NBA/Blazers 2025-26 Thread

[Phalanx]

“Jrue Holiday is a big part of what we’ve got going … I want to let him know I’m going to continue putting him in positions to be successful.”

That's coach speak for, "You're coming off the bench, but you'll still have a big role."

Maybe I'm wrong and Ja's coming off the bench. But Coach Nori already said Dame will be starting and finishing games.

The part you left out of the quote was the most interesting part:

"Jrue Holiday is a big part of what we’ve got going, And I just want to let him know that I’m going to continue putting him in positions to be successful, and that he’s earned the right to talk to me about what he is comfortable doing.”

Kind of an interesting note of deference. I would say this is actually coach-speak for "I know who the actual leader on this team is, and I am going out of my way to seek his opinion before I start implementing my coaching strategy".

https://www.nba.com/blazers/videos/jrue ... ed-respect

[buckmarkduck]

I am glad they passed on Brown; his contract was way too big and it would have screwed up the salary cap management for several years. I remember thinking when he got that deal that the Celtics would eventually implode under the weight of it. Being Brad Steven's continual outlet for salary cap relief gets old. I never got the Brown thing anyway - doesn't he play Deni's position? Giannis actually filled a need, but Brown would have had a smaller impact.

One conclusion I think we can draw from seeing the final cost for Brown is that Dundon isn't taking his draft capital lightly. That is good to see. He rebuilt the Hurricanes largely through the draft and reclamation projects, and he is employing the same strategy with the Blazers by holding onto his picks and converting bad contracts into Ja Morant. I am a huge fan of this approach. The Blazers have criminally under-prioritized the draft in past years.

Ie drafting a tall unathletic C from China, because they hoped and prayed he would be YMing,

[Boom]

I am glad they passed on Brown; his contract was way too big and it would have screwed up the salary cap management for several years. I remember thinking when he got that deal that the Celtics would eventually implode under the weight of it. Being Brad Steven's continual outlet for salary cap relief gets old. I never got the Brown thing anyway - doesn't he play Deni's position? Giannis actually filled a need, but Brown would have had a smaller impact.

One conclusion I think we can draw from seeing the final cost for Brown is that Dundon isn't taking his draft capital lightly. That is good to see. He rebuilt the Hurricanes largely through the draft and reclamation projects, and he is employing the same strategy with the Blazers by holding onto his picks and converting bad contracts into Ja Morant. I am a huge fan of this approach. The Blazers have criminally under-prioritized the draft in past years.

Ie drafting a tall unathletic C from China, because they hoped and prayed he would be YMing,

Thankfully Mike Schmitz is no longer with the team. I'm still hoping Dundon eventually moves on from Cronin and company.

[Boom]

I am glad they passed on Brown; his contract was way too big and it would have screwed up the salary cap management for several years. I remember thinking when he got that deal that the Celtics would eventually implode under the weight of it. Being Brad Steven's continual outlet for salary cap relief gets old. I never got the Brown thing anyway - doesn't he play Deni's position? Giannis actually filled a need, but Brown would have had a smaller impact.

You need multiple guys to compete against Thunder/Spurs. If you were serious about taking a step forward you add Brown. Blazers had the cap space to manage his contract with no issues. I think this signals a slow rebuild.

[Phalanx]

You need multiple guys to compete against Thunder/Spurs. If you were serious about taking a step forward you add Brown. Blazers had the cap space to manage his contract with no issues. I think this signals a slow rebuild.

This is nonsense. Brown couldn't even get his team out of the first round this year. He just isn't as good as you are making him out to be. You do need multiple guys to compete, which is why you don't sell out all of your draft capital and salary cap for one guy. The Lillard years should have taught fans that giving everything for one sub-par star is not the way to field a contending team. You mention the Thunder/ Spurs - both teams got to where they are by drafting well, not handing over all their picks to somebody else.

The Blazers put in an offer for Brown, and the Celtics tried to squeeze them for more picks. When the Blazers pulled out, the market for Brown dropped and the Celtics had to drop the price. The Blazers didn't have Grant's contract to trade anymore and the Celtics didn't want Jrue back, so there wasn't a deal to make at that point. End of story. You are mad about a slow rebuild. The Blazers haven't been good since the Rasheed Wallace years. I will take ANY rebuild at this point.

