We talked about the Blazers getting stomped by the Warriors, fifty five points they put up on the Blazer's head in the first quarter alone. It has been rough. It has been It has been a tough road if you're a Blazers fan or somebody that works for the Blazers organization, or somebody probably who plays for the Blazers. I think that they've had six signings in the last week. Guys that were two AA players I had never heard of. Like, what was his name again, Spencer Hayes. No, you know
who I'm talking about, Mays, Skyler Maze. I feel like I'm living That was Trendon Watford last year, right, Like, who is Trendon Watford? That's a real name, Right, who is Skyler Maze? I think they're both LSU products, which is crazy. I think they are. I think they are. Scalar May is a bucket, never have heard of them before. It sucks. These are the things that you have to put up with when your team sucks. Is players who
suck playing significant minutes for your team. No shade to Skaler Mays or Kevin Knox, but those guys getting forty minutes in quote end of game or end of season scenarios shows you everything that's going on. They've had seven wins in the past two combined years after the trade deadline.
Let me say that again. There is no team worse than the Portland Trailblazers post trade deadline in the last two years, which is crazy because the Portland Trail Blazers weren't even trying to lose this year at the trade deadline. They didn't start tanking until three weeks left end of the season. Portland has managed seven total wins after the break combined, not seven each year combined. So now, what's going on the Blazers does some decisions to make Damian
Lillard is obviously not stoked. People are calling this the most important off season in Blazer's history. The biggest question will Portland be able to surround Damian Lillard with any players who can make this team relevant competitive? Dare I say a contendersh Come on? Come on? Lillard came out and made some very clear comments about what it is
he wants and what he does not want. As we all know, Portland currently has the ten and a half percent chance of getting Victor Wambiama, which I believe is fifth in the NBA for the lottery. If Portland doesn't somehow get Vic through a Miyama that pick, Damian Lillard did everything short of demanding that they move that pick. You are not getting another nineteen year old kid and putting him next to me, absolutely not think of that.
Portland is now in a quandary. This is supposed to be a historic draft, one of the deepest in memory, and Damian Lillard says, fuck them. Kids don't want to see him, don't want him on this team. I want nothing to do with them. Literally, that's what he said. I'm not babysitting anymore nineteen year olds. The Blazers, according to all the reporting, probably going to end up trading out of the lottery to add a star player. Here's
what Dame said. If you want the quote about adding another young player to the team, drafting another young player, I'm just not interested in that. That's not a secret. I want a chance to go for it. And if that route is to draft youth, that's not my route. We Scooby, does that mean? Dame says, Hey, that's not my route, meaning if that's your route, then me and you gotta go separate. Routes not my route. Immediately, Joe Cronin was like, yeah, yeah, Dame's right, We're not doing that.
We're gonna get some stars. Yeah, Dame, We're good. He goes out publicly. Him and Chauncey Billupson said we don't want to go through this anymore either. It's time for us to start winning basketball games. Billups said, yeah, this is very important to me. Billup said, yeah, We've done the tweak thing a few times. We've got to be much more aggressive than the tweak thing. If we want to do right by the best player in the history
of the organization, we have to be aggressive. The million dollar question for a Blazer fan is how do you fix it? How do you fix this team? I don't know. They are among the smallest roster in the NBA. They have only two players taller than six eight. In terms of depth at talent, they ended the year starting a guy named Genathan Williams. That's not a typo, not Jonathan. His name is Jonathan Williams with two e's. He got forty one minutes along with Skylor Mays. So what does
this mean. It means that the future draft capital means absolutely nothing until you move those for some players who can play. Right now, the target group is good. We'll just say that because Dame believes that somebody can come here and move the needle, and they want to. It's just a matter of whether Portland can get them here. Here's the list that they're reporting. Jalen Brown. God, let's just sit there and imagine for a second. Jalen Brown,
