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What it will take for the Portland Trail Blazers to make the Playoffs



The Portland Trail Blazers playoff push starts now well I guess it started in October but it also restarts now because we all get lots of chances to do our best.

We preview the first game back from the break against the Sacramento Kings with injury updates for Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, Justise Winslow and Jerami Grant.

Then we look at the Blazers history of post-All Star Break success to see if they how they’ve fared in the Lillard era during the stretch run.

Finally, we put a number on it. Running down the Western Conference standings to look at exactly how many wins it’s going to take for the Blazers to make playoffs.

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6 Comments

  5. Dumbot

    Nurkic and a pick for Plumlee is the only Trade I can think of where Portland came out ahead. The cost of acquisition is too high whenever a team isn't desperate to unload an underperfoming unhappy player, and those two qualities are always the case when we can afford to "buy" them off other teams. Signing Free Agents is an option, but not a good option given the small market here. The Draft is the only place where you can really outmaneuver other teams on your way to a Championship level of talent without it costing you more than what you're sending out, if you're Portland.

    IF they do try the trade route, the ideal player (fantasy basketball time) would be someone like Evan Mobley at PF with Grant at the 3. Someone like Mobley (because we cannot afford Mobley) would be the Help Nurkic needs, the size/strength at PF we need and an upgrade at SF. I'd be just as happy with another mid level center as Nurkic if that's what it took in trade, and willing to deal either Simons or Sharpe. That would balance the roster properly. Grant at PF make us too small. Winslow helped a ton with his stout frame when he was able to play and other than Nurkic and Eubanks, Winslow is the only one who isn't pushed around on the court among the Blazers on D.

    The other option is to get an uber athletic Center to replace Nurkic who can defend more than just the 5. Either way, we have nobody who can defend really good PF's or Centers that every team struggles with, and that missing piece has a size and shape to fill, which we do not yet have. Anything less won't do it. You can have a team of scorers and still lose if you can't defend. Without the right body at PF, we're going nowhere.

    Grant should stay, but something has to change either at the PF slot where he's been, or at the Center position. The rest of the roster slots can be easily filled with the abundant talent for those positions, but PF/C is where Portland must make a change. Cam Reddish has about a 1/20 chance of being good enough to stick around and have a notable impact and Knox doesn't even register. We're looking for this year's Jalen Duren in the Draft. 6' 8" is the minimum bar to get over, or we're children swiping at the ball held over our heads. 6'10" and not a bean pole would be a dream come true.

    Trading our way into contention by giving up our higher draft picks "could" happen still, but we'd need a couple more teams who don't care how we're going to benefit from their "problem" players, but it also means owning those problems which aren't imaginary and usually don't just go away based on hope. Draft picks, however, give you a chance to get far more value. Every slot lower, the Draft Benefit drops, so I hope they don't win another game this season. If they do, hey great fun! But it doesn't help our future…unless Cam Reddish turns into Kevin Durant suddenly and Thybulle becomes Jrue Holliday. IMO, Winslow coming back will be the best improvement toward our winning games again this year. I love it when players try to back him down and wind up coughing up the ball because he doesn't budge.

    Good show. Thanks, Mike. Best to all. Will be fun to watch whatever happens!

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