if the Lakers were willing to send an unprotected 1st for Grant the trade would have already happened. Blazer fans need to get over the notion they will get any more unprotected 1st's more than 2-3 years out. The Lakers aren't dumb enough to trade any unprotected 1st for Grant considering their available 1st's are 5 and 7 years away when Lebron will be 45 & 47 and AD would be 36 & 38. Grant just doesn't move a needle that much greedy. Blazers won't get Black AND the unprotected 1st. I don't believe there's a chance they could get the unprotected 1st in any event. Still too high a chance Orlando could end up in the lottery. Portland might, maybe, have enough leverage to get a top-10 protected 1st if it's Anthony and Harris coming from Orlando is Houston desperate for another backup C? They have Sengun, Adams, and Landale. Would they really view Timelord as enough of an upgrade over Landale and Adams to think Whitmore was a fair price to pay....instead of, for example, a couple of 2nd's? Especially considering that Timelord has managed to play in 23 of the last 128 games; and 58 of the last 210 games? ************************************** something else to keep in mind: a year from this July, Sharpe & Rupert will be due for new contracts...at the same time that Simons, Ayton, and Timelord will be due for new contracts. If your trades came to pass, a year after, Scoot, Camara, Murray, Black, and Whitmore would all be due their rookie extensions. And the following year, it would be Clingan in other words, in a one year period, Ayton, Simons, Timelord, Sharpe, Rupert, Scoot, Camara, Murray, Black, and Whitmore....10 players, would all be free agents. What have you seen from Cronin that makes you think he'll handle that kind of pressure well enough to make good decisions?
Udoka loves Williams especially for playoffs. Williams for Tari Eason & Jeff Green Greens salary dump Tari's a good young player who value will go up.
I'm not sure. The rumor over the summer was that they offered a first and we said no. Supposedly Joe wanted two firsts. So do you think that they A) didn't offer a first, B) they did and we didn't accept, or C) Grant's value has tanked so badly that we can no longer get a first for him? The Lakers are in 5th. They could make a run this year. Grant could help them. If they could get him for a FRP and filler, I don't see why they wouldn't do it. Yeah, I was playing around with Orlando trade ideas and I think at this point we'd get filler and a first, which I'm fine with. The upcoming contracts have been on my mind. Particularly Sharpe. Not sure what we're going to do.
obviously we don't know what was said be either side. If Joe was asking for two 1st's he's either an idiot or didn't want to trade Grant anyway, especially considering the Laker situation with their future 1st's if the Lakers actually made an offer I'd imagine, at most, it was a lottery protected 1st with only a 1 year conveyance window the problem(s) from the Laker POV, IMO, were their 2nd apron issue and that Grant was not much of an upgrade over Rui. In fact, over the last 2 seasons Rui has been a better 3 point shooter and a better rebounder. On paper, Grant's advantage appears to be as a create-his-own-offense player. But, last season, on isolation plays, Grant was only in the 22nd percentile and that has collapsed to the 5th percentile this season. Grant isn't much of a needle mover and I'd imagine the Lakers would need a needle-mover to even begin considering sending an unprotected pick
I do that in a minute. Three more years of Grant gone an expiring back and sure, only a 2nd round pick but I still do it. Cut the strings. Cut the strings.
I still don't get why people are so quick to move Rob. He is the ideal backup C, he's not too old and his contract isn't too bad. Split the minutes with DC and hope they stay healthy. Send Ayton to whoever for whatever. Orlando seems like the perfect place for Ant. They need his shooting/scoring and they have enough defense around him to cover. Black and a filler is all it would take for me. Grant has value to the right team. Contenders will always value a good two way wing with a lot of versatility. Again, get whatever it takes in return. At this point, the best thing that could happen to this team is addition by subtraction. Get the young guys all the minutes possible. Figure out the next HC that will develop the talent and teach them how to win. This team feels frustratingly close to being a team to be excited about.
Because his knees could detonate at any moment. He's worth the risk for a playoff team because he's really good when he's healthy, but for us it makes no sense. His career could end tomorrow. We need to turn him into an asset while he's healthy.
Rob by far my favorite of all the vets. Sure he might get hurt, but then that's just more minutes for our youth. If we can get a FRP I'd certainly trade him though. I kind of expect he won't fetch that and will stay here which I'm fine with.
Yeah, I expect to see Deandre still here. I could see him used to match salary if we're using draft assets to bring in a young star we like on their first max extension. That being said, I don't see Joe actually "pushing all of his chips in" on anything ever. The dude is so risk averse and seems to have no vision. I hope he pulls off some stuff in the next week that makes all of my statements about how badly he's done his job since getting it, look really stupid. That would be the best.
I agree he is on the conservative side. I do not have a problem with that. But that doesn't mean he does not have a plan. Just because he is not all in on a tank job, doesn't mean he does not have a vision. Once Grant is gone he will have the youngest roster in the NBA. He has put together a young core of Scoot, Shae, Camara, Deni, and Clingan. Not great but not bad. And if this draft is as deep as everyone has been saying for the last year we will add another. I know we need a superstar.......we just finally need to get lucky.
I understand not liking JoeCro or how he builds the roster - but no vision? He told you exactly what the vision is - get more talented, get bigger. It's exactly what he has done since taking over. The Blazers are slowly getting more talent via both the draft and trades, and they are getting bigger. Sure, you can be upset about individual transactions / draft picks - but this team is much more talented overall and much bigger than the team he inherited. It is also super young and the talent is unrealized - which is not translating to wins yet, but the vision is clear as day and he is clearly executing on it.
