Blazers interested in Aaron Gordon

Hood/Zach/Gary for Gordon and a 2nd rounder seems fair to me. It'd clear up our rotation a lot and get Nas playing time.

 

Wait?
Collins and Kanter plus Hood?
So you leave them with Nurk who sits on the sidelines.
Aldridge who is old.
Giles who isn't really any good.
Melo played center last game for a bit but it isn't what he should be playing.
You are looking at Aldridge and Melo as your front court and no backup.
Maybe lets see Nurkic actually play a month before they give up their only player that plays and is a center is what I'm thinking?

 

I like it but it would be disastrous if LMA ended up going elsewhere....... leaving us with a huge hole at center.
Too risky getting rid of Kanter. Plus Orlando does not need Kanter.

 

Obviously there would be an assurance from LMA.

 

What incentive is there for Orlando in that deal? If Kanter went to a 3rd team, maybe, but they don't need a C. They don't really need Collins either.

 

I’m not a huge Gordon fan. But I like his length and athleticism. I think in the league these days you need most importantly shooters, but also players with length and versatility to guard and play multiple positions

 

I hope Aaron Gordon likes standing in the corner. He can take notes from DJJ, Covington and Nassir Little.

 

They need at in the back court besides Curry and Trent is a tough Hombre. Simmons is injury prone too. Sizers need someone to take the last shot!
Throw and few picks or whatever.

 

So let the 2021 pick be top 4 protected, so if they win the lottery they don't have to convey it. Make the other first rounder lottery protected and make the deal happen. I think the deal I put up would be a great opening offer from Olshey and then they could counter with that.

I also think CJ would have a big impact on that team down the stretch. Him, Vucevic and all of their shooters could be a lineup that climbs 4 games in the standings. If they did that they'd be in line for the 11th pick.

 

I get your point, there is a lot of standing in the corners. But I have noticed that Little has no problem attacking the basket and Jones does cut to the basket. Watching the film of Gordon, he does look like he has good handles for his position. He is even listed on the depth chart as Orlando's 3rd team PG. (On ESPN) I doubt that is really true but none the less I would not mind seeing Little at SF and Gordon at PF when teams trap Dame. (With a passing center like Nurk)

 

Do we want Blake Griffin 2.0 or not?

 

I think that's true (they are over the tax line currently)

looking at next year's cap, they are scheduled for 123.73M in guaranteed salary (which includes 5.6M for the ghost of Timofey Mozgov...haven't heard that name in a while)

the tax line will be about 136M, so they are only 12-13M under the tax line with 12 players. That does not include Fournier who will be UFA. And it does not include their 1st round pick. They are currently 4th in the lottery and the scale for the 4th pick is over 6M.

I think there are several obstacles

to start with, Orlando being over the tax line very likely means they are looking to dump enough salary to get under. But Portland can't accommodate them in that regard because Portland needs to stay under the tax line this season. So that's a catch-22 obstacle

and if it's true that Orlando is looking to dump next season salary off their roster (and I think they are), then Jones represents negative value to them. He could opt into his 9.7M salary and monkey wrench all their off-season plans. I don't think there is any binding way they can get an agreement from Jones that he'd opt out, but maybe there is.

so then, Hood represents around 10M in space, and 10M in under the tax margin

the 2nd big obstacle is Portland having less than 2M of space between current payroll and the tax line. Hood + Zach for Gordon puts Portland 900K over the tax line. Hood + Zach + Giles gets Portland about 800K under the line but the Blazers would only have 12 players. That would mean Portland would have to sign a player first, leaving them at 13, then sign another player after the trade. But even using two pro-rated minimums busts the tax line for the Blazers

the caveat is that Hood + Zach + Simons would probably give Portland the margin they'd need. But would Simons hold much value to Orlando?

now, maybe Portland can be tricky with the use of 10-day contracts, but eventually they will have to get back to 14 players

so my thinking is that a trade for with Gordon going to the Blazers will probably have to be a 3 team trade, with the third team taking on enough salary next season that both Orlando and Portland have their needs met. That of course means it will be more complicated. Maybe some 3rd team would be interested in Jones, but that 3rd team would have the most leverage and would probably make the trade too expensive for one of Orlando or Portland

 

We're already awful on the boards, if Neil moves Kanter it'll be a disaster on the glass!

 

They might get an assurance from Aldridge, but there's little incentive for the Spurs to buy out Aldridge before the deadline

 

In the end, Drummond, Gordon and Aldridge will all end up as a Nets