[HitsterParticipant]

With Portland only about 3 games back in the Western Conference to decide to make trades which effectively throw away their season was a brave move to make and along with the removal of long time Coach Nate McMillan puts Portland back where they were 5 years ago. You could argue that they could have maybe got back into the play off picture especially with Dallas treading water as 8^th seed and the T-Wolves having lost Rubio for the season. But as a 7^th or 8^th seed at best they would have had to face a Western Conference powerhouse so for the sake of maybe 2 or 3 home play off game revenue they have decided to go long term.

 

Getting only a top 3 protected pick for Crash Wallace is a sound bit of business and gives them a potential shot at one of Barnes, Lamb, Perry Jones, Sullinger, Moultrie, Beal etc even if we assume that both Davis and Drummond go in the top 3. Also with their own pick being now lottery bound they can add another young talent themselves. With Aldridge having reached All Star level this season, they have their PF in place and Nick Batum and Wesley Matthews are a couple of good running mates. They have also taken on a couple of highly drafted prospects who both lost their way in Thabeet and Flynn, with Camby gone Thabeet should get some sort of a run and maybe we can see if he has any NBA future.

 

 

 

Portland also own a useful team option on Ray Felton for next season which if they choose to move him on could be a useful trading chip and maybe we will see some of those Kevin Pritchard stashers finally make a move into the NBA. Portland promised so much with the rise of Brandon Roy, Aldridge and the drafting of Greg Oden, sadly Roy’s knees brought a hugely premature end to his NBA career and Greg Oden despite showing fleeting glimpses of his potential only played 82 career games for the Blazers over 4 years. We can all say what ifs like Oden staying sound or if they had drafted Durant but the present is important and whilst the dismissal of Nate and that of Kevin Pritchard a couple of years ago leaves a sour taste in a lot of fans’ mouths, Portland have managed to put themselves in a position to rebuild around Aldridge over the next couple of years.

 

Nate will no doubt be back in a job soon and as a neutral fan, I’d love to see him and Kevin Pritchard hook up again in the NBA as their draft day moves and draft processes were always fun to hear about as they weeded out the prospects by their selection processes and only tried to take good character players. If I was an NBA owner or Team President looking for a GM/Head Coach duo then KP and Nate would be high on my list. KP is of course now involved with the Pacers, no doubt helping Larry Bird make some moves and could well take on a bigger role there in due course as Bird maybe steps back a bit or hands team affairs over to KP. If KP can help the Pacers to progress even more then that would be great and if they start making draft day moves we may well know who is behind it.

 

[Future_Scout]

i think it was a good move for them to get all those picks in such a deep draft… 2 lotto picks and 2 2nd rounders

"for me, they should go with:

top 5 drummond or lamb

the other one meyers leonard or wroten who they can play pg/sg

with their top 5 there is no pg that’s worth it and kendall marshall isn’t gonna go past utah, but if they can get him they should. and im not sold on lillard in the lotto

they have the flexibility of drafting wroten because they got no legit sg or pg so they can draft him and see what he becomes, he def got a chance of being a pg, a score first pg that is."

 

[pointgod80Participant]

 i would have rebuild also they were 1st round exits all the time anyway

[Future_Scout]

 i forgot to say up there, they can pick up a decent pg with their 2nd round picks

[j2khitmanParticipant]

I still dont understand why the Nets would trade away their pick. I understand its Top 3 protected , but this is a deep draft they could’ve picked up a really good player and build. Great move by the Blazers. They are not going anywhere this year so get rid of long term talent not named Aldridge. Bad move on letting McMillian go. He was an underated coach.

[Taylor Gang MikeParticipant]

 They have Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams, they can ball… i would see what Nolan brings to the Pg spot and if he succeeds i see him being a really good player

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

Nate is an overrated coach, if you don’t live anywhere in Oregon and don’t follow the Blazers you wouldn’t know. 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Not speaking for all of them, but Portland fans are some of the most critical/negative fans. I was following the team closely for awhile and they were even unahppy when McMillian was winning 50 games per season. They’ve been wanting Nate fired for the longest.

They even turned on Brandon Roy, the player who made the franchise matter again.

Nate isn’t perfect and can get better, but he’s a VERY good coach and you could say he overachieved in Portland with the amount of injuries this team has suffered.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

That Team is a shell of what it was supposed to be…They looked like a Championship Contender a few years ago 

Roy and Oden were robbed of their carrrers…I seriously think if those two guys stayed healthy The Blazers would have had a Ring or Two by now…They were one of the deepest teams in The NBA and they could do no wrong in The draft, but Now they have to build the Team back up in The Draft and Free Agency…

I have always liked the Blazers for being bold when Creating their Squads…The Jailblazers were fun to watch and So was The Roy/Aldridge/Oden Trio while it lasted…

I think LA and Batum are great pieces and The NJ pick should net them a Starter…Felton and Jamal Crawford are likely out so Bring In Aaron Brooks as aFree Agency and Draft The BPA, hopefully they can get one of the better Bigman with The NJ Pick and then find a solid Guard with their pick…

[ChrisCrossParticipant]

 Got to feel bad for the franchise, if their trio had stayed healthy, they would be title contenders for a while and maybe already have a title. Brandon Roy was a top 10 player and maybe the most clutch player before going down with his injuries, and maybe would have been a top 5 player. Their front office made great move to build a great team, injuries robbed them.

As far as McMillian goes, he was a great coach, and over-achieved with a injury riddled team. He’s a very very good coach, and will get a job soon. McMillan was fired because Portland wanted to rebuild, not because he was doing a bad job, although I would’ve kept him and rebuild with the new roster, but I understand Portland wanting to go with a fresh face.

But Portland is already doing a great job rebuilding, they have two very good young players in Aldridge and Batum, two lotto picks this years strong draft class and some other young players that could develop (Elliot Williams, Nolan Smith, Luke Babbit, Thabeet), and they’ll have cap space this year and could be a dark horse to sign Deron Williams. 

If I was the GM, I would go after Austin Rivers first. Ever since they lost Roy, Portland really needs a perimiter scorer who can hit big shots, Rivers can do that. Then they have a second pick to get a solid role player, Henson a good shot blocker, Zeller a solid all-around big, Marshall a terrific pg that is a great passer, Leonard a true center with a lot of potential, or Terrance Jones a super talented combo forward. Either way, Portland looks to already have a strong future, their front office has done a great job.

 

[Author]

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