Portland Trail Blazers | Game Theory Offseason Previews

1. Let’s go!!

2. Thought of this trade and wanted to see how tempered Blazers fans and Sam/Bryce may feel about it:

   POR receives – Ron Holland, Marcus Sasser, Javonte Green (to push their outgoing salary past the required 125% matching floor) two 2nd round picks or perhaps maybe multiple 1st round picks (depending on how hard Blazers FO wants to play it).

   DET receives – Toumani Camara

   As much as I love Deni, I don't believe he's a true number 1 option…but he is Portlands best player on roster and is probably best suited to play the 4/PF (he maximize his mismatch potential vs bigger slower footed forwards best),where he has positional overlap with Camara. Holland alternatively fits in quite well at the 3/SF next to Deni, and even allows Shaedon Sharpe to move back down to the 2/SG (his natural position). Holland is younger, arguably a better athlete than Toumani (just thinner), is a really solid defender already, and has more pure on-ball potential/upside than 25 year old Toumani….which Portland has time to develop when compared to the Pistons. Sasser is a nice microwave piece off the bench and good in the locker room, and trading away Woo actually hurts my soul because he was awesome all year. I think of Portland in the same way I thought of San Antonio before they drafted Wemby, a failed rebuild but they had pieces on the roster that can be part of something in Vassell and Keldon Johnson. Deni and Holland can be the Vassell and KJ you bring along into another potential rebuild, if Scoot/Sharpe/Clingan/Yang don't pan out as a core.

3. LETS FUCKINGG GOOOOOO

4. portland is going 82-0 there is no doubt in my mind
   (least insane portland resident)

5. I would get rid of Lillard and Holiday

6. Been looking forward to this one!!

7. Been looking forward to this!!! Honestly – be real and honest with the evaluation of this team & future. Us Blazers fans need to hear it

8. Every off-season Blazer fans have reason to be hopeful for growth from Scoot, but have been disappointed

9. Running it back the good ol neil olshley special, let other teams get better while we remain until it’s too late

10. Sam salary dumping Jrue Holiday is mismanagement by you. Also he will have value to somebody next summer too. He is just an effective basketball player.

11. If the blazers can get Jaylen Brown without giving up Deni Camara or Clingan that would be the move. You want the bucks picks and the Orlando pick? You want Shaedon Sharpe? That's fine by me.

12. your graphic shows Rupert as RFA but he was traded and isn't on the roster.Rob Williams could take the MLE easily. He loves Portland. I believe Blake Wesley is a free agent with Thybulle and Williams.

13. Thanks gentlemen. Well done. I want to hear more about some shooters they could go get, as they need shooting! Would love to see them go hard after Trey Murphy. Some other lesser names that make sense: Sam Merrill, Sam Hauser, Luke Kennard, Rui, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins… if they don’t go get a star like Brown or Giannis, I at least want them to improve their shooting and replace the Murray/Cissoko minutes.

14. Tired of the new owner is gonna ruin the team cause the media spins his first few months as absurd. I was all for gutting the front office and the business side is such a nothing burger. We barely interviewed anyone when we got cursed with Billups so hells yeah interview all the coaches available to find someone quality. We won’t know how cheap or willing to spend he is for a couple years and would much rather he spend on players than media, business or overrated coaches. 🤷🏻‍♂️

15. Sam, I love you. One of the best voices out there on this stuff. But you can't be serious with that guard depth chart. In no world is Damian Lillard coming off the bench for the Portland Trailblazers next year.

    His shooting alone–on a team desperate for floor spacing–would vault him into prime starter status even if he is diminished in other aspects of the game. But to anyone who's followed his rehab and has listened to how he's spoken, how he charted his course literally from the instant he tore the Achilles and most recently at exit interviews, knows that this guy isn't coming back diminished. He will be at or very close to his peak self, even at (by the time the new season starts) the age of 36. He will not average 32 a game, like he did in 2022-23, the last time he was the focal point of a team's offense (or the way he scored when playing without Giannis in Milwaukee). But he will have the luxury of playing fewer minutes in a deeper rotation, running pick and rolls with bigs who actually hold screens, as well as playing off ball with a couple of point/combo guards and a point forward who will absolutely seek to capitalize on the space he creates and on the searing hot scoring runs he ignites. There will be no latent ego conflicts (prescient observers know there was a problem with that in Milwaukee) because Dame's teammates, like virtually everyone that attends a Portland home game, will hear and feel the energy of the crowd when their franchise icon is back on their floor, spearheading an elite offense.

    I understand conventional wisdom and why it dictates caution and conservancy in forecasting what he will be like and how his return will impact this team. I am not guided by such wisdom. I'm guided by the understanding that Dame is One of One and that this kind of comeback, against expectations and perhaps odds, is what he has built his entire life and career around. And he will be razor sharp. Probably will have the best 3-point shooting percentage of his career on high volume. Book it.

16. Hurricanes are also in the Stanley cup finals right now and have been top tier with Dundon doing his thing soooo. 🤷🏻‍♂️

17. Rayan Rupert is no longer a blazer fyi

18. What about a deal for Trey Murphy?

19. Rayan Rupert was released midseason

20. Filler team that has bunch of players useful for other teams

21. Oh this comparing Portland to the Kangs is hurting my heart. I get the analogy, but it's sobering/accurate to describe where Portland is at similar to where the Kings were when they extended Domas. Fingers crossed the new owner syndrome doesn't bite us too hard and set us back.

22. I would be excited to get JB. I would trade anyone including deni for JB

23. who da heck is on the thumbnail😭 not my goats using AI

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