I like Chriss as a replacement to Tarik Black, who is now playing overseas. Chriss has work to do with defending without fouling, keeping his attitude in check, and shooting the ball, but I have hope that Houston's veterans can steer him in the right direction that Jared Dudley and Tyson Chandler failed to do. The upside of Chriss is being an uber-athletic stretch five that defends decently.

Brandon Knight can really play when he's healthy. He can shoot, drive, pass, and defend. I hope he can be an explosive backup like Eric Gordon and provide more rest for our stars. Chris Paul, James Harden, Eric Gordon, and a healthy Brandon Knight on paper sounds like a hell of a lot to deal with for opposing teams.



At the cost of Melton's potential we swapped Ryan Anderson for two players that could make us better right now while giving us $5M to spend in the buyout market.

Makes it even worse that it happened to Lonnie and Dejounte back to back. Luckily Dejounte is much more transparent than Kawhi, at least he’ll give us updates and be honest about his progress.

it really hurt at first. I mean I was looking forward to Kawhi having a crazy season last year, ended up only playing 9 games. Now this year with Dejounte AND Lonnie. These two guys were supposed to be the future. They’re young and might recover but there’s also they chance they they might never be the same. 

I don’t think Dejounte was better than LMA or Demar, but I do believe that he was the most important player on this team for the upcoming season. I predicted to finish 3rd-5th in the West. But now finishing top 8 would be an achievement. Although I wouldn’t mind a lotto pick. I was heartbroken but the show must go on.

There are still things to be excited about this season for Spurs fans. Derrick White, Davis Bertans, and Jakob Poeltl are the players to watch. And seeing how well DeMar and LMA can will be a show as well 


tagging OutRosez and Last Stand honorary spurs fans in case they were interested in my thoughts 

A few Spurs as well as Pop predicted that the starting PG for this season will be Derrick White. I wouldn’t expect too much from seeing how he’s a sophomore. He spent most of the year in the G-League last season so he’s almost like a Ben Simmons rookie. His G-League stats however were very impressive for a rookie. He averaged 25/5/5 in the G-League and was the key player in winning the G-League championship

Not only did he dominate the G-League but he also dominated the Summer league as well. Looking like the best player on the court at all times. Dropping 20+ points 5+ assists with no effort each game

Good example





A lot of Spurs fans have been in favor of playing him as the starting PG over Dejounte. I don’t think he has a higher ceiling than Dejounte, nor is he better overall, but he does look more like the modern NBA PG and seemed to be more NBA ready and mature than Dejounte.


Too compare him to Dejounte

Things Derrick is worse at than Dejounte

-Athleticism (while White still looks like an NBA level athlete, Dejounte athleticism was at an elite level compared to the NBA competition)
-Defense (again, Derrick doesn’t seem to be a bad defender by any means. However, Dejounte was looking like the best defender at the PG position In the league)
-Rebounding (above. Dejounte starting the fast break off the rebound was beautiful ... )
-Leadership & Charisma (if Dejounte didn’t have the skills of a star player, he sure as hell had the attitude of one. At 22 years old he seemed to be the clear cut vocal leader of this team going into the season. Even talking for Pop in timeouts and motivating/coaching the team.)


Things Derrick looks better at than Dejounte

-Shooting (biggest difference. Not only is Derrick a better 3 point and overall shooter than DJ, but damn very well might be the best 3 point shooter on the team considering his ability to knock down shots off the dribble or in catch and shoot situations. this includes Belinelli, Patty, Bryn, and Bertans. White is a better shooter than all of them by a decent margin. Saw limited minutes last year but shot 60% from 3 lmao. Not reliable data I know but damn he good)
-Playmaking (runs beautiful pick n rolls, makes beautiful passes, can scan the floor very well for a rook, and most important can knock down any shot he wants off the dribble). His playmaking is not only better than DJ, but most likely second only to DeMar.
-BBIQ & Composure (above)

I cant see the Wolves being better or winning more games than the Spurs. They still have one of the GOAT coaches, 2 all NBA players in LMA and Derozan, and a very deep bench. That alone is enough to be better than the Wolves. In fact I think the Blazers will be better than the Wolves too. 

Nah Parker aint playing as long as Brent Barry is there LOL


But Pop has faith in Derrick White. During the G-League and preseason he was able to look like a cross between CJ McCollum and Steve Nash. I feel like it'll take him one good game to get him rolling. He had a bunch of 40 point games playing both guard positions He's a better fit with DeRozan and LMA, seeing as how he can play with or without the ball. He just has to look halfway as good as he looks against worse competition. If he can do that against NBA players it'd be great. No pressure right... 

