r/nba The Splash Brothers! Apr 01 '23

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM 2023 NBA PLAYOFFS CONTENTION

With Lakers win against the Wolves, Portland Trail Blazers have been mathematically eliminated from the 2023 NBA playoffs.

Fade 'em

3.3k Upvotes

350 comments sorted by

u/ItsN0tTheB0at Celtics [BOS] Walter McCarty Apr 01 '23

FADED

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1.2k

u/KiryuXGoro Patrick Beverley Apr 01 '23

Remember the first month when they were a top 3 team?

689

u/WadeCountyClutch Lakers Apr 01 '23

Remember when Utah was a top Team??!!

339

u/Be-Nice-To-Redditors Jazz Apr 01 '23

Yknow that was a fun little while to be winning a lot

86

u/WadeCountyClutch Lakers Apr 01 '23

Still loving lauri!

46

u/Caboclo-Is2yearsAway [IND] Lance Stephenson Apr 01 '23

MIP

28

u/blorp4 Apr 01 '23

Until the lakers literally stole their whole team lol

16

u/Philipthesquid Jazz Apr 01 '23

I'm convinced we could have had a playoff spot if we didn't trade anyone. Not that that would have been any good for the future.

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139

u/916Clout Kings Apr 01 '23

portland fans were talking crazy about being a tier above the kings

61

u/spittafan [POR] Rudy Fernandez Apr 01 '23

We were not prepared for the beam

67

u/KnoxsFniteSuit Knicks Apr 01 '23

"and y'all said Simons wasn't a great defender?", "Damn, I knew Justice Winslow would be better than Powell and RoCo !", "Jerami Grant is definitely gonna re-sign with us!" (I'm just crossing my fingers on that last one)

53

u/selz202 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

To be fair on the second one, it really went down hill when Justice (and Nurk) went down. His defense and occasional playmaking/ball handling were really badly missed, plus Chauncey's defense absolutely requires multiple good sized athletic wings.

On the first point I can't imagine anyone saying Simons was ever anything but a terrible defender at any point... ever.

2

u/ScrapinLinden Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Winslow was shockingly good for the Blazers

5

u/RipCity-NBA-LoL Nuggets Bandwagon Apr 01 '23

I'd like to see receipts of even two people saying the first two things you quoted. As a Blazers fan, I never read those. The 3rd we've been deluding ourselves on 100%

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79

u/LafilduPoseidon Celtics Apr 01 '23

I rember yall Dallas and LAkers were contending like every year

17

u/OldHeadReader Lakers Apr 01 '23

When was Boston's last ring?

11

u/Jeisksdi Thunder Apr 01 '23

2008

3

u/fsocietybat Apr 01 '23

Before that?

6

u/Jeisksdi Thunder Apr 01 '23

1986

97

u/ablackcloudupahead Lakers Apr 01 '23

I remember when the LAkers won a ring 3 years ago

22

u/zerocoolforschool Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

That was just a Covid fever dream, my dude.

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20

u/GeneralZhukov Apr 01 '23 edited Apr 01 '23

This happens EVERY year, and yet the whole NBA community seems to be willfully ignorant of it, from talking heads, to podcasts, to social media communities.

Remember when the Wizards were like, 14-1 (it was 10-3 oops. Apparently best start in 47 years) or something to start the season that one time? Remember when the Jazz started this season with a top record? Then they started falling, then Ainge traded pieces and sped up the process.

Sometimes its because a team will get an easy schedule to start the season, sometimes it'll be because they're a hungry team that overperforms into teams that are starting slow, sometimes its just variance.

5

u/Arc87880 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Don't disagree at all, but were the Wizards ever even close to 14-1? Really can't remember them being that hot, like ever

14

u/idosade Nuggets Bandwagon Apr 01 '23

It was 10-3, never 14-1

8

u/Arc87880 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

ahh, makes more sense haha

6

u/SunsCanucks Suns Apr 01 '23

They 2-0'd us at the start of the season when we were the top seed. They were hooping. Part of me hopes they get Wemby so Dame finally gets some help!

9

u/PuzzleheadedWest0 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

You are now my favorite suns fan.

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1.6k

u/AstroCoffee [LAL] Nick Van Exel Apr 01 '23

Unbelievable how they were even worse than usual in what was a career year for Dame Lillard in terms of scoring

719

u/irelli Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Never underestimate how bad Billups is

My lord that man is horrible as a coach. Genuinely nothing redeemable.

