The Knicks still plan to pursue former star Carmelo Anthony, even if they can’t pull off a trade for his buddy, Chris Paul. The Post has reported Anthony would be eager to join the Knicks if they land Paul. —— I’m team Melo but it would be better for the team if he left.
Yeah I'd prefer Melo go elsewhere. It was a great story for a year, but we don't need him now. He will want touches or starts and we are better off trying to get a more complete player who can defend and contribute off ball. If we end up with Hezonja scrub playing forward minutes again next year trade a second round pick to get Melo back.
I still kinda hope we sign Cousins. I know we have Collins but if you take a flier on cousins and he stays healthy, you can play Collins next to him. I doubt anyone is gonna offer him a starting role, so he may as well team up with Dame in a comfortable environment and rebuild his value.
Another question is how many open roster spots will Olshey have to work with? I think Hezonja will pick his player option up, something I didn’t think he’d do pre covid. Hood was a certainty. So including those two, Portland has 10 players under contract. I’m going to assume that Wenyen will be back as well, so the safe guess says four openings, two of which would go to the draft picks. You also have Hoard and Moses, but they’re RFAs that are still eligible for two ways. So that leaves two spots for free agents, assuming Olshey doesn’t make any trades, which I think is a safe bet. He’s got the full MLE and the BAE to work with, although I don’t think someone like Cousins will require anything more than the minimum.
The Raptors are still the favorite to keep Ibaka. But if he leaves, he would only do so to have a chance at a championship—teams like the Celtics, the Clippers, the Heat, the Mavericks and the Trail Blazers are among those interested in Ibaka. https://heavy.com/sports/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-free-agency-serge-ibaka/
Everyone wants big changes... All I want is Bjelica and Ibaka. Using the TPE, I'd do either #16 for Bjelica and #35 or, if possible, #46 and a future 2nd for Bjelica. Then pursue Ibaka with the MLE. If we had to pay him more, I'd consider doing 3 years, $12M-$13M a year (3rd year non-guaranteed) and try to sign-and-trade Ariza for him. If he did that we would then use the MLE to go after an Ariza replacement. So our lineup would be: Lillard / McCollum McCollum / Trent Ariza or MLE / Hood Collins / Bjelica Nurkic / Ibaka In my opinion, that's the best bench in the league. It has a good mix of defense, shot creation, and shooting. We'd have three guys (Trent, Hood, Bjelica) that shot 41.8% or higher from 3. Ibaka is a good shooting C who can protect the rim. C.J. would eat against those bench units with all that space. Imagine Dame coming out of the game and still having just as much confidence (or maybe more) as when he's in because of how good the bench unit is? Better yet: We'd still have pieces to make a splash move at the deadline including all our future 1sts, Simons, Collins, Nassir, and Trent... But if we didn't I think that lineup might be able to contend if coached properly.
Would match rather try to make a move for someone like Bjelica than to keep Melo, for multiple reasons: 1. Bjelica is a better 3pt shooter 2. Bjelica takes better, more efficient shots. 3. Bjelica would be more comfortable/willing to come off the bench 4. Bjelica isn't a ball-stopper/iso player 5. Bjelica is a better passer 6. Bjelica is probably a better defender (assuming Melo doesn't defend like how he did in the bubble) 7. We could use the TPE to absorb Bjelica's salary in a trade instead of using part of a free agent exception.
Ibaka would be awesome. But I suspect TOR and him agree on something such as 20 mil for a one year deal. They want to save space for Giannis in 2021.
I mean if that’s what it took to get a deal done I would too. I like Zach but if Nurk goes down I don’t trust him to bang with the Jokic and Embiids of the league.
I like the outline of your offseason. I really don’t like giving up 1sts for guys that couldn’t potentially start. But I also don’t see a reason why SAC would balk at two first rounders unless there was an offer with a larger TPE or higher picks. What I WOULD trade a 1st for is Christian Wood. I assume Toronto gives some sizeable 1-year deals this year to stay in contention and Ibaka would be one of those sizeable contracts. Ariza ($12.8m), Hezonja ($1.9m), Simons ($2.2m), #16 for Wood? And you could offer him up to the $15.9m per year. I think Crowder would be great for us with the MLE. You could also bring in Turner for the vet min to initiate the offense with Dame off the floor, that way CJ can focus on scoring and not have the burden of getting others involved. Playing with Turner would also give him the opportunity to be more aggressive on offense without Dame in the game. He’s also big enough to at least bother the Lebrons and Kawhis. So our lineups look pretty similar: Lillard/Turner McCollum/Trent Crowder/Hood Wood/Bjelica Nurkic/Collins How do you feel about Wood as opposed to Ibaka?
