Game Thread 2024-25 GAME #53 - BLAZERS @ TWOLVES - 2/8 - SATURDAY - 5:00 PM - CHARGE - KUNP - BLAZERVISION

he turns 21 in 2 weeks and ranks 23rd in his class in average minutes; 6 of the players averaging more minutes than him are C's. And we heard several rumors leading up to the trade deadline that the Blazers wanted Timelord and were reluctant to move him. And Timelord has averaged more minutes than Clingan so far

I agree that by itself that isn't a top concern, even though being a 7th pick elevates the concern level. But his situation is definitely welded to the biggest concern for Portland and that's paying Ant-Grant-Ayton-Timelord 102M for the 8 wins they have added (according to winshares; I think it's 9 or 10) and what that has done to Portland's lottery odds

 

What I noticed most was Grant's two crucial turnovers...

 

Jesus Christ, this again?

 

To be fair, he wasn't doing much better.

The reason Anfernee is taking minutes away from Shaedon is that you're surprised when Anfernee's threes miss, whereas you're relieved when Shaedon's go in.

 

Signed, Charlotte.

 

Don't think anybody is saying we should have taken him at #7.... But I'd rather have him than Timelord who is averaging 6mpg across all Blazer games this season.

 

How anyone can say this without knowing if it was possible is beyond me. What if other teams demanded draft picks to take them off our hands? (Less likely with Williams, but given what just happened with Mark Williams, who know if he can even pass a physical any more?)

Show me the cast-iron reporting that (a) there was a genuine offer that (b) didn't fuck us over and you are entitled to make this particular complaint. Otherwise... well, there are plenty of actually valid complaints to make.

 

I am reminded of the one quarter when Martell Webster went off and Klay Thompson said something to the effect of "we would've been fine if what's-his-name hadn't gone crazy"

 

Curse that deceiving faker by actually playing well for an extended period of time. What a cunning devil.

 

There was tons of reporting last summer about the Lakers offering one first for Grant. Are you telling me we shouldn’t have taken it?

Also plenty of reporting that teams liked Rob but the rumors were for second round picks. Cronin wanted an unprotected first.

But short of teams making us pay to move them, they should have been done.

 

As the Lakers have zero cap space, we would've had to take back players and I hate everything the Lakers would've offered more than I hate Grant on our team.

 

Give Scoot the minutes and he will pick his spots to score. like 36 minutes, not 26.

 

No Edwards, no Conley, no Randle, no DiVinzinzo, no problem. Portland still couldn’t beat their bench.

 

Bare minimum, it opens up an MLe, which Portland could use for someone who fits better or they can flip for some value to recoup down the line. With them being so against the tax, they've completely limited their options.

 

- Lakers reached out to Portland for Rob Will before trading a haul for Mark Williams, who is just a injury prone.
- The Lakers, after months of discussions on Grant and RWIII, knew we wouldn't trade him straight up for Gabe Vincent or Jarred Vanderbilt
- The Lakers have no 2nd round picks to offer

So what do you think they were offering exactly? Only conclusion is it was one of thr things they gave up for Mark Williams, all of which have value and should've been accepted for a center who barely plays and can't stay healthy.

You can always play this "don't know what was offered" game with Cronin's inactivity. But when it happens over and over and over and over again, at what point does it stop?

 

Your and my definitions of "haul" are clearly different. Immediately after the trade most commentators were crowing about how the Lakers had fleeced another team.

(a) you don't know what was offered, don't pretend you do
(b) it would have to be both of them at least for the salaries to work and
(c) These are probably the best players the Lakers would offer and Vincent is useless and Vanderbilt is more injury-prone than Timelord (and at best duplicates a type of which we have a surfeit)

"At some point we are FORCED to speculate wildly about things about which we know nothing!"

 

The only logical conclusion is they weren't going to only offer Portland stuff they clearly would've articulated to them over months of negotiations that they have no interest in. You have to either believe Portland and them hadn't had extensive conversations over the past few months (very unlikely given reports) or that the Lakers felt like wasting everyone's time with a package they knew wasn't good enough less than 24 hours before the deadline (also very unlikely).

If the Lakers trading all they did for an injury prone center was a "fleece", then I'm sure they would've given up one of the three assets they did for Rob Williams. They had reported interest in RWIII, asked about him before the Mark Williams trade, and were desperate for a center. It's on Cronin to convert in that situation, clearly, he didn't. Robert Williams barely plays for Portland, so even 2nd round picks was a justifiable return for him. Cronin wasn't able to get that?

If you don't think he could negotiate an acceptable package in the perfect scenario to trade RWIII, then I question his ability to negotiate said packages properly.

I'm so tired of Cronin being excused constantly with "we don't know for sure he could actually do better, so therefore he gets a pass". You can use that excuse every time a GM is inactive, and therefore, always think inactivity is excusable.

 

At least it wasn't just against us:

 

The Twolves seem to be better with Naz Reid than Randle in the starting lineup. I am guessing JR will not re-sign there.