Drew Eubanks playing more minutes than Nurkic and all of our SFs being injured doesn't help though

295

u/Wiserman64 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Someone needs to tell Billups and the front office that playing small forwards does not mean you play a forward that is small

123

u/here_for_the_lols Thunder Apr 01 '23

Bruh it's literally in the position name wym

4

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

I always thought it meant a short guy who hits on everybody he meets

43

u/huskersax Pacers Apr 01 '23

Well, they play guards that can't guard all the dang time, so you'd think they'd undersrand.

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124

u/Taco_TuesdayGOAT Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

It could have and should have been Becky Hammon I don't know why they chose Billups out of the two when you look at her coaching pedigree.

120

u/PlasmaHeat Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

This will never not be infuriating to me. The only explanations I can think of are either

  • Players really really really do not want to play for a female head coach
  • The front office had no intentions of being competitors within the next few years

87

u/ripcity_pilgrim Apr 01 '23

The pure cynical version of events is they interviewed Becky Hammon so they'd look less gross for hiring Chauncey.

17

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '23

[deleted]

14

u/ripcity_pilgrim Apr 01 '23

I was being very charitable to say it was cynical, tbh.

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44

u/Cudi_buddy Kings Apr 01 '23

As shitty as it sounds, I could see NBA players not respecting a female head coach over even a shitty male one. With the way locker room atmosphere is and athletes in general yea. It is one thing as an assistant under Pop, but leading a locker room is different.

30

u/2Blitz San Diego Clippers Apr 01 '23

We'll never know unless it happens. One of these teams might as well try and see how it goes.

7

u/ShaunWhiteIsMyTwin Apr 01 '23

Hey the blazers kinda suck, they should fire Billups and hire Becky

7

u/moss-n-choss Apr 01 '23

Lol well now the blazers can’t afford to hire a championship coach

15

u/Montigue [POR] Hasheem Thabeet Apr 01 '23

You have players saying racist/homophobic things and other players either not saying anything about it or praising them. Of course it would be a problem. However Dame may be one of the only leaders that could set his team straight for acting up, but he doesn't deserve to babysit a bunch of grown men

7

u/Rawrsomesausage :sp8-1: Super 8 Apr 01 '23

Yeah, the way they always stay mum and support dudes when it's some domestic abuse allegation makes me think misogyny is still rampant among players (and let's face it, in society). So that's sadly a hurdle to having a female HC.

2

u/Sitty_Shitty Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

If you can get your superstar(s) to buy in the rest will too. Theoretically you at max need 3 people to buy into what the coach is saying no matter who it is. If it works and you start winning they don't give a shit because winning usually translates to getting paid.

17

u/Koioua Spurs Apr 01 '23

It doesn't help that the blazers tried to throw Becky and the Spurs under the bus as justification for not hiring her, as if it wouldn't have been better to just shut the fuck and say that Billups was just a better fit.

7

u/OG_Kazaam Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

**Neil Olshey tried to throw Becky and the Spurs under the bus

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37

u/IsThisMe8 Warriors Apr 01 '23

Even worse, I can’t believe they tried to make her look bad by leaking (fake) stories about why she wasn’t hired.

2

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Fun fact: Neil Olshey is still unemployed!

44

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '23

He’s done a good job developing young players. Ant last year, Sharpe this year. Eubanks becoming playable. Watford seems to keep improving. But Billups’ game management is abysmal.

40

u/_Russell_Westbrick Lakers Apr 01 '23

when Blazer hired Billups it never made sense, it's not like we haven't seen what happened to Nash.

I am wondering why teams doesn't take approach like Celtics and hire more college coach

54

u/JonasAlbert84 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

when Blazer hired Billups it never made sense

It was a nepo hire because he was buddies with the former GM. That entire coaching search was a sham.

10

u/esports_consultant Apr 01 '23

Cronin needs to dump him asap and replace with competent candidate, if you're trying to purge the stench of the prior regime you need to be thorough about it.

2

u/inspectordaddick Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

What is the proof of this? I always see this parroted and never have seen any evidence of them being actually close.

My personal conspiracy theory is it was a fuck you hire cuz he saw the writing on the wall that he was getting fired. Or he gave him such a long contract thinking it would buy him more time.

