Which Portland Trail Blazers Are NBA Finals Material?

Which Portland Trail Blazers Are NBA Finals Material?

brad how do you feel about the NBA Finals matchup well one I actually love it i think it’s so awesome i love the like I mean people are mad everyone’s mad at everything all of the time everyone’s always mad it’s like this is such a breath of fresh air it’s like you hear people complain all year about how the NFL is so much more popular in the NBA and now we’re try they’re trying to adopt more of a format that would allow any team to get a chance to play and now people are also mad about that yeah now it’s the flip the other way where I need superstars and I need big markets it’s like who what giant loser watches games based on the market value of the teams you know OKC Indiana I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but I’m not that excited for these NBA finals you know I joke that Colin is the elitist here on the show but maybe it’s me cuz you know if I were the NBA I would have changed its motto to give me super teams or give me death because that’s what I like i like superstars in the NBA finals and we don’t really have that that particularly for all of us watching this video Blazer fans I think it’s a a great sign first of all that teams with a small market and with a less of an ability to go out and get major free free agents on the market i think so yeah yeah teams like that can quickly I mean both these teams were in the lottery two years ago and now they’re in the NBA finals things can first of all turn very quickly but you don’t need I mean the the Thunder obviously have SCA in the MVP but that’s what makes them so unbelievably good right but all you need is to hit on your draft picks make one good trade for a very good player i think the Ringer just had out that Hallebertton’s ranked top 10 now after which that’s happened which is pretty it reeks of recency bias to put him unbelievably so was like the cool thing of it’s like it’s cool that he’s not a top 10 player and they’re in the finals you don’t need to like BS it to be like actually he’s better than I don’t know they have him above like Tatum yeah i think it’s a great great sign for the Blazers who everyone clamors that we need this 1A superstar player or we’re not going to get anywhere right and everyone believes that that that that player is not on our roster right now and I would guarantee you that we’ll go as far as two years back people would say no one in the league would say Hallebertton is a good enough player to take you to the NBA finals or that Pascal Seakum because there’s I think there’s arguments that I mean he won the East Conference Finals award right yeah they’re 1A and 1B there’s not ex Yeah there no one would tell you that either of those players are good enough to take a team to the NBA finals and yes the Pacers are in an absolute heater of a run but I just think it goes to show that it’s so much more important today in the NBA to have a deep cohesive team of players that all are very good as a and then hope one kind of takes a big leap rather than have this superstar player that’ll just everyone gets on on their back and takes you all the way right yeah you’re a thousand% right it’s roster construction and committing to an identity that’s what it is and that’s why I mean that’s why I’m so excited about the Blazers future is it feels like right now being the best at what you’re good at can carry you so much farther than just you know on paper talent which is a pretty big change for the modern NBA that’s what makes me so excited for the Blazers because I feel like the last season was us finally finding an identity as a way for Blazer fans to feel hopeful compare the Phoenix Suns to the Indiana Pacers yeah a team that is starpowered filled with zero identity versus a team that’s you know has is deep and cohesive and has a a very obvious style of play and identity that they are fully bought in and committed to that’s what we need to lean into not star power but leaning into that so with all that in mind I think this off season it’s the first of and I think a couple what are of what are going to be pivotal in defining who those players are going to be for the long term to continue that identity and to be the basically core of this team i think you and I have a handful in mind that are for sure that we know and I think most people would agree i think our baseline for that is maybe a little bit higher than other people’s and there’s some players that fall into a potentially category i think you and I have some players that we know for sure are not going to be a part of it and maybe some people would think they fall into the maybe i think for the most part everyone’s going to kind of understand our thoughts but I’ll start it off i think the we know the and to me he’s a lot higher of a centerpiece than I think people agree but Denny who was just ranked as the best player on the Blazers by the ringer by a decent margin first was that what it was first uh 61st best player in the league Denny clearcut core of this future and I think basically a pillar a building block to kind of a focal point of this team to build around when you say 100% yeah you’re absolutely right Because what’s cool about watching the finals is you know a still up