The only window is playing exciting basketball in the last couple seasons of pops coaching career. That was pretty much their ceiling. They may have been able to make it to the 2nd round at least with Dejounte. But another pick in the teens wouldn’t be bad. I think the only real goals are long term at this point anyway. That’s why I care so much about the young guys. 

I was more excited just be able to watch Dejounte play and develop into a good PG, rather than having any hopes of making it far in the playoffs or anything like that. Although I’m sure it would be nice for DeMar and LMA

Hmmm so you think Portland is 3rd seed and Blade thinks they will miss the playoffs 


That’s about as far from each other as possible l 

I was just going off last year's standings, I find it hard to believe they miss the playoffs though.

Locks: warriors, jazz, rockets
Probable: Thunder 
Fighting for it: Pelicans, Nuggets, Wolves (move up or down if they keep Jimmy/what the return is/chemistry if he stays), Blazers
Fighting but probably out: Lakers, Grizzlies, Spurs. 

I think the Blazers are like the Nuggets probably in overall quality except whereas the Nuggets underachieve the Blazers always overachieve now. So they should really be in there. The other teams have more obvious weaknesses

Nuggets: underachieve, healthy, not one of the second/third option guys have made strides on defense or have started to look like a #1 guy. 
Pelicans: they're depending on half man half a season to be great AND healthy again. Jrue to be very good AND healthy again. Mirotic to be good AND healthy again. See the problem? 
Wolves: jimmy drama
Lakers: LeBron and a whole lotta role players and whatever you think of Ingram. LeBron already doesn't play half the court anymore, and that shit isn't gonna fly in the west. Will the young guys get better or just stay the same? No shooting really. Incomplete roster (I think they're making a trade, not a Jimmy level trade but something to even out the front court probably maybe trade for a better shooter on the wing). 
Grizzlies: Is Marc too old? Is Mike? Can any of the young dudes turn into more than what they've been? Will they find enough d-league players to make it matter? Admittedly they usually do but still. 
Spurs: well we both know the problems. 

All that versus the Blazers whose backcourt is usually healthy. Decent enough front court, third best coach in that bracket after Pop and Thibs, good defense, good offense usually, I just can't see them falling out. They've probably hit their ceiling but they're still a playoff team unless they got rocked by injuries or they decide to blow it up suddenly.

They only did because of two reasons: Iggy died, and KD kept shot jacking and no one stopped him. But moreso, they lost their best wing defender, and replaced him with two busts and old ass Melo. They're another year older, and they got worse no matter how you cut it. And at the very very least the Spurs stayed the same if not significantly improved since they're going from 9 games of shitty Kawhi to presumably a full season of DDR.

More importantly than that: Pop is 5-0 against D'Antoni in the playoffs and 20-5 against him overall in playoff games. Harden isn't a playoff performer, and CP3 always has a lemon game and/or an injury in a series. 

I disagree with you on Denver. Jokic, Millsap and Harris are a solid trio that will push them into playoffs.

I think you will be surprised by the Lakers. I like what I see from them. LeBron no longer has to do everything he did in Cleveland. His role has diminished a bit with the playmakers around him and solid defensive players. They need to build that chemistry, which I reckon will take a couple months.

That team won 35 games last season with at least 10 games we lost in last minute. Adding LeBron is big since he is a decent closer. Had we kept the same team together with no changes, we should have a 5 win improvement. But now you add seasoned vets like LeBron, Rondo, Stephenson, Mcgee to the mix and draft Wagner. I think that should add another 8-9 wins easily. Randle was a loss, but I believe our additions in return should suffice to more than make up what we lost with Randle.

Teague is not a very good point guard, in fact he is very mediocre and made to look worse in this PG heavy era. Ask OutRosez aboot this. The Wolves won 31 games the year prior to Butler‘s entrance and were sub 500 when he was injured. I can see them breaking even, but not much more.

The Blazers lost key guys in Napier and Davis, but they signed a solid 2 way off the bench in Curry. Collins is a promising backup big going into his sophomore season. Evan Turner is going to give you mixed results. Stotts is a good coach, don‘t know how he is on the hot seat when it‘s the GM that‘s getting all the negative attention. Hell, they were the 3rd seed despite CJ having a down year and Nurk being poo on offense.

Pelicans still have a health cloud hanging over them. Last season was Jrue‘s healthiest one as a Pelican plus it‘s now know the Sixers shipped him as damaged goods. If Davis plays 60 games again, that can drop them out of the playoff race. Then comes fit. If Elfraud can‘t replicate what Rondo did and Jrue shifts back to PG, does Jrue‘s offense drop back a bit?