5

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

It gets parroted because most of us lived through it. When Neil Olshey said the Blazers did a thorough, proprietary investigation of Billups’ legal history, Willamette Week looked into it and discovered the investigation was done by one contractor, who happens to be a conspiracy theorist, and that he made at least two phone calls: one to the police department that covered the case, one to Billups’ former lawyer. Both indicated that yes, the private investigator reached out, and no, they didn’t agree to speak with him.

So sham investigation gets attached to the topic frequently. Still you might be wondering why we specifically say it about the search for a coach, as opposed to just the Billups background check.

Olshey has a long-standing reputation for being disliked in the league and for most FOs preferring to deal with him less than others. Billups was possibly the least qualified candidate but got the job anyhow. Olshey came from the Clippers and had a connection with Billups.

So while that is circumstantial evidences that the coach search was a sham, the whole effort is already riddled with shamminess and nobody is dumb enough to give Olshey the benefit of the doubt anymore.

13

u/PuzzleheadedWest0 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Shoulda grabbed dantoni

20

u/treesareweirdos Kings Apr 01 '23

Maybe this will finally end the “hire a point guard with no coaching experience” thing. Derek fisher, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, and Chauncey have all proven it’s a dumb idea.

6

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

I believe that Billups, as a former guard renowned for his defense, is encouraging Dame to be a defensive leader, and it’s worked as poorly as you’d imagine. Dame this season sprang a habit of getting himself on ball on D, even though he’s the smallest guy on his team and probably a bottom 5 defender even including 2 way guys. Dame rarely let himself get hunted under Stotts, at least compared to this season.

3

u/College_Prestige San Francisco Warriors Apr 01 '23

Someone will hire Chris Paul as a coach. Guaranteed

2

u/Rawrsomesausage :sp8-1: Super 8 Apr 01 '23

Lol. Now I'm wondering what would happen if you had those dudes as GM, Pres, Coach, and as Assistant coaches. Would the team implode, or would it combine to be serviceable? A team needs to do it for science.

12

u/Jonna09 Warriors Apr 01 '23

Eubanks is promising right? I feel like he has been for the Blazers what Zach Collins should have been.

18

u/Seahpo [POR] Keljin Blevins Apr 01 '23

nah collins was meant to be a 3 and D guy, eubanks is neither of those. hes a good post scorer with great touch on the hook shot, but he doesnt space the floor at all, decent shot blocker but bad defender, and just an okay rebounder for his size

hes 100% proven he belongs in the league, but hes a backup center at best unless his defence or rebounding improve a lot. probably best as a 3rd stringer / niche matchup guy

1

u/Jonna09 Warriors Apr 01 '23

Damn, I never thought Collins was meant for 3&D.

13

u/cyborgbear [POR] Pat Connaughton Apr 01 '23

collins was looking like a switchable 3&D center (way more D than 3, but still) that was decent at passing

he was also healthy his entire life until like his 3rd season in the nba when he tore his shoulder 3 games in and has been in and out ever since then

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5

u/esports_consultant Apr 01 '23

Hopefully between him, Nash, Kidd, and Fisher, the trend of "hire former player before they're really ready because they were a point guard and therefore smart" will come to end sometime shortly.

0

u/Intafadah Apr 01 '23

Blaming the Blazers failures on Billups is just a cop-out. Running undersized 3 guard lineups in the West, replacing CJ with CJ Light, and depending on chucking 3’s from the Logo is the real answer.

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36

u/abstract_contact Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

It's not unbelievable at all if you look at their coaching and roster. Jerami Grant has been hurt, Ant is Ant, Nurk is Nurk and we traded our only other real starting NBA player for Cam Reddish and Kevin Knox.

43

u/RWGlix Knicks Apr 01 '23

Thanks for that hes a freaking dog. We love him.

29

u/cyborgbear [POR] Pat Connaughton Apr 01 '23

hart was here for like one calendar year and a lot (most?) of the blazers fans i've seen treat him like a team legend lol

8

u/Rodney_Jefferson Apr 01 '23

Every team he plays for he’s a legend with. Dude just devoted himself so fully to the game, the team, and does all the small shit that stars don’t want to do. Platonic ideal of a glue guy

9

u/PuzzleheadedWest0 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

He legit came into this year saying “I know I can drop 25 a game but that’s not my job here”. Dudes a stud.