and cominging and you know I guess you’d use the word rebuilding we’re still rebuilding but you watch these playoff series you watch the finals it gives a better idea of what really is the type of talent that is going to be on a championship team because you look at the Pacers and they you know Jarus Walker’s a talented guy uh Matan’s a really talented guy guys who would be getting heavy minutes on the Blazers right now I would assume and they’re getting you know anywhere from zero to 16 20 minutes a game at most it gives a lot better of an idea it’s like okay as much as I love this young guy as much as I see the potential of this guy who realistically can we say for sure could be on these teams either right now or in the future and make a serious impact on a team contending for a title denny is absolutely number one on that list you watch Denny and he would fit in so well with that Pacers team i mean he would be awesome on that Pacers team he would be you know I’d see him as arguably he’d be if 1 A and 1B are Hallebertton and Seakum he would be like a borderline 1C i think I mean I also think I kind of think he’s better than Seakum i think he’s could totally get to a seakum type role on a team where it’s maybe not on every single night and it’s not running through him all of the time sure but he’s such a valuable extension of an offense and a defense and he’s so fast in transition that he’s hitting you those easy buckets i I honestly now that we’re talking about this more I really see a lot of similarities between those two players yeah 100% me too and that’s the thing it’s like you also we’re again looking at guys who are fitting and would be able to commit to the identity that we’re clearly trying to build yeah and Denny is one of the two guys who you’re like “Oh that is the prime example of what we are trying to build in Portland.” high hustle high intensity push the ball play fast play aggressively be the team that guys hate to play on defense and will blow past you in offense and get points in transition getting at the basket another guy who I think fits that you know like oh he’s going to be on if the Blazers become a contending team there’s no way he’s not a big piece of that and that’s uh Tumani you know we said we see um Denny in Seakkum i see Tumani in Alex Caruso where and which I think is going to rub some people the wrong way i think it will too and I don’t think it should because Caruso has been a key integral part not of just in this most likely incoming championship I think for the Thunder yeah but for a championship team four years ago with the Lakers I see Tumani as being an incredibly important 25 minute per game player because again that’s not an insult but to expect because here’s the thing who else would he be on these teams i mean the the guy you could make like physically the comparison to is uh Dort is uh I was going to say Jaylen Williams to me he reminds me more of their Dort and you’re kind of hoping that three-point shot just keeps getting better and better um I honestly can see Tummani having more off the ball creation than Dort eventually i don’t think it’s going to be great but I do I personally disagree with that i do see him getting around to a little bit more i think he’s trying more things and maybe that’s just cuz it’s against worse teams where he’s able to pull it off and and he has the long leash for that stuff but at the bare minimum for me that’s what he is to us the bare minimum is Cruso yeah and the And I think that’s I think that’s what I think that’d be a really nice peak for him well let me say it like if we’re going to the finals if we’re becoming a really good team I think his minimum role I think it would be the minimum role he would play in that is him being in that Caruso so many other things would have to go right for Tummani to be playing that role and us be going as far as the finals do you know what I mean like everyone else would have to hit i think the other path for us to get that far on the back of Tubmani is that his offensive game comes around a bit more it opens up into sort of like a kneemith type player and then the three-point shot obviously just starts to get better and better and he becomes like N Smith a 40% three-point shooter so he’s a offensive threat while also being out there on defense hounding someone for 35 minutes a night right well that’s the thing dude is like what’s so interesting about Tumani is it’s a guy who I’m sure would be a huge part of this champion of a championship Blazers team but I am not for sure if it would be in a starting role because I see the Lou Dort comparison i think Lou Dort is a much better offensive player than Tumani is and here’s what’s tough dude is that Tumani had I mean I just Dort doesn’t ever score a two-point field goal yeah but if we need Tumani to score two-point field goals when we’re actually really good I think something’s kind of wrong tumani is in the same situation that Lou Dort was in three years ago and even though it was also at not very good shooting percentages he was putting up 17 a game tumani was had the role Lou Dort did three or four years ago and he put up what 10 points per game on 35% shooting on even easier shooting attempts if we become a really good team could he be what Lou Dort is now maybe but is