Depends on who we could get for him, if it's say Ant and Grant, sure I would do that in a heartbeat. But its not happening, nor would I want to send out 3 first round picks as suggested. Maybe 1 at most imo. I wanted to get Zion when Dame was demanding out, to pair him with Dame and so Dame would stay and trade the #3. Didn't happen. so to get him now, would be to costly imo.
That would be a fantastic low-risk swing. I'd be surprised if they were interested in Ayton, but I wouldn't complain.
Find me a potential difference maker we have a chance in hell for then. Adding guys like Aminu and Harkless isn’t going to get it done. Those are wasted years
If their goal was to save money (ending contract next summer) and get a trade asset then Ayton is a pretty good option. Although N.O. would probably ask for our pick and a future pick. Plus they could try to re-sign him for less. Ayton has skills, it's not like he is worthless.
I agree some people are chattering about Jabari Smith...really? Another role player with a low ceiling. He wouldn't alter the Blazer trajectory at all on the other hand, a healthy Zion could. But that might be a fictional character
I think the Pels would get a better offer than what Joe could muster. Teams like BKN, OKC, UTA have lots and lots of picks. OKC owns 15 frp I think and BKN 10. POR can trade it's 2025 and 2029, but not it's 2026 or 2027 or 2028 (unless CHI got their pick between now and then). Stepian rule
The Spurs own quite a few picks too. Wemby & Zion would be pretty dynamic...assuming both are healthy
I think it would be very tempting but I also think the Pelicans would want a haul back for him. Zion still has superstar potential. We would probably have to part with Camara or Sharpe.
Sure you can start with that, but Grant would not start when they have Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy. Ayton would start over Missi
Yes, other teams in theory CAN offer more, but I feel like we fall in to that trap all the time here. When Boston had their "warchest" of picks, that could beat any offer...they never did. Surely okc could beat any offer for Luka. For AD. For Ingram. For Jimmy butler. For DeAndre Hunter. For Kyle kuzma. For Bogdan Bogdanovic. For Dorian Finney Smith. Etc.
don’t hate it the 3 unprotected is tough to swallow but that’s one hell of roster if he stays healthy
POR only has two tradable FRP. Joe has shit for assets. this is exactly why I would argue: A) should have traded the vets at the deadline for picks B) tank harder to get a better pick this year. POR is not getting an all star ready player via trade or free agency.
I agree with RR7 that there are always teams that have a huge pot of EXTRA tradable first's and that they could control the market for available stars...but rarely do. Presti has been sitting a bazillion extra picks for years now Phoenix didn't have extra 1st's to trade for Durant; they just traded their own. Cleveland traded their own for Mitchell. Boston traded their own for Jrue. Minny traded their own for Gobert. I forget if the Knicks had any extra picks they added for KAT and Bridges,; maybe. the issue isn't an abundance of picks or a normal amount of picks. The issue is matching salary without cutting too deep into existing talent; and being in a situation where a star makes sense as far as timeline. Stars usually have high salaries; Zion's salary will be nearly 40M next season so theoretically the Blazers could at least try and compete for a player like Zion. The problem is that all their 1st's thru 2028 are encumbered. Sure, there can be contingent trades of picks but still, that encumbrance makes Portland's picks less valuable
This is just wrong. We have the Milwaukee swaps, which could very well be worth something. We could also unlock a ton of future picks if we wanted to.