2

u/RWGlix Knicks Apr 01 '23

Im thinking he will get rewarded for it and get a solid bag from us. Fingers crossed.

2

u/abstract_contact Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

On the Blazers podcast the dude described it as Josh Hart plays every possession, and I think that's a pretty apt description. He's involved in every play pretty aggressively, and if he plays 30 minutes he's playing 30 full minutes. Dude doesn't sag on the court.

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5

u/abstract_contact Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Glad he's at a better spot for him

3

u/denverblazer Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Dude I was so mad when it happened and I'm still salty af about it.

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u/Unique-Warning7798 Warriors Apr 01 '23

That's what happens when none of Grant, Simons and Nurkic can stay healthy for a long stretch.

Also Simons probably hasn't been what they expected. Obviously he's a sniper from 3, but his athleticism hasn't made him a better defender than CJ, and he doesn't really have a game inside the three point line.

81

u/MC-Jdf Warriors Apr 01 '23

Simons has absolutely been what they expected.

It's just that he's the exact version of what they expected and nothing more, that's the problem. He's an elite scorer with great 3-point shooting but his defense is terrible, which in the nutshell doesn't make him much more than a CJ McCollum 2.0 and that's quite literally what the Blazers needed to avoid.

46

u/BringingGunsToArenas Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

He hasn’t stepped in being able to run the offense when Dame is resting. The hope was he would be better this season but he still is too focused on getting his own shot when he’s playing with the bench. It’s why we blow so many leads

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33

u/Carcrusher3 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Simons is an elite scorer at all levels, not just from 3. Then defense thing is true but saying he doesn't have a game inside the 3 is baseless.

17

u/ripcity_pilgrim Apr 01 '23

100% baseless, they clearly don't watch the blazers. Ant is a tight handle away from being totally elite on offence.

Defence on the other hand...

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7

u/PuzzleheadedWest0 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

We also expected him to run the floor when dame is out. Instead he just dribbles for 17 seconds.

10

u/_Elder_ Gran Destino Apr 01 '23

A bottom 3 coach in this league on top of all that doesn’t help.

11

u/MotoMkali Warriors Apr 01 '23

Portland have figured out if you aren't good enough to make the play in you can just tank for the last 15 games and you'll have the 5th or 6th worst record anyway.

15

u/Turbulent-Sky-5568 Apr 01 '23

It's almost like him putting up a career high is a direct result of the fact that the rest of team sucks

8

u/Clorst_Glornk [PHI] Matt Geiger Apr 01 '23

Dame "Shohei Otani" Lillard

8

u/cjackc11 Knicks Apr 01 '23

At least Shohei has Trout

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431

u/ItsGettinBreesy Lakers Apr 01 '23

Crazy we were contending with them for the 9 spot

37

u/irelli Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Well we decided to tank lol.

It's not like we couldn't have stayed in the hunt.

We went from just below .500 like everyone else to 1-10 in our last 11. It's purposeful

504

u/lukewwilson Kings Bandwagon Apr 01 '23

"decided to tank" lol that's cute

155

u/Reidroshdy Kings Apr 01 '23

They certainly decided to tank by shutting Dame down and sitting half their team against the Kings.

172

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

They decided to tank like 3-4 games ago. The comment above makes it seem like they’re battle for the 9th seed was them tanking but it was actually them trying their hardest

-13

u/zerocoolforschool Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Brother it started long before that.

38

u/letsbereasonable123 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

I guess the guys downvoting you missed that we were sellers at the trade deadline.

8

u/zerocoolforschool Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

There’s a bunch of haters in this thread. I didn’t realize we were so widely disliked.

4

u/I_DESTROY_PLANETS 76ers Apr 01 '23

I don’t think y’all are widely disliked, it’s just typical nba nephew behavior to downvote valid points that disagree with them

34

u/Cudi_buddy Kings Apr 01 '23

They were something like 3-12 post ASB with Dame trying his damn hardest. After that is when they shut Dame and Ant down.

9

u/inspectordaddick Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Yes, we weren’t playing very well and then we decided to tank.

Nobody thinks the blazers were actually playing wrll. Big difference between like .450 ball and being 1-9 for our last ten.

