first off....I want it noted....I can make a pointless dumb shit thread too. Don't hate me second....yes, I know what follows is complete drivel, but theories of drivel have a place so here it is....it's a case of the tail wagging the dog: Charlotte has brand new majority owners but Jordan is in charge of the draft. But you know he has people looking over his shoulders. There is uncertainty in Charlotte...lots of it ---> so they pretty much settled on Miller and that gets out into the cyber-ether. Whew...glad that's settled says the Hornet brain trust ---> shortly after that, it becomes 'apparent' that Portland is almost ecstatic to be getting Scoot---> and it turns out that Dame & Scoot have been talking for weeks---> so yeah, Portland is snickering about getting the 2nd best player in the draft ---> Charlotte sees all that and because of uncertainty and division, they re-visit their decision..."did you see how happy the Blazers are to be getting Scoot; are we fucking up?" ---> so being wishy-washy and easily manipulated, Charlotte decides that Portland has done a better job of evaluation then they have. So they decide on Scoot ---> which was the point of the Portland leaks yesterday because they really prefer Miller over Scoot tail wagging the dog...Blazers playing 4-D chess...me full of shit!
agree...and while all their shenanigans are going on they are taking trade proposals on both, just like the blazers.
Charlotte and Blazer management know enough not to rely on media speculation to drive their decision. They know every year there's smokescreens, agendas, and flat lies getting reported all over the draft. They are going to pick who they project as the best player for their franchise. The ownership change could create additional debate and a flip flop unpredictable decision. But no, there is no way they are changing their pick because of Woj/Shams/Giavani/etc tweets.
Could Charlotte draft Scoot then trade Lamelo for Zion? It works straight up in the ESPN trade machine.
I am not so sure. MJ was a well-known trash talker. I would guess that he would appreciate Miller not backing down.
Yeah I'd say odds are more likely each of Dame/Ant/Sharpe/Grant/Nurk are back than the chance any one of them is traded. Drafting Miller would better balance the positions, so I think if he is the pick theres a real chance we bring back this whole gang and get a vet with #23 or the MLE. I'll be fine with that. If theres a trade that makes the Blazers a contender then sure go for it. But if not then we should keep all the Blazers young assets. See where the team is in a few months of the season and re-evaluate then.
I can't imagine the Pelicans would even remotely consider that. LaMelo doesn't have that value, and his injury concerns are yes better than Zion but not great either.
I guess it depends on the manner in which Miller is talking. If he's saying I'll be better then maybe MJ would like it. If he is just disrespectful of history or accomplishments I could see Jordan not liking it.
A 21yr old 6'7" point guard that averaged 21, 6, and 8. Not sure they are going to do any better for someone that is a HUGE risk with a HUGE contract.
Friend from Charlotte just text me and says rumors there have us trading Simons and Nurk for Hayward & Williams and swap 2&3.
Hayward's contract is brutal, but it's only for 1 more year. But trading up for whom....Scoot? Trading up for Miller? If they are trading up to actively get Scoot, that can't thrill Dame.
If the rebuild is inevitable (no way you make that trade with Dame), that's awfully interesting. I like Mark Williams in theory as a long and bouncy rim-running center, and Simons would be redundant with Scoot anyway... Hayward of course is just a salary to be waived, and you get off Nurkic's contract. I don't think Nurkic is overpaid, but he makes little sense on a rebuilding team, and he apparently doesn't have much value league-wide. If you know you will need to trade Dame, this is a move one could make. Simons is a touch redundant with Ball, but he does have an abundance of shooting, which is desperately needed by Charlotte. A Ball-Simons-Miller pairing actually does make some sense. They would be defensively deficient, but positionally it could make some sense given Ball's size and playmaking.
I'd assume they would be trading up for Scoot, but this trade only happens if you know you are keeping the pick and trading Dame.
