TBpup
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This time of year the rumors fly fast and furious with very few of them actually coming to fruition in the way that they originally evolved. But occasionally, there are some based on some legitimate discussion or someone has a pretty good idea of what is going on. That said, Neil Olshey has done a tremendous job of keeping almost everything in house so the majority of this comes from outside of Portland and is a summary from a number of people who have had solid information before.
Option - 1: Go Big - This seemed to be the over-riding opinion of most of the people I spoke to of what Portland would try to do. That the Blazers will/have attempt(ed) to use their picks and current players to acquire a significant player. They didn't think it would be for someone like Paul George and they also thought the likelihood of this option actually happening was fairly low but that is what they believe would be the Blazers first choice. 25% chance.
Option - 2: Trade Up - This seemed to be the most likely scenario. The general consensus was that they would combine picks and players to move up for someone they have targeted while trying to shed some of the salary from last years spending spree. They have a while before they hit the Luxury Tax so there is no rush to dump salary. Crabbe having recent surgery limits their options of who they could mover for now but they think there will be more moves at the Trade Deadline in February 2018.
They also felt that Portland has players higher in the Lottery they have targeted as well as a couple later in the Draft that they think will be 'hits'. They seem to like Neal as a talent elevator more than as a trader even though he has missed on guys like Aminu and Leonard in the Lottery. 60% chance.
Options - 3 Draft at #15, 20 and 26. No one seemed to think this was very likely. If they weren't able to trade any of their players at all, most seemed to think that Portland would consolidate their picks to try to move up and would also purchase a pick later in the 2nd round like they did last year with Layman. 15% chance.
There is no single definitive blockbuster tidbit like in some years passed although one guy seemed to think there is a fairly strong possibility of a big-time deal that he said he would get back to me on.....great. Way to get my hopes up. (not holding onto my shorts) There weren't specific names attached but the overall impression from the most likely scenario (#2) was that if they moved up, it was Collins and if they stayed at #15 it was Justin Jackson.
Whatever happens, most everyone seems to think it would be an active day for Portland after some of the other dust settles. One guy did mention he thought it would be very much like Neil to try to get in on all of the discussion around the Top-3 picks as a facilitator but that this year he is limited because of where Portland is with the cap.
Let the shredding, disagreement, nit-picking and name calling begin.
Option - 1: Go Big - This seemed to be the over-riding opinion of most of the people I spoke to of what Portland would try to do. That the Blazers will/have attempt(ed) to use their picks and current players to acquire a significant player. They didn't think it would be for someone like Paul George and they also thought the likelihood of this option actually happening was fairly low but that is what they believe would be the Blazers first choice. 25% chance.
Option - 2: Trade Up - This seemed to be the most likely scenario. The general consensus was that they would combine picks and players to move up for someone they have targeted while trying to shed some of the salary from last years spending spree. They have a while before they hit the Luxury Tax so there is no rush to dump salary. Crabbe having recent surgery limits their options of who they could mover for now but they think there will be more moves at the Trade Deadline in February 2018.
They also felt that Portland has players higher in the Lottery they have targeted as well as a couple later in the Draft that they think will be 'hits'. They seem to like Neal as a talent elevator more than as a trader even though he has missed on guys like Aminu and Leonard in the Lottery. 60% chance.
Options - 3 Draft at #15, 20 and 26. No one seemed to think this was very likely. If they weren't able to trade any of their players at all, most seemed to think that Portland would consolidate their picks to try to move up and would also purchase a pick later in the 2nd round like they did last year with Layman. 15% chance.
There is no single definitive blockbuster tidbit like in some years passed although one guy seemed to think there is a fairly strong possibility of a big-time deal that he said he would get back to me on.....great. Way to get my hopes up. (not holding onto my shorts) There weren't specific names attached but the overall impression from the most likely scenario (#2) was that if they moved up, it was Collins and if they stayed at #15 it was Justin Jackson.
Whatever happens, most everyone seems to think it would be an active day for Portland after some of the other dust settles. One guy did mention he thought it would be very much like Neil to try to get in on all of the discussion around the Top-3 picks as a facilitator but that this year he is limited because of where Portland is with the cap.
Let the shredding, disagreement, nit-picking and name calling begin.
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