Jared Cowley

The Blazers’ results in the playoffs shouldn’t be surprising. They were 16-33 against teams .500 or better in the regular season. They consistently struggled against good teams. The Spurs are good without Wemby and elite with him. Blazers still have a long, long way to go.

@tylermilliken_ @byJulianMack Hamilton? Seriously? He’s hitting .234 with a .600 OPS. This front office is dumb as rocks.

When David Hamilton returned to Fenway this month and played well against the Red Sox, the front office again began questioning the coaching staff's developmental process with younger players, per @byJulianMack.

@BizballMaury @nytimes Cora should have been fired. He’s a good manager, maybe one of the best in the game. But he wasn’t getting through to these guys, and there have been too many seasons like that over the past half decade. But … Breslow deserves to be fired so much more.

The issue is not with the people that were fired, but just above them. Breslow has handcuffed the lineup. But, you know the saying… when in doubt, fire the manager. Boston Red Sox fire manager Alex Cora after 10-17 start to season nytimes.com/athletic/72302… via @NYTimes

Soft and non-abrasive, it’s more like a rally ShamWow! If this is a Dundon deed done dirt cheap, I kinda like it.😁 #RipCity

Scoot Henderson had a 7-game shooting slump in February/March where he shot 13% from 3. But in the other 23 games he played this season, he shot 45% from the field and 42% from 3, and averaged 15.4 points, 3.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 24.9 minutes per game.

@Section10Pod Eh

Pain.

@highkin That’s too bad. He may just need to rest up for a couple weeks.

Less than a minute into the game, Avdija's back flared up and he asked to come out. Going back to the locker room now.

I hope to see more efficiency from this lineup. This lineup has been one of the worst on defense in the NBA, and not good on offense. I kind of get the offense being mediocre with this group, but there’s no excuse for the defense to be this bad.

The Portland Trail Blazers are signing two-way guard Sidy Cissoko on a new two-year deal, agents Max Wiepking and Nicolas Dos Santos of Gersh Sports tell ESPN. Cissoko used up his two-way days while averaging 6.5 points and 2.6 rebounds and starting 24 of 50 games for Portland.

The Milwaukee Bucks have indicated to teams that they are keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline and will start making other trades, sources tell ESPN.

@TheAthleticNBA It will never look anything but terrible. Be serious.

Does the Luka Dončić trade look better or worse now? 👀 After the Mavericks dealt Anthony Davis to the Wizards, Dallas ultimately ended up with: 29 games of Davis, Max Christie, Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, four first-round picks and three second-round picks.

An aside: Want to express my solidarity with those being impacted by today’s Washington Post layoffs. It remains so unfortunate that staff cuts come for us all. Such tremendous work, particularly in the sports section, that the public is losing.

@RealGM I’d like to say no they’re not but then I remember that the Lakers got Doncic last deadline for a couple nickels, so … who knows?

Lakers Team To Watch For Giannis Antetokounmpo basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/283651…

@Sam_Vecenie I think you’re WAY undervaluing those MIL picks (and Scoot). VJ (age 20 season, per-36): 15.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.9 to, 43/37/77 Scoot (age 20 season, per-36): 17.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.9 apg, 1.4 stl, 3.6 to, 42/35/77

Think Blazers fans seem to be WAY undervaluing VJ Edgecombe, who is legit a potential future all-star based on what we've seen this year. The whole point of a deal like this would be to take the value volatility out of the MIL picks and just get a guy you know is awesome. Those picks might be great. They might also be Nos. 8, 9, and 11 because Milwaukee will have no reason to tank and be bad.

@Sam_Vecenie Also, there’s no way Portland does that. That’s not nearly enough for the MIL picks plus Scoot. Not even close, Sam.

Given that this is the best I could come up with, I wouldn't blame Milwaukee for keeping him and being like "You're really not gonna sign the 4/275M extension coming off of an injury?" and daring him not to. But I also don't think the offers get better in the summer, either.

I find myself wondering about Tom Dundon, how close he is to taking the reins in Portland, and how much sway he’ll have in the Blazers’ decision making at this trade deadline. I believe Portland does nothing because that’s how they’ve operated at the deadline. But I do wonder.

If you exclude just the first four games of this season, when he missed 25 of his first 30 attempts, Shaedon Sharpe is shooting 36.7% from 3. And over the past 22 games, he’s shooting 42.9% from long range.

Over the past 85 games, the Portland Trail Blazers are 45–40, a 43-win pace over a full season. Their offensive rating is 113.5, defensive rating 112.8, for a net rating of +0.7. This stretches back to Jan. 19, 2025, covering nearly a full year of games.

Some trades also on hold because it’s … Jan. 17.

The Trail Blazers have upgraded Jrue Holiday to probable for tonight’s game against the Knicks. Holiday has been sidelined with a calf injury since Nov. 14.