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4

u/RipCity-NBA-LoL Nuggets Bandwagon Apr 01 '23

That's a little misleading, lol. That 4 or 5 game loss streak was organic. THEN we decided to pack it up

2

u/SandyMandy17 Thunder Apr 01 '23

I mean you tanked after you were out of the hunt…

Same way we did the last 2 years

Congrats on your 2nd year of tanking tho

2

u/irelli Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Dame didn't play last year my dude. We were tanking almost immediately. Just extra hard at the end.

We started tanking before we were out of the hunt. Like we sat Dame and Jerami Grant against the Pelicans just because the flight got in late lmao.

And we were only 2 games back from 9th and just 3.5 from 6th then.

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167

u/Rob-Dipshit Apr 01 '23

HELLO WEMBY

117

u/lukewwilson Kings Bandwagon Apr 01 '23

Nah, Silver already promised him to the new Charlotte Hornets owner

23

u/Saaammmy Apr 01 '23

Fuck that, i need wemby to carry the SA torch

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6

u/Kingkongcrapper Lakers Apr 01 '23

Don’t curse the man like that.

6

u/IUViolet Apr 01 '23

That would be the best scenario. Even if they made it to Playoffs this year no way they are gonna win more than 1 series.

154

u/RobloxShrek Warriors Apr 01 '23

[Woj] The Trail Blazers say they are still committed to building a team around Damian Lillard

48

u/d0000n Apr 01 '23

How about committing to build a “winning” team?

3

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Dame and the Blazers have an agreement. He sticks around, they keep him around. Blazers get a figure head leader who sells tickets on his own, Dame gets a stable place to raise his family, close enough to visit the rest of his family in an hour or two but far enough not to see them every day.

The second we look at the NBA without the RANGZ URNEH tinted glasses on, everything makes a lot more sense.

5

u/Sicco1234 Trail Blazers [POR] Damian Lillard Apr 01 '23

Harder to do than it is to say ig

133

u/Kalil4Real Grizzlies Apr 01 '23

Another year of Dame's prime wasted

38

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

I think he’s got like 1 or 2 in him

51

u/theliver Clippers Apr 01 '23

Dames made a shit load of money and is universally loved.

One of the best careers lately, however many left

5

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

He made a handshake deal with the Blazers and it’s worked out almost perfectly for everyone. Sells out the Moda Center, everybody’s rich, fans are buzzed, would be nice to win more but you can’t control the weather.

1

u/Brooklyn-Mikal San Francisco Warriors Apr 01 '23

I get the Wemby hype ofc. But if I’m Portland I’m getting Brandon Miller and making a legit run. Him and Dame together in hopefully 2 years together could be crazy af.

7

u/RODjij Tampa Bay Raptors Apr 01 '23

Yes but he chose the supermax remember. Hard to walk away from that kind of money but that kind of contract means your team isn't going anywhere unless they're a top spending franchise.

8

u/exerciseforweak1000 Apr 01 '23

He wasted his own prime by staying in Portland

16

u/Dimaaaa Spurs Apr 01 '23

He'll go down as the GOAT Blazer. He only wasted his prime if we're following the Ringz Erneh approach.

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u/just_so_irrelevant Nets Apr 01 '23

Lol exactly. This is just as much on Dame for choosing to stay on a losing franchise as it is on the front office for never trading him.

9

u/pyordie Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

A nets fan calling us a loosing franchise is hilarious. At least we’ve made it to a conference finals in the last decade.

6

u/just_so_irrelevant Nets Apr 01 '23

Jeez chill man I worded it too harshly. I shouldve said "non-contending" not losing. Is that better?

10

u/pyordie Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

lol yeah that’s better.

It’s my elimination party and I’ll cry if I want to. You would cry to if it happened to youuuuu.

2

u/just_so_irrelevant Nets Apr 01 '23

Fair enough 😅

15

u/-Jake-27- Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

We miss playoffs twice and we’re a losing franchise damn.

2

u/just_so_irrelevant Nets Apr 01 '23

Mb dude I didnt mean to say it harshly like that. Shouldve said "non-contending" not "losing".

2

u/steeze206 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

I honestly hope he leaves and gets a real shot at a ring at this point. This organization is trash.

2

u/Silentrift24 Apr 01 '23

Man this shit is starting to hurt like as in, when Kevin Garnett wasted his first like, 7 years in fucking Minnesota before being traded to Boston. Shit's depressing as fuck how they're pissing away Dame's prime

44

u/BeefySwan Apr 01 '23

7? It was 12 lol

14

u/Silentrift24 Apr 01 '23

Holy shit KG stayed that long? Man I must be tripping, 12 years of his prime straight outta high school, that man carried Minnesota on his back.

