NBA/Blazers 2026-27 Thread

[pezsez1]

Dame had a strong first game, then a few off nights, but for the past four or five games he's been solid. Last night he was phenomenal, shooting better than 50% from the field and 40% from 3 while (I think) leading the team in scoring without playing a minute in the fourth quarter. Let's be real about what's going on here.

I know your post is largely trolling for a response, but I don't know why anyone is still bringing up trading Jrue. If you trade Jrue, the team will start losing again. It's pretty much that simple.

Literally not trolling for a response there at all. I've been on the record here (A LOT) saying I think they should trade Jrue midseason, but now that I'm seeing this team in action I'm having a change of heart. There's no way he can be an efficient volume scorer night-in and night-out like Lillard has been for us, but he's perfect with that second unit and in helping to close out games. We have an imbalanced roster, and having him on the floor is almost enough to hide that.

What I'm saying here is that even though we can't lean on him for offensive punch, we are leaning on him for just about everything else, and this team needs his veteran leadership just as much as it needs Dame. That's a good thing.

[Phalanx]

Dame had a strong first game, then a few off nights, but for the past four or five games he's been solid. Last night he was phenomenal, shooting better than 50% from the field and 40% from 3 while (I think) leading the team in scoring without playing a minute in the fourth quarter. Let's be real about what's going on here.

There's no way he can be an efficient volume scorer night-in and night-out like Lillard has been for us, but he's perfect with that second unit and in helping to close out games. We have an imbalanced roster, and having him on the floor is almost enough to hide that.

What I'm saying here is that even though we can't lean on him for offensive punch, we are leaning on him for just about everything else, and this team needs his veteran leadership just as much as it needs Dame. That's a good thing.

You praise Lillard for being 'phenomenal' last night because he shot better than 50% from the field and 40% from 3. So yes, let's be real: Lillard did that for one night, but Jrue and Toumani and Clingan are averaging that for the whole season. All three of those guys are over 100 points higher in efg% than Lillard, who is still down below Sidy for the year. You can talk about 'volume scoring' but the truth is that a good chunk of Lillard's points (26.5%) come from foul shots. In terms of actual field goals, the three guys I mentioned above have made 43, 45, and 45, while Lillard has made 59, while taking 50 more shots than them. Scoring more because you hucked up more shots at a lower percentage just doesn't seem like much to brag about to me.

Anyway, I do think they miss Ja. The team has taken a fairly significant drop in offensive output since he went down. His skill in breaking down defenses simply can't be replaced by anyone else on the roster. Hopefully he comes back soon.