But theres no point in trading for a max contract center unless he makes a big impact. So either he's not worth the trade or we're better and our pick is likely noticeably worse. Just not a fan of that. I'm okay with keeping Nurkic short-term though.
For the next iteration of the Blazers, I dont want guys with questionable mentalities. I want competitive dudes that bring it consistently and have a chip on their shoulder. That you dont have to hope another player will "make them right" or that "this situation will be good for them". I want guys that create a good situation and are consistent, not a product of external factors. I'm embracing being bad in order to add players more in that vain through the draft, who have more upside than Ayton does at this point. Coupled with the wild cards that'd be future unprotected picks in a Dame trade, and that seems like the ideal path at this point.
Is there anyone that would be available for Herro that anyone can be excited about? I personally think Ayton has a chance to turn it around. And even if he didn’t his contract will be expiring or already expired, so it’s not really a salary issue. Does Ayton improving massively guarantee we win more games? I still think there’s a high chance we’re around the top 5 even with Ayton. I’m just hurt that Mitchell got Lauri, Sexton, and Ogbaji and we’re going to be stuck with a dude that barely played and a dude who has yet to play a game.
Is Ayton really on a max? Just doesn't seem that big or that significant. He makes ~$70 million over the following two seasons. LaMelo Ball has $250 million and Jaylen Brown over $300 million. Ayton last season is $24 million less than Lillard.
Did you mean top 5 lottery with improved Ayton on thr blazers? If that happens, it would be very disappointing 17-18 celtics starters: Kyrie, 25 y/o Tatum, rookie Brown, sophomore Horford, 31 y/o Aron Bynes (Hayward seasond ending injury 1st game) They were one game away from going to the NBA Finals Scoot Sharpe Nas/Tisse Jerami Ayton If that team goes top 5 lottery, Scoot and Sharpe are disappointments. Don't we have high hopes for these two, like All Rookie and baby Kobe?
Sure, we have high hopes for Shae and Scoot, that doesn’t mean we should be stupid with our expectations. You seriously aren’t comparing those two starting lineups, are you? One team had a guy who was the second best player on a championship team and a guy who was big contributor in maybe deep playoff runs. Tatum was a wing who could score as soon as he got drafted. Baynes was a role player that fit. I’d love to see Sharpe take as big of a leap as Jaylen did. We don’t know if Ayton will buy in. One team also made the playoffs the prior year, the other was bad enough to draft Scoot.
I can promise you guys, if we get Ayton, I give it a 2 years max before lots of people here start to complain about him. People talking about Nurk's defense, will feel the same way about Ayton. Ayton also lacks passion many times, as many complain about with Nurk. He lacks the ability to get pushed by a coach, there is many rumors of him not improving in the offseason and his love to stay up late and play video games. He complained he wasnt being used right by Monty. In short, its weird to see people bash Nurk but want Ayton when they both has similar traits that soured people on Nurk in the first place.
There are some attitude parallels, for sure. When it comes to offensive impact though, its a clear upgrade TS%: Nurkic - .546 (career) .589 (last year) Ayton - .622 (career) .617 (last year) FG% 0'-3' from the basket Nurkic - .645 Ayton - .806 (!) FG% 3'-6' from the basket Nurkic - .447 Ayton - .532
I don't think Ayton is an ideal target, I'd probably prefer Jarrett Allen or Claxton or a number of other centers instead. But doesn't sound like any of them are available for a similar price. If we're only giving up Nurk and spare parts while having salary space to absorb Ayton's deal with Dame's supermax gone I'm totally fine with it. Yeah I suspect I'll have frustrations with Ayton. He's 5 years younger than Nurk with some upside and more physical tools. His contract isn't really that bad anymore compared to the supermax or rookie extensions being handed out. Hell you've had posters here bitching about Dame's defense and ball hogging offense the last 10 years. Most players have a blend of positives and negatives; its the GM job to get the right balance of those players and the coaches job to design schemes. A center without Ayton shortcomings is either making even more money or would cost even more assets in a trade. I think fans will bitch about every Blazer here eventually. Rookie's like Scoot and Sharpe get 2-3 years of a honeymoon then they will get shit thrown at them too, just look at Ant.
It's just too bad that something like this wasn't able to be done months ago. I have to believe that would have prevented the Dame trade request, and I feel like the fan base would have been much more excited about the season to come.
I don't think the Raptors ever would have considered Ant for OG. OG is not worth #3 from the Blazers side. Some rumors were the Raptors may have even wanted Sharpe as well! I'm relieved the Blazers didn't do one of those moves as it'll be more likely we contend eventually with the Dame assets and rebuilding than continuing to run back mediocrity teams with Dame. We just didn't have the asset to build a contender with Dame, lets not make the same mistake for the next decade with Scoot/Sharpe.
Understood that Ujiri's overvaluing of his assets is why it never happened. Still, it would have been reasonable for all sides, and would have made this offseason much less turbulent
There's 2 things this forum does well. Complain about players and complain about made up unrealistic trade scenarios that didn't go down.
Ant for OG just isn't realistic. Might as well say it would've been better to add Embiid or Giannis this summer. It's also not just an Ujiri dynamic, there were 28 other teams to bargain with. Blazers didn't have the assets to build a contender around Dame, period. The actual assets that would have been needed (Scoot, Sharpe, multiple future 1sts, etc) just isn't worth the cost to build a non contender with Dame. Yes we might have some discomfort now especially for hardcore Dame fans, but long term its a far better direction. In that sense I'm very grateful we have the offseason we've had.