I can see why people like the Nuggets, Lakers, and OKC. I don‘t see how the Blazers are this questioned when they have made the playoffs every season in the Dame-CJ era while we don‘t know how much coasting Lebron will do or how fractured the Wolves are

I actually kinda like him. He fits really well with what they currently have. Because he's an effective shooter, can play off ball, does some solid but not great defense. He's at least a slight plus defensively imo so that's worth something, but can also pass when he needs to and generally isn't a huge fuck up. He's nothing more than a game manager, but I think with Jimmy there, he's a good fit. Not great, not spectacular, but just good. The problem is....Jimmy is not gonna be there and that's gonna fuck them up a lot I think. He's not a great create for other guys dude and Jimmy's absence showed that. If/when he leaves I doubt they make it to .500 unless KAT goes superstar or Wiggins becomes something.

Nah, Teague is more than 'mediocre'. Twolves I felt had major chemistry issues. They just didn't fit well together. Wiggins was one of the most overrated players I have seen since I have watched the nba going back to 2000. Lets also see what they get for Butler. Until that trade happens, I think we have to keep our minds open. If they get trash back in return or draft picks then all bets are off. I wish to reserve ultimate judgment on them until such a time they successfully move Butler.

Stotts has been the leader of that underperforming team going back 6yrs. They missed playoffs his first season with prime Aldridge, Lillard, Batum, Matthews when he was decent, JJ Hickson who wasn't actually a bad player. They were swept in first round twice of their 5 playoffs seasons (3rd series they won 1 game vs Memphis in 1st round but were almost swept). That's underperforming when you have a solid team year-after-year, getting pummeled by Memphis and Pelicans. As for the 3rd seed argument, the difference between 3rd seed and out of playoffs was 2 games so no, #3 seed doesn't mean much of anything where the difference is 2 games between 3 and 8.

I believe Lillard has also been no-show too many times in playoffs where I can state he is very much overrated. ...but that's another issue altogether. 

Pelicans adding Randle is big. I know you were never big on Randle but what I saw from him last season after Larry Nance got traded was spectacular. He is a solid rebounder who can also pound down low, play very good defense + switch out to the perimeter. He takes some pressure off Davis, who can now push out more to high post and maybe even shoot some 3s to open up the court. They have plenty of frontcourt depth as I mentioned to play even more inside-out. That also allows Jrue to not have to focus so much on offense. That team is solid, built like a tank. More so than Blazers. Oh and if I forgot to mention that Davis is a top 5 player, who will be making an argument on the court for why he thinks he is the best player in the nba.

I'll admit that being swept by the Pelicans was embarrassing for the Blazers. They're sorely lacking a 3rd option on offense and that got exposed. The rest of their playoff losses are understandable though. '17 playoffs swept by Warriors, which really what do you expect? '16 playoffs, again, lost to the 73 win Warriors. '15 playoffs, lost to the Grizzlies because they didn't have Matthews and Batum suffered a knee contusion the week prior to the playoffs. '14 playoffs, they lost to the championship Spurs. And as for Stott's first year, he had a rookie Dame and Hickson was a terrible compliment to LMA, it didn't matter that Hickson was an okay player in a vacuum if neither he or Aldridge could protect the rim. You can clearly see how swapping Hickson for Lopezmade the vast difference in the team's winning (26th DRTG to 16th DRTG). You can't blame Stotts for missing the playoffs his first year considering McMillan missed the playoffs the previous year. The Blazers overachieved 4 seasons and underachieved 2 seasons, one being Stott's first year and the other being in 2017 when their front court was plagued by injuries trhoughout. The fact that they made the playoffs after LMA left was an overachievement. Vegas had them winning 26 games that year and they busted that by 18 wins. The Blazers had a very incomplete roster throughout the Dame-CJ era and still have a lot of holes to this day yet they had consistently been in the playoffs. With all of this context, how is it that the Blazers have underachieved under Stotts?

AD is a post player who can dive to the rim and shoot the midrange. The areas he works in conflicts with Randles so unless you're just using Davis as a mild spacer, it's not like they are a great match like Mirotic and AD are. The main thing Rosez and I are concerned is the health of AD and Jrue. They have historically not been durable and if they miss time, that really affects the Pelicans' playoff chances. And they have on paper a good front court rotation, but everywhere else is shallow. Out of the wings and guards, Moore is the 2nd best player and that's really concerning. An injury to Jrue would devastate that lineup. The same doesn't apply to the Blazers because Dame and CJ are historically durable.