3

u/Kalil4Real Grizzlies Apr 01 '23

Yeah I agree it's very depressing. He's playing phenomenal basketball just to not even sniff the play-in

26

u/jboarei [POR] Damian Lillard Apr 01 '23

We’ve been theoretically eliminated for awhile.

Massive off-season ahead for this franchise. They cannot afford to mess it up.

74

u/Cul_what Lakers Apr 01 '23

POUR UP

49

u/StoneColdAM Lakers Apr 01 '23

Dropped 20 3’s against the Lakers only to fall this low

20

u/ripcitydirewolfie [POR] Damian Lillard Apr 01 '23

Fade Me Homies. See you on the other side brothers.

2

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Whichever side you’re on, we’re still with you 🙀🦍 that’s Blaze and Doug they’re here too

91

u/iksnet Knicks Apr 01 '23 Silver

Mathematically eliminated from the grind

1

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Dread it, run from it, or run into it, the grind bumps

252

u/Jayveesac Lakers Apr 01 '23

Hit me with another Dame loyalty anecdote

62

u/LuckyWarrior Pelicans Apr 01 '23

Tell me another jackal story

19

u/FlyingMocko Celtics Apr 01 '23

Chael Sonnen is probably one of the GOAT trash talkers in all of sport

7

u/ZeroMomentum Raptors Apr 01 '23

Hi Jennifer

83

u/salcedoge Lakers Apr 01 '23

Portland really had a bad flight then just said fuck it let's tank

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u/slysonic7 Suns Apr 01 '23

God and they were trying so hard in these last few games too…

54

u/lannistargaryen Lakers Apr 01 '23

DameBanyama 🙏

3

u/nerdpulse Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Don't give me hope

47

u/superfiery East Apr 01 '23

Dame on the flight to Cancun first thing tomorrow

19

u/LafilduPoseidon Celtics Apr 01 '23

But he didn’t run from the grind!!!! 🗣️

24

u/_Pho-Dac-Biet_ Warriors Apr 01 '23

He flew from it

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u/mahwaha Apr 01 '23

Terry died for this

4

u/2drawnonward5 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

He’s still available, too!

8

u/BiDinosauur Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

I miss terry

10

u/WorldWideWes2 Knicks Apr 01 '23

so disappointing, I thought they looked really good first month. what happened?

31

u/TubbzMcGee Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

It took two weeks for the scouting report of Chauncey's gimmick zone to get around the league.

8

u/ripcity_pilgrim Apr 01 '23

First 15 games: "oh shit the blazers are playing zone, we didn't expect that."

Rest of the season: "oh shit, you're one pass away from breaking it."

Also, when we play our switch-everything man D, they can take their pick between Dame and Ant.

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u/Spaceman_Spiff43 Apr 01 '23

Boils down to bad coach and bad bench mostly

2

u/1850ChoochGator Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Bad coach, horrible bench, lots of injuries to starters

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7

u/stockyriki [BOS] Malcolm Brogdon Apr 01 '23

they were like the 1st seed on the first month lol

7

u/Underrated_user20 Minneapolis Lakers Apr 01 '23

You’re welcome TrailBlazers, it’s Wemby time.

5

u/ColeHoops Lakers Apr 01 '23

Keep Wemby Weird

4

u/toadtruck Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Fade for Cade

3

u/madueitor0 Kings Apr 01 '23

thats keljin blevins music

4

u/YouArentOwedAnything Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Soft , sighing blazer noise

13

u/atribecalled506 Knicks Apr 01 '23

The Dame Sigma Grindset continues

7

u/PatientIndividual651 Apr 01 '23

Career year for Dame and they were still mid

17

u/VoidMageZero 76ers Apr 01 '23

Missing the playin is not mid lol, that’s a euphemism

6

u/PatientIndividual651 Apr 01 '23

He didn’t play every game though. They were closer to .500 with him is my point. 26-28 or something like that

5

u/trevortins Lakers Apr 01 '23

Omg this is so surprising I thought they were still in it.

