Trail Blazers Summer of Change: A New Rookie Center! A New Arena? A New (Old) Point Guard!

Trail Blazers Summer of Change: A New Rookie Center! A New Arena? A New (Old) Point Guard!

Welcome to Sprag Week. Just kidding. In today’s show, Brandon Sprag of Oh, wait. Brandon, what’s the 1059? We can leave this in. Oh. Uh, 1051 FM. You’re close. I’m ready. You almost have that. You’re a professional. And action. In today’s show, Brandon Sprag of 1051, the fan joins the program and we talk about the Blazers potentially moving, the return of Damen Lillard and yes, Yang Hansen. Welcome to Locked On Blazers. Let’s get into it. You are Locked On Trailblazers, your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. What’s up world? It’s your past first point guard and trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond. Listen to another episode of Locked on Blazers, part of the Locked On podcast network coming at you three days a week in August into the first couple weeks of September. Then we’ll be back rolling along five days a week. And uh this today, I was going to say this week, but the show you’re listening to Wednesday, August 6th program. And this week, for the next couple days and into next week, Brandon Sprag’s going to join the program. That’s That’s right. You know him. Brandon Sprag from 1051, the fan on your FM dial. You’ve heard his voice. It sounds crazy in the new FM modulator. How you doing, Brandon? Uh, I’m doing great, man, but not even the FM can make my voice sound good. But we’re excited to be over there. It’s been a lot of fun to be on the FM dial from the AM dial. It’s 2025. I can’t believe we were on the AM dial still, but uh it’s been great. listeners has been great and uh it’s good to be on the pod, man. Thanks for inviting me. I love being on with you. I’m a P1 of the show and so I can’t wait to talk Blazers with you. Well, I always um I always enjoy our chats. Uh we spend a lot of time texting each other about the Blazers occasionally. So, I said, you know what? Let’s let’s just take it out of the take it out of the text messages. I said, stop texting me. Come on the program. Um we’re going to start with a little news today. The this isn’t really news. It’s news adj it’s news adjacent but there has been some reporting including a cover story last week uh by the WAMIT week that’s the alt weekly newspaper a wonderful alt weekly here in Portland about the potential for the trailblazers to move now this is something we’ve covered here I’m sure you’ve covered it on your program a couple times but it kind of came back into the zeitgeist because not only did Whamik write about it but there there was a group formed that’s called RIP city forever uh and it’s organized by former Blazers player Chris Dudley. Also former Lake Asiggo basketball coach and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley. Um former team executive um yeah, shout out to shout out to uh Kevin Love’s championship team. Um coached by Chris Dudley that lost in the state championship. uh uh Marshall Glickman, who’s the son of Harry Glickman, um and uh who’s the original owner of the Blazers, Aaron Hubert, who was the COO of the Blazers way back when, and a local business folks, uh Joth Richie, who used to uh be the CEO of Dutch Masters and Adshime Vineyards and Stumptown Coffee, and Ryan Buchanan, who’s the head of a creative agency, Thesis. So, these people, movers and shakers, are saying like, “We’re going to be proactive in getting Portland to make sure we don’t lose the team. We can’t be reactive. We have to be proactive. We have to get ready.” and they’re they’re rallying the sort of local local uh politicians and the governor and yada yada yada. What’s your concern level for the Blazers leaving town? Like how real is this to you? Uh if you if you gave me like a scale of of one to 10, like 10 being, you know, sound the alarms and everybody like puncture the the moving vans, their tires, like don’t let them leave town. Uh I’m definitely at like a 1.2. I just I I look I we can get into this and I know there’s a lot to it. It’s layered, but one like that group, no matter what you think of any of those people, that’s an impressive group of people, right? Those are accomplished people. Those are people of of business, people of note, people that actually have connections and power in different ways. Uh I think that group coming out with the statement that they did kind of spoke volumes. Um, I think an underrated part of this equation is Dame being back here. And I think the third part of it that, you know, definitely puts me at that lowish tier of like I’m not concerned is the group collective statement that some PR firm definitely wrote for Tina Cotek and Keith Wilson about like doing whatever it took and you know, RIP City and what it means. Like even if somebody did write it that wasn’t them, like I don’t really care. I just want it to be written and be said. And so I think with those collectives uh alto together I’m at like a 1.2 if you want to call it a flat one. I’m there. I’m not into the fear-mongering. I think