I think the plan is to trade the pick

Ant to ORL, KCP and Denver pick to Chicago, Huerter and Portland pick to PDX

Grant for Middleton and a 2nd rounder or some shit. He and Poole can chuck together.

Ayton to NO, Zion to Brooklyn, Cam Johnson and Rob Williams and PDX pick to Sacramento, Domas Sabonis to PDX.

Sign Davion Mitchell.

Then surround Sabonis with a bunch of nasty physical defenders that can cut, pray to God some of our players learn to shoot, and roll out lineups that rely primarily on creation by Sabonis or Deni.

Scoot / Mitchell
Sharpe / Thybulle / Rupert
Camara / Huerter / Middleton
Deni / Camara / Walker
Sabonis / Clingan / Reath

 

Keegan?

 

I sure hope Joe isn't as in love with the idea of Domas being on this supposed defense first roster as some of you guys are. No thank you.

 

In a perfect world, which stars would fit this new identity?

Taking out Giannis/Jokic/SGA/Wemby/LeBron/Curry

Tatum - not getting traded
Brown - not getting traded
Jaren Jackson Jr - probably not getting traded and we really don't need him.
Mobley - not getting traded
Edwards - not getting traded
Cunningham - not getting traded
Sengun - not getting traded
Luka - not getting traded

Stars I don't want
Mitchell
Garland
Towns
Siakam
Herro
Brunson
Anthony Davis
Durant
Harden
Kyrie
Trae

So who else is left?

Booker
Morant (don't want him)
Bam?
Franz Wagner? (I don't think they'd deal him)
Zion? Depends on the price
LaMelo? (dude can't stay healthy)
Markkanen? No thanks

Then there's some young guys out there that are interesting.

Jabari Smith Jr.
Kuminga

 

Awesome list, but one question

Why have a “stars I don’t want” category, then add Ja Morant to the “so who else is left” category……only to say you don’t want him. The fuck is wrong with you?!?!

In all seriousness, Smith jr is intriguing because he would be a nice small ball 5. Not sure how to get any player you named with giving up a good young player, and I truly believe we are kinda close to being a problem.

 

Is he a substantial upgrade over Deni/Tou?

 

Murray twins coming in off the bench would be cool.

 

He is not

 

That's a downgrade.

 

He is maybe a downgrade from DeniTou

 

Wrong question at this point.
Is he an upgrade over Grant?

 

He's due for an extension right? I was all for it at the deadline, but don't see giving up rebuilding assets for him if they're tearing it down, only to have to turn around and offer him what he thinks he might be worth.

 

So the question for me is, what does Houston want/need?

Looking at their depth chart, I would either let VanVleet walk and save his 44 million or trade his ending contract and Smith for Durant.
(plus picks)

And if they are not interested in Durant, then I would start Amen at PG next to
Green, Brooks, Smith, and Sengun. Then bring Eason off the bench.

I would be interested in Smith, but I think they need him either for their team or for Durant.

 

I guess Cronin/Kolde have been somewhat successful in conditioning the fan-base to not expect any major swing at the fences

I thought people were giddy about the prospect of Avdija/Camara as the starting forwards now and of the future. And we're now talking about Keegan Murray, Jabari Smith, and Jonathon Kuminga? Are any of those 3 actually good enough to push one of Avdija/Camara to the bench? if not, why would the Blazers trade a top-10 pick for any of them? (by the way, Kuminga is RFA this summer, so he's a poor target anyway)

even if it's a 10th pick, the Blazers shouldn't waste it by trading for yet another role player. That's not to say whoever they draft wouldn't be one. But at least with the pick there's a chance of adding a player who might be a future all-star. I don't think that's the case with Murray-Smith-Kuminga

targeting Zion would be a major swing; ignoring red flags and targeting Morant would be a major swing. The risks of moves like that may very well be way too high, but that's the types of targets Portland should consider giving up assets for, even if they ultimately reject the effort. Guys like Murray and Smith aren't even worth considering at this point

 

Nah. I already know the answer to that one.

 

This is why I loved Bob Whitsitt. He would take a big fucking swing. He would take a risk on a player with a checkered past. Someone like JR Rider.

Morant is a JR Rider.

Zion or LaMelo are a different kind of problem.

Trae would be the kind of scoring engine that we need.... but he's so small and also kind of a dick.

I'm not really excited about any of them but I can see the appeal.

 

Speaking of Zion…

The Pelicans tried hard to land Scoot at the draft but were rebuffed — the package did not include Zion.

Do we revisit this idea for Zion if he passes a comprehensive physical?

 

I wouldn't. I see things from Scoot that can land him as a top notch point guard in the league. He wasn't always consistent but how many 21 year olds are?

Trading your #3 pick from just a couple years ago for an oft-injured talent is peak how to ruin your rebuild really quick.

 

I'd happily take Sabonis - but thats about it.

I think Sabonis would actually be very good for us - we have the defensive wings to cover for him. Clingan is the prefect tag team center partner. Scoot is pretty good defensively. With Sabonis we don't need Ant though. You can cover for one very bad defender in a rotation - but not two.

 

Yeah if we can flip Ant for Morant I'd be all over that. The Grizzlies are itching for changes.
Trade Ayton and multiple picks for Sabonis

Morant Scoot
Sharpe Banton
Camara Thybulle
Deni Grant
Sabonis Clingan

I'd be very excited to see that lineup next season