[Podcast] Off Season Review: Offense Over Defense

Jeff Siegel, writer for Blazers Edge, editor at Peach Tree Hoops, and founder of Early Bird Rights joined the weekly podcast to talk about trends in NBA front offices, how the Trail Blazers’ off-season moves reflected those trends, and what kind of flexibility the Blazers will have (or not) next season.

We examine two common refrains that emerge during the off season when talking about player contracts: players won’t live up to big contracts and you can’t let players walk away for nothing. Are these things true? Will Trail Blazers fans regret big contract extensions signed by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum this summer? Will Kent Bazemore or Hassan Whiteside be traded at the deadline or will they play out the remainder of their expiring contracts in Portland? How do the Blazers make sure that they don’t let these players walk away and receive nothing in return?

Join us for all of this plus talk about the new retro jerseys, Dwight Howard playing for the Lakers and what will happen to Team USA who just lost a game to Team Australia?

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Highlights

• 1:15 Earlier this afternoon The Trail Blazers unveiled new retro jerseys (is that an oxymoron?) to be worn throughout the 50th season. What did we think of the new jerseys?
• 7:00 Who (besides Bill Walton) might help the Blazers help celebrate the 50th Anniversary season?
• 9:00 How many extra wins can the Blazers get out of all this celebration?
• 10:00 Dwight Howard is being bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies and will be joining the Lakers this season, what are your guys' thoughts?
• 15:30 Team USA loss to Australia--does this say more about Team USA or Team Australia?
• 20:30 About Early Bird Rights. How long have you been doing it? Why did you start?
• 24:15 Now that the Blazers are pretty much done with their off season moves, what do you think about their summer overall? Did they pretty much fall in line with what other front offices did? Was there anything that they did that really stands out as unique or different?
• 28:30 Preference for offense over defense played out in the contracts that were awarded. (See Jeff’s latest piece for Blazers’ Edge, How the Trail Blazers Might Create and Leverage Cap Space in 2020)
• 30:30 How do the Trail Blazers do in terms of how much value they get out of their roster construction?
• 36:30 There isn’t a much better fit basketball-wise for Hassan Whiteside than playing in Portland.
• 43:30 “Player A is overpaid, he will never live up to his contract.” This comes up especially in max contract situations. Can you really say a contract is bad at the beginning? Don’t you have to let it play out?
• 46:00 What makes us so sure Damian Lillard’s supermax isn’t going to be an overpayment?
• 55:00 “You can’t let player X walk away for nothing.” Is that true? Sort of. Do the Blazers have to make a trade at the deadline to ensure that they don’t let those large contracts expire without getting something back in return. If you let someone’s contract play out and they play well and help the team get a good seeding in the playoffs, did you really get nothing?
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