If CJ were to be traded, who are we most likely to get?

of course not, as long as CJ is being overrated as much as he's being in most of these deals. Thing is his on-court value is a lot closer to how he performed in the just completed series against the Nuggets, than how he performed in the first 12 games of the year. That CJ was a mirage. He's not as bad as he played against Denver, but he's not a lot better than that either.

then you have to factor in his latest contract extension. It's not nearly the negative value it was when first signed because many other players now have contracts paying more or paying comparably. His contract doesn't enhance his value. Probably it's a net negative

career:

PER: season 17.5....playoffs 15.4
TS%: season .553....playoffs .530
Assist%: season 17.5%....playoffs 13.7%
winshare/48: season .107....playoffs .050
BPM: season 1.2....playoffs 0.4

those are the numbers that are going to set his baseline value. Those are not all-star numbers; they aren't really close to all-star numbers. CJ is not going to be traded for somebody like Ben Simmons or Tobias Harris or Julius Randle or Khris Middleton or Pascal Siakam. He simply doesn't have anything close to that value at this point in his career. If you set the value gauge quite a bit lower than players like that, where it should be, there may be several sensible trade opportunities IMO

Olshey won't do that though because his gauge of CJ is ridiculous

 

Siakam had a down year, at least the first half. I wonder how his #s compare.

 

looks to be about the same as CJ's, career-wise, a little worse this season. I'm not sure how much value GM's would put on a Covid-impacted season. Siakam had his best season as a #2-3 option when Kawhi was commanding all the defensive attention. Much better than CJ while Dame has been commanding all the defensive attention. Siakam's efficiency has dropped down to CJ's level when Siakam has been the #1 option. CJ hasn't been tested like that, and no a couple of games here or there when Dame has been out are not close to the same as a season as the #1

Siakam has a similar contract as CJ. IMO, generically, he would not alter Portland's trajectory much over CJ in a talent for talent basis. But I'd have to think a Dame-Powell-RoCo-Siakam-Nurkic lineup would be quite a bit better than another Dame/CJ reboot

 

Boston needs a center. I would love to get Jalen Brown. I think a Dame, NP, JB would be a nice 3 to have.
I would try a CJ and Nurk for JB and filler. Fournier works on the ESPN trade machine but I am not sure how since he will be a free agent.
That would leave a huge hole at the center spot though unless Zach could somehow stay healthy.

 

I really like that idea, especially if all it would take is CJ + Nurkic. The trade needs plenty of work though because both teams are flirting with busting over the apron. It might require the Blazers to broker a 3rd team to take on Kemba...which would probably mean some more assets leaving Portland

CJ + Nurkic for Brown + Tristan Thompson, maybe. Or something like CJ + a 1st for Brown + Thompson, then Nurkic for a Fournier S&T, as long as Fournier was signed for an MLE level deal...or less; or Fournier diverted to a 3rd team

 

While watching CJ stink up the joint this series, I often thought he was playing like a guy who knew he was about to be traded.

 

First, we all need to accept that Neil and Dame are too invested in CJ to trade him. Second, if he was traded I fear many fans would be shocked at how little we got in exchange.

 

Rhetorical question?

 

not at all. Honest question

 

In that case, your list order is from worst to best.

 

yeah. probably

the fit is best in that one that features Porzingas, who may very well be the highest level of a player the Blazers can get for CJ. The problem with it, IMO, is that Porzingas ia about the same level of talent as CJ so Portland is still paying to much money to a non-allstar. And, another problem is that if Portland can't really afford Dame and CJ with a re-signed Powell, they couldn't afford Dame and Porzingas

 

Do we really have to accept it? Why because people who don't know either Dame or Neil post it on message boards?
I like CJ but if we can keep NP I have no problem trading CJ for another need.

You might be right though about what we get in return. Teams don't like to trade their good players unless they already have someone ready to step in. We need a trade partner who needs scoring help from their backcourt, and who has depth at the forward spot. The Lakers come to mind. I bet they would love to have CJ for say, Harrell, Kuzma, and Schroeder.

 

Booker was willing to give up the ball but not sure Lillard would. I think it would be great personally, but don't see it happening.

 

I have been saying that for years, but you saying that and me saying that doesn't me Lillard will be onboard with that. It has to happen, but will it? Maybe a new coach can make it happen.

 

wut?

Booker had a higher usage rate than Dame this season, 32.7% vs 31.4% (and it was 30% last season). And Booker's assisted FG rate actually dropped this year to 45% from 46% last year. So he sure as shit wasn't giving up the ball when it came to his own offense. The only part of the offense he stepped back from was facilitating offense for others; which makes sense after the Suns add one of the all time great pure PG's

get Dame somebody as good as CP3 in running the offense from the wing position and he'd very likely give up some of the run the offense duties. But you don't want him giving up much because he's elite in the PnR

 

That was exactly my point. Paul had the ball and facilitated which is exactly what Simmons needs to do to get the most out of him.

So elite they get knocked out of the 1st Round each year. Time for change. PnR part of the time, ball flow the rest.

Sorry I didn't have any numbers followed by symbols to better illustrate my points.

 

you said Booker gave up the ball this year and you doubted Dame could do that. I was curious so I looked it up to see how much Booker actually gave up the ball

* his usage went up from 30% to 32.7%
* his assisted FG rate dropped from 46% to 45%
* his FGA/100-possessions increased from 24.2 to 28.0....almost 4 more FGA every 100 possessions
* his touches/game dropped from 60.2 to 56.2, BUT, he averaged 2 less minutes a game, so his touches/minute was about the same
* his average seconds/touch actually increased from 4.2 to 4.32 seconds
* the percentage of his possessions used on isolation increased from 11.4% to 12.7%

I'm not seeing any significant statistical evidence to support your contention Booker actually gave up the ball. I'd say it was other players on the Suns who gave up the ball to accommodate CP3. Booker increased his usage, FGA, and time of possession. He didn't defer

 

isn't Horford on Medicare by now?