it’s negotiating public stuff tactics 101. I think there’s a market in worse shape than us. And I just think ultimately no matter how you feel about the political landscape of the city and even in the state, uh the team means too much. And so I think cooler heads will prevail in different ways. Some people may not like the way those heads prevail, but I think they made it abundantly clear they’re going to do what it takes to keep the team here. Yeah. So the letter that was written on uh published So I think it was written on July 29th and then made public on July 30th, but um it reads in part, “The Blazers are in our DNA and at the center of what makes this community so special.” This is from Governor Tina Cotek and Mayor Keith Wilson written to Commissioner Adam Silver. They are at the center of what makes this community so special. We mean that literally. The Moa Center sits near the middle of the city within reach of every corner. That’s by design and we want to keep it that way. We also want to be loud and clear that as the governor of Oregon and mayor of Portland, we fully support renovating the MOA center to become a point of pride for the Blazers and our city. We are prepared to explore the public private partnerships needed to make that happen. And I think that’s that’s what we’re talking about here. When Adam Silver said the team is likely going to need a new arena, if you read it as definitely going to need a new arena, that gets a little dicey, right? Because that’s that’s a whole you got to buy some land and you got to build parking and blah blah. But if what he meant was they’re going to need the arena to be up to modern standards and you’re going to need to spend a bunch of money to get there, but you can use the bones of the old arena as many teams across the league have done, the Moa Center can be renovated and there is at least a the the outline of a plan in place to allow for that to happen. But that was agreed with the previous ownership and probably the level at which it would need to be renovated is beyond the scope of the existing agreement that would tax tickets and parking at 6%. Um, and I think that was pretty well reported in the Wam week. It was like you can get close with there, but you can’t get all the way there. And so I think what you’re going to come up against is basically how much are citizens willing to commit public money towards this thing? And I think that’s what you’re talking about here. It’s just leverage like you said. It’s just a leverage play. Yeah. I mean, look, I um I’ve talked to a couple people and like I’m not trying to be reporter guy at all like in any way. I want nothing to do with it. I thought Willamit’s story was good. I will say like I boycotted him for four days. Like why did you put a photo of game in a Sonic jersey? That seemed unnecessary. It was a little troll. I didn’t need Yeah, I didn’t need I didn’t need the troll job on top of the uh the article itself. But um my older brother lives in the Seattle kind of area and he works construction and he actually did a lot of the glass work on climate pledge and uh if you ever went to Key Arena back in the day when they had the Sonics, if you ever went there, you know like it was one of the worst arenas even in the moment that it existed. Like I remember walking in there once. I paid 20 bucks to see a Jazz Sonics game by myself. spring break, got into the top boughels of the Key Arena, and I remember walking in there going, “Geez, this is a piece of crap.” Like, and that was in 1999, 2000. Like, I just thought it was terrible then. When you go in there now, like I just went to the Storm uh Sparks game, dude. Crazy. Like, I love that arena. It’s one of my favorite arenas. Um it’s so so nice. I asked him, I said, “How long did this take?” How long did the Rena take? He said, “From start to finish, they kept the bare bones. They dug down wider to do everything. Three years.” So, if you’re talking about a full-on climate pledge type renovation in one shot, it’s three years. Now, if you do it in spurts, I don’t know how they do that. We can get into what the alternatives would be. Are they playing in the coliseum for two seasons? because I know they’re renovating that for millions of dollars, but they’re going to take a ticket um they’re going to take a ticket punch because there’s not as many seats in that arena and I know that venue is not as great, but it it can be done. I also know uh Mike from just following certain people on social media. I know like a couple I don’t know, but like I follow a couple small business owners inside the Lloyd Center and uh one of them just posted like a GoFundMe. He’s trying to get out of there because I all the feelood stories are great. He’s like they’re tearing this place down. They’re just not talking about it. And I was like I kind of surprised me because everybody’s been writing about how cool it is and it’s trendy Portland. Look at the mall. It’s back. But the reality is it’s still not very packed and there’s not a lot of money being spent there. So I I don’t know what they do with