Tumani going to be able to shoot 41% from three at his peak i personally don’t think so because at 24 right now which is how much younger he’s about a year and a half younger than Dort i I just I think there’s ways Tummani can can get better i’m not going to lock him into he should be that Alex Caruso role i’m hoping there’s better outcomes um but I I do agree that he has shown enough to at least be a 25 minute per game defensive stalwart on a really good team well here’s the other thing that about Tumani offensively really people focus so much on just like the three-point shot you can’t just have a good three-point shot you have to have those intangibles and Tumani is still a lot of the time really awkward offensively i can’t other than offensive rebounding I don’t think Tumani really has a consistent skill offensively still which of course he’s in his second year he’s 24 he’s still super young he still has a lot of time to grow but Dor is a good offensive player not just he because he can make an open three it’s because of the intangibles that he has otherwise on that end it’s the difference between being a guy who is could lead a team to 41 wins and being a guy who could be integral part of a championship team i think Chumani could start and play 40 minutes a game and be the second or third most important part of a 41- win team but when we get to that ch and that’s a good thing that’s why we were so good in the second half of the season was because of Chumani and Denny the two of them so he’s showing that he can be that kind of player that can get a team to a playin type position as a starter but is he the type of guy who could be a that important on a championship team i mean I just really really don’t think so but I think he could be an insanely important part of a championship team in a lesser role like Carusa is doing right now so we know Tumani is going to be in there we know Tumani is a core part of this team i think that Klingan is a core part of this team and can become a successful part of us getting to the finals um because I don’t think there’s a world where we can do what we’re trying to do like you and I have talked about so much of be a havoc wrecking team without a league leading paint protector who can deter everyone away from the rim on his own and that’s what Klingan is if Klingan isn’t good enough for us and the offensive struggles I’ll I’ll mention in just a second but if he’s not good enough to be that defensive anchor that go bear for us then I think it kind of all falls apart and to me I really think Rudy is a lot closer to his floor than I think most people would think right now rudy is I think Rudy as Klingan’s floor it’s not I think Oh I see rather than his ceiling right because I think they’re very very comparable players i think is like Rudy him turning into Rudy Gobear is pretty realistic and I think that Klingan has way more offensive potential because Rudy’s offense is pretty much non-existent at a lot of times right unless they’re playing the Lakers without a center yeah I 1,000% I keep saying 1,000 10,000 but I really do i couldn’t agree with you more that I’m not sure if people fully realize how important it is for Klingan to get really really good and I think the really exciting part is that he’s shown in his rookie year that there is just gobs of potential he’s the he’s the key piece that needs to pan out for this to become a really really good team and I think people look at Shaden they look at Scoot and they’re like “Oh those are the guys who really need to get good for us to become a great team.” I think it’s Klingan and I also think he’s the most sure thing of those guys to reach that level because he showed that in his rookie year he made an awesome impact while still leaving so much to be desired which is what you want from a rookie or a young guy what I love about Cllingon that’s so different than Goar is that Goar clearly has no interest and never has really of doing much offensively it’s just like clearly not something he’s all that comfortable with or wants to do you could you watch Klingan and he clearly struggles but he wants to be a guy who can who can hit a spot of three he wants to be a guy who can play as a role man and most of that doesn’t have to do with his finishing ability it has to do with his just insane screen setting and how he’s able to create plays off of that it’s not because he has great touch around the rim because clearly he does not but I he’s a I think he will he’s a guy who does not seem afraid to put shots up around the rim i don’t see him chickening out it’s just that he just doesn’t have that touch yet and I think it’ll come around i think it was just a fir I honestly truly believe it was just a first year thing it was a kind of yips type thing like he had that touch in college once once he knew he was the man on that on those hurly teams he he was blossoming and he wasn’t scoring a ton but it wasn’t looking like it did with us i think he is the biggest going forward of our young guys if all three if all of our young guys reach their potential they want them to I think Klingan’s impact is the greatest and I think it’s the most realistic of all of our young guys which is awesome i’m excited i like that a lot below that line of you know we’re sure these are