Trail Blazers Playoff Preview: How Can Portland Try to Slow Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs

27 comments

1. Do you think the trail blazers would be able to take the series to a game 6?

2. I hope all this experince amounts to something lol cause thats all Ive heard since the Blazers beat a underperforming suns team

3. Blazers are huge underdogs. I don't care. Playoff basketball is back in Portland!

4. Thanx for coming by. Enjoyed it

5. The Blazers need to stop waiting for "potential" and start building a dynasty around Deni Avdija. The move is simple: Trade Jerami Grant, Shaedon Sharpe, and a 1st round pick to Brooklyn for Michael Porter Jr. (MPJ).
   ​Here is why this is a Masterstroke:
   ​Elite Spacing for Deni: MPJ is a 6'10" flamethrower. Replacing Sharpe’s questionable decision-making and Grant’s stagnant ISOs with MPJ’s gravity changes everything. Deni is already averaging 7 assists with "bricklayers" around him; put him next to a sniper like MPJ, and he’s a 12-14 APG player and a legit MVP candidate.
   ​The Spacing Math: With MPJ in the corner and Clingan at the rim, the paint is WIDE open for Deni to operate. You can't double-team the Point Forward when you have the best tall-shooter in the league waiting on the wing.
   ​The Financial Reset: MPJ’s max contract aligns perfectly with the timeline. In two years, when Lillard and Holiday retire/expire and MPJ’s deal is up, Portland will have $100M+ in cap space to sign another "Monster" alongside a prime, championship-experienced Deni, Camara, and Clingan.
   ​Culture Shift: Sharpe has the highlights, but the "empty stats" and defensive apathy are holding this core back. Moving him for a proven champion like MPJ shifts the DNA from "rebuilding" to "winning now."
   ​If Dame comes back healthy to lead this group, this isn't just a playoff team—it's a Western Conference Finals lock. The Deni-MPJ-Clingan frontcourt is a nightmare for the rest of the league.

6. I guess I'm not super worried about the drop coverage. Clingan has played a higher drop and done well. We want the long 2s.

7. I thinke trail blazers going to upset the Spurs

8. I'm guessing that maybe guarding/trapping Wemby smallish out high and living with the three might work. Now that sounds like a fool's errand. I''d like to have an informed opinion on this series but I refuse to get Peacock and in most of the games on league pass Wemby wasn't playing.

9. Great job Mike! The Spurs guy did well too, both offered insight. The Suns Locked on Guy got absolutely bodied…obviously the Suns guy hadn’t watched the Blazers outside of Suns games this season.

10. "It's just getting started?!" is a perfect encapsulation of what every non-Spurs fan feels like. Great episode.

11. Spurs fan here. Have mad respect for your team. I remember the EPIC wars we had with you all back in the day.

    So happy for Tiago and the job he has done as your coach. You all are a lot like us in multiple ways not only from the great culture you seem to be building but with all the athletes you have and your style of play.

    I’m expecting this to be a really competitive and hard fought series. You all will definitely test us and this series I think will end up making both of our teams better because we will learn a lot from it.

    Can’t wait for this series to get started.

12. I trust Wemby to test Clingan offensively but what I worry about is you all putting Clingan at the 3 point line to force Wemby to leave the paint to defend him. Anytime teams are successful at drawing Wemby away from the paint, it opens up driving lanes for guys like Deni. That’s what worries me. You give Deni any room and he will blow by you and attack the rim relentlessly.

13. Great job guys. But…it took 35 minutes to say Scoot's name. And that is on Scoot. This series is Sterlings time to shine and an opportunity to change the narrative around his draft position.

14. We absolutely need a post player like Rob Williams or Aaron Gordon on the Spurs roster. Hopefully, we can find one in the draft.

15. Spurs and Blazers got some history. Remember when Derek Anderson left the Spurs for Portland. Then Aldridge leaves blazers for Spurs. The year Zaza hurt Kawhi vs Warriors should have been the year LaMarcus won a Chip. Dubs had no answer for Kawhi and Aldridge combo.

16. Matt is 10x better than the guy he replaced. Locked on Spurs is top tier for sure. Spurs in 5.

17. Hot take. Spurs gunna get cold and choke. Blazers in 6.

18. As Spurs fan I can appreciate what the blazers and Tiago have done. Deni is a baller and look forward to see how he does vs Castle, Carter, and Vassel. I’m hoping coach Johnson gives Carter Bryant a decent amount of minutes to speed up his development.

19. Blazers in 7

20. I feel like the only one who thinks people are completely underestimating the Blazers. Portland will be fully healthy for the first time when they play the Spurs. Even the Suns game guys were on minutes restrictions, or hadn’t played in weeks. Their top 10 rotation has a chance against anybody. I say underestimate the Blazers at your peril.

21. this will be great experience for our young guys

22. Jrue Holiday is in a much more clear leadership position than Barnes and Korenet, however.

23. avdija can guard wemby

24. Great questions Mike!
    Your question about what type of players are better equipped to make Wembis life harder when they guarding him made me think we are going to see the Blazers give Deni some defensive responsibilities related to Wembi.

    Deni will probably play the 5 in defense and the 1 on offense in part of the game.
    If so itmll be interesting to watch

25. Sharpe and Grant off the bench, try and dominate the bench minutes as much as possible, try to limit Wendy as much as possible, hit threes

26. 06:25 sound like Camara to me✌️

27. Victor wantmymama 😅😅 is going to choke. Blazers in 7

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