I'd love Christian Wood, but he played for Detroit not Toronto. Sign-and-trading for him isn't realistic either. I was kinda going for a pipedream offseason that might be realistic.
Opps sorry for the confusion, yes I meant instead of doing a sign-and-trade with Toronto for Ibaka, we would be doing a sign-and-trade with Detroit for Wood. From reports out there right now, Wood is not looking to give a discount to the Pistons and he was on IG live or something asking about what team he should join and he’s also unrestricted. I would assume that if you convinced him to come to Portland, Detroit would almost have to take our offer because they can at least get assets for letting him go. What about the possibility do you think is unrealistic? Or do you think he’ll make more than the $15.9m/yr we’d be able to offer him?
Roles and players I would target, assuming none of these needs are address first in trade; 1. Rotational Forward that can contribute both offensively and defensively, as a primary bench player or possible 5th starter. SF or PF could be used, so whichever spot brings the best talent. Likely at full MLE. Danilo Gallinari, Jae Crowder, Dario Saric, Paul Millsap, JaMychal Green 2. Big Wing that can defend as in the 2019 Aminu/Harkless role unless that is address in target 1. Possibly use the BAE or vet minimum. Maurice Harkless, Solomon Hill, Torrey Craig, Wes Matthews (vet minimum), Noah Vonleh (vet minimum) 3. PG that can fill in as a backup, injury, or Simons role, but not so good they are entitled to role or touches. Likely vet minimum. Austin River, Shabazz Napier, Michael Carter Williams, Evan Turner 4. Center to replace Whiteside and provide injury insurance for vet minimum. DeMarcus Cousins, Nerlens Noel, John Henson, Bismack Biyombo, Javale McGee, Skal Labissiere, (unlikely, but keep Hassan Whiteside if agrees to much smaller ~$5million salary)
I generally agree here. That is why I'm a proponent of these trades: Trade 1 PDX: CJ + Ariza + Hezonia => Porter + Randle + '21 Knicks Pick NYK: Randle + Knox + '21 Kicks Pick => CJ + Hezonia CHI: Porter => Knox + Ariza Trade 2 PDX: #16 + (TPE) => #18 + Bjelicia DAL: #18 + #31 => #16 SAC: Bjelica => #31 + TPE We get Porter who fits #1 & #2. Randle & Bjelica are more offensively minded, but they sort of fit #1 as well. We sign Turner for the big wing (#2) for no more than $5M/yr We sign Shaq Harrison, Trey Burke, or Tim Frazier for the Min as a backup PG (#3) We sign Cousins, Noel, or Whiteside to the BAE (#4) Resign Gabriel #18 (Poku) is a draft & stash player #43 (Pritchard) is signed The effective roster: PG: Dame, Harrison, Prichard SG: Trent, Hood, Simons SF: Porter, Turner, Little PF: Randle, Bjelica, Gabriel C: Nurk, Cousins, Collins
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/nba-free-agency-ranking-the-top-25-players-this-offseason-224700176.html Keith Smith lists Portland as potential fits for Gallo, Ibaka, Harrell, Jerami Grant, and Crowder.
I would freak out, in the best of ways, if we could land Jerami Grant but the full MLE is only a half million dollar raise from what he is opting out of... I don't know if it's realistic for us to get him or Harrell because both of them still have upside so should be looking for big raises based on the expectation of rising production. That being said, maybe if they like the opportunity to play with guys like Dame, CJ, Nurk and the rest who seem to be fucking great teammates and a player first coach and GM then maybe we get him at a discount, especially because the addition of Grant specifically would make us much much better, he was also born in Portland while his dad was on the team. I don't think we'd win the West with his addition but we would be scary for everyone... Lakers, Clippers, Warriors included (I don't think we're scared of anyone else as is). We would go from a middling playoff team to the upper tier in the league.
