CJ would get a solid return most definitely but I just cannot see a move where Olshey would pull the trigger... I will continue to hold out hope though, if only he played better defense.
What makes you think a team would want to take on a guy with a 4 year All-NBA contract with zero All-Star appearance? I think we would almost certainly have to take back less talent if we traded him.
I think that CJ's value is still positive but we would either need to take very little back for him or a guy on a similar deal like Tobias Harris.
I based my thoughts on CJ the player and not his contract. He would make a solid lead guard for many teams, and most likely an all star in the east. That being said I think his play next to Lillard doesn’t put them to the level necessary to be a solid contender.
Valid... but how much a guy makes and for how long is a big part of trades being made. Sometimes bigger than the talent itself.
Tobias Harris is one of the few players at the 3rd option tier who has a worse contract than CJ. So I suppose that trade is possible, but I'm not sure why Olshey would do it.
I've said it a lot of times. Olshey has made it clear that he thinks the core of this roster if healthy is a championship roster, I think that is delusional but Olshey makes the moves. So we will not see CJ traded until it becomes clear to Olshey that the Dame/CJ back court is a huge mistake. In order to see that it seems pretty clear that we will have to waste a season pursuing the unattainable goal of a championship with this terminally flawed back court after we have a first or second round exit maybe then Olshey will wake up and we will see if Harris is the best option out there at that time to exchange CJ for. Harris is just the best option I can come up with now but a CJ trade is impossible now but maybe just maybe we'll see one before Olshey pisses Dame's whole career away on his ill conceived belief in an undersized back court with a superstar that is an average defender and a guy who thinks he's a superstar and is one of the worst starting defenders in the NBA.
TPE (toilet paper exception). The way people are hoarding it again, makes me think those people think it will cost 7 mil. if they don't buy it now.
I think you're right that Harris is probably the most likely option since the 76ers would love to get out of Harris' contract, as it is probably worse than CJs. I also agree the Olshey will probably never make that move. I don't think the Blazers will be a NBA championship contender unless CJ is the Blazers 4th best player. I think Nurk is probably more valuable than CJ, when healthy. Having said that, I don't want to just trade CJ away for chump change just to get rid of him. The contract Olshey gave him has put us in a horrible position to be real players in the free agent market and stay out of massive tax implications or have the option to move him for a player of value with a decent contract. We need to draft an all-star that is ready to contribute soon with a late 1st or 2nd round pick to have a great chance at making that jump. That's a long shot, but I think it's our best hope.
That kind of brings us back to the debate we have had here for a long time....are we ever a "real player" in the free-agent market, even when we have cap space? I mean for legitimate all-star type players in their prime.
Jan 2021. We had a 2.3 mil exception that expires in Feb 2021. We cannot combine these per my understanding. https://www.spotrac.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers//cap Also, since we are out of the tax, our MLE is the full 9.3 mil one, not the 5.7 mil mentioned above.
I see this said all the time...CJ would be an all-star in the East: Khris Middleton Jrue Holiday Jalen Brown Kemba Walker Jaysun Tatum Malcolm Brogdon Jimmy Butler Ben Simmons Kyrie Irving Bradley Beal Fred Van Vleet Trae Young Devonte' Graham Zach Lavine John Wall Kyle Lowry Goran Dragic Luke Kenard Colin Sexton the first thing he'd have to do is for the first time in his career fact the defensive pressure opponents put on the lead guard and number 1 option. He's spent 7 years drafting off Dame. And no, subbing into Dame's role when Dame has been hurt isn't the same the second thing he'd have to do is beat out all 7 guys on that 2nd list. That leaves that top list of 12 guys. Maybe 1 or 2 of those guys would be considered forwards. That leaves 10 or 11 and I don't see a single one of them that CJ is clearly better than. He'd have to beat out 5 or 6 of those guys not labeled forwards. Odds are extremely long
IIRC, teams that use any amount over the tax-payer MLE of 5.7M...the full MLE in other words, are hard-capped at the apron. I don't think that will be a problem once free agency is over. But the cap-holds of Whiteside and Hood may need to be renounced before they use all their exceptions
