EGame

I am going to say this, if we don't at least improve our record from last season then this team is a failure (at least for next year). We are young and will have growing pains, but when you have Oden, Fernendaz, Bayless, etc coming in next year with Roy and Aldridge (who carried are team pretty much to get the .500 record) then you expect only an improvement. Anything that is .500 or less next season = big time failure. Of course this is not counting injuries at all to our team.

B_&_B

Give the guy a break... its not like the title of the other thread tells you what its about. People need to do a better job of making the titles more cut and dry.

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"People say we are coming, but I almost think it's to the point where we are here," he said. "I think it's no longer coming. We are here now."... Brandon Roy.

B_&_B

As a closet Clipper fan since the days of Danny Manning, Reggie Williams, and Ron Harper... I think this is great news. If they can get a solid SG they will have a tough team. And I love the fact that the Clippers can steal a little of the thunder in the Staples Center from Kobe and the Lakers.

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"People say we are coming, but I almost think it's to the point where we are here," he said. "I think it's no longer coming. We are here now."... Brandon Roy.

Entity

Yeah, I think if a thread title is ambiguous then nobody really ought to be surprised when a more direct one pops up. After all, I went to this thread before I went to the other one for that reason.

Minstrel

He's been an above average player exactly once in his career, last year. And not way above average.

Kaman is a worthwhile big man, but nothing more than a support player to the two stars.

Their top two is good but nothing amazing compared to the other good teams, and they have precious little beyond them.

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You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

HispanicCausinPanic

If they can't afford those guys, how are we going to afford our big 3? If you are comparing the likelihood of the owner not willing to spend, then I understand.

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Mike Rice is an Ol' School Pimp!

Mike Barrett is one cool white-boy!

Wheelz is cooler then the other side of the pillow!

'Tone is the only ex-NBA player I can beat 1 on 1!

I took Rebecca Haarlow to prom!

Public Defender

This is good news for the Blazers, assuming the Clippers manage to re-sign Brand, but not Maggette (or vice-versa), and the Warriors are not able to sign a player of Davis' calibre to replace him.

With the loss of Baron Davis, the Golden State Warriors have lost the one position where they were hands-down better than the Blazers. Now, Golden State - which I think the Blazers matched up with pretty well before - has no clear advantage position. As for adding a free agent - who's going to want to sign with the Warriors now that their best player is gone? Net positive for Portland.

If the Clippers add Baron Davis, but lose Maggette (as I think is probable), the Clippers are not appreciably better than they were last season. Davis is obviously a better all-around player than Maggette, but Maggette posed matchup problems for the Blazers. Also, Davis does tend to get hurt, and you never really know how a player accustomed to a certain style (up-and-down) will adjust to another (half-court, post-oriented). Elsewhere, the Clippers don't have huge advantages over the Blazers. Neutral move for Portland.

In conclusion, the Warriors got worse, the Clippers are not going to get much better... meantime, the Blazers got substantially better by adding Oden, Fernandez, and Bayless, and having guys like Roy, Webster, Frye, and Outlaw, with another year of experience. Watch out West!

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Next year...

HispanicCausinPanic

Does anybody find it a coincidence that Brand left like 15 million on the table after missing basically the whole season? I have a feeling they had him opt out and said we'll take care of you down the road in order to sign BD. They'll let Maggette walk, and resign brand.

__________________
Mike Rice is an Ol' School Pimp!

Mike Barrett is one cool white-boy!

Wheelz is cooler then the other side of the pillow!

'Tone is the only ex-NBA player I can beat 1 on 1!

I took Rebecca Haarlow to prom!

B-Roy

Brand and Kaman were injured for most of the season, that's why they reeked. They're going to be much better this season.

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It's Almost Time....

Minstrel

Portland will have the Bird rights to all of their players, so can go over the cap. The Clippers had to renounce their Bird rights to Brand and Maggette to get rid of their capholds, in order to have enough cap room to sign Baron Davis. That left enough cap room left over to re-sign Brand (at a pay cut), but not enough to re-sign Maggette.

__________________
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

Public Defender

Talent-wise, though, they haven't gotten any better, and I would argue that the Blazers were at least on par with the Clippers last season, regardless of the injuries. And I would argue that even when LAC had a healthy frontcourt, the team's most dangerous player as far as the Blazers were concerned, was Maggette. But I see your point, the Clippers should perform a little better than they did last year, assuming Brand comes back close to his former level. Likewise, with Kaman. But I don't see them being better than the Blazers...

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Next year...

B-Roy

Talent wise they're much better, especially since Thornton matures a year and they add Eric Gordon. They will do A LOT better barring any injuries.

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It's Almost Time....

World B. Free

How? Monte Ellis is just as good as Davis!!! That is why they let him go for nothing.

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