Sure you want to trade a Crabbe?

fun stat: in games where he's gotten 10 or more shot attempts, the Blazers are 6-1.

McCollum is the better player and would bring us back much more in a trade than Crabbe. You put McCollum on the block and you put yourself in the conversation for pretty much anybody that's available.

Crabbes contract is nothing if he's starting.

Our perimeter defense improves.

Just sayin

 

Call me crazy but I'd rather take my chances exploring trades around CJ for a big. Make a big splash.

 

Also, if we trade Crabbe, we lose our only reliable shooter off the bench. Maybe we make another trade for a shooter, but Crabbe is still an important piece to our team despite his contract.

 

As was mentioned in another thread, CJ gives us an option when teams trap Dame in playoffs. Crabbe is not good enough playmaker to help in this situation. Also Crabbe is best shooter off bench. I consider Dame/CJ/Crabbe/Aminu/Turner/Plumlee untradeable. It's time to dangle Harkless/Leonard for a big. We've done a great job of showcasing Harkless so I think he is the most valuable trade chip we have who is also disposable since we have Crabbe, Turner, Aminu, and Layman (if he figures out how to shoot) to fill in at that position.

 

As much as i like him, Cj is the one that has to go.

Two similar guards that play bad defense are not gonna win a title.

 

That's if the Blazers make it to the playoffs.

 

Harkless is one of the last players I would be looking to move. Anyone is tradeable and if we were getting a legit All-Star (not a 1-timer like Magloire) then sure but I certainly wouldn't be looking to actively move him.

 

6 untradeable players on a team that is 13-16 and just suffered the biggest blowout in the HISTORY of their franchise (by 15 points even) when playing the Warriors?

I appreciate the fandom but will respectfully have to disagree. Dame might be the only untradeable player on the roster and even that would be laughed at by other teams around the league with players like LeBron, Westbrook, Harden, Curry, Green, Leonard etc.

 

And, it true Portland tradition, after they retire, we should hang their jerseys from the rafters.

BNM

 

No one on this roster is untradeable, but Lillard and Harkless are probably the two the Blazers should try to hold onto unless the offer is enormous. McCollum I've felt for a while has to be moved, both because a Lillard/McCollum backcourt is unsustainable due to the defensive issues and because McCollum has the most trade value on the team outside of Lillard.

This is, in fact, a case where McCollum has less value to Portland than he would to another team. He has negative synergy with Lillard. As much fun as it is to watch them both do their thing on the same team, they're both ideally ball-dominant players on offense and both major defensive minuses. If we compare, for example, to Curry and Thompson, setting aside talent discrepencies, Curry is a primary ball-handler while Thompson is a Reggie Miller-esque finisher. They complement each other on offense. Even when Curry struggles defensively, Thompson is a guy who can play solid defense against the best guard on the opposing team. No one's capable of covering for the other between Lillard and McCollum and using either as a finisher, rather than as a play-maker, even if they switch off, is a waste of talent.

On another team, especially one with a three-and-D guard, McCollum could slip into the play-maker role full time and better maximize his ability. You can survive with one defensive minus in the backcourt.

IMO, to take the next step, the Blazers need to trade McCollum and maximize their received value, ideally a player who may not be quite as great offensively as McCollum but can make a difference on both ends. Either that, or a few solid two-way players--a few Harkless types--with Lillard as the sole star surrounded by a good defensive team who can play off him offensively.

 

A) Assuming you trade CJ for a guy, you'd hope that this theoretical player would possess some ability to produce points himself; it's not a zero-sum game. As for missing CJ's play-making/shot creation, I think Turner can be a capable secondary ball-handler and facilitator, and despite his poor outside shooting, is plenty able to create shots for himself in the post or at the elbow.

B) "Untradeable" implies cornerstone players of a title contending team to me -- If a full six rotation players/starters on a sub .500 team, with the worst defense in the league, are "untradeable" then I can only assume you mean nobody would want them?

 

You have a loose definition of "reliable."

 

Although most folks disagree with me...first thing I do even without trade options is bring CJ exclusively off the bench to give us scoring and start Crabbe at the 2 to give some length in the backcourt. CJ is our worst defender by a mile. Even start Napier at the pt and Lillard off the ball if Crabbe isn't that guy...Crabbe is not giving us double figure scoring off the bench or holding or building a lead....CJ would do that the way Jamal Crawford does...score, score, score...the ball sticks with CJ too much for a 2 guard starter next to Dame...as many have said....Lillard and CJ are too much alike to start together

 

This is just crazy, IMO. Harkless is the only sure-fire keeper alongside Dame. His contract is great, he plays both ends of the floor well, he's young and only getting better. In a league with very little talent at SF (one of the most important positions, IMO) we'd be taking a huge step backwards at the one wing spot where we have a two-way player. I can't envision a realistic trade scenario including Harkless.


EDIT: Nevermind, I just re-read your post and saw I totally mis-read it the first time. We're in agreement on Harkless.

 

A guy shooting 41% from three isn't reliable? The more he shoots, the better the team is. Besides my original post about that, the team also has a winning record whenever Crabbe has gotten more than 30 minutes. All this suggests he's a starting caliber player being held back in his current role.

Trade CJ