Keeping the #3 pick.....AND Dame

what did Woj say the asking price was, and when did he say it? Was this the '3 first round picks' rumor before the deadline?

 

Yup.

 

Grant @ 5 years and $30 per is a Blazer.
No Dame? Grant unknown if he signs but can be traded.
Grant at $25 million per wears another uniform. In building around Dame, Grant is high

OG does have 2 years remaining, but the 2nd is a player option (according to Spotrac). He will most certainly opt-out.
FVV wants new money this year on a player-option.
GTJr, same.
Poeltl is a UFA.
OG at $18.6 million, then opts out on $20 million in a year.
Siakam in a year goes from next year's $37.9 million to more as UFA.

Cost certainty for 3 years on Ant is looking pretty good at a position of need for Toronto. And a rookie contract for #3. Siakam seems the most likely gone.
[Scottie Barnes, 22 / GTJ, 25 / OG, 26 / Poeltl, 28 / FVV, 29 / Siakam, 29]

 

So rumors not facts. Whats a fact is that GMs talk about players and scenarios all the time that fans don't hear about and only sometimes agents leak stuff to Woj. OG's agent seems to be quite the leaker as his name has been in lots of rumors... maybe he wants out of Toronto? Regardless, fans don't have any real way to gauge the level of interest Cronin might have only that players have been discussed, which again is expected. Blazer interest in OG might be real, or it might be passing like Joe has with checking in on most any decent player. Maybe the rumors passed along about Toronto wanting back multiple firsts for OG are true too as Ujiri doesn't want to move him right now unless its for an inordinate amount back. Fine, thats what I assume is the asking price for most players most of the time. A good negotiator always starts by asking for the moon. It certainly doesn't mean the Blazers need to go towards a ridiculous asking price like the Ant + a 1st & a 2nd hypothetical you proposed. If the speculations that FVV walks this summer turn out to be true, I suspect the Raptor's desire to land a PG will increase and their asks will be more conducive to getting something done.

btw, in the reasonable offseason trade thread, I mentioned Ant for OG a month back or so. Maybe we should start an unreasonable offseason trade thread?

STOMP

 

I believe this is the best outcome. We keep Lillard for obvious reasons, plus to mentor the young uns. And we build for the future. If they improve enough in the next two to three years, Dame makes a run ala CP3. And maybe we get to the finals and have a crack at getting him a ring.

 

The point of this thread was is there a way to keep Dame and the 3rd pick. I tossed out an idea of getting OG and using the pick on Miller. That’s all it was; a half-formed idea without any inside knowledge of current thinking by Cronin and his staff. Yes, I relied on rumors of past interest by the Blazers in OG. That’s the norm around here since, as far as I know, none of us have inside info. For some reason, this seems to have pissed you off. I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Nor do I care.

 

yes, I look at it like:

Dame will probably be at the current level he is at for 2 more seasons, then begin a gradual decline.

meanwhile, sharpe and miller grow from non-contributors to (ideally) all star players in 2-3 years.

So if we have a situation where Dame declines in 3 years from all-nba to merely being an all star, that decline is more than overcome by the pieces around him going from 0 to all star level.

this is our best chance at contention imo. And if it doesn’t work we still have a young core to build around.

 

While apparently you don't care, I was more confused then pissed. It was completely your use of the word fact that the Blazer brass was interested that confused me, when it was actually rumor based. If it was a fact that Cronin was truly interested in OG, not just another rumor, then that would be news to me... something I'd care about. If they were actually interested, that might justify going towards Toronto's asking price instead of my scoffing at it.

We're just debating players and possibilities. While none of this matters to what actually happens, it helps the reader understand if things are acurately identified.

STOMP

 

No one makes a call to another team without being interested in who they are calling about.
Pretty much fact.

So if Portland called Toronto, id personally consider it a fact we were interested in both OG and Siakim. Since those were the reported players coveted.

 

I actually have a transcript of this exact conversation... But I obviously can't out my sources...

 

Believe what you will but I've heard enough GMs interviewed to know that especially around the prime trade times (like now) GMs are on the phones with other GMs all the time constantly talking about a variety of each other's players and possibilities. It's likely every single eligible guy on the Blazers has been mentioned in multiple talks with multiple GMs in the last month. Thats them doing their job, not necessarily a sign of real interest or anyting eminant. If fans are hearing about something, it's usually the player's agent leaking it out for their own reasons.

STOMP

 

It feels like you’re hitting my post with a higher degree of scrutiny than is normal around here. What exactly is a “fact” when it comes to one of these reports of talks about trade negotiations? Given league rules on tampering, Cronin can’t just come out and say “hey, we’re gonna make a run at OG.” I didn’t just make up the idea that the Blazers have had interest in OG and I didn’t just get that notion off some fan site. Guys like Woj and Chris Haynes have reported the interest. Here’s a tweet from Haynes from last spring about using the 7th pick in a deal for him:

There have been similar reports from Woj. I guess I should have used the phrase, “there have been reputable reports of the Blazers’ interest in OG” instead of saying it was a “fact”. I’ll try to remember to be more precise from now on.

 

I will puke if the 3rd pick is used to get OG.

 

I will teepee Joe Cronins house.

 

I'm sorry that you feel that way, I just generally respond to posts that strike me. I do read who the poster is before I read the post, but thats only to selectively skip some here. You're in the much larger group who I'm happy are here helping to feed my Basketball Jones. I meant no offense and honestly only hold positive opinions about your contributions here

exactly, which is why I thought it was odd to claim it as an established fact

Thanks and again sorry. I know that rumors have been reported. There have always been lots of rumors. Maybe it's become a raw nerve of mine, but I'm pretty past them being thought of as reality as Portland always seems well on the side of completely hosed in most of the deals the various media sites relay. Generally this time of year they're just pandering to the largest fanbases and thats never PDX. For the entire 90s yearly there were published "rumors" at the deadline akin to Portland to send Lillard to the Knicks for two 2nds and a lollypop. I'd always laugh with my Knick friend about those. It's been really rare for "reported" trade stuff that strikes me as ridiculous to happen. Regardless of whats being reported in today or tomorrow's rumorama, I don't think the Raptors will get anything close to the deal you proposed for OG as he's an oft injured solid starter but no All Star. If Joe really wants a long athletic defensive wing, I don't know why he wouldn't take one of the Thompsons and keep Ant too. With as few effective players as Portland has, the last thing they should do is consolidate

STOMP

 

This is hilarious, thank you for that.

 

Anybody see this? Probably not true, but worth discussing... I think it looks great. Like, maybe a contending team if you can fill out the bench well...

 

I'm having a hard time believing that

but for sure, if the Blazers could get both players for Simons + Little + 23 they'd be fools not to do it

I think that's especially true considering that there just seems to be way too many questions about the top players in the draft