that space. I don’t know if that’s been written about and I’m just forgetting. But that kind of surprised me the other day of him like raising a GoFundMe to relocate because he’s like they’re tearing this down. So, there’s always been that chatter as well. And so, I just I think there’s alternatives. I think they can renovate. I don’t know if they’d build a new arena, who the new owner would be, I think, is dependent on that. Um, but I definitely think you’d be fooling yourself if you don’t think the city’s going to be spending any money on this venture. Like, I’m sorry. I know people aren’t for it. I get it. Totally with you. Seen all the reports. I also kind of buy into having districts. And so like I think there’s a way where you can invest in community surrounding, create business opportunities for local people in different ways. I don’t know if I buy the affordable housing stuff, you know what I mean, because of what it is. But I think there’s ways the city can spend money without going, “Oh, we’re financing a $2 billion arena.” You obviously want the billionaire to be doing that, but the city’s definitely going to spend money on this thing. Yeah. uh real quick and we can move on to basketball stuff, but my read on the Rip City Forever people is that they’re saying like, “Hi, yes, if we if this team does happen to relocate an arena at the Lloyd district, we would like the development all of the development stamps if you are stamping new development for new for hotels and for new businesses and for new buildings.” Yes. Hi, my Mr. Glickman and Mr. Dudley and Miss Hubert over here would love to be involved in the development commission’s decisions to get a real estate play because I think that’s one of the challenges with Moa Center as it sits. You can’t build anywhere because of the Memorial Coliseum’s position on the historic register and because of just like little the geography and um the Louis Drifus rubber plant that’s right there by the by the arena. Like it’s just there’s a lot of um there’s some actual like physical geographical challenges with it. So I’m with you. I think what we’ll we’ll run up against and I think this will be it. Like I don’t I think it’s pretty unlikely that they move, but it’s it’s when push comes to shove, how much are Portlanders willing to pay public money? And if they get up and then and like if there is a level that they get to that we deem like un unfit that I think it gets gets messy. But I’m I’m probably a little higher than you on than 1.2. But I I think in the end, how this ends is in a city where we already pay an extremely high tax burden, we run that thing up. Let’s keep it going, baby. Um, let’s talk about basketball now. Uh, do you hear that Damen Lamont Ali Lillard is back? That’s right. He is back. He’s the GM at Weaver State now. Right. He’s back. Let’s talk about the GM at Wever State in the second segment. Join us there, won’t you? First, I want to tell you that today’s show is brought to you by game time. Have you ever decided last minute you want to head to a ball game with friends and family? Maybe it’s game day. Maybe it’s the night of the game and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands. That’s exactly where game time comes in. It’s the easiest way to grab last minute tickets without the stress. And with the money you save on tickets, you can splurge on food, drinks, merch, or even invite a bigger group to come with you. Game time makes it possible. Game time makes buying tickets fast and simple. Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to first pitch. And they’ve got incredible lastminute deals, clear seat views, and a lowest price guarantee that takes the worry out of buying. Game time is also the official ticketing partner of Locked on MLB. That’s right. It’s making it easier to browse the app for any exciting MLB games. You want to head up to Seattle if you’re local here in Portland. Well, Game Time’s going to make you reward you for procrastinating. say they got a uh weekend series you want to go check out and you don’t decide to do it until that Friday morning to head up to Seattle. alternate alternate answer of like this is amazing, who cares? Like I feel like people hate you for it. So like I’m almost scared in some ways. But like you could be scared. That’s okay. Well, but like no, I mean look, there’s one way you can view this, right? What did the Thunder and the Pacers just show us in the finals? It’s It’s nice to have guys that can get buckets. Yep. Uh the only problem with that is the Thunder are the youngest team in the league and the Pacers also they’ve got some vets but like pretty young dudes, right? They got some experience with some young swing players. I I don’t know how anybody in their right mind outside of feel and optimism can truly tell me they know what Dame Lillard’s going to be like off the Achilles. I know he’s going to work. I know he’s going to rehab. I know he’s boxing in a boot right now. I’m well aware of the work ethic. I don’t need to know that. But he’s going to be 36. I I He’s not Kevin Durant. I I I don’t know how many times I need to like talk to people about this of like the assumption that because KD did it, it means Dame’s gonna do it or like how did Klay look? Klay hasn’t been the same. Now maybe Klay will find his footing now. Megan the Stallion’s going to help straighten him out in a lot of ways, right? But like we don’t have what’s the track record of point guards that age coming back from the injury and being what’s a term I’ve heard? 