NBA/Blazers 2026-27 Thread

[pezsez1]

I am here dealing in hard numbers

With no context.

[bellsduck]

I have always been in the camp of Lillard being overrated, but I will say this.
One cannot just take the points he gets at the ft line and discount those. Pts are pts and his ability to draw contact and turn that into points is for sure one of his strengths.
Also, there is and always has been something to say about players that play over and above during crucial moments. And a couple times now in a couple of nights Dame has done that. It might not show in a box score, but watching the games, it shows. Kobe Bryant was clutch down the stretch. He's the guy you wanted to shoot the shot at the end of the game or attempt to take over a game, even if he was a 32% career 3 pt shooter. Dame might not be the best 3 pt shooter percentage wise this year on this team, but having him on the court has opened things up offensively and along with Deni is that guy you want taking the big shot.

[Boom]

Blazers are currently tied at 3rd for offensive rating. They finished last year with an awful 21st offensive rating (too much Deni). Blazers have had a really weak schedule to this point.

[Phalanx]

Yeah, kinda hanging back on comparing this year's team to last year's for that reason: let's see what happens with a larger sample size including more hard teams. I'm pretty happy with the improvement from Toumani and Clingan over last season though, not to mention Sidy. Hopefully they can keep it up. The West has started pretty hot and the Blazers haven't really made any ground on anyone yet. Getting to a 6-seed is going to be a season-long dogfight, and the Blazers don't have the same depth to weather storms that other teams have. What Portland has is Scoot trying to figure his game out, Ja trying to come back and stay healthy, and Shaedon somewhere on the horizon.

[pezsez1]

Shaedon somewhere on the horizon

Do you think Shaedon even has much of a place in this rotation anymore? At this point I'd have him competing for minutes with Scoot and Youngblood.

[Phalanx]

Shaedon somewhere on the horizon

Do you think Shaedon even has much of a place in this rotation anymore? At this point I'd have him competing for minutes with Scoot and Youngblood.

Shaedon is at the beginning of a 4-year deal, so unless he gets traded, he will be on the Blazers long after Jrue and Lillard are gone. I don't know if he is even coming back this year, but if he is somehow able to return to form, he is clearly better than Youngblood and the current version of Scoot. The guy averaged almost 21 points over the 50 games he played last season, and he is a bigger and longer guard. Several of the starters this year are shooting better shots with a higher efficiency, and I would hope that Shaedon could get in on some of that action as well. The more guys that can score, they more the opposing defense has to spread out.

I do wonder if Sidy will continue to improve. He is a good pairing with Lillard for now: he brings hard defense and surprisingly solid 3-point shooting to help offset Lillard's deficiencies in those areas. He's only signed through this season, so if he keeps playing like he has the last few games, he is going to want to get paid. It's too bad they didn't get him for a longer deal. We are really going to see the Dundon philosophy about contracts the next couple of seasons. Should be interesting to watch.

[pezsez1]

Agree Shaedon (last time we saw him) is better than Scoot right now, but Scoot can still find his way onto the floor as a facilitator. I'm definitely giving Sidy minutes of Sheadon, and Youngblood seems like this year's Blake Wesley, just out there playing with fire (a term I think is often overused, btw) and actually being a decent shot maker. Sheadon has all the tools, but I just don't think he's got that dog in him.

In fact, now would be the perfect time to trade someone like Sheadon. He clearly has ability (and potential) and is at the beginning of a team-friendly deal. Or maybe now's when you think about moving someone like Sidy, whose value might never be higher than it is right now.

The Blazers seem to have a surprisingly special roster, but also feel like it's still missing a piece, and I wonder if Dundon will want to make any moves this year to be more in the mix.

Agree about Dundon and contracts... I've been thinking the same thing re: Coach Nori. He's on a three-year deal with team options for the second and third years, but he's paid well below market and Dundon might want to try a little harder to make him happy to be here.

[Phalanx]

Or maybe now's when you think about moving someone like Sidy, whose value might never be higher than it is right now.

Yeah, normally I would trade Sidy because of the 'buy low, sell high' principle. The problem is that if I were going to trade him, I would be looking for someone in return like...Sidy. That, and his vet min contract has no value unless you include him with someone else. It would have to be Sidy AND Shaedon or Sidy AND Scoot.

I don't think the Blazers will trade anyone. Lillard may be gone by this summer - he is almost certain to opt out and want more money. Scoot is hemorrhaging contract money every time he steps on the floor. The Blazers will hopefully either sign him for cheap or not at all. There are a bunch of vet min guys who will all be gone too. Any perceived roster imbalances will fix themselves after this season anyway. So unless there is a knock-me-over offer for Jrue, I think they are more focused on next summer.

Do we actually know how much Nori makes?

[pezsez1]

There's zero chance of Dame leaving this next summer. Even if you're right and is sole motivation is money, he will pick up his player option and either wait for a trade or leave in free agency. That said, I've seen zero evidence of that being his sole motivation. He loves Portland and his teammates, and clearly they love him back. He has credibility/leadership here that he wouldn't have someplace else. It helped that he was so present last year even while in rehab, it's probably why this year he fits so seamlessly with Deni and the others. Smart money is on him finishing his career here. The X factor is Tom Dundon. Maybe Dundon simply won't want to pay him since he'll be old and in his twilight years. If Dame gets the "sub prime" treatment then obviously he'll go elsewhere and nobody should blame him. But I just don't see that happening, even with Dundon pulling the levers.

Do we actually know how much Nori makes?