[pezsez1]

Brown absolutely would have made the Blazers better. And what we learned from the Dame era was that if you have an all-star, you'd better surround him with some talent or else his prime we'll go to waste.

We now have Deni, an all-star entering his prime. His best help right now is Dame, an all-star, but one coming off of a year of recovery following a huge injury. And now he has Ja Morant, also an all-star, but one coming off of a three-year slump riddled with injuries and suspensions.

Brown is an NBA Finals champion and MVP.

I'm actually ok with them not picking him up and instead opting for a slow rebuild. Getting Ja still gives us something to work with, and if he returns to form then who knows what might happen. But saying Brown wouldn't make us better right now is lunacy. And we'd also better be careful to not treat Deni the same way we treated Lillard, or else his tenure will also be marred by first-round exits and people like you will be complaining about how ineffective he was. Let's hope either Dame or Ja returns to their all-star form so that Deni isn't left doing everything by himself.

[Boom]

You need multiple guys to compete against Thunder/Spurs. If you were serious about taking a step forward you add Brown. Blazers had the cap space to manage his contract with no issues. I think this signals a slow rebuild.

This is nonsense. Brown couldn't even get his team out of the first round this year. He just isn't as good as you are making him out to be. You do need multiple guys to compete, which is why you don't sell out all of your draft capital and salary cap for one guy.

He's an All NBA player. He would have made the team better.

The Lillard years should have taught fans that giving everything for one sub-par star is not the way to field a contending team.

What are you talking about? Neil Olshey never made such a move. He overvalued the guys on the roster and never made a meaningful transaction.

You mention the Thunder/ Spurs - both teams got to where they are by drafting well, not handing over all their picks to somebody else.

yup

The Blazers put in an offer for Brown, and the Celtics tried to squeeze them for more picks. When the Blazers pulled out, the market for Brown dropped and the Celtics had to drop the price. The Blazers didn't have Grant's contract to trade anymore and the Celtics didn't want Jrue back, so there wasn't a deal to make at that point. End of story.

The Athletic reported that the Blazers analytics viewed him as a negative player. There was no offer.

You are mad about a slow rebuild. The Blazers haven't been good since the Rasheed Wallace years. I will take ANY rebuild at this point.

Spending 100+ million on 35 year old PGs, trading out of the 2025 lottery, and doing everything they can to give up their 2026 1st in a historic draft are not signs of a team going through a rebuild.

[Phalanx]

Brown absolutely would have made the Blazers better. And what we learned from the Dame era was that if you have an all-star, you'd better surround him with some talent or else his prime we'll go to waste.

We now have Deni, an all-star entering his prime. His best help right now is Dame, an all-star, but one coming off of a year of recovery following a huge injury. And now he has Ja Morant, also an all-star, but one coming off of a three-year slump riddled with injuries and suspensions.

Brown is an NBA Finals champion and MVP.

I'm actually ok with them not picking him up and instead opting for a slow rebuild. Getting Ja still gives us something to work with, and if he returns to form then who knows what might happen. But saying Brown wouldn't make us better right now is lunacy. And we'd also better be careful to not treat Deni the same way we treated Lillard, or else his tenure will also be marred by first-round exits and people like you will be complaining about how ineffective he was. Let's hope either Dame or Ja returns to their all-star form so that Deni isn't left doing everything by himself.

I'm trying to find where anyone in this thread said Brown wouldn't have made the team better. The question is what they would have had to give up and how much better. I am saying his impact would have been less than if they actually got someone who filled holes in the roster like Giannis (or even LeBron).

My recollection is that both Boom and Pez were totally fine with the Grant contract when Cronin signed him, as you both were with all of Lillard's supermax deals. Neither of you understand cap management and how it impacts the success of a team. You think that the team is just magically bad because of voodoo or something. Thankfully, it seems like Dundon gets it. It came out today that he never even made a formal offer for Brown because the Celtics were asking too much. I believe he intends to use the bulk of his draft picks going forward, a strategy I have been advocating here for a number of years now. I could try to explain it all to you, but you don't even read what I actually write anyway, so let's just see where the new strategy takes us, and when we start having deeper, more successful teams, you can pretend it was because of the moon's gravity or something.