80% of what they were. Like we don’t have that. So maybe he is 80% of what he was. What if he’s 40? What if he’s 50? What if he’s 55? Like I I’m a big dame guy like forever. But I watched Bucks games before the injury, you know? Like his point percentage and his outputs were fine. He had good moments, but like I also saw games I’m like that first step not quite as like getting past dudes. So, I think there was already a little in in, you know, itty bitty drop off from where we saw the 71point game and like now you’re adding Achilles to it. I I think it’s a great feelood story. I think it makes people feel great. I just saw a Blazer fan, Fred Meyer, and they’re screaming at me from behind. He’s back. And I’m like, I get it. I’m I’m all there. It was great. But you asked me about basketball. They have Drew Holiday. They have Blake Wesley. And I know that’s probably a one-year deal. Wesley. Blake Wesley gets a mention. Hey man, I’m naming point guard. Yeah, Dame’s really gonna get in the way of Ryan Rupair. He’s going to be like, I just so mad that they brought back franchise icon in the way of Ryan Rupair. How dare they? Did you see Blazer Twitter during the Delano Banton days? Like, I don’t know if you know these people, man. They they fall in love and they fall in love quick. But my point is point guard, point guard, point guard, point guard. Like, does it make sense? It can’t if he’s good. But if he’s not, I mean, no. Because what if Scoot has a good year? Who starts? Dame Lillard’s going to come off the bench as a blazer. You’re going to tell me that’s really going to happen. Not right away. He He might eventually Not right away. Not right away. I just I don’t know if it makes the most basketball sense, but it definitely made people feel good, and I think the $42 million was a little bit of a miaulpa of sorry we put you through that. Welcome back. Here’s the mid level. Yeah. So, I I I’ve I’ve kind of also, you know, waffled on this a little bit. Um it’s the beauty of talking into a microphone every day is like, you know, as a human, your your your opinion changes and you talk to more people when you have different perspective. And um I I think on a in a grand scheme of the Blazers situation, I think it’s cool. I talked to a friend and I was giving him this like nerdy basketball thing and he just looked at me and he’s like, “Mike, why are you analyzing this like it’s part of the cap sheet?” He’s like, “What? That’s not what this is. Like get get he said a lot worse words than that.” Um, but it was like he was like, “What are you talking about? Like what what is this?” Like this what this is is that this is a thing that I get to root for and that is awesome. And I think that’s true. I don’t think you can argue with that. rooting for Damen Lillard in a Blazers jersey is going to be more fun than not. No doubt about it. The the challenge for me is trying to see what is like the the perfect scenario. It’s like that Scoot is so good that he has to start and Damen Lord is still a really good player but somehow has this like you know whatever come to Walton moment where he decides that he wants to come off the bench. Um, that’s a reference to the 1985 Bill Walton six-man campaign with the Celtics and he wants to come off the bench and be a uh be be a champion like you know like as a as a bit player, right? like it’s it’s such a the perfect like this all works scenario is so thin and I think from a national perspective why everyone’s like Dame’s going to sign with a with like a you know a championship level team is because it makes more sense to try to have him be the over-the-top type of piece as opposed to like because the Blazers aren’t really an over-the-top type of team right now. It’s it from a basketball level it is really hard for me to see how it works out well. But I think from a fan perspective, it’s easy to understand like, yeah, rooting for this is going to be better. I mean, when you’re going to I mean, you’re going to probably be there, right? I’m going to I want to buy tickets cuz like I don’t go to games much as media as much, but like opening night, customary tradition. Everybody gets announced, right? It’s the new season, so it’s like here’s the sixth man and the seventh man. Bro, guess who’s going to have the biggest ovation in street clothes? Yep. It’s going to be Dane. They’re gonna say Dame’s name. Mace is going to say it the way he used to say it from Weieber State. The letter O. And Drew and Scoot and Shay and Danny and two and clinging and young like get out. And Blake Wesley and Blake Wesley’s going to feel that. Blake Wesley might be like, “Yo, I thought