I'd first target a wing for the full MLE. I'm not sure I'd want to give Cousins the MLE. He probably still views himself as an allstar+ level talent. You can trade a second round pick for a center like Drummond. Center isnt a valuable position. I do see where adding Cousins is an interesting idea. If we resign Whiteside to an MLE or less sized deal think I would prefer that. Also Zach/Nurk prognosis could be a factor... There are some interesting possibilities this offseason. Not having those stupid 2016 contract is great, even if we have no cap space.
Dwight Jaynes recently said that he doesn't believe Whiteside will be back because he will ask for too much money.
well I just checked to see what SF's will be UFA this summer. It's not a pretty list: Danilo Gallinari Evan Turner Maurice Harkless Davis Bertans Jae Crowder Josh Jackson Stanley Johnson Thabo Sefolosha Jared Dudley Wilson Chandler Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Carmelo Anthony Derrick Jones Jr. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist I question if guys like Gallo and Melo even have the mobility to play SF anymore. Ariza might be as good an option as any of them Joe Harris Alec Burks maybe either of those guys could play SF, but Blazers are already at a size disadvantage in the back court UFA PF's are a little more interesting: Paul Millsap Serge Ibaka Derrick Favors Marcus Morris Markieff Morris Montrezl Harrell Patrick Patterson Noah Vonleh Christian Wood Marvin Williams obviously some of these UFA's will command more than an MLE, even though it's a buyers market
Whiteside will be in for a harsh reality when nobody offers him more than the MLE... heck he may not even get that.
I think replacing Melo with Millsap would be great, but he will likely get around 10+. Jerami Grant will be unrestricted most likely as he will turn down that option. I would give him the maximum we can go. He would be great, but probably is the PF of the future for Denver.
lmao as opposed to a week ago when he thought Portland would re-sign him? Dude just throws shit at the wall I swear. “Insider.” Just give Portland one good beat writer. Please.
Just to expand, Portland will have to find a traditional center to backup Nurkic. Stotts system puts so much responsibility on their shoulders, were almost gonna have to have a starting caliber backup. The good news is a lot of other teams are going away from using traditional centers so the market should be favorable for Olshey. I like the idea of zagging while everyone else zigs. Create your own mismatches. Ideally Whiteside comes back, and I still think the odds are good that he will, but if some other team prices him out of Portland, a guy like Cousins would fit. He’s gonna be cheap and has some baggage that’ll scare teams off. I don’t see anyone offering him a starting job either. But he’s close with Dame and fits the system. I remember when Nurk went down Cousins sent him a shoutout. I think there’s mutual respect there because Nurk did the same when Boogie went down. He’s gonna have to rebuild his value. No better place than Portland. Out of the media spotlight, system that fits and a good team with a good infrastructure.
I believe Collins is expected to be that starting-caliber backup along with being the starting 4, a 7-foot pale imitation of Dame/CJ. Hopefully he'll be able to last longer than 3 games next year...
Zach can play center in certain matchups, but ideally he’s not the primary backup, because if Nurk goes down you’re doing a massive shuffle instead of just inserting one other player. Zach should be allowed to just focus on power forward and establish himself there. That was probably the plan this season anyway, with Whiteside and Gasol handling the majority of the minutes.
Doing the math: If Hood and Hezonja opt-in, Ariza is kept, we keep both draft picks (and our 1st round pick doesn't move up into the top-4), use the Full-MLE, and sign one other young player (Gabriel?) to a minimum deal under $2 million that should leave the Blazers just slightly over $10 million to offer Whiteside without going over the tax line (assuming the Blazers don't want to be a tax team). Does Whiteside accept $10 million a year in the first year? Who knows? $10 million>MLE $9.76 million I'm guessing the Full-MLE would be the biggest offer he gets in free agency. The question then becomes does role come into play with him? If a team is offering him the Full-MLE and a starting position is that more important than a few extra dollars? Does Whiteside get offended by Portland offering him that low of an amount when they could offer him a max contract if they really wanted and leave on principal? Not knowing the answer to these questions is why I would've dumped him at the trade deadline, but since that can't be undone now I really think they need to try to keep him so hopefully he accepts that friendly salary and everything is all good this summer.
Bye. Whiteside isn't as helpful as his stats indicate. And his on-court chemistry with Lillard is nonexistent compared to Nurkic. Nurkic makes great plays, as exciting as Layman.
