Exclusive NBA Trade Deadline Thread 2024

I really have a hard time understanding how boneheaded the Blazers were about C's this summer

after all of their history, more than any other team, they should have known what a bad gamble it was to trade for a big with an extensive injury history. They ignored the lessons learned and rolled the dice with Timelord...and it predictably came up snake eyes

and with the degeneration of value of C's over the last 10 years, and with all of the flashing amber and red lights about Ayton, flashing even brighter because of his contract, the Blazers went ahead and traded for Ayton and his albatross contract...another roll of the dice that looks like it came up snake-eyes

making it worse is they took both of these gambles in the same off-season

 

Maybe someone pays us a little something to have a chance to get a healthy Rob Will next season which would get us out of that.

I'm not as down on Deandre as others are. He's super talented and is playing on a team that puts him in bad positions defensively and doesn't always use his strengths on offense. That being said if I could get positive value for him and get out from under his contract I probably would.

The Knicks need an upgrade at C now that Robinson is out. Maybe they throw in a sweetener with Fournier and Robinson to get Ayton.

 

The Williams contract is small enough that it was worth the gamble. You can argue they should have tried to move him immediately after getting him, I won't argue that, but at worst it expires in two years and it's cheap enough to just be used as filler.

The Ayton move is rough. Says a lot when the most productive center they have on the roster is a 2-way guy when you have another center on a MAX contract.

 

id rather keep Rob over Ayton.

 

nurk at least has valid excuse for not being the same player he was pre-leg break, what excuse does ayton have

nurk was 16th pick and on his way to becoming an all-star caliber center, ayton was 1st pick that never lived to expectations

apparently, ayton said his goal is to get to the 2nd contract when he got drafted (that shouldve been a sign)

 

I was fine with Ayton because I think at some point he will put it together. Also, there is a salary floor and Portland needs to pay someone, especially with many on this board wanting to trade players such as Grant, Brogdon, Ant and Thybulle. I would like to see some moved. Scoot and Sharpe need playing time and Portland needs losses for ping pong balls. They will figure it out and hopefully get a couple studs in the next draft or two like OKC has.

 

The idea was fine. He had shown enough flashes to warrant a flyer. And as you said, he didn't hurt us financially. If we can find a taker for him in the next year or so without attaching assets, I want to explore every avenue to move him. I suggested a 1 for 1 for Ben Simmons earlier as they have nearly identical contracts. Simmons has one fewer year left on his deal but comes with more injury concerns. I'd honestly prefer that.

Only hangup of course is if BK sees Ayton as an upgrade over Nic Claxton.

 

I’m sure Suns fans are laughing at us now.

 

It's a long shot now keeping them. Their value is depreciating as we speak sans Ant. The success and failure of this franchise rides on the back of Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson. For better or for worse. Nothing Ant or Jerami do can change that. Thrust them in the position where they're made to take full responsibility to figure out if they're going to be those guys sooner rather than later. The deferring that Scoot and Shae have been doing all season doesn't help anything. Cash those vets in and get picks. If Scoot and Shae hit then you have a slew of picks to improve the team. Something we didn't really have under Dame.

 

Am sure this account is probably garbage, but whatever...

 

His attitude is simply awful, and coming to Portland seems to have made it worse. This is what I said before the trade.

And today, Ayton admitted he has NO chip on his shoulder at all by saying "I got nothing to prove in this league. I’m a max player, and I’ll continue to be a max player." Pathetic. This is the least productive year of his career, his effort has been mediocre at BEST, and this is his attitude. Drives me crazy. I want competitors, they're easier to root for when they lose 50 games a season and have the potential to get better (Ayton doesn't, because of his mindset)...

With everyone on the positivity train with the Dame trade, I even went as far to go against my intuition buy the Ayton hype, calling his part of the deal "a steal". Hah.

Ayton was the classic case of "He was a high draft pick and is still young enough where we can fix him and turn him into a star/good player" type of thinking that NEVER works (Cam Reddish, Nik Stauskas, Mario Hezonja, etc).

Going forward, Portland needs to do a better job of valuing players with the proper mindset, work ethic and drive instead of the shiny player with a bunch of red flags.

 

Ayton's own Muse account giving up on him is just lol

 

And if Scoot and Sharpe don't hit, you'll need a slew of picks to find young players who will. It's the right move to hedge bets in case they don't pan out while being able to build a contender if they do.

Keeping veterans and winning 28 games instead of 19 is only a bad thing long-term.

 

He says Ayton + 2nd rounder to Charlotte. Who says no?

 

Something tells me they will keep Grant and essentially shut him down after the All Star break. I totally understand the idea of trading him for assets but I also see something that this team has not had for quite some time when he and Walker are on the court together.
If it was my decision to make i would look more into moving Brogdon, Simons and Ayton for assets but then I'm not on the phones and don't know how possible that is?

 

Isn't Greg Anthony's kid already their Anfernee?

 

At this point I'd do it, but can our FO admit that acquiring Ayton was such a fuckup? And besides, Charlotte has a couple of good young big men, don't they? Why would they want Ayton? Are we just assuming they're a dumb FO that you can offload your mistakes on?

 

"He" is a nobody, without any real knowledge of talks.
This means absolutely nothing.

 

Could we then flip Lowry or find a 3rd team?