players that we can trust to invest in I think is kind of way yeah cuz Dan like those are guys who could make an impact now in the finals klingan’s like we know he will make a huge impact yeah years from now now we’re on to like we’re not sure if they would now and we’re not sure if they will but they could right is that how you’re seeing it and to me the three players to put in that bin and the only three players to put in that bin are our three it’s our three-headed dragon of Yes of it’s kind of like you know the dragon meme where they’re all kind of where there’s the one with the loopy eyes and then there’s the two that they all kind of have the loopy eyes anthony Shaden and Scoot to me kind of have all have an equal chance of popping out and turning into a really good and Anthony is a little farther along i understand but I think Infern is a lot closer to a player that can be valuable on a uh winning team than the other two are and there’s going to be a ton of push back on that one too but I know Shaden and Scoot’s potential is higher to me they both have such glaring flaws that I’m not sure if they can fix it’s Shaden’s defensive limitations and kind of from a mental st standpoint in that regard of of and shooting limitations too and is I’ll go three-point shooting spec specific limitations two those are two huge glaring things that just get you played off of the court in a in a first round playoff series and Scoot it’s kind and Scoot let alone the finals in a first round series in a first round series you’re getting played off the court if you play defense like Shaden has and if you shoot the three ball like Shaden has at such high volume the other one is Scoot kind of in the same three-point shooting mentality but more so just like turnovers inability to handle pressure and Exactly and oppo and and good opposing defenses inability to adapt it’s just he he’s he’s clearly not mentally ready to handle a sevename series right now and he would get played off the court he would play himself off the court in that regard rather than I think him getting schemed out like Shaden would right now those three that’s the way I see them and I see them all equally right now and I think a lot of people are going to hear that and say like come on you’re being like too hard on them they’re so young but the Thunder are also incredibly young and that’s why I said I was saying earlier it’s important to you know watch these finals gives a more realistic understanding of context of where our young guys really are at compared to a team like the Thunder and obviously the Thunder are the best human league they’re kind of one they give a better understanding of what truly great young guys should look like you look at the Pacers and I think I mean the most the best comparison for Shaden in the entire league is Matan and has been since literally draft day yeah yeah he’s a guy who went right sixth and we took Shane at seventh and they’re pretty similar players and I would make the argument that over this season Matine has been a better player than Shaden um some people might disagree with that i think Matine’s overall has been better and they’re pretty similar players and he’s had so far a better career than Shaden his first three years and he’s getting you know he’s averaging 16 minutes a game in the playoffs by every way measurable he’s a better measurable he’s a better shooter and a better defender so you watch Shaden you’re obviously you know those finishing skills are unbelievable he’s a amazing finisher with solid with a solid mid-range game who can’t shoot statistically right now the worst shooter in the NBA given his shot attempts from three um on a pretty average to easy um shot quality so he’s not taking these really hard shots which I’ve seen some people argue like “Oh Shaden shoots back because he takes such difficult shots.” That’s not really true he’s league average in shot quality so you watch you think of Shane you’re like right now he’d be he probably would be getting the same to less minutes that Matan is getting i’m sure you know Matan himself was thinking this about himself like how do I become the kind of player that can become a guy who can play in the NBA finals and for Shane to do that he’d have to he’d have to be an impactful defender i still think it’s possible because in the playoffs you see how you know it’s very important especially in the end of the game guys who can create shots on their own that’s something Shaden can do guy can get to the rim and finish beautifully i’m not I just haven’t seen yet if he’s able to do that with playoff level defense we won’t know that until he makes the playoffs i think he totally could but I’m not sure if he’s going to even be able to be put in that position unless he drastically improves his shooting and drastically improves his defense but if he does do those two things there’s a guy who’s an awesome member of our future core if he doesn’t he’s in the same situation Matine is in except probably worse and probably for longer it’s nicer with Shaden because you can see that the three ball starts to go in he’s going to be a really really scary offensive player and he has the defensive insulation around him at the least with Tummani Denny and Klingan backing him up that he doesn’t have to get that