12

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

They’re so ass. Theyre worse than the Jazz who ACTUALLY tried to tank this whole season

3

u/IsThisMe8 Warriors Apr 01 '23

It’s honestly crazy that they can’t even form a team to get Dame into the play-in games. With the way Dame can score, I would put them as a favorite to be able to win one game to get into the playoffs. They wouldn’t have a chance making it past the first round, but at least it wouldn’t feel like a waste of Dame’s good season. Also, they really need to fire their coach.

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7

u/Impressive_Blood3512 76ers Apr 01 '23

The grind ran from them

8

u/kerblamophobe Warriors Apr 01 '23

It's okay, Dame said it's not about winning championships

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u/HarryPauler Timberwolves Apr 01 '23

Y'all are going to beat us Sunday just for shits and giggles

6

u/cyborgbear [POR] Pat Connaughton Apr 01 '23

i dunno, when the blazers tank we REALLY tank, the team is 1-11 over the last 12 and i'm pretty sure last year we ended like 2-20 something lmao

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u/saturnzebra Apr 01 '23

Chauncey Billups is not the coach for Portland.

2

u/esports_consultant Apr 01 '23

Tired: Eliminated from playoffs Wired: Secured Wembayana eligibility

4

u/jkk411 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

It's somewhat remarkable that the Blazers only just got eliminated tonight with 5 games left in the season and yet they are going to have the 5th best odds of winning the lottery if the standings hold. That's a lot of ping pong balls.

7

u/MyLittleRocketShip Apr 01 '23 edited Apr 01 '23

they gotta trade dame. theres no star in the horizon looking to sign a contract in portland to play with dame. gotta get back to homegrown talent. its dumb to say portland failed to build a contendor around dame from here on out, because theres no free agency pieces, trades with disgruntled stars, or insta superstar draft picks that are gonna put them in contention and still have a decent roleplaying cast. dame is going to be out of his prime once they have a squad

4

u/swearingisaight Nets Apr 01 '23

Where next for Damian Lillard 🤔 lol

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u/CHRIRSTIANGREY 76ers Apr 01 '23

fuck happened man.... they with dame it couldve been at LEAST a 7 seed at most

4

u/ripcity_pilgrim Apr 01 '23

Billups, injuries, roster that doesn't make sense, billups again

2

u/JonasAlbert84 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Good, clean house and blow it up and #FreeDame

2

u/Endovelico West Apr 01 '23

I wish /r/nba actually would fade the flairs, dont know why, but something so trivial makes people even more invested in the banter

1

u/Confident_Macaron_50 Heat Apr 01 '23

Cue up the Dame photoshops

2

u/hot-sauce-950 Warriors Apr 01 '23

Loyalty

-2

u/Hange11037 Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Lakers fan acting real tough like they aren’t about to lose in the first round with two superstars on their team.

10

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

At least the Lakers know how to surround their Star player with another star player

5

u/AthensGadfly Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Yeah, be in LA.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '23

Yeah, why dont you do that too!?

11

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

There are so many teams not in LA with two Star players.

2

u/-Jake-27- Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

How can we amass all the trade assets to make a trade for a player like AD without tanking? Everyone knows no free agents are going to Portland.

Corny comment.

4

u/kamekaze1024 Apr 01 '23

You’ve had 11 years to figure something out, quit that non sense.

2

u/-Jake-27- Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

How many small market franchises are winning rings?

Comparing Portland to LA is ridiculous. LeBron has the most star appeal in the league. It’s one of the biggest markets in the US and historic franchise. LA was completely floundering until LeBron decided to sign with them.

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1

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '23

Should have done the smart thing and punted the season, I suppose they could still get Victor anyway but its far less likely now than if they tanked from the start. I love the Blazers but even so I could have seen that a core of Lillard, Grant, and Simons was a low seed at most and a 1st round playoff exit. Lillard has some noted big shots in the playoffs but he's very streaky in the playoffs historically (that year they got swept by the Peli's he played horribly)

1

u/zgamer200 Celtics Apr 01 '23

I remember during the Blazers 10-4 start I was talking to a friend about how good they were looking and how could they looked like a playoff team, but then after saying that I looked at the west and immediately took it back because I wasn't actually sure their roster was top 10 in the west even after that hot start.

Seems like I was right to be skeptical.

1

u/BehavioralSink Trail Blazers Apr 01 '23

Thank you sweet baby Jesus.

Now back to hyping Shaedon Sharpe.