Merged: Who would you give up for Paul George?

Yeah you're probably right. You'd get better with a CJ PG swap, but not enough to warrant it.

 

Sure, but I doubt they'd be willing to trade the #1 pick for a one year rental.

I feel like Boston would have to trade away a lot of the key pieces that have gotten them where they are.

 

Not a chance Boston will trade their #1 for Paul George. They'd have to be incredibly stupid to do that. They are still not going to compete for championship for a while, Paul George or not, but are in amazing position in regards to future challenge. They already have a very talented Jaylen Brown, could add Fultz this year and will almost certainly have a no. 5 pick next season and be able to add another top talent. To give up on that potentially amazing future for a one-year rental of a player who won't bring them championship would be daft.

I also think the same about our situation. Obviously I don't think Pacers would trade George for any of our picks but I'd be seriously pissed even if we offered them no. 15 and no. 20 because I know that's effectively throwing them away as come June 2018 he will no longer be here, and we will maybe win 52-55 games and crash out to Warriors with him anyway.

 

Obviously not much of a gambler.

 

No, just disillusioned with where we are compared to Cavaliers and Warriors now and how close to being able to compete with them we are. By acquiring George you are giving yourself 1-year window to compete with them, after that he's gone and you are left with no youth talent with any significant upside (bar Nurkic) and the same team that finished 41-41 this season. And I think there's less than 5% chance that we win the championship next season even with George on board, our backcourt will still be poor defensively, we still won't have a single good power forward and we will still lack quality depth at center.

I know some people think that adding a superstar to this core makes us a contender. I also know that a lot of people think that adding a player of Thad Young/Trevor Booker quality will make us significantly better to an extent that it's worth it. Sorry, but I don't think so. I think the team has gaping holes which will not be fixed by a single superstar or multiple average players with a bit of experience. We have three picks, either trade up to get someone better and still keep two picks, or use all three and develop these players for the next 1-3 seasons. Milwaukee could have traded no. 15 for someone average instead of taking Giannis. Indiana actually did trade no. 15 to acquire George Hill when they could have had Kawhi Leonard. Warriors should have probably sold their no. 11 instead of taking Thompson and cash in on a no. 36 instead of taking Green. People are obsessed with having the assets NOW when truth is that in current climate, with two juggernauts currently steamrolling the opposition into NBA Finals, it makes no sense to give up the future in order to be slightly better now.

 

I think with a guy like PG we'd be way more than slightly better and I think a guy like PG would embrace the culture in Portland...to me...he's a needle mover worth the risk if you believe you can sign him minimum 3 years. Our bench as constructed is not competing and expensive.....PG will attract vets who like what they see......I really don't believe in sitting on your thumbs for several years waiting for the Cavs and Warriors to drop off.....I believe in making them sweat every season and we looked a lot better with Nurk than a 41 win team. I also think we'll be a better defensive team with Nurk because he'll take pressure off the guards....you just can't double team 3 guys who can score 20 a night...double teaming 4 of those guys is impossible and you're causing the same problems the Warriors cause teams

 

If PG isn't interested in teaming up with Dame and CJ long term, it's a non-starter. I hope that if Olshey were interested and thought he had a shot at getting PG, that he'd get Dame and CJ to talk it over with PG and gauge his interest in both coming to Portland and staying in Portland. CJ for one said he'd like us to get PG. For all we know the three of them are like the Muskateers and would love to join forces. Or not.

 

Along with the double teaming portion, the biggest thing to me would be always having at least 2 of Dame, CJ, Nurk, and PG on the floor. We lost many games by guys being cold, and CJ being in with 4 bench players, being the only reliable offensive threat. Dame and Nurk go to the bench, you still have CJ and PG, etc. That's the big thing for GS, always having 2 of Durant, Curry, Thompson, Green on the floor.

 

Seems like a lot of people think all other NBA teams should just give up and not even try to improve their roster since nobody has a shot at beating the Warriors or Cavs anytime soon.

 

The Atlanta Hawks offered up 4 - 1st round picks for Paul George at the deadline. Now obviously not all those picks would be high ones but that is a healthy offer.

That and more nuggets worth learning about the PG situation here: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...-extend-paul-george-missing-all-nba-qualifier

 

I remember when we were supposed to give up and not try because of the future dominance of okc.

 

Yeah, and I don't really get that line of thinking. First, I'm not convinced that they're as invincible as some seem to think. The Blazers gave the Warriors all they could handle in Game 1 without Nurkic. In Game 3, with Nurkic just making a token appearance, the Blazers had them down by 16 before they had to pull Nurkic and the Warriors made a comeback. The Spurs were absolutely destroying the Warriors in Game 1 until Leonard re-injured his ankle and had to leave the game. The Cavs haven't really faced anybody very good yet. Don't get me wrong, those teams are both loaded and absolutely are the teams to beat, but they can be beat, particularly if the top teams are able to make an upgrade or two to their rosters. Secondly, injuries have always had as much or more to do with which team ends up winning the title than rosters do. Make Leonard and Parker healthy and Green and Curry injured and my money is on the Spurs. You do everything you can to build up a competitive roster and then you just keep your fingers crossed that the injury bug bites the other guys in the ass more than it does you. Sitting back and conceding the title to the current poster child teams is stupid.

 

^^

 

Oh, and as to the original question in this thread, I'd give up Sly's left nut for Paul George.

 

No, I don't think that. I think that offering all you have for 1-year possibility of challenge is too much. If George had a contract until 2020 I'd be all for it.

 

Too late

 

I think if you win 55+ games and take it to 7 games in the WCF it wouldn't be too unrealistic to get him to resign for another 3 years. He is perfect for our teams age range, has been vocal about just wanting to win, he would be back on the west coast and a 2 hr flight away from LA.

I look at that and see a higher ceiling and better chance of contending given our foundation than I do looking at anybody we could draft in our range for the next couple years.

 

If somehow we got him here and he wanted to resign. Is it actually possible to have 4 max/near max players on a team (assuming Nurk gets a near max)? I honestly don't know, and if it is somehow, I would think we want to keep most of our draft picks this year, so we would have some cheap contracts on lock down for a few years.

 

It's possible if the remaining 11-13 players are on extremely low contracts in general. You'd be commiting ca. $100M to our big three. Even with a $120M cap that leaves $2M per player for the rest.

I think if we get PG13 then Nurkic is allowed to leave next year. Warriors barely managed their big 4 to all be there because Curry, Thompson and Green were all still underpaid when Durant came. I don't think they will be able to keep all 4, Curry is getting a max this season and then they have to extend Green and Klay in 2 years.