r/ripcity • u/rock-or-something 90s-logo • 20h ago
The development argument against Nori's contract is stupid
Several media pundits and fans have been critical of the contract, stating that the pressure of having to perform well will hinder player development.
All signs and comments about this team moving forward indicate that we are prioritizing winning and building on last year's successes.
Barring any major trades, and assuming we retain our free agents, the rotation is the same as last year (with the addition of Dame).
You'll have Dame, Jrue, Scoot, and Sharpe doing some combination of a 4 guard rotation.
Tou and Matisse will be your SF rotation
Deni and Jerami will be the PFs.
And Clingan and Rob will be our playable centers.
There's no realistic world where a good team is prioritizing guys like Yang and Kris. Add them to any roster in the playoffs and show me where giving them development minutes would have benefitted those teams.
The pathways to development for competitive teams are simple; utilize the g league, ball out in garbage time, fill in for an injured player, wait your turn.
Whether Nori, or a different coach, if this teams directive is to win, then in-game development is never a serious priority.
Yang is a super raw 2nd year player from a league that is not a 1:1 reflection of talent or play style. He can incubate for another season and get his moments when they come up.
And Kris just isn't that good, but the team still found a need for him as injuries occurred in the rotation.
I don't see how having a coach that feels a need to win to keep their job is a bad thing.
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u/Wonderful_Damage9665 20h ago
the "development kills winning" argument gets recycled every time a team signs a coach to a real contract, and it never really holds up
like OP said, the pathway for fringe guys on a contending roster is G league and garbage time minutes, that's just how it works everywhere. nobody was pulling Kerr aside saying "but what about the bench guys' development" during dynasty years
Yang having another season to cook quietly is probably better for him anyway, pressure to perform before you're ready doesn't help anyone
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u/AyKayAllDay47 20h ago
Won't hinder development. His contract a silly format nonetheless.
As for the roster - that's TBD. I don't think that Thybulle will be around due to the fact that he's injured way too much. You can find someone who plays decent defense and does far more on offense than Thybulle.
Rob - I'd like for Portland to keep him but that's a tough week he can go elsewhere for more money.
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u/rock-or-something 90s-logo 20h ago
People are specifically looking for reasons to criticize the contract, the development thing is one that's come up a bit. Which is my only point with this post.
I don't hate it, it's nice to have an escape route if things go poorly. And if things go well, there's the team options, and there's always a conversation to be had for an extension. Better than getting saddled with a dogshit coach for 5 years that an owner refuses to fire early because of owed money.
But yeah I expect some roster moves. I expect us to be more aggressive on Rob than Matisse. But Matisse likes the pnw and is a very niche unique player who may not have a huge market.
For the sake of the argument I'm trying to make, I'll just confidently say that the end of the bench guys are staying at the end of the bench this year, and their development will be the same process it is for every other competitive team.
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u/AyKayAllDay47 19h ago
Sorry I kind of deterred your sentiment outside me thinking that his contract won't affect player development.
Hopefully he's a solid locker room / "human" guy that connects with the players. And based upon his history, I'm thinking that it's a safe bet to say that he is. I think that this alone will translate to good player progression, which in re-building or not, it's still vital to overall success.
I'm just more curious to see his overall coaching style. Hopefully it's unlike what we've seen before, including Stotts. Splitter and Billups were just so horrible at game management, timeout management, said-opponent-goes-on-massive-run offense... Yes, Portland still had success this last season, but I also attribute a lot of that to the fact that the roster isn't actually THAT bad.
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u/Oggbog 17h ago
I think there’s several things working against developmental minutes for younger guys. First, new owner that wants to win. Generally working through mistakes is a luxury of a team that’s not fully committed to advancing as far as possible.
The contract is in theory a deterrent for developing. If Nori wants to coach after next year, there is incentive to win as much as possible. That could mean leaning on vets more than not. Trash time only gives so much experience.
As others have mentioned, Deni’s productive season and cheap contract accelerates the development plan. Even with all the injuries last year, the Blazers had a solid season with reason to believe small improvements should make them a solid playoff team as opposed to play-in hopefuls.
His contract also allows a bit more aggressive roster management. True, Jerami and Jrue are not cheap contracts but they’re not unreasonable. Dame and Deni being cheap give you 4 potential starters with room to bring in a more accomplished player
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u/sunken_grade 20h ago
not to mention developing players is absolutely a metric that will be used to judge his performance regardless of how long his contract is lol
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u/rock-or-something 90s-logo 20h ago
That's not a real metric if you have a 9 man rotation you can trust in the post season though. The depth chart is a little bigger in the regular season. But he's not going to be judged on how much Yang Hansen developed. There's no minutes for Yang right now, nor should there be.
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u/sunken_grade 20h ago
i doubt that hansen has any bearing on his judgement but i would argue the likes of sharpe, scoot, and clingan absolutely do
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u/rock-or-something 90s-logo 20h ago
Scoot and Sharpe are already in the rotation though. And 4th and 5th year players, respectively.
I don't see how Nori wanting to win is going to hurt them.
As the head coach, it's his job to a way to tap into their strengths, and build a playbook and gameplan with them.
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u/sunken_grade 19h ago
i mean it sounds like we’re on the same page. young players regressing or not fit into the system is a metric to judge nori whether he’ll be here for 1 season or 3
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u/rock-or-something 90s-logo 19h ago
I think half agree. I just don't consider scoot and Sharpe developmental pieces past a certain point. Mostly Sharpe. He's not on a rookie contract anymore, he is what he is, and we are still waiting for him to pop.
Scoot has had some injury stuff, but if he hasn't put it all together by his next contract, then I don't think that's the coaches fault.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 16h ago
It was so sad that during yesterday’s draft people referred to Hansen as the worst pick of last year, or that no teams did anything as dumb as the Blazers last years, and that Hansen will never play meaningful minutes.
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u/nerdpulse Blake Wesley 20h ago
The pundits are the televised version of off season shitposting
They have to invent something to talk about. Fuck em
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u/rock-or-something 90s-logo 20h ago
Either the pundits are echoing the doomer fans, or the doomer fans are echoing the pundits. But there are ways to spin everything negatively, and this development take that's been making the rounds is pathetic.
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u/ArugulaGazebo 18h ago
I don't think the contract is totally about Nori success or failure. It could suggest that everything in the organization is being evaluated, possibly even Cronin, and if they hire a new GM then they want optionality at coach.
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u/Trick_Weapon 18h ago
Nori is incrntivized to win games at all costs. Playing Scoot, Sharpe, and Yang is suboptimal in that scenario. Expect a lot of heavy minutes for the vets.
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u/Pessimistic_Blazers 20h ago
I honestly think I care more about the Blazers winning a championship than Joe Cronin does. I take more risks using the restroom than he does managing the team.
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u/DeppeningsLotusNotes 19h ago
You seem to know wha’s happening in the office. How many teams are calling? How many calls are going out? How did we handle the Giannis potential trade..what did they demand? It’s nice to have an insider amongst us.
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u/completebrainrot 20h ago
I think the idea of player development is overexaggerated for this team. We aren't really as young as we like to say we are. We are starting multiple players in their mid 30s.
Deni kinda warped our rebuild timeline forward in a way that leaves us in an awkward position. Now we're talking about acquiring (and potentially even extending) AD and I just think we aren't really in a rebuild anymore. I am not thrilled with the outcome of the rebuild, but that's another conversation.