What would it take for Neil to completely blow up the team?

I'm failing to see where I'm confused here? You're the one that thought it was protected.

 

Thanks. Having watched that, I think you’re probably right that the only way they sign a buyout guy is if there’s an injury.

 

Yeah, I wanted to believe him that they traded Skal "to have more healthy bodies" but that doesn't appear to be the case.

 

I thought the Layman pick was protected, but I guess I had it confused with the Harkless one.

 

Like I said, would've conveyed either way!

 

No chance in hell the Sixers trade Simmons. I think they are more likely to trade Embiid with his injuries.

I think finding a way to do Richardson+Thybull for CJ might benefit both teams, but we'll still have a pedestrian team.

 

No need to blow up team... just trade CJ

 

1.25 million is about a thousandth of the value (ie net worth) of the team. It's insignificant.

If that one player can even give you an outside shot at two home playoff games and the revenue gained from that, it's worth it. There was clearly more to our deadline moves than meet the eye. Neil isn't THAT stupid, and I don't think Jody is that bad of a business woman either.

As I posted yesterday, I think we had more deals lined up to get completely under the tax threshold that fell through. My guess was it had to do with Nurk's setback.

 

You can surround Dame with players who can’t shoot. I’d want Embiid over Simmons.

 

The irony of the last 5-6 years is that it somewhat makes me appreciate the Houston Rockets. At least they go for it, even if there is a catastrophic risk of failure.

Even this most recent small ball shit. Before this trade I would have said there's no chance they were ever winning the title. At least now, they've created a wrinkle of opportunity, even if they will look completely clueless on some nights.

 

is 100-200 dollars insignificant to you? It's all relative and the flaw in your logic is that JA wanted 2.7M in savings. So if 2.7M is significant to her, and it apparently was unless Olshey is lying, then 1.25M would be significant as well

I can't believe you guys are even trying to argue that whatever Portland is saving in payroll and tax was "insignificant" to JA or the organization; that's not your call. That's why Skal was traded away, and Portland paid 1.9M to do so. You guys obviously don't like it but to argue that 1.25M doesn't matter to JA is kind of crazy given the facts

 

Fun topic, but I really wish you'd define "Blowing it Up".
I don't consider trading CJ as blowing it up - I think is probably more along the lines of prudent - especially with our cap situation.

Outside of CJ, no one makes a lot of $$$. So trading them doesn't make sense unless they're very old - we have none of those who aren't FAs (outside of Ariza, but his contract is reasonable).

We're actually pre-"blown up" anyway:
Collins, Simons, Trent, and Little (and Gabriel) are 22 or under. Nurk is 25. These are all potential rotation players, with Nurk and Collins as established starters.

Let's suppose we traded CJ for nothing basketball-wise, and let go Carmelo and Whiteside:
Dame - Ant
Hood - Trent
Ariza - Little
Collins - X (Gabriel?)
Nurk

Is that blowing things up? Maybe, but it's a HELL of a lot better defensive team than what we're playing with now, and should put us way under the cap, too.

 

But you don't know that they will lose that money this year, so until we do it's not really the same as having to "give up" money. They didn't lose money last year and the value of the franchise went up again.

I really hate when people try to equate sports and entertainment businesses to normal ordinary life situations.

 

Does it materially change the way the blazers play? I kind of doubt it. The Rockets have iterated multiple times, realizing they need to strike while the iron is not (While Harden is in his prime), first by getting rid of Howard and bringing in Paul, then by going for Westbrook, and now by ditching the center position completely.

The Blazers have only done so once, and it was out of necessity when Aldridge decided to leave. All of Olshey's moves lead me to believe that he is ultimately too risk averse to do anything truly drastic.

 

I'm sorry...that doesn't make any sense. JA is a billionaire who wanted to save a couple million dollars. It doesn't matter if Portland loses or makes money...she has to know right now which it will be, and she still wanted to pocket that cash. That's my only point...it's clear as a bell she wanted that money. You guys arguing the money doesn't matter, over and over, just isn't rational at this point given what we know. It kind of looks like you guys not wanting to let go of the 'they should have traded Whiteside' argument.

You might be right that it's short-sighted. It very well may be. But what is also likely is that a signing right now, or later, isn't going to make any difference. They won't be getting an Ariza for the minimum. There are 26 games left after the all-star break. Simons has played in 54 games and has 0.3 winshares. Nasir Little and Melo have both played in 39 games and each only has 0.6 winshares. A below average rotational player is unlikely to add even a single win.

of course it's possible that Olshey is deliberately telegraphing Portland won't be in the buy-out market as some sort of leverage gambit. I can't see how that would work, but who knows

 

Sounds good. How?