they were 5th seed in the East so their timeline was 'win-now'....so yeah, he did fit, at the time T.J. McConnell 31 Pascal Siakam 29 Myles Turner 27 Obi Toppin 25 Aaron Nesmith 24 Andrew Nembhard 24 Tyrese Haliburton 23 Bennedict Mathurin 21
I’ve always been a Sabonis fan, so I’m biased. I believe in the upgrade. He has played PF and C, so with 34 minutes and Clingan playing as many as 28 (optimistically next year), they play together for 14 minutes (3-4 per quarter). He’s not a defensive rim protector, but he’s a fair team defender, rebounder and with serious impact on O as offensive rebounder, playmaker, and scoring (with current low volume on 3’s). He’s literally top 25 in assists per game (Jokic and Giannis are higher as bigs) and 4th overall in offensive rebounds. SAC goes athletic with Ayton, gets both Murray’s, and Reath — with draft capital or Shaedon Sharpe. Would I risk trading essentially Sharpe (and Ayton and Murray) for Sabonis and his $43.6M contract? (His dollars go up for the 3 years but % of cap goes down). Yes, I would. Clingan, Sabonis, Avdija, Camara, Scoot are 5 of the core. Ant to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson and swap 11 for 19 and 26? I prefer Ant to Orlando for Isaac and 16 (or 25 with some 2nd rounders tossed in). Both forwards are 28 and are multi-position. I’ve liked both players early in their careers. Again, my bias. Isaac’s contract goes down in 25-26 to $15M and keeping #11 in both the ORL and SAC deals. [I like Shaedon a lot but his future and dollars and questionable D have me taking Sabonis’ overall game.] Grant, TimeLord, and Reath go to the Lakers for 1 year EC’s (DFS, Kleber, Vincent), Knecht, and the 2031 pick. Clingan, Sabonis, Avdija, Camara, Scoot — plus Isaac, Rupert, Knecht, Thybulle, Walker, #11, #16 and the Laker EC’s (who can be kept, traded by the deadline, bought out). The draft brings in a PG and shop for a veteran … Chris Paul? Done … for now.
https://motorcyclesports.net/noah-c...-range-arsenal-and-a-relentless-nets-mindset/ Here’s a good write up Potential as a shooter/rim protector. Absolute ceiling: Somewhere between Jaren Jackson and Raef LaFrentz Nobody is untouchable on that roster. They are still in the begging stages of a full-blown rebuild. IMO we’d for sure have to pony up the MIL pick
I don't believe Sabonis has ever really played PF after his rookie season. Yeah, I know BBREF credits him as a PF when he was a Pacer, but he was playing with Myles Turner and it was Turner who defended the perimeter 'bigs' for the opponents his average shot distance in Sacramento has been around 7 feet. For his career it's 7.7' but that's skewed by his rookie number. Ayton's average shot distance in Portland has been about 8.5'. Julius Randle's over the last few years has been over 12'. Lebron around 13'. Aaron Gordon 11-12'. Jaren Jackson, who has spent most of his time at C but occasionally slides to PF has an average shot distance around 13'. When it comes to these stats, a differential of 4-5 feet is huge I think Sabonis and Clingan would step on each others toes on offense, but it might work once in a while is some sort of high-post/low-post configuration. But on defense, Sabonis would have to guard PF's like Lebron-Kawhi-Gordon-Siakam-Tatum-Banchero-Durant...there's just no way he could be consistently effective as a defensive PF
Yup, Sabonis is not a good defensive Center, he would be a disaster defending the 4. DA. as an athletic switchable big is the right kind of center to have on the roster next to DC - as they offer different skills. Of course, the issue with DA is his salary does not match his production. If you can have him for a more reasonable salary or find someone with the same kind of skills that is cheaper, that's the 2nd center the Blazers need next to DC.
I still think we should make the play for Adebayo, rather than Sabonis. Clingan, Bam, Deni, Camara and Scoot would be the best defensive 5 in the league.
Who says no (maybe everybody)? Basically we take on the corpse of Paul George, who is a millstone round our necks for 3 years, but we get a shot at VJ Edgecombe or Kon Knipple (or Ace Bailey if you're crazy)
Maybe, but I get the impression that they regard their #1 job as keeping Booker happy, which means surrounding him with a team that can contend. I'm assuming that Paul George is shot at this point, and the #3 won't contribute much for a while. (Plus, if you get Paul George, that will kill any roster-tinkering you might want to do for the next 3 years, given Phoenix's bloated cap.)
I can't see MPJ and MT as the thing that makes Booker happy, honestly. If they are going for the win now next to Booker, they will look for KD / KAT type of swap... otherwise, the #3 pick + PG13 is a lot more attractive than #11 and MPJ, MT
Probably, but hear me out: MPJ and MT > Paul George (who is washed), and certainly financially and in terms of flexibility, and at #11 you can take somebody like Queen or Sorber who will contribute immediately as much as the guy with the potentially higher ceiling you take at #3. If Portland really believes in Edgecombe (or whomever) they could throw in a future first...
I don't really think so. Why take the ball out of Paolo's hands? The value they'd have to give up would be significantly more.
yeah....Orlando has enough play-making in their starting lineup. Banchero averaged 4.8 assists, Wagner averaged 4.7, Suggs averaged 3.7 in that regard, Simons fits better as a plug-in starter because of his catch-and-shoot & spot-up skills. He's not elite but he's better than the options Orlando has Orlando's problem is that their payroll is shooting way up next season. They are scheduled to be 11M over the tax line and 4M over the first apron. They do have an easy out because they can simply waive Gary Harris and Corey Joseph. That relieves 11M in cap obligations. They have a more painful relief valve if they need it by waiving Moritz Wagner and his 11M salary. Not sure they are willing to do that but Orlando does have Wendall Carter Jr and Goga Bitadze at C. Waiving Franz's brother would be a harsh decision though but that's why Oralndo might be balking at Simons and his 27.7M salary next season. That and it might be that Cronin is demanding too much draft capital like he reportedly did for Grant. Or that Orlando is not as high on Simons as people expect this a good analysis of Orlando's situation (doesn't mention any trade targets like Simons): https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2835/orlando-magic-2025-offseason-preview
Not sure if this was already posted. Hollinger and Lowe said: Trail Blazers receive: Domantas Sabonis Kings receive: Deandre Ayton Matisse Thybulle 2025 1st round pick 2027 1st round pick This wouldn't work because we still have that Chicago trade out there. It would more likely be one of our 2029 picks. Thoughts? https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba...-trade-deandre-ayton/d90aba8bca59fddbed54086f
I do like Sabonis, but unless we make another trade that gives us another FRP to include, I say no. I don't want to give up #11.
I just don't like it. I don't think he makes that big of a difference for us. He's 29 so it's not like he has a lot of time ahead of him.