my noise was going to be louder.” But it’s going to be the loudest ovation. I’m not poo pooing the emotional stake here. Like I’m well aware. I heard from fans just like you did like like that got people back. Oh yeah. I don’t know how good they’re going to be, but it got people back. So I I I think it’s you know I I think I also think the human element of this uh you talk about changing opinion and being back and forth like I can understand if it works. I’m not going to sit there like I can’t believe it. Like but I also see the other side of it and some people don’t want to look at that side. Uh, I remember like you asked a great question at the press conference, a great question. You said, “How do you get past something to the effect of like the emotions of you and Joe’s relationship, right?” Like you you basically asked that and I thought he got a great answer. I would have loved loved to have heard Joe’s thoughts, too, because I think the human element of the businesses we are like, “Oh, they hate each other.” And then a month later they text and they’re cool because like it’s business. And I just would have loved to hear Joe’s thing because I bet you part of Joe’s answer would have been I really regret how that went down on our end too. Like they will never say it but they they they pushed him into it, right? Like that was a clearly I don’t want to do this and you know we don’t want to be the ones to do it. So it was just like a weird breakup in that way. And so like I think part of that again was let’s make a wrong right and you know give them the mid-level. Okay, whatever. Um make a hell of a lot of money to be an assistant coach as Chanty said, but it it it is a feel-good story. You can sell a feelood story. Those will sell tickets. Yeah. And I I I think there’s a world in which Damen Lillard is better than a $13 million basketball player. But as my friend noted, it’s not just a cap sheet thing because if if if D game is good and it puts Scoot in a weird spot, it makes you make decisions that you didn’t, you know, that that like maybe you weren’t aren’t ready to make or maybe you shouldn’t have to make because of decisions you’ve made, right? Like it it it there is a world in which Damen Lillard is better than Scoot Henderson coming off an Achilles at 35. And that is and that in and of itself puts you in a weird spot. But I will say that if Scoot’s not good enough to beat out Dame at that age coming off that that um injury, then the in some ways that decision has already made itself. I don’t want to sound like the negative guy. I’m just like kind of playing back back and forth with you here though. But like let’s walk where Scoot averages 18. He pops 18 and seven, shoots 35% from three this year. Like he’s a good floor general. He distributes the ball pretty good. He’s a good leader, right? I just like and they have they take some steps and then next year they figure out that lineup whatever it may be and he struggles like I that’s that’s the scenario where it’s like the feelood ain’t going to feel good and it’s going to feel awkward because you’re going to be there watching going we’re all kind of thinking the same thing but we don’t want to say it because that’s our due like so like there there there’s a scenario that nobody wants to be in including myself that’s part of what’s going on here. So, I just um I’m excited to see him, dude. I think it’s great. I do think he’s gonna help Scoot. I think Scoot’s going to be open to being mentored, and that’s the important part. It’s not Dame. It’s Scoot needs to be open to being mentored. And so, I think because of that, uh Sure, roll the dice. Yeah, I I think there’s I think there are well I am worried maybe about like the overall sort of social political standing between point guard of the future and point guard of the past and present. Um there are some scenarios in which this is an there are okay some medium medium medium ground that uh um that that they landed. Um you’re the person who once called Shaden Sharp baby Kobe. Um it was a curse. You should have never done it. Let’s talk about Chinese yo kitchen in the second in the third segment. Join me there. First, I want to tell you about open phone. If you’re running a small business, you know that every missed call is money left on the table. Think about it. 