Portland cant get KD. Reading on the Suns forum re. 3way with utah phx and brooklyn. Ayton and Simmons to Utah KD to suns. I dont know about that unless Ainge wants to try to make the playoffs this year. Thought he was blowing it up. maybe not.
What has Cronin actually done that would lead you to believe he's constructing a championship roster? He's straddling between now and the future without commitment to either. A competent GM would've been able to nab Duran and should've attempted to do so. The Milwaukee pick was a disaster and the only saving grace is that Detroit was desperate to rid themselves of Grant. That should've been a lottery pick which would've been enough to land Grant and Duran, so as to actually fill needs of depth AND add high starting potential for the future. Portland doesn't likely even need to include all those second rounders they gave to Detroit IF they had been able to get the NO lottery pick from LA. The Covington/Powell trade is even more ridiculous considering the prime asset received has no real track record and seemingly WILL NEVER GET THE OPPORTUNITY as a Blazer to build a track record. When will Keon Johnson see meaningful developmental minutes to establish himself as an asset before his rookie deal runs out? He literally traded Powell and Covington for the production of Justice Winslow and cap space!!! Pennies on the dollar!!! For the grand plan of straddling between now and the future with low probability for contention into the immediate future. I do appreciate that his best decisions have been to hold onto Olshey draft picks because I do believe in the young talent here, but IMHO he's done very little to impress me with what he was given to start with. Also, what is true is that every contract he has doled out has been on the top end of expected dollars. I'm not sold whatsoever on his tactical negotiation skills. The deadline deals were totally bungled. We are Portland, we have no identity except for our perceived self-virtue and that is why we appreciate nice, incompetent people like Joe Cronin because we are GOOD PEOPLE.
so Cronin would have to completely reshape the roster and get some cap flexibility (again) in order to make a move for KD?
DOES THIS WORK? Since Payton hasn’t signed, the Blazers aren’t hard capped, yet. Has the Grant deal been finalized? If not, the Blazers can send Bledsoe (and sweetener) instead of using the TPE. Portland uses a portion of the CJ TPE to sign Payton. Blazers are no longer hard capped.
Are you saying the hard cap prevents meaningful trades from happening after July 2nd? There are examples of significant player movement around the league post July 2nd since the hard cap too. I'm guessing you don't need me to provide those examples. I agree with you Trader Bob made big moves. I'm not sure we have enough data on Cronin to say how much of a "big move" guy he is. We know he's made bigger moves in the first 6 months of his tenure than the previous GM did in 8 years.
That would take a S&T from Golden State which would cost us something and still hard cap us because the use of the full MLE or being on the receiving end of a S&T triggers the hard cap. So there's really no difference in what you're proposing... it just fucks over the Pistons.
I wouldn't call it an epic disaster. I'm not sure it was even a bad offseason, it was predictable and expected after the Clippers trade. That was the epic disaster. The redeeming part of this summer was drafting Sharpe.
Did those other examples have teams involved who had larger contracts to trade? Because we really don’t.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski The Portland Trailblazers are trading Center Jusuf Nurkic and a future 1st round pick to The Milwaukie Bucks for a package highlighted by Guard Pat Connaughton.
I think they have some more things to look at. I just wonder what this team will look like in Feb around the trade deadline. I honestly think you have to put the team together and give it some run as it sits. We know what Damian Lillard brings. We know what Simons brings as well as Nurk. They need Little to stay healthy but that of course is one of the questions here? Hart can bring some game and we know what Grant can bring but we all need to see how he will fit in here? Eubanks can fit nicely as a backup but if Nurk goes down we will be saying many of the same things we said over the last 4 years. So you have to also expect Sharp will get some run. I cannot see him in a starting role but you got to figure he will see 10-15 mins a game eventually? Gary Payton II seems like he is a lock for 20-25 mins a game. Now you got Watford, Winslow and Brown So that's 12 players and the team is hard capped. Yes they can get some filler bench/practice players but you won't see them playing like any year. You give this a run and see what you got and what you need comprised with what deals you can make at the trade deadline. It's not a bad team and IMO should be able to get into the playoffs. Probably a first round out but they should be able to get in with Lillard, Grant, Nurk, Simons, Hart/Payton/Little/Sharp/Watford/Winslow Starting to look to me like they need to give them some run and hope for a healthy year.