We have players on expiring contracts or rookie deals aand minimum deals that are easy to trade compared to a bloated long contract....I don't think CJ will get any juice until the offseason because for one...I think Neil already tried to move him and due to him putting up sometimes 16 pts a game...teams weren't biting......let him build value then trade him.....the mistake is letting him build value and then deciding to keep him for the duration of his contract....personally I think now is the time to trade Ant.....talk about a player that can be streaky.....he's hot as fire right now....I'd talk to his hometown team Orlando and move him quickly if I were Joe.......Norm's contract would be easy to move for a taller wing as well although I like Norm.
no, there's no ulterior motives behind this one. this straight out of morey's mouth to pincus' ears. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...s-make-the-most-sense-for-a-ben-simmons-trade The Blazers recently let go of their top basketball executive, Neil Olshey, promoting Joe Cronin in the interim. While Cronin will run the team until an official hire, it's unclear if that hire will happen before the trade deadline. Sources indicate he'll have an opportunity to keep the position long-term, but Chicago Bulls general manager Marc Eversley, G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Boston Celtics vice president of player and organization development Allison Feaster are the front-runners. Does Cronin have the power to trade All-Star Damian Lillard? The consensus is no, and there's no expectation Portland will move Lillard. If that's the case, the Trail Blazers would need to include McCollum's $30.9 million salary to Philadelphia for Simmons. Naturally, the 76ers would prefer Lillard. McCollum is an excellent player, but Lillard is the headliner in Portland. McCollum is already 30 and is under contract for $100 million through 2023-24, which may also deter Philadelphia. Some executives around the league view McCollum as a negative trade asset, one the Blazers would need to send with compensation to get him off the team’s books. While the Blazers can get to enough salary with players like Jusuf Nurkic, Robert Covington, Norman Powell and Larry Nance Jr., none are as good as McCollum (let alone Lillard). Complicating matters, the Blazers sent their 2022 first-rounder to the Chicago Bulls in the deal that brought Nance from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Protections leave Portland with absolutely no firsts to offer unless the team can convince Chicago to take the pick unprotected in 2022 (perhaps with a second-rounder as compensation). As far as young prospects, the Blazers can offer Anfernee Simons or Nassir Little, but any legit offer centered around McCollum doesn’t appear to have any momentum.
Makes CJ for low value seem like a best case. Otherwise, we may be stuck with him until he becomes an expiring contract. Welcome to three more years (or so) of boring Blazer mediocrity. Ugh.
Often teams will bite the bullet on big contracts with 2 years left but rarely with 3 years left...so to me it's more like welcome to this being the last CJ season if he's able to be traded....again...I'm trading high on Ant tomorrow if I'm Joe...I mentioned in another post that I think the Blazers have tried to move CJ before Neil was fired and been unable to get value for him that they need whether players or picks
I believe that CJ does have negative trade value with some GMs around the league. That doesn't matter though. He definitely has positive trade value for some teams. I actually think that Philly is one of those teams... I also think they're probably pushing this narrative so they can get us to break the bank for Simmons. Even if we're not willing to take the protections off of our pick which we definitely shouldn't, we could get draft capital for guys like Norm, Ant, RoCo and Nurk. Then if Nance isn't hurt badly CJ, Nance and a couple of the picks we get for the other guys would make Morey look really great which I think at this point is all that he cares about. There are other teams out there that would want CJ too and would give up pieces of value to get him. I don't think we could get a player of CJ's caliber in a trade without giving up more but probably one or two that fit a lot better. If the league wide perception was that CJ has negative value then that's what the report would say.
"the Blazers are a hot mess this year, but it's been a relief not to have a steady diet of MeJ" Spin it all you want, you said it.
That seems to be, 'hot mess either way, it's more enjoyable to not watch MeJ style of basketball.' Close?
I don't have to spin it any direction. That's what I said and it's exactly what I meant. CJ isn't always MeJ but he is enough of the time that I sure don't miss seeing him out there, in either persona, and I know I'm not alone in that view
Congrats to CJ and family! Now as much as I appreciate the class act that you've always been, don't let the door hit you on your way to your next team.