much better on defense he just has to not be a negative defender and that makes his path to there a lot easier so both those things are are very attainable and there’s all the there’s all the counter arguments like he hasn’t played that much basketball he is young it all makes sense and we’re not saying we don’t believe in Shaden i actually think the second half of the year was was very promising and very encouraging shaden I I could see it truly is a 50/50 flip he I think it’s 50/50 he realizes those things and he’s able to become a a shooter which expands his offensive game to being a real threat because right now in the playoffs teams would just clog the paint clog the mid-range dude kind of get wrecked I think offensively especially cuz he’s still so slim but in the future if he develops that shot that’s a guy who’s now a really important offensive piece the defense like you said we could I still I agree with you that we could hide him defensively that again plays in like we would need Klingan to realize his potential he needs to get better to be able to hide him right now he would get played off the court i 100% agree with he can he can get good enough reasonably to be not not a problem and I think again like and the everyone’s talking about it now like it’s not about as much who your best player is it’s who your worst player is and yes with someone like Shaden whose flaws are so glaringly big it begs the question like his extension people are talking about his extension this summer and the two options are basically give him you know a full big four fiveyear extension at a certain price point i think most players who kind of are locked in starters are getting like $35 million a year right now i’m super not comfortable with giving Shaden that amount of money and to me I’m not even fully comfortable giving him an extension right now and I’ll I might be down to roll the dice on restricted free agency where like if he does pop next year then maybe we have to fight off some suitors but I think one more year of watching him and really putting him under a microscope is what we need rather than taking a gamble on getting him a little bit cheaper this year because again like we’ve been saying if there’s one player who you’re pot committed to that isn’t working I think you’re [ __ ] you can’t be missing on a singular good player anymore to make it to the finals the Pacers the the most underrated part about them is their cap sheet is clean and all of these players are contributing in ways and none of them are detracting from what they’re doing so you have to be sure and I would rather call it quits on a number seven or a number three draft pick that we missed on and not lock ourselves into them and have them be a bad player than try to get a deal on them and then hope they pop when they’re not going to if that makes sense what’s so weird is I probably would be okay with just throwing him a big contract right now just because what’s so weird about Shaden is how it’s a coin flip but the two sides of the coin to me are so wildly different with his style of play there’s not that many 6’6 guys who are great finishers and that’s kind of it and they’re able to be okay players is either they develop that game to being a three-way scoreer who’s also a solid defender and all a sudden you’re an all-star type player or you don’t develop either of those and you’re played off the court you look at Scoot and you think you know his style of play is a guy who could be um you know just okay and be an impactful player i think and that’s it’s kind of the opposite it’s like I’m not I don’t think Scoot’s ever going to be a multi-time all-star i think Shaden could if things work out perfectly Shaden could i don’t think that’s gonna happen for Scoot because there’s so many things he would have to mass he doesn’t have one skill set like Shaden does with his finishing ability that you can be like “Oh he’s truly elite at that and that’s going to be an integral part to an all-star type player.” Yeah i see Scoot is if he’s going to be a part of a championship team he’s going to be People aren’t going to like this dude i see him as being closer to like a TJ McConnell who I love and have always loved T.J mcconnell i think he could be a better T.J mcconnell i think he’s a guy who is so high intensity on defense even though he’s not good really yet which I know is going to be weird for people to hear but we are still statistically worse with Scoot on the floor defensively even though I think he plays in a way you’re just like so hopeful that like oh he’s so aggressive he’s trying so hard he’s such a great hustle player that that’s going to pan out which I really think it will but like you said he still plays so out of control his athleticism is not what we hoped it would be his shooting had a few weeks where it looked great but it by the end of the season he was back to shooting like 31% it did start to feel a little bit fluky but but his intensity defensively his uh uh his hustle it’s a guy that’s like “Oh like he could be like a T mcconnell type of player at worst and at best I still see him as being kind of like a Jeff Teague type of player but I still think he’s a guy worth keeping around because I think he could his intensity defensively and his just intensity in