Had that very discussion today. Have Brown play SG, then draft size with the 2 Lottery picks if you get them. I like Brown at SF, but I LOVE him at SG.
not interested in Jerami Grant and definitely not for a lottery pick. Pistons gotta stop actin like he's worth that
i disagree he’s easily worth the Pelicans late lottery pick. Picking a guy that late in lottery is huge gamble where as if you can add Grant you know exactly what type of player you’re getting. With grant and our pick we have great chance to become a very good team and if we somehow get lucky and get top 3 pick we are set for the future. dame Simons Grant Nurk Little Hart Draft pick That’s a good roster with some Luck with draft pick, another jump from Simons/Little, and a healthy Dame. I’d be ok with going into next season with that roster.
I'd still likely do the pelicans pick for Grant. I still need us to find another 3/4 or 4/3 to slot alongside him, however. Maybe that's Paolo or Jabari??
I like Little, but he's just not dependable...at all. He's always dinged up or seriously injured. Can't count on him being a primary rotation member. I'd say Winslow should be elevated but he's been an injury magnet too if the Blazers get a top-4 pick I would hope so. I don't really have any opinion on these prospects because I haven't paid attention. Blazer history has me terrified of Portland taking Holmgren though but if the Blazers do land Grant, ideally for the Pels pick and Bledsoe, while adding a rookie PF-Stretch4, that offers some real optimism, IMO, especially if they have all their TPE's heading into the trade deadline. I really like the idea of Hart and Winslow coming off the bench. I have been impressed with Dunn too my thought is if it is a rookie PF, then it probably needs to be the best defensive one. Portland needs to support a Dame/Ant duo with a good defensive roster. I think they could do that even if Portland doesn't move into the top-4 but instead are 6-8, there is still the option of a wing like Mathurin or AJ Griffin moving Grant to PF. I sure do wish Grant wasn't such a crappy rebounder though
I voted "Sure if it's not for much - I wouldn't give up the Pelicans' first rounder though" but I'm between there and "No". Why? I don't think he's that good. A starting level guy? Sure. That much better than, like, RoCo? I don't think so. He's paid what he's worth. Unlike Hart, or guys on their first contracts, he's not on a team-friendly deal. When a guy is paid what he'd be paid in the open market, then anything you give up to acquire him is overpaying. A lottery pick, even a late one, is substantial value. Consistent with #2, and considering how we've given first rounders out like candy in the past, we should avoid temptation to do so here. We're not that close to winning. The notion that a Dame+Nurk+Ant core is good enough to challenge for a title is one I don't agree with. Consistent with the other three reasons I list above, I think the team should be building up assets for the team to get better down the road, rather than sacrificing them to be good enough to maybe make it into the second round of the playoffs.
I think your points 2 and 3 are valid if you were right about 1 and 4. As a first option with a bunch of inexperienced players around him, he doesn't look like a world beater but if he was here and let's just say the guys he was starting with were Dame, Ant, Hart and Nurk (it should be better than that considering that we would have our pick to upgrade the team as well) but if those were the guys he was starting with Dame would command more attention than anyone he's ever played with including Joker. Ant would command the kind of attention that Murray did on that same team. Then the way Nurk collapses defenses down low takes even more attention from opposing defenses. So even if Grant is our "second option" he has such potent scorers around him that his game will open up even more than it did in Denver. As far as defense goes, I don't think he's gotten worse than he was in Denver, I just think he's been playing in games that weren't competitive since he left. So as far as you thinking he's not that good, I disagree. So I agree that Dame, Nurk and Ant aren't a contender they are the core of a team that could get home court advantage. If you add Grant to that core though, then you're considerably better... so then you're probably winning a lot in the second round. What you're ignoring is that if we were to trade the Pelicans pick for Grant we would still have our most valuable asset that isn't on the roster right now to add to that core... our pick. We also have an opportunity to do the small thing it would take to get rid of the conditions on the pick we owe the Bulls. That would open up three future firsts that we could also trade. So when you say that we're not that close to winning you're ignoring the fact that we have a lot of assets to get a whole helluva lot closer to contending, in fact I would say that with the right moves this summer, we will be a contender if Dame and Ant can be more cohesive offensively than Dame and CJ and they can also be less of a liability on defense than Dame and CJ had been for so many years.
First tell me who you'd hold up as the best forward they've had in years as I truly struggle to think of anyone who has even been average. STOMP
Either Healthy Justise Winslow (a rare beast) or Josh Hart Playing Forward when Dame Comes Back. They also have the huge advantage that (a) they're a LOT cheaper than Grant, and (b) we get them AND both picks.
c'mon....that's really stretching. We've gone thru the Harkless/Aminu/RoCo years and Winslow is just more of the same. A good defender with wildly inconsistent offense. Hart is bigger than Powell, but he's still much more of a SG. Portland will be 'settling' by sliding him into the starting SF role instead of the 3rd guard. He's a seemingly perfect partner for SG minutes with either Dame or Ant I'm pretty sure what Portland is looking at is Grant as a 3rd option. Look at these numbers: specifically, look at the 3 years from 2017-2020 in OKC and Denver. He had a TS% near .600. He got to the foul line at a high rate. That's excellent efficiency. If Portland can get that kind of production and efficiency from Grant, as a 3rd option, they will have done fairly well. If the Blazers get that Grant he'd be the best forward Portland has had since Aldridge...easily even if you just look at his numbers from the last 2 seasons, those PER, TS%, BPM numbers are very similar to what CJ produced for Portland. And unlike CJ, Grant can play some defense. now, It's worth asking if Grant would be willing to fill that role or if he'd be unsatisfied with it. That's unknown. And he does have some warts. For instance, he rebounding is really weak for a PF. Still, he fills that massive 8 year void at 2-way wing that Portland has had. that said, I've never been enthused about Portland's seeming attraction for Grant. He's certainly not the 2nd all-star that Portland desperately needs. But it is possible that Portland's attraction for him is motivated by the front office knowing that other, better forwards like Siakam of Collins are well out of their reach
I do like Winslow a lot. Both he and Grant are good defenders. Winslow is a better ball handler and IMO attacks the basket better. Grant on the other hand is a better outside shooter. Winslow is stronger, Grant is longer. (Although that does not translate into being a better rebounder) Winslow has had more injuries, while Grant is more expensive and is rumored to want a bigger role and even more money. I think what we would be giving up with the Pelican pick (if it is in the teens) is a potential backup center. There are a few intriguing ones that will need a year or two to develop. Could any of them turn out to be really good? Only time will tell. I am ok with trading it for Grant, but I am not sure I would offer him the extension that he probably wants. But he would be a nice stop-gap if we used our pick on a young PF who needed time to develop. Ideally, we could get Grant but not overpay to keep him long-term. He is a solid player, but I think his skill set can be found elsewhere. (i.e players like Winslow) But long term we need someone better than both in order to make a jump. What happens if we land the #6 and 10th pick? Would both be enough to move up 3 spots? If Ivey goes in the top 2, we would be able to get a decent young PF. Can we sweeten the pot with another young player if the Pelicans come in around 13-14 instead of 10th?
