At this point it's going to require the Philly fans storming the owner's house and demanding he make the trade, and then the owner telling Morey to do it, because there's no way Morey makes that trade unless he's forced to. Also - "and fillers"? Their salaries match. At this point it's straight up or nothing, bitches.
You hit the nail on the head. I've got a gut feeling CJ is going to have a career year under Billups tutelage. I love CJ. But this IS an op to get a player, under contract for 4 years, that along with our Generational talent Dame, could take us to the Apex of basketball. That doesn't come around often for , arguably, The Best City in the NBA, that Superstars don't want to come to. Sadly that's just the way it is. So as much as i'm torn on this, i have to agree with what you're saying.
Cleveland is apparently the other team (besides Minnesota) most actively pursuing Simmons: https://hoopswire.com/dribbles-ben-simmons-to-the-cavs-lets-discuss/ Getting Rubio back as part of the trade makes a lot of sense for Philly. He's an even better passer than Simmons, is pretty good defensively and has actually learned how to shoot over the years. If the Cavs offered this, Philly should probably take it:
Not saying I want to do that just saying that’s what I think will happen. Cj’s obviously not enough for Simmons or deal would be done makes to much sense for both teams so think they’ll be 3 team deal that will move CJ not sure to who but that’s how I see it going down
so...you see Portland trading CJ in a Simmons trade, just not for Simmons? hard to see that, especially if Philly feels CJ is not a good enough return. That would imply that from Philly's perspective, there would be two players better than CJ moving in a 3 way deal: Simmons and player X. And Portland gets player X? What does Philly get?
Can I get an "amen!" CJ for Simmons may not be a homerun for Philly, but it is a low-risk move. It may be that the pro-Simmons folks are right and it is a high reward deal for us. It is also high-risk! The more assets the Blazers pour into this deal, the higher the risk. I know some people just flat refuse to believe it, but the high volume of talk about Simmon's bad attitude can't all be lies. Remember the Butler saga? Do you want the Blazers to reprise the role of the TWolves or Philly?
I wonder as well? Ask yourself this. Would CJ be an All Star in the east with Embiid? Would Simmons be an All Star in the west with Dame? I honestly don't think Simmons would make the All Star team in the west. I think there is a very good chance CJ would make the All Star team in the east but not certain?
CJ would hands down make the All Star team in the East. Just my opinion. He would become a marketing bonanza out East as well.
CJ & Boucher to PHI Siakam & Thybulle to POR Simmons & Nurk to TOR Of course, If I'm Philly, I just trade for Siakam rather than involving Portland.
Joel Embiid Kevin Durant James Harden Kyrie Irving Giannis Khris Middleton Jrue Holiday Julius Randle Trae Young Jimmy Butler Bam Adebayo Jayson Tatum Jalen Brown Bradley Beal Domantas Sabonis Malcolm Brogdon Zach LaVine Pascal Siakam Jerami Grant RJ Barrett John Collins Terry Rozier Gordon Hayward Lamelo Ball Lonzo Ball Fred Van Vleet OG Anunoby Colin Sexton this "CJ would be an all-star in the East" narrative comes up over and over. I've asked before which 9 players on the top list CJ is clearly better than and would bump, as well as hold off all of the young guns off that 2nd list. Never get an answer and don't expect a realistic answer now what I do get back is chatter about how CJ performs without Dame; but that completely skips the context of CJ's extremely high usage rate in those games and him 'leading the league in FGA'. Which poses the question of just how good any team would be with CJ as the #1 option in the top-5 of the league in FGA's for instance, if CJ was traded to Philly for Simmons, he'd be replacing a player who averaged 4 less FGA's than CJ did for Portland. Further, Dame + Powell averaged 33 FGA/game. Embiid + Harris averaged 33 FGA/game. So where exactly is CJ going to get these extra shot opportunities? From Embiid and Harris who are both more efficient shooters? From Curry? Where? more than that is that Philly would have to assign CJ the job of running the offense which could easily reduce his shot opportunities...he's sure as hell not Dame after all. Which would be a giant leap of faith because Simmons has a career average assist rate of 34.5% while CJ is at 17.5%. In fact, this could explain why Philly seems so reluctant to try and replace Simmons with CJ...they don't believe CJ can adequately replace Simmons in running a team....a pretty reasonable conclusion in any event, the notion that CJ would be a cinch for the all-star game in the East seems to ignore realities
of course, that would make for an interesting offense; Embiid, Siakam, & Harris each glaring at the other two because they can't, or won't, pass the ball
I guess that is why I didn’t say he would be a cinch to be an All Star. What I said was pretty clear. I think there is a very good chance but I’m not certain. CJ would get that kind of usage. You also don’t have to push all those players. Injuries and the quality of the season plus record all come into play. CJ with Embiid playing on a contender in the east might get him a spot?
Tell me you have those posts in a bookmarked file, and you don't type that all out EVERY time someone mentions CJ and all star in east. Lol
