I think you way underestimate CJ's value. I'd say it's more likely that playing beside Dame negatively impacts his stats than helps them. We've seen consistently that his numbers go up when Dame is injured. I do agree with you that he is not the right player for the Blazers to have as their second near-max contract for all of the reasons that we've discussed on this board ad nauseum. I just have a sunnier opinion of what we could reap in exchange for him than you do.
ok. I get what you're saying; I just don't agree with it you say Portland can't "regress". To that I say, why not? What is Portland really protecting? Their status as a pretender? another flawed team with no chance to compete for the title? A team always on the cusp of luxury tax because of CJ's contract? A team with very limited flexibility? A team who makes it out of the first round once every 3 or 4 years? are those really good reasons to avoid taking any significant risks? I don't think so. Portland is an above average team, sure. But all that means, IMO, is that they are stuck on an above average treadmill. It's still a treadmill don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for Portland making a bad trade. But I am starting from a point of saying the Blazers don't have nearly as much to lose as some believe. They really aren't in that good a spot, not when you look around the league. And we're not talking about trading CJ for a 16th or 13th pick. We were talking about trading him for a 1st pick. Many times a team has to take one or two steps back in order to get on a better path forward. A #1 pick, at least theoretically, offers the opportunity for a better path forward than what they are on right now
people always bring that up about CJ's numbers without Dame what they don't talk about is Dame's numbers without CJ. They go up considerably too. Free both of them by trading CJ as far as the sunnier opinion about CJ's trade value....we're talking about a #1 pick for CJ; considering what we noted about Dame and CJ playing without each other, I'm not sure how much more you'd want for CJ then that
How much immediate impact do you expect out of the #1 pick in this year’s draft? There aren’t any Zions this year. We need immediate impact players to fit Dame’s window, not prospects.
Or trade him for a equivalent player that fits better with Dame. A SF or dominant PF would be ideal. Trent and Hood would be fine at SG.
The question posed was would I trade CJ for the first pick in this draft and the very easy answer for me, because I really like Anthony Edwards is yes and it's so obvious. Even if Edwards isn't ready to play right away which I doubt is the case but if he's not we still don't have to take a step back. We would still have a starting back court of Dame and Gary... I actually think that is a better starting back court than Dame and CJ... it's so much better defensively and Gary won't stop ball movement so much. Regardless of that the trade (that would take another trade to pull off) would free up $20 million in cap space. I think with that cap space and just having a team that makes sense around Dame we would take a step forward next season, not a step back. All of that and we would have a potential superstar in Edwards. If the trade for us is CJ for the first pick, straight up, it's an absolute no brainer.
I just don’t see how a player who shot 40% from the field and 29% from three as the primary scorer on a 5-13 SEC team can be considered anything other than a project. Agree to disagree.
I get what you're saying. Part of my hesitation is that I don't know much about Edwards other than a few clips and a couple of pre-draft write-ups I've seen. If the powers that be say he's the next Dwayne Wade, who am I to say differently? OTOH, one guy expressed concern about him seeming to take some plays off. I don't disagree with your comment that the backcourt doesn't take much of a dip with Gary, and he's certainly a better defender than CJ. My counter would be that getting a better SF or PF doesn't negate any of what you say about the backcourt, but the better SF or PF should actually make the team better immediately as opposed to simply not slipping back. Since this all pure conjecture anyway, I'll just say that it's an interesting idea.
Stats from the Bubble say Trent isn’t a good defender, so replacing bad with possibly mediocre while giving up CJ’s ball-handling and ability to create offense had better be offset by another very good player who can initiate the offense. Dwayne Wade is a very high bar for Edwards to reach and if that’s the expectation, wow, I already feel bad for him when he struggles and the Blazers lose a few games in a row. Edwards isn’t known for his defense, BBIQ, or shooting, so ... his arms are long, he’s built like a linebacker, and he’s uber-athletic? Here is an article talking about his weakness right now as a prospect. He’s not at all a complete player now and has a lot of work to do during his rookie contract to play a key role on a title team. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...134535/anthony-edwards-nba-draft-2020-georgia
I didn't check but they have two max already and now that i think about it it makes CJ even worse as an option for them. A 3rd huge contract for a 3rd terrible defender.
No, if James Johnson opts in, which he will they will only have like fifteen million in cap space to absorb CJ's contract... that's like another fifteen million short. I actually don't even know if they'll have that much because the around nine million for the first pick would be a cap hold by the time they would have that space, I think. Bottom line is that right now they have 94 million on the books for next season when you count Johnson (which is a given) and the cap is only projected to be like 109 mil or something like that. All of that said, who the fuck knows what the league, salary cap, trade rules, luxury tax, exceptions or anything will look like next season.
