I would do it for the suns pick alone easily. The suns most likely have the number 1 pick(Ayton), they wouldn’t trade him for Dame
Can you imagine an Ayton/Zach frontcourt? Lol no one would ever score in the paint again on us. It would be similar to having Robinson/Duncan except both on the same career arc, it would pretty much be the sickest thing that ever happened to this franchise, and if we kept cj too.....shit.
Bench -- a PG that can run an offense, push the tempo. Last summer I really wanted Rubio for this role when he was available. My #1 target for this role: Tyler Ulis Mirco-CP3, he has shown flashes. Floundering in PHX.
Something realistic: POR Gets: Courtney Lee (TPE), Damyeon Dotson (TPE) NYK Gets: Cash, 2019 MIN/LAL 2nd, 2021 POR 1st CLE Gets: Al-Farouq Aminu, Meyers Leonard, 2022 POR 2nd POR Gets: George Hill POR Gets: Marvin Williams, Willy Hernangomez, 2019 CHA 2nd Round Pick CHA Gets: Evan Turner, Caleb Swanigan, 2019 POR 1st Round Pick Draft Chandler Hutchison Draft or Sign as Undrafted Free Agent: Robert Franks (2-Way) Sign Channing Frye Re-Sign Jusuf Nurkic, Ed Davis, Pat Connaughton Lillard / Hill / Baldwin McCollum / Lee / Dotson Harkless / Hutchison / Connaughton Collins / Williams / Frye / Franks (2-way) Nurkic / Davis / Hernangomez / Papagiannis (2-way) Rotation: Lillard (35) / Hill (13) McCollum (34) / Hill (14) Harkless (20) / Lee (20) / Hutchison (8) Collins (22) / Williams (20) / Harkless (6) Nurkic (30) / Davis (18)
We can get rid of Harkless for free if we want. His contract isn't dead weight at all. But yes, that is dismantling and isn't the route that should be taken. We can move a lot of those guys but I either want to get better now while maintaining flexibility and youthful talent for the future, or stay the same now and add flexibility and youthful talent for the future. Preferably both, with a new coach as well.
If CLE is shopping Love: ATL Gets: Meyers Leonard, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jake Layman POR Gets: Kevin Love, George Hill, Miles Plumlee (TPE) CLE Gets: Evan Turner, Caleb Swanigan, 2019 POR 1st, 2021 POR 1st, CLE Saves ~$24M Draft Hutchison Lillard / Hill McCollum / Hill Harkless / Hutchison Love / Collins Nurkic / Davis I like it.
This take is beyond ignorant. Per 36 stats: Love: 22.7ppg, 11.9rpg, 45.8FG%, 41.5 3P% Hill: 13.3ppg, 3.7apg, 46.0FG%, 41.5 3P% How is that garbage...?
Good points about fast breaks. I was watching GS yesterday and was surprised how much they score on fast breaks and also how many times they score within 3-5 seconds after crossing the midline. Something I noticed this season is that teams don't really need to double Dame to stop him way out top; he stops himself a lot of times and just holds the ball out there, surveying the scene. When did that happen? Is it effective? Even against the Pelicans, why didn't he push it faster and get some penetration for a kickout or to a slasher or for a lob, before he got doubleteamed?
While I don't see much happening this summer, there is quite a to do list should Neil Olshey decide to undertake it. In the least he will have to decided who to drqft and what players to resign. Here is the to do list: Draft: Do Blazers just use their pick? Do they try to trade their pick and other players for upgrades? Free Agency: Blazers have several free agents. Nurk, Bazz, and Pat are restricted. Davis is unrestricted. Blazers have to decide whether to keep Layman, Baldwin, Papagiannis Blazers don't have a lot of cap space to sign other free agents, unless they make moves (I.E. trading Meyers and Turner, CJ? Aminu? TPE and MLE Blazers have 2 TPEs So there is ways to get things done this summer and better this roster. Question is how far will Stotts go to do that?
Trading our pick for another mediocre player (last year people wanted Trevor Booker) would be yet another move to consolidate mediocrity. We might luck into finding another Kuzma in the 20s of the draft or we might get a complete bust but that would still be better than giving up this pick for a player we already know is average at most (it’s what you can get for a late first round pick) or attaching it to get rid of a bad deal.
I would look for the market for C.J first and foremost. He is our only asset, other than Lillard, who can fetch us a piece that would maybe make us better. Even if we can get an expiring player like Butler or Kawhi to roll for a year and maybe convince to stay beyond that, I would probably make that move.
