My big swings would be: 1. Ant to the Magic for Anthony Black and Cole Anthony, swinging big on upside of Black. 2. The worst of the 2029 FRPs, and our 2031 FRP top ten protected and becomes our 2031 SRP if not conveyed for Jarace Walker. I'm not trying to skip ahead on this rebuild. We add young players who still have upside but haven't quite lived up to it yet. Adding Black and Walker gives us two more big swings at guys with all star upside who are the same timeline as the current core of Scoot, Shaedon, Tou, Deni and Clingan that I hope we are building around. Hopefully we would be able to get rid of Jerami without taking on anything negative and hopefully we could move Deandre along with a second or two without taking on too much bad salary. I'd also hope that we draft a small ball 5 that can stretch the floor and be a good guy to offset the things that Clingan lacks. If we're at 9 we could trade back to the Hawks at 14 and 24, so we could pick up Rasheer Fleming and a swing for the fences type like Noah Penda.
Okay so firstly fuck Cole Anthony. I hate that guy. Dirty piece of shit. Second, these aren’t bad trades but I wouldn’t call them BIG SWINGS.
I think just the opposite. Our biggest asset is our 2 ending contracts. Not because of those two players, but simply getting out of a long contract such as Zion's. In particular, Ayton's as it would match Zion's contract if done during the draft. (or at least close to it) Then you throw in this year's lottery pick and the Bucks' non-protected pick, and that could be 2 lottery picks plus taking on a huge contract. Grant, on the other hand, would not accomplish as much IF the other team's goal was to get rid of salary and add picks. Is that enough? Maybe not, but it gets us in the discussion.
just checked, expiring contracts next season higher than MLE: Kevin Durant $54,708,609 LeBron James $52,627,153 Fred VanVleet $44,886,930 Kyrie Irving $43,962,963 De'Aaron Fox $37,096,620 Deandre Ayton $35,550,814 James Harden $36,346,154 CJ McCollum $30,666,666 Julius Randle $30,935,520 Khris Middleton $33,296,296 Kristaps Porziņģis $30,731,707 John Collins $26,580,000 Anfernee Simons $27,678,571 Tobias Harris $26,634,146 Jaren Jackson Jr. $23,413,395 Terry Rozier $26,643,031 Mikal Bridges $24,900,000 Marcus Smart $21,586,855 Nikola Vučević $21,481,481 Jakob Poeltl $19,500,000 Duncan Robinson $19,888,000 Norman Powell $20,482,758 Jusuf Nurkić $19,375,000 Harrison Barnes $19,000,000 Rui Hachimura $18,259,259 Kevin Huerter $17,991,071 Zach Collins $18,080,496 P.J. Washington $14,152,174 Dorian Finney-Smith $15,378,480 Jordan Clarkson $14,285,714 Naz Reid $15,022,464 Daniel Gafford $14,386,320 that's about 900M in expiring contracts...close to a billion in expiring contracts. I don't believe Portland's expiring contracts give the Blazers the leverage you imagine
The MO of this team seems to be small to medium moves that are heavily conservative. They seem to have a major fear of making a bad move. Joe "Paralysis by Analysis" Cronin.
Get me some more medium swings if it’s going to Deni’s. I like the Jarace Walker and Black swings. Toss in a side of Johnny Furphy from Indiana. Ayton and Ant’s contracts aren’t (or shouldn’t be) other teams wanting to cut salary. The Blazers getting filler contracts back that are with one year left AND young prospects and/or draft capital is the thing. Better fits. Grant needs to go where he would help AND where they send back smaller, shorter contracts with some sweeteners. The Lakers are well suited for that. Milwaukee with Middleton was one I looked at before his exile to Washington. If KM opts in with the Wizards, then a 3-teamer with the Blazers getting KM … [KM is getting a bit washed at 33 due to injury but would be a vet off the bench for a year.] Shaedon Sharpe for Dyson Daniels (the primary pieces) is a smaller $$$ cost but serious swing. Shaedon has the higher ceiling (on O) and seems like a Hawks dude. Daniels is doubling down on D with some O.
Zion seems like the most likely to be moved....just not sure where and for what. Depending on how they do, I could see HOU moving Smith for more veteran pieces. There has been a tiny bit of chatter about Grant going there and Ime loves RW3.
This team desperately needs scoring. So trading Sharpe for Daniels doesn’t make sense. Deni is a really good player but a true big swing is for a star. Someone who can elevate the team to contender status. Deni might be that guy. It’s hard to say yet. I actually don’t think there’s a lot of Deni type trades out there. Joe keeps making these sneaky trades for guys like Deni and Tou and those are great but a big swing would be Zion. It could work out or it could blow up in our face.
That is a great list, thanks for doing that. Now trim it down to just the players that their teams don't want to keep, and then trim it again to the teams that don't have two potential lottery picks to offer. The Bucks' unprotected pick is huge. The list will still be pretty long, but all I said was it would get us in the discussion.
Memphis flames out in the 1st round, and they tire of Ja's antics. Ant gives them a 1 year stopgap to test drive, and they get their PG of the future. Portland thinks they need a "star", so they add one who'll get out and run with Sharpe, Tou and Deni. Atlanta flames out in the play-in tournament, and decides to hand the keys over to Jalen Johnson, and get a younger cheaper PG to go along with him, Daniels and Risacher. Portland thinks they need a "star", so they add one who'll do a good job getting everyone involved, while also being able to put up 20 a night with ease.
Trae is interesting. He’s basically Simons on steroids. I just wonder about his attitude and limitations on defense.
I don't like that, for a guy that seems like a good shooter, he's...not, really. Career 35% from 3. Like you, I'd also worry about his defense.
the picks would get Portland into the discussion more than the expiring contracts would on one hand you're saying you wouldn't trade Simons and Ayton for 2nd round picks; above you're saying, or at least strongly implying, that the Blazers don't want to keep them?
Eww, that's going back to the Dame era with a real defensive liability you have to play. I would rather have the big swing that scoot can make another jump in performance over that I also doubt that is something the current FO wants, same with Billups who was just extended My gut feeling is the only obvious big swing the blazers do is Zion if he becomes available
Now that Billups is back for better or worse I am not going to be specific cause until we know where the team is drafting we have no idea who might and might be realistic or not. However i stand by destroying Nate's list cause it was silly at best BUT to be fair that type of player is what they need to go after but maybe a half notch lower. I am just not sure who will need to do my own research and such but it might be going after a Deni like type player who has shown flashes but for whatever reason they might not fit into that team's plans. I will go over rosters and see what I can come up with at some point not sure when but i know it will be better then Nate's list -- LOL
