This is patently false. Revisionist history? Did they not trade Paul George for sga? An mvp candidate? Can you name one future mvp candidate we can trade grant for? if not then it isn’t the same… at all. Bro, you’ve gone a round the bend with this doomsday shit. Patience is a virtue…
that's not really the same. Grant is not anywhere the level of PG13 and expecting a PG13 return in a trade is wildly unrealistic trading Grant would be more like OKC trading Steven Adams or Gallinari, or maybe more close to trading Chris Paul. Nobody questioned why OKC made those moves. OKC quit straddling the fence of mediocrity and traded all three in 2019-20. They went from a 44-28 record, which is a 50 win equivalent, to 22 wins the next season (Josh Giddey) and 24 the next season (Chet Holmgren) I'm not as exercised about Portland's direction as blazerkor. For one thing, I don't know what Portland will do at the trade deadline. But I have suspected they won't make more than one trade, and maybe not even one. Which would make me wonder what they are thinking even more than I already am
I was hoping Scoot would be farther along at the deadline. Now, the future is murkier. Right now, he's not a starting PG on a team that is not tanking. Hopefully, he gets there by the end of the season...
That’s what I said. “Not the same. Not even close.” You miss part of my post? the key is if we traded our Steven Adam’s, we don’t have an Ava on the roster to pair the trade with. Right now we don’t have a superstar. Shuffling the deck over and over or trading our large contracts for expiring and bad contracts makes no sense to me right now. We have no one worthy of giving large contracts to that don’t already have them and thier is a minimum cap. So trading away our larger contracts for nothing makes no sense to me. And expiring and bad contracts are basically nothing. It even close to a positive return, so what’s the point?
it's difficult to create a narrative about players wanting out and the blazers locker room being a terrible place to be without chris haynes' reporting.
it wouldn't make sense to anybody....that's why nobody is saying just trade them for nothing; at least nobody that I've seen. The ideas are centered around the value of increasing draft assets (both trade additions & their own) and/or adding younger prospects. Trading veteran talent for bad/expiring contracts is a proven method of leveraging draft assets and taking flyers on young prospects sure, the Blazers can go with your "what's the point" trade philosophy and trot out a starting lineup of Ant-Brogdon-Grant-Walker-Ayton for the next couple of years. They might even get into the race for the last play-in spot that way (next year). But all it would do, really, is just make their own draft picks worse Brogdon is 31; Grant turns 30 a month after the trade deadline. Their trade value won't go up after the deadline, only down.
I've been thinking about this issue of trading Grant and Brogdon and its impact on the rebuild. While I understand that the prevailing opinion of many around here is that both should be traded to get more draft picks, I think it ultimately will come down to how the Blazers feel about the quality of their existing pool of young talent, what pieces they feel are missing, how they evaluate the picks they currently have stockpiled, and whether the best way to address the needs is through the draft or through trades and/or free agency. On the young talent side, they have Scoot (PG), Sharpe (SG), Ant (Combo G), Camara (SF), Rupert (SF), Murray (SF/PF), Walker (PF), and Ayton (C). Brown (C), Reath, and Badji could be keepers as well. To me, it looks like they have the guard situation pretty much in hand with potential All-Stars in Sharpe and Ant, and hopefully Scoot. Although I love what he's done for the team, I think Brogdon can be traded for other assets with minimal impact on the team's future. At SF, Camara has been much better than we had any right to expect, but he's a work in progress at the offensive end. Rupert is a project and it's too soon to know what he will develop into. Keeping Grant to play both SF and PF gives the Blazers the ability to compete. The question is at how high of a level? Thybulle is a really fun player on the defensive end and he's shown he can hit the 3 better than expected. Jabari has been developing great this season, but is he the long term answer at PF on a contender or better thought of as a talented backup? I tend to fall on the latter given his lack of size. That's the position that I think the Blazers are most lacking at. At center, Ayton has a ton of talent, but a somewhat suspect motor. I'm okay with giving him a year or two to gel with the team. I hope the Blazers will find a way to keep Reath. He's shown he can be a quality backup. Per Rip City Project, the current stock of draft picks is: 2024 first round pick (own)* 2024 first-round pick via Golden State (top-4 protected) 2024 second-round pick (via Minnesota or Charlotte) 2024 second-round pick (via Atlanta) 2025 first-round pick (own)* 2025 second round pick via