Well, as I said, it could easily be just his backup plan, not his main target. If Casspi is his main target, it wouldn't make sense to jump early. But if all he wants is a more favourable draft position to potentially get Casspi if "grander plans" fail, then it makes sense to move now and then focus his attentions on his main target, whatever that is.
I'm all for a fucking break, but as I tell my employees, what you do during your break is your own business.
Casspi is a good player, just not sparkly. He was probably my least-favorite player on the least-favorite team (Maccabi, which is like the Lakers in Israel just much worse) but I'm not sure if that means draft-him or don't.
Here's my suggestion: It has been rumored that Sacramento likes Jonny Flynn. They could just take him at #4, but that's high. Chad Ford has Flynn pegged at #10. Milwaukee has #10 but just cleared cap room to re-sign Sessions. Wendell Maxey said a top 10 pick East team wanted Outlaw. Milwaukee just lost their starting SF. Suppose we trade Outlaw for the #10 and pick Flynn there, and take Casspi at #23. We now have two players Sacto wants. Would they take a player we like at #4 for those two players and maybe cap relief (we take Beno Udrih, e.g.) and another player of ours? It's the ONLY way to make sense of this move...
That is a lot of hoops to jump through to get a pick. Secondly there are some things which really don't add up. The first being, the Bucks haven't signed Sessions and Villenuevea yet, so they don't have them locked up. That is the big hole I see.
Any specific proposal that takes a lot of steps is unlikely but to get from #24 to #4 without giving up one of the team's best players is likely to be complicated. So if Portland did end up with a top-five pick (which I doubt), we should expect it to have gone through a lot of hoops.
What makes you think this is "it"? Portland has made 15 draft day trades during the last three drafts. What makes you think Pritchard is done dealing? And that's just the draft. We also have significant cap room for the first time in recent memory and a lot of tradeable assets. I expect Pritchard and company to be very active starting on July 1, when he can start negotiating with free agents and exploring sign and trade options. Yeah, if this is "it", I'll be disappointed, too. I'd also be shocked. I've seen no indication that Pritchard is anywhere close to packing up shop and taking the rest of the summer off. BNM
Allen in Control: > Activate KP KP Activated. > Make Trade Trade 1 of 5 completed. Seriously, there is absolutely no reason for KP NOT to make this trade. It didn't get us much, but it cost us basically nothing.
If this is just a stepping stone to another deal, and that deal is already agreed upon . . . do the Blazers have to wait until this trade is approved before announcing the next trade?