[buckmarkduck]

Brown absolutely would have made the Blazers better. And what we learned from the Dame era was that if you have an all-star, you'd better surround him with some talent or else his prime we'll go to waste.

We now have Deni, an all-star entering his prime. His best help right now is Dame, an all-star, but one coming off of a year of recovery following a huge injury. And now he has Ja Morant, also an all-star, but one coming off of a three-year slump riddled with injuries and suspensions.

Brown is an NBA Finals champion and MVP.

I'm actually ok with them not picking him up and instead opting for a slow rebuild. Getting Ja still gives us something to work with, and if he returns to form then who knows what might happen. But saying Brown wouldn't make us better right now is lunacy. And we'd also better be careful to not treat Deni the same way we treated Lillard, or else his tenure will also be marred by first-round exits and people like you will be complaining about how ineffective he was. Let's hope either Dame or Ja returns to their all-star form so that Deni isn't left doing everything by himself.

If Ja can be healthy, like get 60 games in the regular season. and return to form in a new environment, with really not much pressure since he will go from being option 1 to now being 3rd guy. Then we will have added two all star quality guys this season around Deni. And if at the end of the day all Ja does is stay healthy, and produce 20ppg this year, with no real distractions but he isn’t a true difference maker for us. That type of player can be traded for a solid return.

[pezsez1]

If Ja can be healthy, like get 60 games in the regular season. and return to form in a new environment, with really not much pressure since he will go from being option 1 to now being 3rd guy. Then we will have added two all star quality guys this season around Deni. And if at the end of the day all Ja does is stay healthy, and produce 20ppg this year, with no real distractions but he isn’t a true difference maker for us. That type of player can be traded for a solid return.

Yeah, Ja is a real wild card. My gut tells me this isn't going to work out. I might be a bit cynical on this, but these guys don't change their stripes too often. We just went through this with DeAndre Ayton. If he does return to form though then Portland will have the resources to do some roster retooling and become a powerhouse in a hurry. Or, like Phalanx and others have said, we can just let the next couple years go by and start the next rebuild. (Hopefully without trying to thread the needle again.)

[Everythingsducky]

Why all the worries and debate about the Blazers and their moves? This thread is on death row. The city council will end any funds to the Moda, as is to be expected (outside the governors directive, also expected), for repairs. How funny, or sadly, will be to have two out of date venues rotting side by side? Acres of zero productivity and tax revenue. Portland will probably turn it into a park, to feel good about itself, and make zero needed revenue from it. Memorial coliseum? Really? Winterhawks? Fire? Concerts?…ehh, ain’t going to cover the expenditures, or earned revenues, even remotely. Portland voters, by recent polls (never really a good gauge anyway) are 49% no to Moda funding. This is the dumbest city in the country. Hopefully the idiots on the council will think with the overall city wallets, and not be massaged by those that hate people with money, and realize the Moda is owned by the city. Enjoy watching and caring about a team just waiting to leave the city (have at it suckers, may be time to buy new Seattle basketball gear when their team is eventually announced). I’m wondering how many Seattle’ites followed the Sonics after their exodus, and were flooding bars and restaurants when OC won it last year. Probably not many. I’m not a Timbers fan, but that is about what the city has to root for (Ugh). What a sh*t show of a city in the 23rd biggest TV sports market. Portland hates everything, and doesn’t care about the city finding a way to make a dime, unless taxing us to the hilt for a ton of BS. How much Mariner and Seahawks gear do you see around this city? It’s nuts. Does this city want more revenue going to Seattle for gear, seats, and TV eyes? Ultra mismanagement, and unfortunately, ultra apathy as well. So don’t worry about anything Dunden does (draft picks, trades, etc.) it will end up being for another city, and it is NOT his fault. Portland will fail us AGAIN in another inexcusable way. Portland pukes on itself time and time again. Portland, the city, is dead. And rightfully deserved. Time to look at Portland Pickle season tickets? Hillsboro Hops? Love them, fun, but they bring ZERO revenue. This city wears itself out, in their own doing.. So who gives two sh*ts about the coming and goings about this soon to be lost team? And, yeah, I’m freaking angry about how clueless this city’s leadership is taking us down this sustained, continued decline (also, most likely not getting an MLB team) and how clueless the voting base continues to foster it. Keep Portland Weird, is the mantra for nothing but continual lost revenue, then bitching about not having enough funds. Keep Portland Weird AND Poor, should be the new bumper sticker. Extended rant over, but still angry at such short-sightedness by too many ill-informed morons.