general on both ends of the floor that’s a kind of guy you want yeah yeah he’s got the the the dog in him he he wants it he’s going to play hard i I saw the Jeff Teague comparison the other day and the I’ve been saying that forever i was kind of mad when I saw that because I was like my line yeah the stats behind that um are really promising too and this would this would kind of be the make or break year if you’re going to subscribe to that which I’m which I’m down for i think everyone can see how it can bottom out it’s a little bit harder to see where it can get really good but I think I agree with you that the skills that he does have his passing ability his ranginess he’s quick he’s quick on his feet i think those all can get his floor pretty high he just has to kind of put it all together mentally and I think it’ll click it’s not that unreasonable at all to see him being a a a solid to good role player on a really good team um it’s just hard to see him commanding the offense so I think those three guys we’re unsure if they can become very much positive winning players but we have But it’s totally possible but it’s totally possible and we’ll throw we’ll throw Anthony in there because we’ve already seen what he is a thousand% i just worry I look at him like is his role in a championship team Isaiah Joe you know what I mean but I think he’s such a better three way level score than that that I think at worst he’s Isaiah Joe which is still an important part a guy who can come in and drain threes and at best I still because I still believe in Ant he’s young he’s shown that I still don’t think he’s been able to work in an offense where he doesn’t have just constant all day pressure on him which is why he statistically has the hardest shot selection in the entire NBA which is he deserves some of the blame for that because he’s not that impressive of an offball player of trying to get himself open shots but we don’t really run much of an offense that allows him to get that many open shots off ball which is again why I think Klingan is so important and in the future will open up the game so much for Anne because he’s the type of guy that will do that yeah that’s why I still believe in Anne and I still think he could be an important part but he’s the kind of guy who I think uh this is where it gets tough with Shaden because you a championship team can’t hide both Shaden and I think I think there’s there’s you have to go one way or the other with them and I know the fans are all unanimously going to agree it’s let’s put the resources into Shaden over Ant and I think there’s definitely a world where we could regret that but I I think there’s a big world where we could regret that where we could regret that but you see you know you kind of have to take your risks and Shaden is a risk worth taking for sure so I still think there’s this is all three of those guys this is season to show and it sucks that we didn’t know after this season cuz I thought that was because it felt like last season was the season but now we still don’t know it’s not like oh we watch and we know for sure a lot of guys would say we know for sure that Ant isn’t i I completely disagree below that I don’t think there’s I mean you might have a differing opinion on Matise maybe but I think below that you’ve got guys that play a niche role and have guys who are very easily replaceable guys are very easily replaceable i think Robert I think Robert Williams can totally be a great piece on a team but I think you know when you’re talking about his health you can’t reliably expect him to be there and I think he’s probably worth more as an asset to another team who wants to take a gamble than for us to willingly rely on him what do you think about Matise in this context it’s it’s tough because I mean he’s such an amazing defender maybe he’s the Alex Caruso of this team you know maybe you’re 100% right maybe Tumani is the Lud Dort which I actually like that Lud Dort is and then uh Matis is the Alex Caruso of it but I love Matise but he’s another guy who it’s like is he ever going to be able to be good enough offensively like could he ever even be Alex Caruso level offensively i think he could be but I don’t know he’s a guy who it’s we could talk about him but he’s not I don’t think he’s going to be the difference maker between us being a great team or not he could be a guy though that accentuates a great team yeah he could if he really steps up his offensive game to being somewhat of a somewhat of a threat which would be really stepping up it up for him unfortunately then he could be the 10 to 12 minute a guy on a really good team there’s also Jeremy which I think what Jeremy was two years ago or was I’ll say at the peak of Jeremy over these past two years which was hitting threes at a 40% clip putting up 18 points a game and then if he kind of mixed it in I don’t think he was playing as good as defense as he was for that one stretch in the middle of this year like last year but if you combine those two that’s a really good role player the reason I’m out on Jeremy is because one at his price point we can’t win with him on the roster he’s taking to up too much space in that regard but the other is that you know on the north side of 31 and I think kind of just with his play style I