NBA/Blazers 2025-26 Thread

[Phalanx]

Do you consider Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko real contributors to the team's success? Personally I'm a lot more upset with wasting a 1st round pick on Yang Hansen and trading for 35 year old Jrue Holiday's 100 million dollar contract than I am for bringing back Dame at a low rate. This team is going nowhere. They needed to dump Grant/Holiday and build through the draft. Having Coward or Bryant on the roster would have given this team more upside and roster flexibility moving forward. Not having decent odds on a top 4 pick this year with how hopeless this team is negligent.

All of it sucks! There was a point last summer where Cronin still had Ayton and Simons on expiring deals totaling $63.3 million, and a #11 draft pick. He could have made a trade at some point this season, but all he really had to do was hold on to Ayton and Simons and let them play for their next contracts and let Coward fall into his lap, and this is a playoff team, with all kinds of cap space heading into next season. What the heck is wrong with that? Instead, the moves he made resulted in Ayton and Simons gone and shelling out $72 million this season for Jrue and a couple of guys who aren't even on the roster (Ayton and Lillard), but also another $72 million for old man Jrue the next two seasons, and at least $14 million more for old man Lillard, plus adding $16 million to Camara's salary for next season just....because. It might be the worst offseason I have ever seen, and Olshey gave us some doozies. Seriously...do these people even want to win? Cronin shouldn't just be fired, he should be permanently banned from ever being near a basketball team again.

[pezsez1]

Phalanx, we might disagree on Dame, but I'm glad we can finally agree on Cronin!

[Everythingsducky]

Yeah, another great move by Cronin to get Vit, whom can’t hit wide open 3’s. Can’t believe he is a 40% shooter. Dude has had plenty of time to get integrated, and he has had a ton of open attempts. Hanson is another brilliant move. Granted Scoot missed a lot of developmental time with his injuries, but he reminds me of Ben Simmons. Simply can’t shoot the ball. I want to give him more time, but this will be a contract year, and he isn’t trustworthy at this point. Like him, definitely don’t love him. The Blazers will do Blazer things, and probably give him a big contract, though he certainly hasn’t earned it. I get Cissoko has the size the team is looking for, and versatility, but Love has been far more valuable than Cissoko, and been a game changer. Hope new ownership shows Cronin the door once the sale is completed. In terms of the Blazer loss tonight in Houston, 57% from the free throw line, missing 16…completely inexcusable. That was the game. Can’t beat yourself, and they did it to themselves. Shouldn’t have even been close.

[pezsez1]

Rough loss to Charlotte the other night. This team really needs another star. Not here to say that's Dame or not Dame, who knows, Phalanx may be right, but either way, this team needs another star. Deni is clearly our best player and he's really good, but I'm still not convinced he's good enough to be the best player on a championship team, even if he's surrounded with depth.

During that Charlotte game, I heard the Blazers are 15-3 when shooting 38% from 3. The problem is this team is averaging just 33.8% from long range, so that's basically a Sex Panther stat. We have a really fun-to-watch young core, but most of these guys are either below-average or average shooters. It's starting to feel like Undersized Guards v2.0, only instead of small guards who can't defend now it's lengthy players who can't shoot.

I've been on record on this forum (recently) saying that Dame could be the missing piece that really unlocks this group's potential next season. He will stretch the floor and create more open shots which SHOULD lift percentages for everyone else... and he will easily be our best shooter, and having his % on the floor will be a welcome lift. But I'm starting to think Dame might not be enough if he's surrounded by guys who simply aren't weapons from deep. Which means the time to break up this young core might come sooner than expected. I just don't see us ever winning anything even if our lineup is All-Star Dame + four inconsistent shooters. Deni is really good, but in today's NBA you're either hitting 3s or falling behind.

Hopefully my initial assessment is correct and the other players rise to the moment once Dame gives them some breathing room. If that doesn't happen, hopefully Dundon isn't afraid to bundle some assets and shake things up.

[Boom]

Rough loss to Charlotte the other night. This team really needs another star. Not here to say that's Dame or not Dame, who knows, Phalanx may be right, but either way, this team needs another star. Deni is clearly our best player and he's really good, but I'm still not convinced he's good enough to be the best player on a championship team, even if he's surrounded with depth.

During that Charlotte game, I heard the Blazers are 15-3 when shooting 38% from 3. The problem is this team is averaging just 33.8% from long range, so that's basically a Sex Panther stat. We have a really fun-to-watch young core, but most of these guys are either below-average or average shooters. It's starting to feel like Undersized Guards v2.0, only instead of small guards who can't defend now it's lengthy players who can't shoot.

I've been on record on this forum (recently) saying that Dame could be the missing piece that really unlocks this group's potential next season. He will stretch the floor and create more open shots which SHOULD lift percentages for everyone else... and he will easily be our best shooter, and having his % on the floor will be a welcome lift. But I'm starting to think Dame might not be enough if he's surrounded by guys who simply aren't weapons from deep. Which means the time to break up this young core might come sooner than expected. I just don't see us ever winning anything even if our lineup is All-Star Dame + four inconsistent shooters. Deni is really good, but in today's NBA you're either hitting 3s or falling behind.

