NBA SIMS LEAGUE
No Stone Unturned
After a turbulent two months of frequent trading, constant conversations, consistent negotiations and endless evaluations from the Portland Front Office, the team may have very likely reached a point of stasis. A whirlwind, to be sure, that saw every asset in the portfolio, and every possible permutation of the team/future team, swirling around and around, unsure of what the ground would look like when the gusts ceased.
Even in the midst of this, the turbulence went from 'how to maximise the rebuild' to 'how to maximise the buy-back', throwing best laid plans atop the firepit and watching them burn up. The prizes, dangled in front of Portland like a cut of steak in front of a rottweiler, were superstar players. Portland has always had winning and competing leveraged against them, but this was the first time in the rebuild that the want and need to compete was slowly creeping back into the psyche of the Front Office.
After close to two years rebuilding, the Blazers are back. This final move seals the past and illuminates the future, putting an end to the previous 'villain' Portland era and opening up what some may affectionately and dramatically label the 'Thanos' era. Nobody missed a beat, with the Blazers already getting slagged off on the trade threads and copping strays in the Utah Jazz GM's eulogy.
Ahhh, home, sweet home!
'No Stone Unturned' is of course a nod to the character and his aspirations, as well as an ethos of how Portland conducts business. The commitment never waivers, the effort is always there, and Portland tries to listen to 28 other GMs to best give them what they are after, when it comes to Portland getting what they want from them. There is little doubt that the levels of mental, social, economical, emotional intelligence and application are at elite levels, and the proof is in the pudding.
Stasis: a period of inactivity or equilibrium.
Instead of looking around and outside, it is time to look inward.