Exclusive 2019 Trade Deadline Thread

The more I think about guys who might be available at the deadline Blake Griffin seems to be the guy I think would improve us the most. I really don’t know if they would have any interest in CJ and Blake is 30 but a Dame/Blake/Nurk Big 3 would be very formidable.



Probably need to add a 1 too. At that point is giving up 2 good peices and a pick for a 30 year old worth it?

 

I don't think Detroit is shopping Griffin.

 

If they're willing to trade him, I don't think itd take CJ.

 

I agree. Either they are keeping him and building around him or they are trading him to get out of his contract and tank. I don't really see a middle ground.

 

Quick has a trade deadline primer.

Can anyone (*nudge* @Scalma ) pleeeaeease post this? Thanks!

https://theathletic.com/776295/2019...lling-to-put-somebody-under-the-bus-to-do-it/

 

As the NBA trading deadline nears, none of the Trail Blazers players envy Neil Olshey, the team’s president of basketball operations.

As Damian Lillard and Evan Turner acknowledge, some tough decisions are ahead.

Lillard notes that as constructed, the Blazers can’t match the talent of teams like Golden State, Oklahoma City and Houston. But if Olshey tries to tinker or even shake up the roster to try and match those super teams, he will risk disrupting the team’s greatest strengths: continuity and chemistry.

“It’s a hard job,” Lillard said of Olshey. “And that’s why I’m glad it’s not mine.”

Added Turner: “That’s why Neil gets paid the big bucks.”

With Maurice Harkless still in-and-out of the lineup with knee soreness, and Jake Layman in the nascent stages of becoming a rotation player, the Blazers could use some depth at wing. Turner, meanwhile, said if one wants to nitpick, the Blazers could use a shot blocker. And the hot topic in Portland, and one that is growing around the league, is wondering whether Olshey will trade one of his most prized talents, CJ McCollum.

“What’s his name … Bill Simmons has been trying to get me traded for like five years,” McCollum said the day Simmons’ website The Ringer posed a McCollum for Aaron Gordon trade. “There’s a proposed trade for me three times a year by him. I admire the fact that he thinks I’m worthy of being traded to … 12 teams.”

But while fans may want change now, the future be damned, Lillard last week had an interesting viewpoint during two discussions with The Athletic: Because it is so hard to attract talent to Portland, maybe the best tactic is to stay the course and attack the super powers with something they don’t have: continuity.

“When you look around the league, you just see the talent. Teams are stacking up on talent,” Lillard said. “You see a lot of guys teaming up and guys wanting to be on the same team. When you want to compete with that — like on a championship level — you gotta try to fight that with firepower. For us, I think our chemistry, our style of play, and the coaching we have — that’s a big thing for us. So like, we lean on that. We’ve been successful with it. But when you talk about a championship level, it’s tough to compete with those ultra-talented teams — Golden State, Oklahoma City, teams that just have player after player after player.

“So you don’t want to go into the trade deadline just doing stuff to do it, then you break up something that was working for you,” Lillard said. “So I think you are almost better off taking your chances with ‘Let’s see if togetherness if going to beat the talent at some point.”’

Several times during his interview, Lillard cautioned that he wasn’t telling Olshey what to do, and that he would never suggest to management to make a move.

“I’ve never been somebody to go out there and be like, ‘We need to do this, or we need to do that’ because people’s lives are involved, and I don’t deal with that,” Lillard said.

At the same time, he says he has come to grips with the realities of playing in Portland. He seemed resigned to accept the Blazers will always be at a disadvantage against the teams that can attract big names.

“If we go away from (team chemistry and continuity), it has to be for certain that we are able to match them talent wise,” Lillard said. “I’m not saying ‘Do it’ if we can get that, I’m just saying if we are ever going to sacrifice (chemistry), it would have to come with us being able to match a team with talent, and that’s unlikely. It’s hard to get that much talent to come to Portland.”

The catch, of course, is that to get big-name talent in a trade, you have to give something in return, and the biggest lure the Blazers have right now is McCollum, one of Lillard’s closest friends. Lillard never brought up McCollum, but he was adamant that he would never sacrifice a teammate for his desire to win a championship.

“I’m going to go out there and get to the playoffs and put my best foot forward before I go out there and say (clicks his tongue) ‘Man, you need to go out there and get him instead of him.’ Because that’s not who I am,” Lillard said. “And I don’t care what nobody has to say about it. I’m not going to be the person to say I want to win a ring so bad and all I care about is winning.

“Because at the end of the day, I know in my heart I want to win. I want to win a championship for this city, but I’m not willing to put somebody under the bus to do it. That means more to me than saying ‘I won a championship!’ but now this guy has been traded to a bad situation, and now his team don’t like him as much and he might be out of the league in a year. I’m not going to have that. I’m not going to have that on me.”

Olshey, who declined to be interviewed, has always kept his cards close to the vest during his seven years in Portland. Shoot, even his players have a hard time deciphering his actions.

The last two drafts, three of Olshey’s four picks have been teenagers: Zach Collins, Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent.

“It seems like we are up and down of where we want to go,” Turner said. “You look at one half of the roster and it looks like a rebuild, and the other half is try-to-win, and see how far we can push it. So whatever he does, I’m sure he will do what’s best for the organization. Hopefully, if he does deal, it’s a deal you can’t say no to, as opposed to a flip of a coin whether it’s going to work or not.”