don’t want to be mean here but maybe lack of drive i don’t know if he’s really the hardest working guy in the gym these days i don’t I I see what happened towards the end of last year as closer to a sign of him beginning to fall off i’m not saying he’s going to be totally ass next year i think you and I are much much higher on what Jeremy is as a player right now than most people i don’t see him getting back to his peak in two years when we’re ready to go so I don’t see him there he’s not part of the core of a championship team for the Blazers i think we can 100% agree on that but he could be a veteran Jeremy Grant in a couple years who plays 20 minutes a game or even hopefully next year that’s a cool player i’m really I’m and I think it has to happen i don’t really know where Chanty can find the time otherwise i’m really excited to see him in a 20 25 minute off the bench run me too because I think that can make our bench really good if you get a Jeremy Grant that’s playing well off the bench you’re a pretty good team absolutely that’s the thing that’s why I want him to be He’s replaceable i want him to be replaced but not to leave but to become a 20-minut per game guy that would be awesome yeah um and then I think the last one that we No I think that’s it gloss over the like guys that we don’t hate yeah um maybe has his own tear in our eyes and we will likely over this offseason address in a longer context and kind of do a reminder video but Aton is not only someone you can’t play eightton is someone that if the Phoenix Suns hadn’t matched DeAndre Aton’s offer sheet way back when when the India pace Indiana Pacers offered it to him the Indiana Pacers I will say will have would have never made the Eastern Conference Finals i 1,000% agree and people for some reason right now are going to be mad about that the way he has been able to brainwash so many and I said it when he got hurt that one game I thought oh man people are gonna remember him fondly for some reason and during the offse came off a win streak when he was playing well and then and people are going to say oh but he was already a good player on a finals team he was a good player on a finals team five years ago with still basically prime Chris Paul on that team who I could play if I I could play as pick and roll center with Chris Paul and honestly look okay as 59 150 and even then even the next season when he still had Chris Paul he was benched for Jock Landale Jack Landdale Jock Landale Landale Jock Landale I mean we can look at that one month playoff run from five years ago as much as we want that’s not the player that Aiden has shown himself to be in his career if Klingan is as important to this team as we think he is which he absolutely is there is not a world where we win a champion ship or we’re a contender where Eightton’s the guy but Cllingan isn’t we’ve seen Eightton at his peak and with Eightton we had one of the worst defenses in the NBA he has he’s statistically one of the worst rim protectors in the NBA we know he’s one of the worst screen setters in the NBA i understand that he had a few nice games before he went down in that 10ame streak but I want everyone to look back at those games and really look at how he played he had a couple really good games against the Suns i was at one of them it was awesome he played great but if we’re gonna get tricked by Aiden like he’s been tricking people for the last seven years of his career it’s it’s it’s not gonna You can like Aiden too as a player if you like Aiden as a player that’s fine you can’t seriously think that you can’t seriously think even if you like Aiden that’s fine i see why people like Aiden he’s a good rebounder with amazing touch on the rim he’s one of the best mid-range shooting bigs ever but there’s not a world where he not where he not Klingan is the big man on a Blazers championship team if you want Scoot to develop offensively if you want Shaden to develop offensively they need an a an A+ tier screener like Klingan to do it and not a bottom of the barrel screener like Aiden but if you’re so willing to give up Ant to clear the way for Scoot you should be ten times more willing to clear the way for Klingan by giving up Aton yeah because Klingan’s already shown he has more of a guaranteed impact on the game right now and has shown that he’s probably going to have a bigger impact on the team in the future i think the biggest litmitness test for my personal view of Chanty at the start of the season but I just think in general if he like how good is his pulse on this team is if he starts clinging over eight day one if Chanty does that day one I will be over the moon i will feel like the hire was amazing and I will feel like we’re heading in in in the right direction if Aton is still starting on day one and it’s a big ass to put Chanty over Aiden or to put Klingan over for Chanty to put Klingan over Aiden but if he has the balls to do it and if he can figure out a way to make it work and you’ve got 28 minutes of Klingan starting starting block with the starters and then Aiden coming off the bench I think is honestly good i think you’ve got a guy who can rebound like that and shoot like that sure coming off the bench playing 20 minutes a night he just has to play hard for those 20 minutes but that will never