[squintsdd]

Why all the worries and debate about the Blazers and their moves? This thread is on death row. The city council will end any funds to the Moda, as is to be expected (outside the governors directive, also expected), for repairs. How funny, or sadly, will be to have two out of date venues rotting side by side? Acres of zero productivity and tax revenue. Portland will probably turn it into a park, to feel good about itself, and make zero needed revenue from it. Memorial coliseum? Really? Winterhawks? Fire? Concerts?…ehh, ain’t going to cover the expenditures, or earned revenues, even remotely. Portland voters, by recent polls (never really a good gauge anyway) are 49% no to Moda funding. This is the dumbest city in the country. Hopefully the idiots on the council will think with the overall city wallets, and not be massaged by those that hate people with money, and realize the Moda is owned by the city. Enjoy watching and caring about a team just waiting to leave the city (have at it suckers, may be time to buy new Seattle basketball gear when their team is eventually announced). I’m wondering how many Seattle’ites followed the Sonics after their exodus, and were flooding bars and restaurants when OC won it last year. Probably not many. I’m not a Timbers fan, but that is about what the city has to root for (Ugh). What a sh*t show of a city in the 23rd biggest TV sports market. Portland hates everything, and doesn’t care about the city finding a way to make a dime, unless taxing us to the hilt for a ton of BS. How much Mariner and Seahawks gear do you see around this city? It’s nuts. Does this city want more revenue going to Seattle for gear, seats, and TV eyes? Ultra mismanagement, and unfortunately, ultra apathy as well. So don’t worry about anything Dunden does (draft picks, trades, etc.) it will end up being for another city, and it is NOT his fault. Portland will fail us AGAIN in another inexcusable way. Portland pukes on itself time and time again. Portland, the city, is dead. And rightfully deserved. Time to look at Portland Pickle season tickets? Hillsboro Hops? Love them, fun, but they bring ZERO revenue. This city wears itself out, in their own doing.. So who gives two sh*ts about the coming and goings about this soon to be lost team? And, yeah, I’m freaking angry about how clueless this city’s leadership is taking us down this sustained, continued decline (also, most likely not getting an MLB team) and how clueless the voting base continues to foster it. Keep Portland Weird, is the mantra for nothing but continual lost revenue, then bitching about not having enough funds. Keep Portland Weird AND Poor, should be the new bumper sticker. Extended rant over, but still angry at such short-sidedness by too many ill-informed morons.

Decent rant. You pretty much summed up why I'll be moving once the kids are grown and out of the house. There are good people in the city, but they are absolutely clueless as to how the money works; or should I say "doesn't work" for them. They continue to vote on things that will raise their taxes, all the while screaming that their taxes went up. The money management in portland could be better managed by a homeless meth addict. They'd be less corrupt, and at least we'd know where the money went. Didn't they recently find $10 million in unused funds lying around? Never heard what their plans were for that, probably lining someone's pockets now. Anyway, like I said, once the kids are out of the house I'll be moving to the Boston area. At least that way I can go see the red sox and patriots

[Boom]

If Ja can be healthy, like get 60 games in the regular season. and return to form in a new environment, with really not much pressure since he will go from being option 1 to now being 3rd guy. Then we will have added two all star quality guys this season around Deni. And if at the end of the day all Ja does is stay healthy, and produce 20ppg this year, with no real distractions but he isn’t a true difference maker for us. That type of player can be traded for a solid return.