Olshey has been active at the deadline before. Some have been big moves: In 2017, he traded Mason Plumlee to Denver for Jusuf Nurkic and a first round pick that eventually became Collins. And in 2015 he acquired Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee from Denver for Will Barton, Thomas Robinson and Victor Claver and a first round pick. Others have been minor, acquiring backup point guard Eric Maynor in 2013 and backup point guard Brian Roberts in 2016.

What does Olshey have in store this season?

Chances are it won’t be major, because he has been married to McCollum, the team’s most expensive trade piece. Last February, The Oregonian reported that a source with knowledge of the Blazers’ thinking said McCollum would never be traded, and Olshey in the past has scoffed at the notion of breaking up his high-scoring backcourt.

Still, McCollum last week said he and other players are prepared for anything, knowing the NBA is a business.

“Is anyone safe?” McCollum asked. “Was Blake (Griffin) safe?”

If anything, the Blazers (28-19) are approaching the deadline in better position than the last two seasons. On Friday, they rolled past New Orleans 128-112 — the team that swept them in last year’s playoffs — and moved into third in the Western Conference.

“I like the way we are playing,” Lillard said. “Last year, when we starting playing well, I was having big game, big game, big game, big game. But this year, it’s not like that. I feel like I have been able to be just steady. I think I’ve been playing my best basketball, but I haven’t had to go above and beyond and come up big all the time. And that’s why I like it more.

“But we will see how it all works out.”

 

One of these days I will give in and just get that subscription. I know it. Thanks, as always, @Scalma

 

I still think a Prince/Dedmon for Leonard/pick trade makes sense. Olshey has to think about the summer, maybe even more so with how Layman is playing. He’s on track to get paid, and you also have Aminu to think about.

I like the idea of this rotation.

Dame
CJ
Layman/Prince
Aminu
Nurkic

Curry
Turner
Prince/Layman
Harkless
Collins

 

oof a lot to unpack here. You gotta take Dame's undying loyalty at face value. He has never strayed from that aspect of his life.

But there is this:

A sort of resignation that a move HAS to be made.

I don't like this:

Will Dame eventually get to a stage where he will value a title more than loyalty? And if so, he seems more likely to ask out himself rather than get his boys traded.

 

As a journalist I am always a bit annoyed by the copy/paste of pay content to websites. Happens to me all the time. I mean, if we still want some coverage why not paying for it? And to be honnest, you can't say the subscription to The Athletic is THAT expensive, isn't it?

 

I empathize. @Scalma or mods, feel free to remove that article if you wish.

I used to subscribe to the NYT and I get it. But the way the Athletic went about monopolizing every market doesn't sit well with me. Especially given their VC backing. It annoys the hell out of me that they went into every market and got the most prominent writer and stuck their content behind a paywall. In the long run, this is actually worse for all those journalists to have their content behind a wall. They just don't seem to be realizing that.

Annnd in this climate, I can't justify paying $50 a yr just to read Jason Quick-- sorry. I probably will give in just like I did for league pass, but I'm holding off.

 

I do whatever I want with it, too bad if Quick doesn’t like it. And if the mods have a problem with it, they can delete it.

 

Very interesting interview. I think the one thing that is very clear is that Dame would be beyond fucking pissed if they trade CJ and don't get a "lot of fire power back". So CJ for Gordon......... is not happening. He wants to ADD firepower not replace one player for another that does not move the needle.

“So you don’t want to go into the trade deadline just doing stuff to do it, then you break up something that was working for you,” Lillard said. “So I think you are almost better off taking your chances with ‘Let’s see if togetherness if going to beat the talent at some point.”’

 

I don't think he's talking about CJ here. Those two don't have that much chemistry on the court as is. I think he's referring to the role guys who might not be in the league if traded to another team.

 

For future though, if youre really desperate to read an athletic article, just download the app and sign up for a free trial using your email. They don’t ask for credit card info or anything.

 

I would submit it hasn't been working. Maybe in the regular season it has had a modicum of success but certainly not in the Playoffs. The last time the Blazers won 2 games or more in the 2nd round of a Playoff series was....1999-2000. An occasional 1st round win is nice but you need to at least compete in the 2nd round to have any hopes of being a contender for the most part.

The 'chemistry' isn't doing much.

 

That is an interesting perspective Yuyuza.....although I think you are 100% wrong.
I am guessing that Dame does not see it that way at all.

 

I would submit that just because Dame sees it a certain way doesn't mean it is correct. Dame things Stotts is a 'great' coach. Serious misuse of the word.

 

Stats back it up.

Of all the 2 man lineups that have played at least 100 mins this season, here are the best duos with either Dame/CJ on the court:

CJ + Seth -- +13.9
Dame + Seth -- +11.5
Dame + Nurk -- +9.1
CJ + Nurk -- +8.7
CJ + Jake -- +7.5
Dame + Jake -- +7.3
Dame + Aminu -- +6.0
Dame + Moe-- +5.8
Dame + CJ -- +5.4

So pretty much the worst duo among all the starters. And also one that has played the most minutes together this season. Obviously some flaws to this stat as there are 3 other guys on the floor, but there's enough sample size here to take away something.