the playoffs.

And they just signed Igoudala who is a great wing defender and rebounder as well as Harrison Barnes, coming into his second year and improving. Landry is a big loss, I will give you that but they do have some cap space to play around with so we will see what happens with that. As for Jack, he is so hit or miss, it isn't even funny. I was glad to see him do well but he also made some of the stupidest plays I think I've ever seen in the post season, especially in end of game situations. Do you really think that Portland will improve that much just by adding a rookie coming off an injury, sideshow Bob, and Dorrell Wright?

Yes, as long as LMA doesn't lose significant time to injury. Depth was a real issue last season. PDX starters led the league in minutes played until they started tanking.

You realize GSW was only 2 games away from the 8th seed last season.. and Curry only missed 4 games.

Jarret Jack did more for them than you realize. He was able to play both guard positions and take the tougher defensive assignment. They don't have a backup PG/SG on their roster that's half as good as him.. and now it looks like the best case scenario is that they might sign Nate Robinson? Good luck playing him and Curry at the same time.. or Klay Thompson for that matter..

Bogut has only played 44 games the past two seasons... So there's a good chance that David Lee & Barnes is their starting frontcourt for a good chunk of the season... with who knows who backing them up.