Predict Portlands record next year

[Reality]

Yes we can and will revisit it.
Still to be determined what becomes of Randoph, do they get longtime teamate Connelly Jr, does zig buy season tickets and offer us an as we can make it seat in the Blazerdome.

Still, lets have fun.  What does Oden immediately vault Portland to.
I'm gonna say 50 wins.  Yep, i know the West is loaded and I'm stickin with 50. 

[ziggy]

Yes we can and will revisit it.
Still to be determined what becomes of Randoph, do they get longtime teamate Connelly Jr, does zig buy season tickets and offer us an as we can make it seat in the Blazerdome.

Still, lets have fun.  What does Oden immediately vault Portland to.
I'm gonna say 50 wins.  Yep, i know the West is loaded and I'm stickin with 50. 

Lest we not forget he is only 19 years old.  The average #1 pick has an average improvement of 11 wins a year.  Right now, if we do nothing but add him and drop Magloire, I would say we improve by 8-9 wins, which gets to about 40.
Seattle will improve more than Portland I think.  If they resgin Lewis, I think they are a 46-47 win team.

[Reality]

I'm bullish on Portlands ability to add piece(s) and Odens ability to have immediate impact.
He has future superstar impact type potential.
Bird Kareem Duncan Shrek.  May not end up being as good as any of them.  Also may be.
But yes he cannot and should not be expected to shoulder the burden.  All the above rookies had tons of help in their rookie year.

I was very impressed with his playoffs and final game vs Florida.
I'm looking at the Pacific Division and forecast is:  Patsys again.
Oden should get wins vs Clippers, Sac, GState and Lakers altho SuperByns may raise to the occasion and I'm curious to see how much GState can carryover.  W.O.W. and I agree the Clipps are back to their old selves.

Wait, they only play their own Division 4 games each?  I'm back in the old days of 6 or 8 each.

[ziggy]

I'm bullish on Portlands ability to add piece(s) and Odens ability to have immediate impact.
He has future superstar impact type potential.
Bird Kareem Duncan Shrek.  May not end up being as good as any of them.  Also may be.
But yes he cannot and should not be expected to shoulder the burden.  All the above rookies had tons of help in their rookie year.

I was very impressed with his playoffs and final game vs Florida.
I'm looking at the Pacific Division and forecast is:  Patsys again.
Oden should get wins vs Clippers, Sac, GState and Lakers altho SuperByns may raise to the occasion and I'm curious to see how much GState can carryover.  W.O.W. and I agree the Clipps are back to their old selves.

Wait, they only play their own Division 4 games each?  I'm back in the old days of 6 or 8 each.

Of course we are in the NW with Utah, Denver, Seattle, and Minnesota, and we play each of them 4 times. We play 3 of the Pacific division teams 4 times, and the other 2 of the Pacific teams 3 times, 3 of the SW teams 4 times, and the other 2 SW 3 times, and each of the EC teams 2 times.

[westkoast]

I think they could squeak in at the 7th or 8th spot next year.  Oden is going to need some time to adjust and this team is going to need some time to gel.  Oden clearly is going to be the franchise player but no one on that team right now is use to that.  Once he gets more expierence they should improve over each year.

I'll say 41-41

[Lurker]

I think Oden will have the bigger learning curve than Durant.  So my answer is in tweo parts.

With Oden:  I am with ziggy...8-9 game improvement.  I also think Oden will hit the rookie wall hard with the physical play under the basket.  He will adjust to it and play strongly but I think his 2-3rd year will be his breakout.

With Durant:  Last year the Blazers weakest point was the 3 spot.  Durant can come in and give a big boost there.  To go with Aldridge, Roy, and Jack...a solid young nucleus.  I would look for a 14-15 game improvement especially in the more up tempo game that the NBA is going towards in the regular season.  Check with Memphis for a Gasol/Randolph swap and the improvement is closer to 50 wins.