Detroit made some smart moves after. But I wouldn't use that to evaluate the Grant deal in a vacuum. Just like I wouldn't really say CJ + Nance were traded for Hart + Grant. But you're right, they also got cap flexibility in the deal. We also got that in the Powell deal.
The Clipper deal wasn't bad because it cleared salary and gave us options. That's pretty much it. The Bledsoe contract would have been nice if we'd decided to trade #7 for a Veteran. We decided not to, so it wasn't needed. And I'm perfectly happy with Shaedon Sharpe over pretty much any vet we could have traded for.
The Clippers trade was great because we shipped out two starters but gained so much flexibility to add talent.
Who said it was great? It cleared space and provided insurance in case the guy we wanted wasn't available in the draft. The guy we wanted was available. And it's a good thing we got rid of those guys because we couldn't afford to pay them now anyway.
But Jody said she was committed to winning in Portland and Seattle.....right after she traded the franchise QB away, and we traded 3 starters for 'meh' so far. #Winning
From a purely value/optics standpoint, the Clippers deal sucked. I wasn't thrilled when it happened. That being said, going into this season, I'm happier with GPII (not possible to sign with Powell's contract on the roster), Winslow, and Keon than Powell and Covington on this team. Not to mention, it helped us get Sharpe. Could they have gotten more? Probably. We'll never know. But yeah the deal definitely feels light value wise. Fit wise, give me the new guys, on their contracts, all day long.
Bingo. We're better off having done that deal. And it would have been invaluable had Sharpe not fallen to us and we decided to trade for vet.
This is the other key point. If they stretch, it could indicate that they want to use the Roco TPE (or any of the other exceptions to bring someone else in). Also helps in getting closer to the tax line.
traded away 3 starters, one which was playing horrible, another which was massively overpaid and people bitched about, and the third was playing out of position and didn't exactly set the world ablaze as a Blazer. So maybe they traded 2 of those starters for "meh", but it's more likely that they were worth "meh" to begin with.
you know what? fuck the Powell trade...I don't give a shit about it. He was not altering Portland's trajectory, at all, as a Blazer. He was massively overrated as a defender when he arrived. And he is not a SF and is only a provisional starting SG, at best. Olshey was overrating him when he traded for him and was trying to deflect from the massive chorus of Blazer fans singing "trade CJ" and the growing realization that Powell's contract had significant negative value the lack of return for trading Powell was not really on Cronin...it was on olshey and to a lesser extent, the vulcans as far as the Levert trade, it's not a comp because the Cavs publicly stated they were trying to get bigger in the back court. Levert fits with Garland, Powell wouldn't fit and the only team dumb enough to start Powell full-time at SF was the Blazers the only other trade of a guard for a 1st I see was the Spurs sending Derrick White to the Celtics. That trade is not a good comp either because White is bigger than Powell, a hell of a lot better defender, and more than capable of playing PG. Powell is a terrible passer. White fits really well with the Celts and has playoff value, as he showed. Underrated guard simply put: it's a nutty notion that somehow Portland missed out on a big haul of better assets from trading Powell and RoCo. Sure, they might have leveraged a little bit more. But the difference between Keon Johnson and a maybe/maybe-not 27th pick is not so big that it justifies all the soap opera anguish around here about that trade
Everything Joe has done has made perfect sense.... if we're trading Lillard. He's systematically turned older players into younger players. He drafted a kid instead of using it as a chip to get a proven vet. He did trade for a 28 yo, and used our exception to get a 29 yo, but he who won't get many minutes, and those will be off the bench. Future: Ant/Sharpe/Nas/Grant/Nurk - where is Damian Lillard?
Everything he has done leans towards trading Lillard because he drafted Sharpe? And then you try to discount the 2 main moves of bringing in win now pieces of Grant and Payton? Ok. I guess we'll continue to ignore where he said it wasn't a 1 year turnaround and insist it means moving on from Lillard.
Or, and go with me on this, they're built to work with him going forward AND not empty the cupboard to try to put a bandaid on an ax wound? It makes sense to keep Little, Simons and potentially Sharpe instead of trading them for a quick fix now (that probably wouldn't be a quick fix). Look at the clusterfuck that is Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Especially Brooklyn. The players they got fit the mold of defense, youth AND potentially not having to have Damian carry the load and bail them out every game. By the time Simons and Sharpe (and *maybe* Little) are "taking over", there's no guarantee that those 3 will all be starting, so there is still room for Dame in the starting 5. Dame, Ant, Sharpe, or Dame, Ant, Little, etc.
no. He accomplished both getting better with a critical need, and stayed relatively young with Grant - good move. Unless there are injuries, Payton probably won't that much - not many minutes behind Lillard and Ant... especially with Hart and Sharpe in the fold.
I honestly think the only other good value, "move the needle" move he could have made was getting Randle and the 11... and that would have cost us Sharpe. That's a tough sell... I'm really high on Sharpe. If he can come on quickly at the 3 and move Grant to the 4 that could be as good as adding Randle, without the risk of Randle's attitude (which is a risk I was totally willing to take if we couldn't get sky-high potential in the draft).
I don't think they're trying to trade Dame. I think they're trying to keep him happy without completely destroying our future... hopefully to keep the team profitable so they can sell asap. (fingers crossed)
