[Podcast] How long will the Trail Blazers remain at the top of the West?

At the time of this recording, the Portland Trail Blazers sat alone atop the mighty Western Conference. 10 minutes into the recording they were tied for first with the Memphis Grizzlies and the LA Clippers, but the important thing is, the Blazers continue to play well. Even coming off of a 1-2 week, things are still looking pretty good for the Blazers and the Blazers’ Edge weekly podcast has the rundown for you.

How does Anfernee Simons look in real NBA minutes? Why didn’t Coach Stotts play Meyers Leonard much at all in the Minnesota game? How much is the bench missing Seth Curry? Just how good is Jusuf Nurkic playing this season? What about that 15 second, nine-pass play? Is that real Trail Blazer’s basketball? How much longer can the Trail Blazers keep it up without Maurice Harkless? Would the Trail Blazers want to trade for any of the Washington Wizards players?

Download

All of this and more can be heard on this week’s edition of the Blazer’s Edge podcast.

• 0:47 The Blazers are Number 1 in the West!
• 4:00 Is Warriors drama for real?
• 6:45 Damian is firmly in the MVP conversation and Tara is going to get him to be a starter in the All Star game.
• 9:00 Blazers get sweet revenge over the Wizards and Danny didn’t lose his mind.
• 10:15 What have we learned about the team in these losses?
• 12:00 Nothing can stop LeBron when he’s going off.
• 13:00 Dan calls Lonzo Ball a garbage disposal and Tara tells him you can’t call people garbage disposals.
• 13:45 Okay what happened against the Timberwolves? Blazers defense didn’t show up.
• 15:30 How did Anfernee Simons look getting his first meaningful minutes? Anfernee is one of those players who can stop on a dime.
• 17:15 Is Danny looking at Simons with rose colored glasses? Why couldn’t he be this positive about Zach Collins?
• 19:45 The organization has been better about how they have set the expectations for Simons. They have been clear about that they are talking about years in the future.
• 20:30 Dan believes Zach Collins will be a solid NBA player. He has at least one bankable skill--defense. Anfernee has one bankable skill right now too—he can create a shot.
• 21:00 How much is the bench missing Seth Curry? What is behind the bench’s regression?
• 23:00 Evan Turner has gone back to shooting corner 3s which is not the best use of his talent. He and Meyers Leonard have a great chemistry/connection.
• 26:15 Expect to see Meyers against the Knicks, they have some big guys on that team.
• 27:30 The nine pass play. Tara is shockingly cranky about a beautiful 15 seconds of basketball because now she apparently can’t just enjoy beautiful things. Thanks a lot, Danny. (That’s not true. She loves beautiful things, she just wanted to point out that ball movement has never been the hallmark of this team.)
• 31:00 You know who had a fantastic week and is having a great year?Jusuf Nurkic. He’s making smart plays, finding the open players and taking better shots. Also great hustle and effort on both ends of the floor.
• 37:00 Evan Turner knows when someone needs a shot.
• 40:00 “This has been a great start to the season”--Danny Marang.
• 41:00 Nurkic and Al-Farouq Aminu are coming up with big rebounds. There is some fighting each other for the ball but for the most part they are rebounding by committee quite well.
• 43:00 How long can they hold on without Harkless? They are hanging on okay, Layman is playing well, but he just doesn’t have the same strength. Layman and Nurkic seem to be playing well together. But they probably have a higher ceiling with Harkless.
• 46:15 Are the Washington Wizards going to blow it up? Would any of them fit well on the Trail Blazers?
• 48:30 Kelly Oubre Jr. might be a good fit: for example, Harkless, a first round pick and a young guy for Oubre. Seems unlikely that Simons would be included. Oubre would be a fantastic addition to Portland.
• 50.15 Most likely scenario for Washington?
• 53:00 Is there any credence to the Carmelo Anthony to Portland rumors. Those rumors are probably more about getting buzz going about Carmelo Anthony than actually bringing Melo in.
• 55:45 Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings (!), LA Clippers are all playing well. How nice is it to see these teams get it together and have success?
• 58:15 How did Dallas beat the Jazz by 50? Luca Doncic.
• 01:00 December is going to be a nightmare. No games off except the one time they play the Suns.
• 1:01:45 Wrap up.