Yeah, Ja is a real wild card. My gut tells me this isn't going to work out. I might be a bit cynical on this, but these guys don't change their stripes too often. We just went through this with DeAndre Ayton. If he does return to form though then Portland will have the resources to do some roster retooling and become a powerhouse in a hurry. Or, like Phalanx and others have said, we can just let the next couple years go by and start the next rebuild. (Hopefully without trying to thread the needle again.)

Portland ranked 27th in 3pt shooting last season. It's going to be ugly when Ja and Deni are on the court together. Defense will also be ugly whenever Jrue's not on the court. This is a play in team at best next season.

[pezsez1]

One thing I'll toss out there is Deni was a 36.5 percent 3pt shooter in 2024-25. Maybe he slumped last season because he was constantly being doubled. Outside of him, nobody else on the team was really capable of creating his own shot on a consistent basis.

So the one chance this lineup has of working out is Ja taking over as the one who drives into the middle while Deni takes on more of a perimeter shooting role. He'll get open looks when Dame is on the floor with him, and so will Camara. If both of them can benefit from more open looks then our shooting shouldn't be as bad as it was last season. But we need either Deni or Toumani to be that second consistent shooter alongside Dame. And don't forget that Dame will stretch the defense in ways most other long-range shooters can't.

Perimeter defense will be a problem with two small guards out there. No way around that. Maybe with four capable point guards they'll push themselves a little harder.

There is a universe in which this works, but it's still not ideal.

[Phalanx]

Portland ranked 27th in 3pt shooting last season. It's going to be ugly when Ja and Deni are on the court together. Defense will also be ugly whenever Jrue's not on the court. This is a play in team at best next season.

I was told that Lillard was going to be an all-star, floor-stretching, second-best player on the team with his amazing shooting, and that he will be starting and finishing games with big minutes, so I'm not sure what this negativity is about. It's almost like you think adding him will have little or no effect on the Blazers' level of play.

Speaking of minutes, it's kind of fun to project how many each player will be getting:

Toumani played 33 mpg last year at power forward.
Deni also had 33mpg at small forward. Sidy Cissoko averaged 19 mpg. With 6'8'' Vít Krejčí also on the team, that probably covers the small forward spot under normal circumstances.
RWIII and Clingan will presumably be covering the center 48 minutes most nights, with Hansen and Carlson getting garbage minutes. There might be times when two of these are on the floor at once taking power forward minutes?

That leaves roughly 15 minutes at power forward, and 96 minutes at the guard positions for Jrue, Scoot, Ja, Lillard, and Sharpe. Who gets the minutes?

• Jrue played 30mpg last season. Maybe he gets a little less, like 25? He makes $35 million this year, and has been singled out by the new coach Nori as an important part of the team. He is also the most effective team leader the Blazers have on the roster.
• Scoot played 25 mpg when he came back from injury. He averaged 29 in the playoffs.
• Ja is the highest-paid player on the team and says in the NYT article that he is fully healthy. How many minutes does he get? He normally plays over 30 mpg.
• Sharpe seems to be in the doghouse, but he also is accustomed to 30 mpg when healthy.
• Lillard openly balked at Nori in his interview saying he would ease him in at 24 mpg. Sounds like he wants more like 30 as well.

so that is 96 minutes for guys that would normally play 140-150. Maybe they do some staggering where Deni plays the four and Sharpe plays the three in order to pick up those extra 15 that Toumani isn't out there. That still leaves 30-40 minutes that have to be cut somewhere. Maybe Sharpe plays less, but how much less? The guy is under contract for four years and over $20 million/yr and he is the most natural shooting guard on the team. Maybe Vit and Sidy aren't part of the rotation at all, opening up another 15 minutes at wing. I think Sidy will play though; he has been mentioned as one of the rising talents on the team, and he is in a contract year, just like Scoot. You don't leave those guys to stew on the bench and then think they will want to re-sign.

It's a pretty interesting problem, and it explains why they haven't been in a hurry to fill those last two roster spots. They are about $10-12 million under the tax threshold. I think they might just stick with this roster unless a really good trade pops up, or a free agent forward who can't find a chair when the free-agent music stops agrees to come to Portland on a below-market contract. That way they can make an uneven trade if necessary and still stay out the tax.