Can't remember the exact number but his base salary is significantly below the typical earnings for a first-year head coach. Allegedly he has performance incentives, but those aren't public.

And re: trading Sidy, I guess it depends on what we view as this team's window. If the goal is hold onto our draft picks then our realistic window probably isn't within the next few years, and trading Sidy at high value for even more assets would make sense. If the goal is to win now, then they could pair him with picks and filler to get a better player in return. (No idea who they might target though.)

Only really brought that up because the Blazers are historically bad at getting high on their own supply and passing up on deals that could actually make them better. And Portland fans love nothing more than young players with potential. Today's Shaedon Sharpe is yesterday's Anfernee Simons who was the previous yesterday's Nicholas Batum. I do think Sidy is a tier above those players, but he's at that absolute sweet spot right now for the kind of player that might actually encourage another team to part ways with a bigger name.

[Phalanx]

There is not zero chance of anything where Lillard is concerned. but I am not saying Lillard will for sure be gone; I am saying he is likely to opt out of his contract and try to get more money either here or somewhere else. He's been a money-first player his entire career and I have no idea why he would change now, unless he gets re-injured. Normally I think Cronin would cave, but with Dundon pulling the levers, we might get a more objective position. Anyway, that is next summer - pointless to argue about now, unlike all our other arguments that have so much depth and meaning.

Sidy is going to be an interesting play. The last time I can remember having a situation where a vet min scrub showed out was Shabazz Napier, and we lost him to the Nets in free agency. If they can re-sign Sidy on a decent deal, I will be impressed.

If I was running the Blazers I would be making it a priority to win next year, since that is when the swaps with Milwaukee start conveying. I guess they should be making it a priority to win every year though, lol.

[pezsez1]

Anyway, that is next summer - pointless to argue about now, unlike all our other arguments that have so much depth and meaning.

This got me.

If I was running the Blazers I would be making it a priority to win next year, since that is when the swaps with Milwaukee start conveying. I guess they should be making it a priority to win every year though, lol.

You've been really big though on not parting with our draft picks, which are spread over the next few years. If the goal were to go for it next year, I'd think you'd want to trade those picks for a player/players who are ready to roll right now.

[Phalanx]

No, need those rookie contracts. What they need to do, if possible, is draft guys that can hit the ground running. Cedric Coward is lighting it up in his second season with Memphis. The Grizzlies still have three years of him playing for rookie-scale pay. He should be doing it for the Blazers, but instead Cronin is selling Blazer gear in China I guess. Who knows though, maybe that Orlando pick will turn out to be something.

Keep all the picks!

[pezsez1]

Deni is a beast! Glad he's a Blazer.

Also, felt bad for Clingan tonight, he got posterized pretty hard a couple of times.

[Phalanx]

That was ugly basketball, which is right in Deni's wheelhouse. The Kings had no answer for him.

I just kept watching Scoot. He is still playing like a G-leaguer. No refinement or maturity on offense. Lots of energy on defense. I mean, he is young, but the lack of development is tiring.

I keep thinking when I watch the Blazers that Clyde should come back and have some kind of mini-camp on how to finish at the rim. So many missed lay-ins all the time. Maybe my mythical power forward draftee could help with that, along with all the other skills I am demanding of him.

It's nice that the Blazers can win consistently against the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns of the world again. It's early in the season, but that feels like a change from the last several years when those games were often in doubt.

[Phalanx]

I have always been in the camp of Lillard being overrated, but I will say this.
One cannot just take the points he gets at the ft line and discount those. Pts are pts and his ability to draw contact and turn that into points is for sure one of his strengths.
Also, there is and always has been something to say about players that play over and above during crucial moments. And a couple times now in a couple of nights Dame has done that. It might not show in a box score, but watching the games, it shows. Kobe Bryant was clutch down the stretch. He's the guy you wanted to shoot the shot at the end of the game or attempt to take over a game, even if he was a 32% career 3 pt shooter. Dame might not be the best 3 pt shooter percentage wise this year on this team, but having him on the court has opened things up offensively and along with Deni is that guy you want taking the big shot.

Some fouls are definitely legit, but often, fouls are like holding penalties in football in that they are always callable on any given play and can be used by officials to steer the game in the way that they believe it ought to go, and prop up the players that ought to be propped up. Having watched Lillard this season, it is apparent that he is one of these players. Other players can bang in the paint all day long with barely any calls, but Lillard gets touched and the refs ring up the offender. The NBA has been this way since I was a kid, but Portland didn't have any of the favored few back then. It got pretty comical watching Karl Malone do whatever he wanted whenever Portland would play the Jazz in the playoffs and some might remember that last series when they called a foul on Brian Grant's face for running into Malone's elbow.

Anyway, I respect players who can make shots more than players who can get to the line, but I agree with you that from a pragmatic standpoint, they are often equally effective. It is interesting to note though that Lillard needs to play a several more years at a fairly high level to catch Drexler in field goals, even though he passed Drexler a few years ago in points scored. Most of that difference is Lillard hucking up way more threes (2014 more), but a good chunk (634 points currently) is free throws. The refs just have given way more free shots to Lillard than they ever did to Drexler, even though Drexler played in 174 more games as of today. You can decide why that is, but I watched both play and one was definitely gaming the refs more than the other one. That's why some players are called 'free throw merchants', because it is their stock in trade to get to the line. Almost a quarter of Lillard's points in his career are from free throws, although he is far from the highest in that category. Karl Malone, James Harden, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant are some names of guys who visited the charity stripe more often.