UPDATE: The Blazers Are Tanking So Hard, They Lost To That Historically Bad Thunder Starting Five I Wrote About Before
Zach Beeker. Getty Images.
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Alright Sam Presti, I gotta hand it to you…
Actually fuck that, I'm going to give ALL DUE RESPECT to the PLAYERS who went out and won that game against that scrubby-ass Portland squad. Big shout out to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault for putting together a winning game plan with such a raw, green team, too, and to the fans of Oklahoma City for showing out and supporting these guys.
I mean just look at this rotation. You can't tell me you know more than one of them:
THAT crew did THIS:
Guess who led the way for the winners? A forward named Jaylen Hoard, who funnily enough began his NBA journey in Portland as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He's been mostly in the G League over the past few years, but holy hell, talk about taking an opportunity and absolutely kicking the door in on it.
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Hoard had 24 points and TWENTY-ONE REBOUNDS. Dude was HOARDING boards at 6-foot-8. At that size, racking up those types of numbers on the glass shouldn't be possible. Shows the kind of desire he was playing with. This was only his 36th NBA game and fourth of the season. He only committed two fouls, too.
For all the praise OKC deserves for tonight's effort, this speaks to the dire state of affairs in Portland. Better fire up that trade machine and figure out a way to get Damian Lillard the fuck out of there. Dame is too talented to be wasting away on such an abysmally-built organization that's failed him at every turn in recent years.
Short of a blockbuster trade with the two lottery picks they're due to have, I don't see how the Blazers can successfully sell Lillard on staying long-term. He must be SICK watching this garbage.