Atlanta (protected 41-59) 2026 first-round pick (own)* 2026 second-round pick via Memphis (protected 31-42) 2027 first-round pick (own)* 2028 first-round pick (own)* 2028 first-round pick swap via Milwaukee (Portland has the right to swap its 2028 first-round pick, protected for selections 15 to 30, if it has not conveyed a first-round pick to Chicago by 2027, for Milwaukee’s 2028 first-round pick) 2028 second-round pick via Golden State 2028 second-round pick (own) 2029 first-round pick via Milwaukee 2029 first-round pick via Boston 2029 first-round pick (own) 2030 first-round pick via Milwaukee (swap rights) 2030 first-round pick (own) 2030 second-round pick (own) *Portland owes a lottery-protected first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls that’s protected through 2028. The Blazers should be able to address acquiring a solid prospect or two in the next couple of years with the current stock of picks. I'm going to assume that this year's own pick will be top-5 in a relatively weak draft. I think that there's enough talent for there to be a good player with that pick. The Warriors' pick and the second rounders probably won't bring more than projects, but you never know. The 2025 draft looks to be one with more future star power, so next season is probably another tank year to ensure a good pick. Gaining another pick there would be great. I don't want to see the Blazers tank beyond next season. I'd like to see them use Brogdon, Thybulle, and maybe Williams to acquire more picks. I don't see any need to throw Grant at more picks. I think that they have enough capital both now and in the future to build a very solid team. Will Sharpe and/or Scoot develop into the perennial All-Star caliber of players needed to be a true contender? Man I hope so. Will Camara develop into a starter to replace Grant in a couple of years? That would be sweet. Can the Blazers find a way to get a future star at PF? Is Ayton going to be enough at C? Lots of questions, but I don't see the need to drop into the lottery for multiple years to come.
expiring and bad contracts is virtually nothing though? Unless it was implied they. Same with a bunch of picks? But then that circles back around to we can’t just have all rookie contracts on the team? I’d rather have good contracts than bad ones?
probably need to define what a bad contract is. Davis Bertans has a salary of 17M this season and 16M next season. He's only averaged 3 points over 14 games. So obviously...bad contract. Except that he also was opportunistic filler salary in a trade I don't believe anybody is advocating trading for Zach LaVine and his 45M/year salary; or Jordan Poole and his 31M/year salary. Just that if there is an opportunity to eat a year or two of bloated contract for a near-guaranteed lottery pick it might be a fair trade for the Blazers. Again, I'm not as invested in trading Grant/Brogdon as blazerkor and some other posters are. But just don't see a lot of good arguments in favor of keeping them, either *********************************************************************************** without looking it up, IIRC the rules for a team below the salary floor are that a team below the floor at the start of the season will be ineligible for receiving luxury tax pay-outs at the end of the season. And that the margin below the floor and team salary becomes a cap-hold. The team can't use the space in a trade because of the cap-hold, and at the end of the season the team has to make a payment for the cap-hold to the league office in other words, this is much more a concern for the Vulcans than for the fans who want to see Portland maximize their opportunities. Of course, the Vulcans are the ones directing what Portland does
Point guard is the hardest position to learn in the NBA. I'm giving him three years. He has already shown me why he was drafted so highly. It's not consistent, but you can see flashes. I have faith with his work ethic that he'll get there.
I have faith too. In my fleeting optimistic moods I see both Sharpe and Scoot making it to all-star level play. I'm just not quite moody enough to see all-NBA for either
e_Blazer- Excellent post! No matter how many times I read the fine print in 2028 about protected pick, Chicago is owed this, right to swap with Milwaukee. Unprotected is so confusing. Bottom line is we have set this team up for the next decade (2030’s). The smart general managers basically offloaded most of the number one draft choices for this decade from the not so smart Gm’s. Cronin just went for the end of the decade when they were available. The way it’s looking right now is we have four players the team can draft in 2024, at the top of the first and second rounds. That’s enough, if I’m Cronin I’m holding up for future pics like 2025 later. Or if everybody’s keeping their 2025s, go for 26 or 27. I’m really excited with the future of this team. What really impresses me is how much they seem to like each other. They’re just a bunch of good dudes, and Chauncey is setting an example. I think he’s the perfect coach for this team.