Damian Lillard and Shaden Sharp and Jeremy Grant. That's better than Boston. Right now, here's another player, Ogannaobi. I'm less intrigued than I am with Jalen Brown. Still very good. Pascal siakam Oh sounds good. Michale Bridges, that's the number one on my list. They're already calling him Brooklyn Bridges though, So I feel like I feel like the nets are kind of ready to keep them. I feel like the nets are saying he's an untouchable piece. All three four
of those whatever it is, are difference makers. All are defensive minded players. They can all score. Of course, JB's the first choice. He can do so many things in the court. To me, the perfect scenario is this, So we've got some coaching firings. One of those firings. I don't know if you call it a firing, they're calling it a promotion. Is Dwayne Casey, Dwayn Casey is out in Detroit. He is done coaching those young kids. Jade and Ivy has drove him officially insane. He is now
in a front office position. Chauncey Billups, take your ass back to Detroit. We now have an open spot and we can say, e may U Dooka, It's time to come home, brother, time to come on home to Portland where you grew up. And then Jalen Brown, the guy who sang from the rooftops for you to be the head coach of the Boston Celtics. Now you, I don't know, like you're fired. So maybe Tampa now before you get the head coaching job and bring him to Portland, get
him to force his way there. Another issue that Dame seemed to settle is that one hundred percent, Jeremy Grant is coming back, no matter if it puts us in the poorhouse, because what other options do we have. Dame says he's coming, So I guess he's coming. Problem is Jeremy Grant is represented by Rich Paul and Rich Paul is the David falk of this modern era. He is going to falk Us for everything that he can. He's
going to squeeze the Blazers for every penny. He did this with Nirk is one of the most overpaid, overrated centers, overpaid, we'll call him overpaid centers in the league. Grant likes it. He says he's comfortable here. He says he likes the players and the team and the organization and probably the money. Also, there's a bigger issue, which is to bring in a star, you not only have to give up a high draft pick,
you've also give up players. The beat writers for Portland think it's either Shaden Sharp or it's Anfrity Simons Ant or Shaden. You have to imagine that it's gonna be It's gonna be Simons, and you can't trade Shaden Sharp. Shade Sharp is the future. One guy makes rookie scale. One game makes twenty five million a year. One guy has one of the worst defensive ratings in the league. One guy has upside in terms of his defense. Sharp is probably the one bright spot on this team right now.
To be honest, he's averaging twenty four to six and four with the steel per game. In last ten he is asking for thirty minutes per game. Welly, actually, I think that's Chauncey who thinks he can get thirty, and then Shandon is asking to start. So what is GM Joe Cronin have to say about picking between Shadon and Simons? He says, well, I think that's something we have to look at. I look at it as a great problem to have, but you have to figure that out. How
does the fit work, how do the minutes work? Are there other holes that you need to fill instead? Pause? Woo that part? That part, Yes, you know that there are what are you fucking talking about? You know that there are holes other than shooting guard to fill. Anyway, it's an exercise we're going to have to go through and evaluate. No, we're not. You already know what the answer is. But on an individual level, I love both guys. I think they're both omega talented and I'm thrilled that
we have them. By Anthrony see you later, enjoy Boston, have a good time with all of the beans and the racism. Last year, the Blazers acted like they were gonna make money moves and they got Gary Payton. And didn't they get a Cody Zeller. Yeah, they did. That was our move. We got Tony Snell and Cody Zeller, Gary Payton, Jeremy Grant. Well, thankfully we get the opportunity to overpay Jeremy Grant now that he wouldn't extend with us for a reasonable salary. So good for us this year.
I don't think Dan's putting up with Cody Zeller. I'm getna guarantee you that's not the veteran he wants. They must make money moves, and who do I think that they get. I think it depends on the outcome of the lottery. If the Blazers have the number two overall pick and they can move that piece, maybe another young guy like Anthony Simon's for a guy like Pascal. That's a good look. I think that Toronto is gonna be rebuilding pretty fast. I'm not sure the Bridges is a possibility.
I'm not sure that JB is gettable. It is certainly worth a try. You try and try all you can. All I know is that if you are a Blazer fan and you see the Blazers pick a player in the lottery this year, just no dame is gone, and we are in trouble. Trouble, trouble, trouble,