Portland Trail Blazers Conference

Here we are getting through another offseason. As you know, we made Barbosa are #1 target this offseason, and he agreed to sign here, but the Hornets rightfully matched his deal. We are disappointed Barbosa couldn't join Portland. He was Steve Francis' handpicked player to go get this off season.

This off season was another disappointment for this FO and team, but we did add some nice pieces, I believe, in Ernest Brown and Carl Landry. Landry and Brown will start for us this season in the front court. The back court will be led by Francis, Alexander, and Prince.

I know everyone here is here to ask questions, so I'll open it up now.

Will Maukie, BucksNation dot com. Do you think you still have a chance? A combination of your starting five doesn't sound all that bad on paper. Do you think you might be able to push for a 8th seed spot or make big trade?

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Originally Posted by IamQuailman

Will Maukie, BucksNation dot com. Do you think you still have a chance? A combination of your starting five doesn't sound all that bad on paper. Do you think you might be able to push for a 8th seed spot or make big trade?

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Thanks for the question!

A chance for the 8th seed? Yes. Is that what this organization aims for? No. Next year we are projected 15M in cap space minus our draft picks. Hopefully, if this team is still intact, we can land a true #1 scoring option.

Next question.

Even though you didn't land Barbosa, do you feel it could be a blessing in disguise since it gives you cap room in the future to sign multiple guys? Also, which FAs did you go after after you found out Barbosa was going to stay with the Rockets?

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Originally Posted by Pelicans78

Even though you didn't land Barbosa, do you feel it could be a blessing in disguise since it gives you cap room in the future to sign multiple guys? Also, which FAs did you go after after you found out Barbosa was going to stay with the Rockets?

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Blessing in disguise? Maybe, but it' hard to look objectively on the disappointment so soon after. The nature of this league revolves around productive rookies that you can keep via RFA. We haven't drafted well as a whole from the 10-14 spot we normally pick, but we are excited to see Landry start at PF for us this year.

I went hard after Ernest Brown and Etan Thomas. Etan Thomas signed for less money to play for Phoenix, so that's a big disappointment.
The rest of the guys I went after signed, Courtney, Ricky, Jason, Steve, and Juwan all signed for 1 yr deals to round out the roster this year.

Next question.

Hi your friendly neighborhoodstate rival reporter here, I'm hearing rumblings that Steve Francis could be traded. Is Tayshaun Prince the face of the franchise?

Are his clothes Portland Hipster enough?
http://coachcal-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com...1/08/cc-28.jpg

Steve Francis has discussed his disappointment with the off season, and we are exploring all of our options, but we won't rush into a decision that doesn't fully benefit both parties.

Prince has been an integral part of our team, whether his clothes fit it... Well, that's a discussion for another time. It sure as hell isn't hip enough for Seattle though. ;)

DLB: With Steve's unhappiness quickly becoming headline news, someone is going to need to take charge and lead the team in this year's playoff push. If it's not Steve, who do you see stepping up? Who do you think you can rely on to shoulder the load of the team?

Without Steve there isn't a playoff push, but Prince should be able to lead this team on the defensive side of the ball. Our offense will be by committee.

I'm looking to Ernest Brown and Carl Landry to provide significant upgrades at the 4 and 5, and with Divac and Simien off the bench, I think our front court has improved this offseason.

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Originally Posted by Inner_GI

Next year we are projected 15M in cap space minus our draft picks. Hopefully, if this team is still intact, we can land a true #1 scoring option.

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To continue off this, if your team starts strong and builds into a strong potential playoff threat, would you look to make a trade for a #1 scoring threat more aggressively before the deadline?

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Originally Posted by NOLa.

To continue off this, if your team starts strong and builds into a strong potential playoff threat, would you look to make a trade for a #1 scoring threat more aggressively before the deadline?

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We'll look into for sure. I happy with the team for this year. I'll know quickly whether to start the rebuild or just try and acquire pieces for the next 4 years.

I think if we can be around .500 for the first month we'll look to add some pieces.