We got the #3 pick. Discuss the possibilities.

I get all of that but if the Blazers can't make any deal, didn't it sound like the last couple of times we heard Dame's voice that he was saying that if nothing happens and I didn't hear him build in the excuse "unless the right deal isn't there" he said they'd have to have basically a conversation where he demanded a trade? Are we all just saying that Dame was just blowing smoke and will totally back off of that because Joe isn't able to negotiate good enough deals and Joe can show Dame proof that he couldn't negotiate good enough deals?

 

I wonder if we're prepared to just trade 3 + Simons for Siakam or something. Sounds like they're trying to extract all the value out of the 3rd pick with all the talks of multiple players coming back. This is what we should be doing, but if nothing presents itself I wonder if they will end up settling.

 

That's all we've got right now because there is a lot up in the air with our team at the moment.

 

It's a valid thing to wonder about. Siakam would be scary because he could just walk after one season and then you spent the third pick in a three player draft on a rental. Bridges would be a big time overpay if it were basically pick 3 for him at least Siakam has all nba pedigree and fills the rebounding and facilitating needs that we are lacking. A lot of moving parts and a lot of possibilities, should be an interesting week.

 

WUT?? WUT??

That's just false. You misheard. You need to listen again from the beginning. Woj specifically said Portland would take whoever Charlotte didn't. That was his actual lead

and I think you are also factually misinterpreting his comments about Scoot. Woj did not say Portland favored Scoot; didn't even imply it. What he said was Portland was prepared to draft Scoot "if indeed Brandon Miller stayed in the 2 slot". That was NOT Woj saying Portland preferred Scoot. If anything it implied the Blazers might prefer Miller....which make a lot of sense if the Blazers have evaluated them as equal talents. But Woj is obviously assuming Charlotte takes Miller; that's clear throughout that video

as to your assessment of it being a "ton of posturing" ...well sure, it very well could be. But often a posture a team has is their actual position. That simply could be Portland doing everything they could to try and generate a no-brainer offer for #3. And if they don't get that offer, they may very well be quite happy keeping 3

now Woj did start by saying "if the Blazers keep that pick at 3"; then later talked about Portland having discussions about moving the pick...which is no secret

and then he said it would "take a tremendous package" to convince the Blazers to trade the pick "it's going to have to be a deal that blows them away" was his closing

 

Nurk /Simons /#3 for
Siakam/Koloko

 

I don't think people are appreciating the personal considerations for both Joe and Dame enough right now...

Joe won't want to be the guy who trades Scoot Henderson for a rental or a massive ripoff deal, nor will he want to be the guy who's responsible for Dame dipping OR for getting peanuts for the franchise's greatest player.

On the flipside Dame clearly doesn't want to be the one to force his way out of this and I believe him when he says his first choice is to stay...

ALL of these components suggest that -- even if we don't make a big trade on Thursday -- even if things progress towards trading Dame -- they won't happen instantaneously. Like it or not, Dame will play the good soldier while Joe does what he can in free agency. We can still swing trades with Nurk/Ant and future picks. If after ALL of that, we don't meet what Dame is hoping for then, maybe, we begin to shop Dame. It will be sad, but my point is that Thursday is not a binary thing... It's not necessarily hell or salvation...

Is this kicking the can down the road? I guess. Is it calling Dame's bluff? Eh? Is this the most reasonable way to approach the situation from all sides on the Blazers' front? Seems to me the answer is yes.

 

Are 13 and multiple future 1s also coming with them?

 

I would really hope that would net us Saikam/Koloko and #13

 

Them taking Nurk and his contract when they don't want or need him would probably prevent getting anything extra.
I would not put this at the top of my list, but it is realistic if Scoot is gone. But then I love Siakam's game

Maybe we add 23 for their 13

 

I'm mostly pertaining to pick 3. I find it hard to believe that if we draft a player at 3 that there will be no trades Cronin can work with. Dame is not gunna be mad if Cronin declines a deal that isn't right for us.

 

Then you hang up the fucking phone. Sorry but this is moving the franchise in the wrong direction in terms of roster value.

Nurk certainly ain't Embiid, but he's not a negative asset...

 

We add an all-NBA player and we move the franchise in the wrong direction? That would be true if we don't resign him, but not otherwise. And Nurk's contract is kind of a negative asset. How many teams would give us value for him in a straight trade? He is a decent player but his contract is not.

 

If Siakam is our only significant add to the roster, and we're giving up a premium, cheap, young asset, then yes, it's moving us in the wrong direction. A Dame/Siakam team without another significant add will only elevate us to decent, and that's the worst thing you can be in the league.

Nurk's contract is absolutely not a negative asset and many industry folks have said as much, so miss me with that bit.

An offseason where we turn Ant/Nurk/and the 3rd overall pick in a great draft into one asset is an abject failure.

 

he may not even be Zubac or Poeltl

if he's not a negative asset at 18M/year with his injury history, efficiency, and inconsistency, he's sure not positive value. Personally, I think he only has positive value as filler in a bigger trade. Portland is just so size-deficient they can't sell him cheaply

 

We'd have to attach future 1s to him to get a player of quality back, I'm not saying we wouldn't, but he's not the type of asset that other teams get to say "we're not giving you X because we're absorbing Nurk's contract" either.

If we're really trading to build around Dame, I don't see any worthwhile path to do so, other than to package Ant + 3 in one move and Nurk + future 1s in another... unless it IS Embiid (or Giannis), there's not 1 player who can come in and change this franchise's immediate trajectory...