Batum was half man, half amazing, but only half the time. He also made more than half of a max contract.
Wesley Matthews tore his achilles. Then he signed a max contract with sometimes rival Dallas. Be happy for them, jealousy doesn't wear you well. They can never have what you had. What you had was special.
Robin Lopez was a favorite and was welcomed to Portland like a native. He was severely underrated for everything he does on the court. Rolo will always have a place in our hearts, but can you blame him for taking a job at Madison Square Garden for more than DOUBLE what he was making before?
Lamarcus Aldridge. This is the one that hurts the most right? Okay, he was easily the best player on the team. He played for Portland for his entire career until now, but he's from Texas and going to play for one of the greatest coaches with some of the greatest teammates OF ALL TIME. EVER. Can you really blame him?
Look. I realize that instead of making you feel better, I probably just made you more mad, but it could be so much worse.
First of all, the Blazers are wayyyyyy under the minimum salary.
They just signed Damian Lillard to a max contract which keeps him in Portland through the next six seasons. With the Salary Cap expected to rise substantially after a new national TV deal, and ASSUMING Damian Continues to play at an All-Star level, this could look like a good deal soon. Don't forget that his closest NBA clone, Steph Curry was just the best player on a Championship team after suffering on a lottery team.
Noah Vonleh is a talented young big who is under his rookie contract for the next few years. (He's 19)
We just signed an offer sheet with Enes Kanter, another talented young big. If NW Division rival OKC matches, they lose a lot of flexibility moving forward keeping Durant, Ibaka, and Westbrook together. If they don't match, we have a good young big guy (can't teach size) for 4 years.
Plumlee is GOOD. VERY GOOD. He's 25. He's a very good pick and roll big who makes great cuts to the basket. He plays hard and keeps getting better.
Meyers Leonard is one of the most promising young centers in the league. He shot VERY well from 3 last year, and showed MAJOR development! Did I mention he's only 23?
Aminu is a long, tall, capable wing defender. He's not Batum but he costs a lot less.
CJ McCollum looks like one of the better up and coming 6th men in the league right now, despite the fact he'll probably start.
Kaman is a capable big man who will push all of the young bigs in practice and is a reliable bench scorer who is not costing us much.
Ed Davis is a very good offensive rebounding big man coming off the best season of his young career.
I won't get into every player on the roster. The Blazers probably will not win more games than last year, but they now have the flexibility and long term cap space to go above and beyond the 1st round playoff team of years past.
So cheer up Rip City, the future is bright.
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