If we got OG and Grant and kept everyone else... just sent EBEC and 7 to Toronto. Then we signed Ant to a deal that starts at 21M. Signed our two second rounders to rookie min contracts. If at that point we renounced our rights to Nurk... which would suck. We would still have the full MLE to offer to someone like Bobby Portis if he opted out. Could you fucking imagine that? We might want to pick up a vet min big too and that might push us barely into the luxury tax but... Dame, Ant, OG, Grant, Portis, Hart, Nas, Justise, Vet Min C as our regular 9 man rotation!!! I mean, it's not likely to happen so whatever but I do dream about what it would be like to have a more mobile C that isn't such a pouty little baby if he doesn't get his way and isn't coddled, oh and can hit the three but that's just an extra perk that Portis would bring. I think Nurk seems like a nice guy and a good friend but I wouldn't want to be his teammate (fucking high maintenance).
From Toronto's perspective I don't think the #7 is good value for OG but I can't really judge this trade idea because I don't know if the front office have someone they are in love with. For context Ujiri tried desperately to move up and draft Giannis and I don't know even with the 'Chip if he ever got over it. He has much bigger ambitions than one championship. He won't let it happen again and would work Portland if he thinks Sharpe or someone else (likely someone else--Dieng looks like a Raptor) is that guy. I don't think the add-ons Raptors fans are asking for are at all realistic. Toronto got an expiring Thad Young and a second for their first round pick this year, a trade almost every Raptor fan would've blocked given the opportunity. Fans don't know shit, myself especially. For Portland I think this trade depends on the outlook around Simons. If Portland think Simons is going to be an All-Star next year that means you have all the pieces: a magically clutch superstar, a rapidly improving young All-Star, and high level role players around them. It might not be next year that you seriously contend (you need some veterans to jump on board to give you depth) but with some tweaks the following year you might be the best in the West. If that's Portland's plan they should go for this trade! It's ambitious without totally selling-out the future. If it doesn't work out there are going to be fans who will be absolutely furious that you gave Toronto's vaunted development system a top prospect in exchange for a complimentary player, which is what Anunoby becomes if this flops. If this succeeds he'll be "the premier 3+D player in the NBA," naturally.
As for OG... meh. He's a starter-ish level player on a bad Toronto team that can't stay healthy and getting paid about what he's been worth ($19m). I don't see why we'd give up a lottery pick for him, personally. Giving up Bledsoe (ie, absorbing his salary) would be acceptable but that presumably is not enough for Toronto.
#7 and Nas seems reasonable to me. I like Nas, but the bad luck injuries are becoming a trend. I can see a world where Sharpe is the best player in this draft, but I don't know that you could bank on it. Then you have to be able to retain him long term for it to be real meaningful. That's a big ask. If we draft him, I'll be rooting like hell for all that to happen though!
The Walton quote made you look a little off but this take is pretty nuts. You think that OG Anunoby is only worth absorbing his salary and no compensation going out to his team?!? Do you like losing all credibility?
"This Portland team is nothing more than a band of pranksters." - Bill Walton "Steve Nash is the most unathletic player in the league." - Bill Walton "Greg Ostertag is one of the top centers on this planet!" - Bill Walton
Problem is that soon the EBEC isn't an asset anymore when we have to guarantee his money (which we won't). So the timeline to use it is now or we lose the asset
OG is being paid just about what he's worth. Why should Portland give up substantial value for giving the guy what he's worth? It's madness. It's possible that OG gets better, but he's only got two more years before he's got a player option, so if he has a good--or even healthy--year or two, his contract is going to spike up after he opts out. And if he has a bad/injured year(s), then you're stuck paying him about $20m after he opts in. This is a reasonable gamble for Toronto to take, but not one for the Blazers to give up a lottery pick to partake in. I don't care about "losing credibility" in your eyes as you don't seem to understand how value works.
To be fair, the last 4-6 years we've rarely be able to obtain a player for what he's worth. Typically it's a huge overpay.
I'll just break this down for you really quickly. If a player is making 19M and that's what he should be making and he's not on your team then he has value to your team, especially if he plays a position of need for your team. So of course you have to send value out to get that player because that player adds value to your team. This isn't rocket science. You're saying that we should be able to send them an overpaid player that they don't need in exchange for a perfectly paid player that we do need and call it an even exchange. Think about this shit before you post it. I'm not saying that a difference of opinion on what the compensation should be for obtaining Anunoby for Bledsoe is unreasonable (you might think the seventh pick is too much) but debating that there should be no additional compensation from us in that exchange is ludicrous. Then you want to question if I know how value works. Zero credibility.
The opportunity cost of the #7 pick is more than just the salary. Having the #7 pick and it turning out to be less than a two contract start on your roster would be a dud because it can land you a solid starter ready to play today.