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And right now, Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com/lockdonba. That’s op phe.com/lockonba. And if you have existing numbers with hold on No, hold on, dude. I I loved it. The first pass I was watching the garage with my brother-in-law who’s a sicko fan. We’re in lawn chairs in my garage watching on a summer night. We both rose out of our chairs like, “Oh, like it was fun. It’s great. I’m super excited to see what it is.” I don’t see Jokic when I watch him play. I know the similarities. I know you could point to things that are similar. One, that’s also an all-time probably, if we’re being really honest in a trust tree, a top 10 talent comp. We’re giving that I go more like I think I think Yic is conservatively one of the 20 best players to ever play the sport. Easy, right? Like if we’re just being on if he gets one more title, people are going to dabble with top 10 stuff with that guy, right? But yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He’s I mean he’s an all-timer. If I was to say, “What’s the ceiling?” I and I stepped away like Chinese Jokic. I’m going to use it all year just like everybody else. It’s fun. I actually wonder if his growth, his development, and when he pops and how he pops is more Marusol is kind of big guy, not super mobile quick, but can sneaky get around dudes. post player who ended up developing perimeter. He kind of already has the perimeter. At least he did a little bit in the summer league. Good passer. Like if I was to comp it, I’d go more that avenue. But sure, Chinese Jokic like Yeah. I mean, I hope he pops, man. It’d be great. Yeah. I I would say like um you know, celebrating him as uh like pretty good passer with some upside is less fun than just saying Chinese. Like I I think I think in the spirit of baby Kobe it’s being like being like dude he he threw some pretty good passes. He clearly is like he’s a willing and capable passer and when you have a willing and capable passer guys cut hard. So like it makes the whole off it like just it fixes a lot of the challenges because like your offense just runs smoother because guys know you have a willing passer. It’s just more fun to just it’s just more fun to be like yeah he kind of reminds me of like if Pasol and Marasol had a little brother who grew up in in Chingda, China. Um, he’s like, um, he went to the Zebo school of of hoops or whatever it is. Um, what do you think the Chinese nickname? Um, I hate I I just I just hate putting the weight of that on someone who’s never played an NBA game. I hate the comp as a um as a weight for him because he already has the weight of I don’t know several billion Chinese basketball fans. Like it’s it is it’s just there’s it’s a lot. Like it’s a lot, right? It’s it’s it’s it is I think he is I will say this. He looked like he belonged in summer league. Um, I’m a little skeptical of what he’ll be like against NBA competition early in his career because I think the stuff he struggled with was loud enough that like as a 20-year-old that’s going to show up and I think he’s also going to play a fair amount early in his career and that worries me a little bit. Um, because Rob Williams is going to play a bunch and they’re going to play Hunen like rightly so over Duop Reef. That’s the right move. Um, and I worry that on a team that wants to be competitive, his struggles may be getting a little bit emphasized and that and that being a problem. But, um, I I I really enjoyed the Vegas experience. Like, I’m I’m excited to watch him there. Um, what do you think, um, what do you think about his individual offense? Like, how is he going to score in the pros? Well, first of all, like when he didn’t play, I stopped watching. So, like there’s that, right? Like like no thank you. I don’t need to see Ryan repair for the third straight summer league. Um, you know, individually, offensively, there’s certainly some stuff. I I I actually really like that he was willing to fire some threes out. Like, that’s going to be really important for them. Um, it’s little kind of things for me. Like, I don’t pretend to be Mr. X’s and O’s basketball, but like if you played basketball, you can recognize some stuff pretty universally. I mean, you’re a pretty high level uh youth basketball coach, award-winning youth basketball coach. I don’t know if people know this. Uh, well, summer was rough. I’ll just say that much. We’re on the hot seat. Uh we’re in the hot seat going into the fall league, but uh we’re trying, Mike. We’re working hard. We’re grinding film. Him catching at the top and then like directing dudes. Like that’s a little thing. I love that. Like that tells me that guy understands already what they’re after, what they’re doing. He’s feeling confident in his ability to to put guys in the right spot. Obviously a very willing passer. You know, postgame. Does he kind of remind me of when I played Madden and I just keep hitting the spin button? Absolutely. Uh he circle circle circle circle. I don’t know what the juke button is. I forget it. Like he did do that a little bit. I think it’s going to get him in trouble. Um he got ripped in summer league doing it. I think it’s absolutely going to happen. I liked what I saw. Still think it’s pretty raw. I think he needs to learn a couple more post moves, but I think that comes with time and patience. He’s 20. He’s coming from the CBA. Uh the thing I’m I’m a little concerned the speed, the foot speed in the NBA because like again they that Golden State game the the roughest part about that because it was such a great debut is with with kind of being a little hyperbolic. I think that was the worst summer league team I’ve ever watched in my life. They were really they were really bad bro. like that. I don’t know what that was, but I’m I I you know, I debated this with