Game Thread Playoffs Round 1, Game 2: Spurs vs Blazers (1-0) (Tue 04/21/2026) [7:00 CDT]

[thiste]

They definitely can't afford Deni lol. He's on a great contract 2 more years and then he'll likely get a Max Deal from Portland (assuming their goofball owner doesn't low-ball him too). Either way, he's going to get paid max money by someone in a couple years.

Spurs already have their core big money players on the roster with Wemby, Castle, and Harper (and Fox...for now). That's our big 3. Now it's just a matter of developing them and keeping the supporting cast around those 3 stacked up for the foreseeable future and replacing role guys like Devin, Champ, Kornet, Barnes, etc. as needed.

If you're planning on trading Fox (maybe in 2/3 years?) it's important to play him more & make him look good to improve his perceived value.

 

[Blake]

Why buy a team if you were going to be so cheap? Wonder what he has planned for the future of that team.

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046646506883785145

 

[Mugen]

Vic's pettiness is one of his biggest strengths (for now at least tbh)

 

[Itzsoweezee]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046646506883785145

He’s a maniac (in a good way)

 

[Splits]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046630952848207996

maybe it's the angle, but Wemby sitting down looks taller than some of those female reporters

 

[Coyote2!]

I'm out of practice cheering for the playoff Spurs. So nervous and excited about game 2 in the first round lol

I'm so used to twiddling my thumbs this time of year, pretending to care about baseball, waiting for a riveting 10 minutes of envelopes and ping pong balls in May. Now I'm all amped up. I think even my cat senses how tense I am lol

 

[brazil]

Gonna be interesting to see what kind of adjustments both coaches will make and how the team will answer to it. Other than a solid game 1 the positive has been to have victor playing normal mn vs. the 45 mn jokic and Murray played. Spurs have this card on hand on a tough day they can increase victor load to 5 or 6 mn easily. Hopefully we can go through blaz with 30-35 mpg victor… as I said before I think spurs sweep but Portland will make some adjustments as min did against Denver, let’s see how the team will handle it

 

[Mugen]

Mitch really needs to get better at leaving the hot guy in and not be so beholden to his set rotations tbh. There was a stretch in G1 where Fox was playing great only to be subbed out because it was time to bring Castle or Harper in. Gonna be super frustrating if he pulls that kind of stuff if we go against better opponents.

 

[dn0774]

Expect more bigs on Castle, maybe even Harper as well.

 

[poopbox]

Mitch really needs to get better at leaving the hot guy in and not be so beholden to his set rotations tbh. There was a stretch in G1 where Fox was playing great only to be subbed out because it was time to bring Castle or Harper in. Gonna be super frustrating if he pulls that kind of stuff if we go against better opponents.

Spreadsheet coach has to spreadsheet

 

[spurs10]

maybe it's the angle, but Wemby sitting down looks taller than some of those female reporters

I attended the last game of the season last year and when I walked in Wemby was surrounded by fans handing out t-shirts. I thought he was standing on a small stage, but he wasn't. Standing close to him his size was astonishing!!

 

[scott]

He reminds me of a modern day Donald Sterling with his cheapness minus the racism. Sterling was also super cheap like this guy in every aspect from player salaries to training staff to people who worked simple jobs for the Clippers. I remember hearing Elton Brand once saying Sterling was so cheap that the Clippers didn't pay for his rehab and sent him to the YMCA to rehab in a pool lol.

I live in NC and this guy owns the hockey team Carolina Hurricanes. From what I have heard from Hurricane fans is that he's invested in the Hockey team and is willing to go all out for them when it comes payroll. The Hurricanse are one of the elite teams in the NHL from what I have been told.

This guy I believe doesn't care about basketball and sees the Blazers as a passive investment.

There is an interesting reddit thread where Blazers fans went to the Hurrican sub to ask them about this guy... basically the answer was:

• He is definitely thrifty. He loves to negotiate but won't go a penny over what he thinks something is worth. If he thinks a player is worth $30MM, he definitely will not pay $31MM
• He's willing to spend up to the salary cap to put a team together (I have no clue what the NHL cap situation is like and how that applies to the NBA)
• He is very hands on
• He got extremely lucky that when he bought the Hurricanes they had a good young core already and a unicorn coach who used to be a player there and only wants to coach there and has turned down more money to coach in Carolina
• Also got very lucky with the GM he inherited when he bought the team

I can't speak to the veracity of any of these claims, but I thought it was a really interesting read

 

[BatManu20]

Does 6Moy get announced today

It's tomorrow night at 5pm CDT before the games.

 

[Mugen]

NHL is hard capped and completely different culture than the NBA tbh. If he thinks the same shit that made him successful in NHL is gonna fly in the NBA, he's gonna be sorely mistaken.

 

[Mugen]

Portland has never been a free agent destination so I dont think he cares too much on that front. I think the strategy (if he actually cares about winning) is just build through the draft where teams pretty much have the upper hand when it comes to player control.

I'm a little skeptical about the coach salary low balling being true. If he actually cheaps out on that front then I think we'll get our answer pretty quickly on how serious they are about putting together a competitive basketball team tbh.

 

[Fireball]

Hopefully Castle can have a better shooting night to make this an easy win. Stay healthy guys and get an early advantage on the Nuggets/Wolves by going 2-0.

 

[rogcl1]

If you're planning on trading Fox (maybe in 2/3 years?) it's important to play him more & make him look good to improve his perceived value.

His value in a future trade has nothing to do with his role now or making him look good. He is here to be a steadying force for the young players and help the team win now and not about increasing his future trade value with stats.

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046650853159780656

 

[Dbreiden83080]

 

[scott]

Someone asked if there is a good Blazers forum... here is the Blazer's subreddit... it's full of some great memes about their cheap ass owner today

https://www.reddit.com/r/ripcity/

Here is the specific thread I mentioned earlier where Blazers fans asked Hurricane fans about him:

https://www.reddit.com/r/canes/comments/1sq2zq8/canes_fans_is_dundon_usually_this_cheap

Edit: here is a follow on thread about the one above:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ripcity/comments/1sr10ir/blazers_fan_asks_the_canes_subreddit_is_dundon

 

[Dbreiden83080]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046646506883785145

Said it before the media loves him.. This will only help with MVP votes down the road..

 

[scott]

It would be hilarious if Dame demanded another trade this offseason before even suiting up for them again

 

[Mugen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046650853159780656

Centel doesn't miss tbh.

 

[spurs10]

It would be hilarious if Dame demanded another trade this offseason before even suiting up for them again

I'm thinking Dame will be concerned, as they will only be able to afford a high school coach with that salary.