Fischer is doing a good job of readying our board. He left out some of the details we have included here though.
Portland might end up with some hell of their own if they re-sign Ant and Nurkic for a lot of money while also being a dumping ground for some team's bloated salary
The salary cap hell point is something I brought up a few months ago. i specifically pointed out Atlanta (Collins), Denver (Gordon), and Brooklyn (Simmons/Harris).
They could....but since they got under the Lux Tax last year, they aren't in repeater territory. Teams like ATL, etc, are in serious trouble. Portland could go back over the Lux Tax (if certain things don't happen to Dead Cap them) and be okay for a year or two until the Cap goes up.
if the Blazers are for sale, I'm not sure the Vulcans would agree to Blazers being a tax team here's the thing though: I don't believe Nurkic can get more than 12M/year on the open free agent market; and I don't believe Simons can get 20M?year. If Cronin doesn't repeat Olshey's habit of bidding against himself, I think Portland could re-sign both for a lot closer to a combined 30M than 40-45M. And if that's the case, Blazers would have more flexibility I still don't believe there would be enough payoff in taking a bad contract for a mediocre player to justify it though and yeah, I know all it takes is one team to bust that theory open, but I just don't see big bids coming in for either player
I’m not sure what it would take, but getting Collins from Atlanta would help us on the floor and help them financially
i don't think they care one bit about being a tax team in the short term when they're expecting a $3 billion valuation in a upcoming sale. the tax payments will be peanuts in comparison. Cronin specifically noted that there was a mandate to get out of the tax this past year because he didn't want to be a repeater this upcoming one.
you're probably right; although betting on this particular group of Vulcans for logic might be a bad bet but I don't see any good payoff for Portland being a dumping ground for a bad contact(s). If it's for a decent player who happens to have a problematic salary for another team, that's different you mentioned Collins from Atlanta. I'm thinking that's probably a bridge too far. But if the Hawks are a bit desperate, the Blazers might take a swing at #36 for Bogdanovic + 16, then 16 + Bledsoe for Grant. Trouble with that is that the Blazers would almost certainly have to add that Milwaukee pick to both trades because otherwise, both trades are probably a bridge too far for the other teams. This is when the obligation on the Portland's first round picks from that Nance trade is just killing the Blazers
Collins + 16 in a salary dump for Keon + Milwaukee 23 pick would be amazing. Saves ATL a bunch of $ off their cap now and potential future tax $ after extensions kick in. I've also brought up Gordon + 21 in a dump too.
Hey guys! Help me out here. Can we take grant with our trade exception? Next year his contract is worth more than the exception itself. Does he fit somehow or no?
Yeah, I look at this the other way, why would Orland, Detroit or Indy not max Simons? Either we get stuck with a huge contract or they get a 22 year old super efficient 3pt shooting dunk contest winning most improved player candidate for free. With a cap spike coming on a new TV deal and few bad contracts on those teams the small 25% Simons max is not harmful to those franchises. Nurk I could see being capped at closer to a $10 million MLE, he is older with little upside, injury prone, and at a position that is worth less every season.
The Chicago obligations may be killing or savings the Blazers. If you believe the Blazers are an average starting veteran or two away from contending then yes the restrictions might be stopping the team from contending. If you believe like me the Blazers are extremely far away from having a contending roster, then its great there are these restrictions preventing the Blazers from trading away even more of the future in a doomed to fail attempt to win now.
We can't do Collins in a salary dump... He makes more than our TPE. Gordon is possible, but Denver will be looking to trade Barton first.
bledsoe would have to be included in a deal for Collins, but that would still save ATL a lot of long term $.
Can this work? Bledsoe + 7 + for OG. TPE + MIL pick + Keon + 36 for Grant. Dame/Ant/OG/Grant/Nurk with Nas/Hart/MLE fillers off the bench.
Orlando - they are committed to Wendall Carter as their starting C, and he's arguably already better than Nurkic. So they wouldn't be making a big offer to Nurk. At guard, they have Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Terrence Ross, Markelle Fultz, and RJ Hampton all under contract next season. They also have Gary Harris as a free agent they may be interested in re-signing. I don't see them as much of a threat to offer Simons a 20+ million/year deal Detroit - they don't have any cap-space unless they renounce the rights Bagley, and they won't be doing that. Even if they re-sign him quickly for 15M, the most space they'll have is in the 10-20M range, and 20M in unlikely. They have Stewart and Olynyk at C and both are more mobile than Nurkic. And they have Cade Cunnigham, Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, and Hamidou Diallo at guard Indiana - looks like the most cap-space they'll have would be in the 15-20M range. At guard, they already have Brogdon, Buddy Hield, Tyrese Haliburton, TJ McConnell, & Chris Duarte. There's no way they'll be using their limited cap-space on Simons. And they already traded away a better C than Nurkic in Sabonis to clear the way for Turner to be their starter. And they may have already lined up a substantial offer to Jalen Smith. They are unlikley to make a 15M/year offer to Nurkic to be their backup C San Antonio - with their 3 first round picks and the cap-hold for Walker, the Spurs might have 15M in space, maybe 20M. They have Poeltl at C who is arguably better than Nurkic.; and they have Zach. At guard they have all-star Murray, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie walker, Josh Richardson, Joshua Primo, and Devin Vassell Nurkic is a traditional C at the time when the NBA is abandoning traditional C's and their vulnerability in the PnR. They have almost hit the dime-a-dozen value. Nurkic also has a very extensive and worrisome injury history. A team would have to want an often-injured C as their starting C and I can't see any of the teams with cap-space going for Nurk in that role. Especially not for 15M/year Simons has lots of hype among Blazer fans but I question how far that hype has penetrated into NBA front offices. I don't believe a 25 game sample size in a 4th season player on a crappy team is going to generate any giant contract offers. I don't believe either of Portland's free agents will generate the 2022 version of the Crabbe offer sheet. There are too many flaws in the games of the pair. Obviously, as I said, all it would take is one GM to blow my theory out of the water. But I think the Blazers need to really do a good jobe of assigning value here. They've seen Nurkic in street clothes too often, and they have lived thru overpaying CJ so they have templates for what not to do