Hopefully my initial assessment is correct and the other players rise to the moment once Dame gives them some breathing room. If that doesn't happen, hopefully Dundon isn't afraid to bundle some assets and shake things up.

Toumani, Shaedon, Scoot, and Yang are below replacement level. They lack more than just shooting.

Donovan is the only promising young player on this team.

[buckmarkduck]

Old man Dame? I doubt he’s the missing piece. I’d love for him to be the missing piece, but I doubt he’s ever as athletic of able to move the way he did after coming back from his injury.

[pezsez1]

Old man Dame? I doubt he’s the missing piece. I’d love for him to be the missing piece, but I doubt he’s ever as athletic of able to move the way he did after coming back from his injury.

Deni might still be our best player, but Dame will be our best shooter, and I'm confident he'll still have enough athleticism to get his shot unless he's doubled. His gravity will be his value. That's what I mean by "missing piece," not trying to proclaim he's going to be the best he's ever been.

And even if I'm right, his shelf life is limited. The franchise must look forward, and I'm not sure this core has the right ingredients for long-term success. Defense is great, but shooting is king. (At least until the NBA makes some rule changes to shift more power back to defenses.)

[UOducksTK1]

Embedded Tweet

[Phalanx]

Great, two more teams that will be better than the Blazers.

[pezsez1]

I'm surprised nobody here has really talked about the arena issue. It seems potentially divisive enough that folks might have some things to say about it. What are people's feelings on the matter?

I'll go first.

I am 100% happy that the state got on board with this so quickly. Yeah, it's a lot of money, and yes, in a perfect world, cities/counties/states wouldn't bow down so hard for billionaires. But this isn't a perfect world, and the reality is that financing the new arena (and keeping the Blazers in Portland) is probably the most consequential economic action these politicians could take over the next 20 years. (Short of maybe switching from income tax to sales tax, which I don't see happening here, or actually landing a MLB expansion team.) The regional and statewide economic benefits of having the Blazers in Portland is just too big to let slip. Now we'll see what Portland's city council does, hopefully they don't blow the layup.

Also, I'm just stoked to have an updated arena. I was always of the mindset that Moda was fine and we didn't need a new arena, but then toward the end of last year I was in Denver for a Colorado Avalanche game, and now I understand. Being in a newer arena is just a night-and-day different kind of experience than being inside Moda. It's not just about adding more expensive seats, it's about completely transforming the entire experience of watching a game. At Denver's arena, you basically enter the building and the ice is right there. Everything is open, you can leave your seat and find a bar and still enjoy the game. The arena probably makes infinitely more from concessions/swag with that setup, and for the fans, it's not a mad end-of-quarter dash from your seats with the fear you'll miss the action. My brother was at a new arena (can't remember where, maybe Seattle) and was saying that the top-row seats were actually along a bar where you could order drinks like 30 feet away. It's just a different experience and so much nicer.

What I'd really love is for someone to tear down that old industrial structure next to the arena and also (hot take incoming) the old Memorial Coliseum. Would be awesome if that whole area could be a place where fans could go and hang out during a game even if they didn't have tickets to get inside Moda.

[greenyellow]

I always thought it never made sense for there to be two basketball arenas side-by-side. If they're so concerned about the War Memorial part, they could always move the main black granite walls that make up the memorial elsewhere while they redevelop the area.

[pezsez1]

Apparently the walls were removed in 2022 as part of a plan to renovate the coliseum. I just don't really see the point anymore, unless there's really nowhere else the Winter Hawks could play. Just seems like such a wasted spice for a minor-league hockey team and the occasional graduation ceremony.

I'm all for protecting historic places, but sometimes places just lose their value. The Coliseum wasn't special because it had a memorial, it was special because that's where the Blazers played. Well they haven't played there in like 30 years now, I barely even remember what it looked like during games. We're talking about a building that's only been around since 1960. It's not even as old as my parents. I think everyone would be ok if we let that one go.

[squintsdd]

Apparently the walls were removed in 2022 as part of a plan to renovate the coliseum. I just don't really see the point anymore, unless there's really nowhere else the Winter Hawks could play. Just seems like such a wasted spice for a minor-league hockey team and the occasional graduation ceremony.

I'm all for protecting historic places, but sometimes places just lose their value. The Coliseum wasn't special because it had a memorial, it was special because that's where the Blazers played. Well they haven't played there in like 30 years now, I barely even remember what it looked like during games. We're talking about a building that's only been around since 1960. It's not even as old as my parents. I think everyone would be ok if we let that one go.

Agreed, I don't think it's even used very often as a concert venue anymore. Tear that thing down and put the land to use

[Phalanx]

Blazers back to .500 again after playing yet another garbage team. I haven't checked, but Portland's strength of schedule has to be one of the lowest in the league, or else they saved all the bad teams for the end of the season. It seems like if they can just beat the Clippers a couple of times, they will make the playoffs and give the best possible pick to Chicago. Hooray for the Bulls. It's not like Cronin knows what to do with draft picks anyway.

[pezsez1]

Isn't it a good thing if we make the playoffs this year so we can finally convey that Chicago pick and be freed up to make other moves? I think we have an extra FRP from the trade down to get Hansen.