uh my coworker Morang because, you know, we like to yell at each other and he was like, “He’s going to play 26 minutes tonight.” I’m like, “26? You think so?” He’s like, “He has to. Donovan can’t play more than 23.” And I go, “If he can stay out of foul trouble.” And he goes, “I’m not worried about that.” I’m like, “Dude, he’s been getting four or five every game. So, like I I don’t know about everybody else. I’m concerned about the foul trouble. I think he’s going to bite on pump fakes because he loves to do the block shot, highlight stuff. So, I think he’s a kid. I I think he’s going to have some great fun moments and I think he’s have some games where we go rough one there for old Yonger. But, uh, you know, that’s to be expected, I guess, from a guy that’s picked where he was picked and coming from where he’s coming from. Yeah, I’m not worried about him fouling out. You can foul out in 20. If you only play 26 minutes, you can foul out. You got six of them. Use them. Um I’m more worried about the six in like 10 is what there was there was that game last year where Don Mclling found out in 11 minutes against the Cavs. I was like oh whoa and this like this is one of the best teams in the league. Um yeah I real what’s his tie-in production to you for for Hansen probably like 88 and five or something like that. Yeah that’s what that’s about what I said. I’m like at best I think that’s kind of what you hope for. Yeah. I I I don’t like he struggled to score against Armando Bacott. Um Tarhill legend, but like not an NBA player. Um we don’t produce those. And um like uh you know, it’s just one day. Uh uh yeah, I think that that the the how he’s going to score is a little bit dicey, but I think they used him in a smart way in um in summer league. if they continue to sort of do that kind of smart use the way they did in summer league, I think you get I think you can get away with it um with better teammates a little bit. So, we’ll see. I just I I’m a little worried about the Blazers like half court offense in general. So, like throwing him into the the middle of that and being like, “All right, direct that traffic, buddy.” That seems like maybe like too big of an ask. But I but I will I will say I if the Blazers were not if the Blazers hadn’t added two 35 year old point guards to the mix and they were just being like a developmental team which I thought they might be this year and saying like we’re pretty good. Let’s go young. Um I would be all in on just like giving him as much as he could possibly but like as much as he could possibly handle. Um but I I they want to win. They want to be they want to win games and I think um typically young players aren’t very good. So I would be in favor of him probably playing more than he will play but we we’ll see. I would say Chanty Phillips is not afraid to play youngsters. Um he he’s he’s he’s done it. He doesn’t always play them at the beginning of games, but he’s but he’s not afraid to play youngsters in general. Uh that is there’s a lot that people would probably tout for themselves of all the differences between him and Terry. It’s easily the thing I’ve loved the most about him. He just absolutely young dude get some minutes, get some burn, make mistakes. All right, you’re not ready. I’m going to put you back down. where was like good luck unless you’re Damen Lillard. Uh good luck getting out there as a young dude for Terry St. Yeah, it’s um it’s Yeah, it it’s different now and and I like it better. I I like it I like it better that if you’re good enough to play, you play and you can kind of play through some mistakes and yada yada yada. Terry was in a weird spot. He kept he kept having to coach for his job year year out and Damen Lloyd kept saving him. Um it worked out well. Um, yeah. I Let’s this I want to talk more about this, but I’d like to invite you back for Friday’s program. Would you be willing to come back and talk more about the Blazers and the Week? Dude, I’d love to come back on because actually I more I want to throw at you about some of this stuff because they’ve made Okay, we’re going to get into it. They’ve made com some comments publicly, Mike, that’s like, okay, we’re setting bars here. We’re we’re actually setting expectations for ourselves. Here we go. Perfect. This is exactly what we’re going to get into on Friday’s program. We’re going to talk about expectations. We’re talk about whether the Blazers have the guy and our confidence in them finding the guy on the roster. We’ll get into all that. Join us in Friday’s program. And for now, just tell your friends about the show available wherever they get podcasts and also on YouTube. And uh just turn on your radio in the mornings and you will hear Brandon’s beautiful FM tones. Come back for Friday’s program. I appreciate you listening. I’ll talk to you soon.

Brandon Sprague of 105.1 The Fan in Portland joins the show to talk Trail Blazers relocation and new arena scuttle butt, Damian Lillard’s triumphant return to the Rose City and the Dawn of Yang Hansen Era.

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