If we end up drafting Amen, I guarantee people here start calling him Amenu every time he shoots terribly.
What tons of people guaranteed last year, then we didn't. Miller fits right into the Blazers lineup, is older than Sharpe and is pretty NBA ready for a rookie. Scoot would likely mean Ant is traded away for veteran help (OG/DeRozen/etc)/ which oddly might make it more likely the Blazers keep the pick.
Yeah I remember how there was all this debate if Portland would draft Webster or Gerald Green, we wanted an athletic SG. Ultimate we trade down from 3 to 6 and take Webster. Green then gets drafted at pick 18. As many faults as Olshey had I think people forget how horrific John Nash was.
The difference imo is that Sharpe had a ? about just what you would get by trading him. Thus, probably making any trade possibility mediocre. A bit different this year in that the two players projected to go 2-3 seem to have more buzz about their talents, and the trade proposals should be much more enticing than last years.
Well sure, theres a very real chance the Blazers trade the pick, I'd say everyone here agrees with that. My opinion is the Blazers will trade it if they can get Brown or Bridges. But its not certain they can get them. If they can't - I suspect they just use the pick. You statement I responded to was "we ARE trading the pick" which is very different than the follow up post you made or my statement.
Yeah I was pretty disappointed for the first week after the lottery even though logically I knew I should just be happy we jumped to #3. Bright side is we don't have to walk on needles worrying about Wemba health or injuries. Even if we drafted him its an odd timeline to try to build with 33 year old Dame then 19-20 year olds in Wemba-Sharpe.
Ok, the use of ARE was to level the court of the thread. Also, Joe's comment after the lottery and Dames before the lottery seemed fairly concise about a trade happening, especially once we got the three pick. But, who really knows what happens. Everything is pure conjecture at this point.
How much influence does Dame & Chauncey have on the blazers direction? I can see both trying to convince Joe to swing for the fence.
I'd suspect Dame has some influence but Chauncey has virtually none in regards to what is done with pick #3. Now if we're talking about MLE signings or especially vet min signings then Chauncey could have significant input as they directly relate to his coaching decisions next season. The #3 pick is a long term organizational decision that has almost nothing to do with the current coach. This is one of the many reasons why its a terrible idea to have a single individual with powers of both the coach and GM. Also I'm not sure how significant Dame influence actually is - versus him just being communicated early and often with the process as well as the ability to ask many questions. It might be a situation you can think of Dame as more of a 3rd party auditor just viewing what happens and hearing explanations, or a student hearing what the teacher is lecturing the subject about. Really Cronin and Schmidt and team are the experts in evaluating draft prospects and players, so it would be delusional to think Dame has some expert insight greater than people who's full time job is to work on this. Not sure if we will ever know just how significant Dame's include is in terms of decisions the Blazers make, or if its just the organization being very polite and communicate with him of what they independently decide to do.
You say "Especially once we got the 3rd pick". I would think that moving up might have changed things . Getting pick 7 would warrant trading the pick, but as they bring in players to evaluate....things might change. I mean they have for some of us as we dive deeper into various players.
Or the trade proposals go up with three. I would think with #3 and Simons and some we can improve a trade pkg. Joe has stated it was his fault for not surrounding Chauncey with veteran players last year and you know the market will be very enticing with this years capabilities. When you have Simons and Nurk at decent contracts along with #3, Im expecting a swing for the fences. If Dame has a change of heart things could change with regards to the pick...
Agree, especially if Dame has changed his viewpoint. However, the offers are going to be to good to pass up imo.
Bridges Brown Embiid Siakam & some Adebayo & some Giannis Middleton & some George & Some Im sure Dame, Chauncey & Joe have certain guys in mind that could work.
Blazers can add vets without shipping out the #3 pick. Sign Bruce Brown/Hartenstein/Naz Reid style vet with the MLE instead of GP2. Heck just sign a veteran minimum backup center bigger than 6'8" so we don't have to go through weeks of the season with Grant and Watford as our backup center would be a huge improvement. Keep #3 for that hall of fame long term upside. Fill out the roster with vets for Dame using MLE/exceptions/etc.
If your expecting players like Giannis and Embiid to possibly be available for the #3 pick your going to be way disappointed. I don't know them plus Sharpe plus future picks even gets the Blazers close.
