We cannot really match contracts with them if we give up CJ and nobody else on our roster can be traded for a 1st pick even on a bad drsft.
In a heartbeat. You have the opportunity to get a very good player, more length......AND get out from under that massive contract. With some other maneuvering, they might even be able to sign a decent FA. You might take a small setp back, but with Dame and CJ, at one point this season they were within 1/2 game of the #5 Lottery pick spot.
God no. There's probably a better player than CJ in this draft, but (a) only probably (most drafts it'd be closer to certainty) and (b) given how each projects, it will require somebody surprising, and we have no way of knowing whom. Wolves will probably shop this around and then end up keeping it when they find no takers.
Agreed. Not sure who Wolves would give up to match contracts. Johnson + Culver + 1st? Not sure that they'd do that.... I'd be very open to trading CJ for a high draft pick -> it would just have to be the right team (NY?)
Oh wow if there were some way of pulling that off I would do it in a heartbeat. I'm still really high on Anthony Edwards and not just because of his amazing work on E.R. and as Goose. I really love his game, he's got great size for a wing at 6'5" with a 6'10" wingspan and 225 lbs., he is ultra athletic, very strong, has great defensive instincts and just watch some highlights... his shot is nice, not his numbers (29% from three) but the form is there, he will be able to shoot the three well. I realize that people are questioning his work ethic but when I watched him it seemed like he was really hungry on a lot of plays and checked out when his team was losing big which was a ton of games. That's maturity and kind of natural for all players not necessarily work ethic. I've seen this draft as a three tier draft for a long time and it's Edwards, the next 7 guys and then the next 20 or so guys. Then their's the fact that we get such an amazing talent on a rookie contract and get 20 million in cap relief which would open up a lot of options for us. Yeah, I'd do it for sure.
all he'd have to be is the next CJ and Portland would be better off. And being the next CJ is not a tall order, so to speak
So Minnesota tries going with CJ and Russell? Not seeing that. That would be huge money tied to similar players and money/cap space could be in very high demand with COVID-19 shaking everything up.
I notice you picked the one category there that is heavily skewed toward total minutes played, rather than quality of production. See if you can find anybody on your screenshot with a lower RPM For just the Blazers, CJ ranked 4th in PER, 10th in TS%, 15th in FT rate, was tied with Nurkic in assist rate, 9th in winshares/48, and 4th in BPM. And a very legitimate question is how much of his BPM and RPM marks are because he plays so many minutes with Dame. If CJ was earning his bloated salary and had impact rates equal to Whiteside or Nurkic, Portland would be a much better team. If the Blazers could get the 1st pick, in any draft, for CJ, they'd be fools not to accept the deal. CJ doesn't have that kind of value
You’d still need to get similar production from those CJ minutes in order to not regress. Veterans are needed, not rookies. Unless you want to trade Lillard so his prime isn’t wasted with an imbalanced roster that probably doesn’t make the playoffs next season with no CJ and a rookie replacing him.
