Gotta have hope. There's always a Nets trade just waiting to happen, if you know what I mean. But Ayton will be traded next season on draft day. It'd just be awesome if it was to help us move up in the draft when we inevitably get knocked down a couple spots.
Yeah its kind of like Wemby last year - Spurs wouldn't have entertained us swapping #3 and Dame or any player on our roster for that #1 pick. I don't think there is anyone on our roster that could move up to #1 next summer. Maybe Sharpe if he has an allstar breakout season but then its a massive cost from our side losing the new face of our franchise.
That doesn't make any sense... what team that is bad enough to get a top pick next year is going to want to bring in Ayton as a center?
Why because not many teams need a center who averaged 17 and 11? ( while shooting 82 % from the line and 57% from the field) If the contract is right then how many teams pass........ when they need multiple centers on their roster?
Didn't clue me in, but I now see that you are seeking to become the Lavar Ball of this forum (love that autocorrect changed "Lavar" to "lavatory" ). Looking forward to the first edition of "Super Strenuus Swag" sneakers.
As much as i would not mind trading Ayton away the Blazers should be in no hurry to get rid of him unless a killer trade package is offered so he can let Clingan get his feet wet slowly instead of throwing him into the deep end right away. However next summer I would be kind of surprised if next July/ August end and he is still a Blazer.
Ayton doesn't have a very good game for the modern NBA. He doesn't shoot threes, he doesn't handle or pass the ball well, and he doesn't block many shots. He's a good player, but he's not someone that most teams will want to be their starting center IMO. When you look at his contract, I think Rasta asks the correct question: "Who would want him?" I think the answer is: no one. He is being paid on a best-case scenario for what he's capable of, and whether it's injury or video games or a snow storm, Ayton has demonstrated he's not at his best-case for very long. I voted that he'll be on the roster until the end of his contract. I don't think (I HOPE not, at least) that Portland would be willing to give up value to get out from under his contract and I don't think any team would give any value for him, so... he stays a Blazer. Especially given the ongoing madness of the team's leadership failing to commit to a tank/rebuild, which seems to be based on the delusion that this team can can markedly better.
first, you should define "if contract is right" 35M/year? 40M/year? Denver wouldn't Minny wouldn't OKC wouldn't LAC wouldn't Dallas wouldn't Suns wouldn't, obviously Lakers wouldn't Sac wouldn't Houston wouldn't Memphis wouldn't Spurs wouldn't Utah wouldn't Warriors maybe Pels maybe, but not at 35-40M/year I don't think the EC will be much different
Sums up my thoughts spot on. Ayton is a good center for a team wanting to tank while developing young players (Sharpe, Deni, Scoot, Donovan). Same can be said for Grant. Capable but no one that is going to carry a franchise. His price tag, much like Grant, warrants him to be an All Star. Think both play out their contracts unless a team with cap space takes either on when on the last year of their deals.
The "right contract" means less than he is making now. But in the 50+ years, I have been watching the Blazer I would put him in my top 10 centers. Of course, when looking at a couple of rankings it isn't hard to do. https://www.blazersland.com/blazers-top-10-centers/ https://www.ranker.com/list/best-portland-trail-blazers-centers/ranker-nba
Next summer he would certainly have value. It will be an expiring contract, cap goes up, so just need to find an inferior player on an expiring deal or a worse contract, or someone injured to get value. Ayton is a good starting option at center for many teams, if he was paid $10 million he'd be a steal. Yeah at ~35 million it's hard to build a contending lineup under the cap with him, so he's probably worth more on an expiring and worth much less on a long term deal.
Actually Allstars contract are now about 60-70 million per year so Ayton and Grant are only paid about half that much.
Yeah I could actually see Ayton taking the big under his wing, sort of like Dame did with Ant. Ayton and most these players probably have too big of an ego to be cable of being threatened so easily, they would assume everyone thinks of them as the best and a big star.
I like the idea of copying Minnesota's model and moving Ayton to PF/C swing man starting at PF and moving to C when Clingan needs rest and/or foul trouble. Then you can bring in our other bigs at PF and go a bit smaller with Ayton at Center. So keep Ayton, move on from Grant and Ant. Big depth is always important and Ayton as a huge PF help defender ala LMA next to Clingan's Oden (but Shaq level of healthy please!) sounds like it could be special defensively.
We did some of Whiteside and Nurk on the court together in the bubble right? That was very entertaining, but I don't recall it being effective. I'd think Ayton/Clingan would provide the same for both those attributes.