ever ever ever happen that’s cool with Jeremy i think it totally could with Eightton that will never happen i know so I but I don’t think we’re going to I I just kind of think we’re going to be wasting time playing Aton with the starting lineup and playing Klingan with the bench lineup when we really could just be starting Klingan and just finding a way to make it work for Aiden but obviously he’s he’s not going to subscribe to that because he needs to make his money after this season so especially when Klingan’s biggest issue is being able to play for long periods of time yeah do you want himself do you want to work clinging into shape three years from now or do you want to do it now i want to do it now you know the teams are in the finals right now like we’ve talked about it gives a more realistic expectation of what we can hope for going forward with this team with what our core is what we think our core is and so yeah to sum it up I think we can unquestionably say Denu are going to be huge pieces of that we think uh Klingan absolutely could be and will be even if he might not be right now he’s going to be just as important as those guys and a huge piece of the teams going forward ant Shaden Scoot they’re big- time coin flips where they could be super important parts of this team or they could be guys that were like “Oh they didn’t develop this they didn’t develop that didn’t quite work out.” And then we have the rest of the team yeah then we have the rest of the team we have Aiden who we’re not we don’t think is a part of it we think Jeremy who we don’t think is part of the core but could be part of a hopefully a backup veteran role sometime in the hopefully near future and then we have other guys who I think we think are basically even if we like him because we like Jabari we like even Matise a lot but they’re replaceable they’re not guys who are going to be the difference makers on us being a championship team or not but even if we like them they’re you know they’re that’s kind of what kind of players they are all of our thoughts on this are are with the NBA finals in mind and we obviously have we all agree a very long road to go to that there’s plenty of room for a couple of guys to take a half step up and us be in my eyes a low tier playoff team absolutely we are not far away from making a big step next year well that’s what’s so cool about this team is that because of those coin flips those guys if they flip the right way and we know Denny Tumani those guys are going to be huge parts we know Klingan’s going to be a huge part if Shaden works out if Ant works out and if Scoot works out that is 100% to me the core of a really really good team and it just has to be two of the three because I don’t even think all three of them can really work out and and take time but you just need you need to you got to what’s you know if it’s coin flips we’re looking at you know we’ve got a 25% chance of two of those guys b like taking another step this year commanding the team and then we kind of let go of the other one um which to me sounds about right yeah so 25% for the two of those guys to work out sounds about right yeah so to me that’s hopeful that’s like pretty high for the NBA for professional sports that’s pretty high and we still have a hopefully a really good draft pick we’re about to get and we still have awesome picks in the future looking forward so the core of Denny 2 and Klingan that alone with how much flexibility we have with our picks with our assets in the future we’re looking good well thank you guys for listening we are three weeks away from the draft big big night we’ll see what starts to happen i think this off season could be a ton of really interesting news for the Blazers or nothing could happen and I don’t think anyone really knows so uh stay tuned with us we’ll do our best to keep you updated as quick as we can with our with our fiery hot takes um and we’ll just keep on thinking about the Blazers all day long so that’s seemingly all I do these days well the Blazers are cool the Blazers are cool so it’s really cool to be thinking about them all don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not cool to think about the Blazers all the time um appreciate you guys hit a like if you haven’t hit a subscribe if you really haven’t and uh leave us a comment if you think we’re completely wrong on any of the players or if we’re totally right and we just laid out the team perfectly so we appreciate y’all

With the NBA Finals currently underway, featuring two young, up-and-coming teams that will seemingly be competing for titles for the foreseeable future, it begs the question for the Portland Trail Blazers: What is our core?

To answer that question, Brad and Jethro laid out which current Blazers they know could be a part of a title-contending team, which Blazers they think have a chance at being a part of that team, and which Blazers they feel are replaceable and won’t be a part of the core of the future.

0:00 – Intro
3:55 – Framework
4:38 – For Sure Part of the Core
16:45 – Possibly Part of the Core
29:17 – Not Part of the Core
37:35 – Recap
40:15 – Outro

#nba #blazers #basketball #portlandtrailblazers #nbafranchise #nbafinals #nbateam #sports #pacers #thunder

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