Exclusive Blazer Trade Ideas From Other Teams' Forums

It was buried in the Hawk's game thread on Reddit. I don't care to go back and dig it up, sorry. Link for the thread in "The Other Side" thread though if you wanna go look.

 

I haven't been that impressed with Prince in the last few games I have watched him play as it seems like similar inconsistent production we already get at that position. If there is one guy I wish we could get and that would be Jaylon Brown.

 

Is Nards still a bad contract?
If you factor in the entire length of the contract sure.
But for about a year now Nards has looked like an NBA role player. He still has about half a season to go as well.
I get it, I really do Nards isn't a favorite frankly he's not a favorite of mine either.
But for everything Nards isn't. He certainly looks like a backup Center in todays NBA who makes 10mil per.

Honestly, I don't think anyone could name 10 backup Centers who are clearly better than him.
I'm not against trading him, in fact I'm pretty neutral on it. I'm just asking a question.

 

Yes, anyone who makes over $10 million and isn't a big part of the core is on a bad contract. Harkless is too inconsistent. Leonard has been fine but we'd be in a better position financially this summer without his contract. ET isn't worth anywhere close to $18 million next year. If you have a chance to get rid of all 3 of those guys without adding much in terms of assets you take it.

 

Yes, because a move like that combined with getting rid of ET allows him a chance to make up for 2016 this summer.

Other teams like the Nuggets had to attach multiple picks to guys like Arthur, Faried, and Chandler to get rid of them and they were all expiring. I would have to give Olshey credit if he got rid of 2 similar contracts with a half a year left without giving any picks or assets up.

 

Okay, so I found the quote I mentioned earlier on Reddit. I just went back and looked for it.

A Blazer fan comes in and asks about a trade, and the Hawks Moderator (EDIT: not one of the mods, just a veteran member) answers him (in bold):

He doesn't say where he got this or from whom. So take it for what you will.

 

Collins isn't ready for minutes at the 5 in the NBA.
Len is a meme.
Prince doesn't offer much more than Harkless/Layman.
I wouldn't even say Lin > Curry. As I believe the only thing Lin is clearly better than Curry at is passing.
Curry > Lin

So it's a move to cut salary to do what with it. Sign Sauce to a bigger deal?
Hope and pray a player like Mario Hezonja or Parsons chooses Portland over NYK/Mem?

I'm not trying to poopoo the trade scenario as you're allowed to be for the trade.
I'm just not seeing the incentive for Portland to make this deal. Help?
But then again I don't see the incentive to play Simons minutes like people were calling for earlier in the season.
As he can get just as many reps in practice and not cost Portland games in the process by taking minutes from lillard/cj/curry and right now Layman.

 

I don't have time to type it all out now but these questions have been answered time and time again in some of the trade threads. I'll try to explain it more later.

 

I'll just answer this in order...

As much as I want Collins to be our PF of the future, he has had some of his best moments this year playing as the center with the 2nd unit without Leonard in the game. While Leonard has been fine I think playing them together is stunting the growth of Collins slightly.

Len is strictly for salary matching purposes. He's a capable backup in spot minutes but hopefully his stint on the team would be short term or him going to a 3rd team as part of the trade.

Prince has some skill and untapped potential. I think he's the type of player who would thrive as a role player on a good team instead of being asked to do a lot on a tanking team. He's got a smooth looking shot, can bring the ball up the floor, can create a little, makes some good passes, and is a decent defender. Even if he was exactly the same as Harkless he's under contract for $3.48 million next year versus Harkless at $11.51 million. So way less money plus a slight chance of breakout potential I'll choose every time. After next season he'd be a restricted free agent so if he plays well we can keep him long term. Harkless will be an unrestricted free agent and can just leave.

I'm not sure why you're comparing Lin to Curry. They would both play as part of our 2nd unit so we don't have to choose one over the other. Ideally for me we'd trade Turner too in a separate deal which would mean a 2nd unit of Lin, Curry, and Layman at the 1-3 positions.

Here is where we get into the financial reasons behind trades like this. Ever since the summer of 2016 every move the Blazers have made has been because of cap/tax issues whether it is to avoid paying tax like the Vonleh/Crabbe trades or not being able to use the MLE in 2017 or letting a big trade exception expire. It restricts the percentage you can take back in a trade and makes it so taking back more salary in a trade actually costs a lot more in tax than just the difference in contracts. Eliminating just one of the Turner, Leonard, or Harkless contracts relieves almost all of that pressure to avoid the tax. I know Portland hasn't had any luck signing free agents but this summer is going to be wild in terms of free agency. As much as 47% of the league could be free agents. Getting one of those contracts cleared frees up the Full-MLE instead of the Tax-MLE which is almost double what we can offer. It could be the difference between getting a mid-tier free agent and getting someone like Stauskas. Plus with the ownership situation it is probably best to not have to ask to pay luxury tax or go too crazy. This type of trade where we rid ourselves of 2 of the 3 contracts while adding similar replacements in Prince and Len plus whatever Lin gives us is a major win for the finances. The best part about it is we'd be trading two guys that would likely require attaching picks to get rid of and we'd be getting rid of two without attaching any picks. It's not as much about who we'd sign but the flexibility created to be able to at least try to sign someone more impactful. Of course we can argue the targets and if Olshey is the guy to be choosing who to pursue but that isn't the point.

I'm not sure what this trade or anything I've said has to do with Simons or getting him minutes. He would still not be in the rotation as he'd have Lin and Curry in front of him.

The bottom line is we are a nice little team right now but also a team that has a limited ceiling. Moving the contracts while adding adequate replacements gives at least the chance of a move or two this summer that could give this team a bump without really making the team worse right now. I don't see how that is a bad thing.

 

I am surprised Prince was only 5-14. It was the first time I have watched him play and I thought he looked pretty good. Rebounded well, had a couple of steals, and most importantly when comparing him to Aminu or Harkless (as someone did above) he can dribble and pass. I would trade for him if we didn't give up much.

Lin is the one that continues to NOT impress me.

 

Lin is more our way out of cap hell a year earlier while still being a somewhat competent reserve.

 

OK that makes more sense. I got confused because posters seem to have been trying to get him to Portland for years. He belongs in the league, but not for more than 2-3 million per.

 

I believe if any trades by us will try to get under the taxes line. I will be really surprised if there major trade comes about at trade deadline. There might be a small one that doesn't really upgrade this team.

 

Yeah, if he still had another year left on his deal then I wouldn't want him anywhere near the Blazers.

 

Ideally, yes you trade Turner. But it's not like teams will be knocking down Portland's door to take him off their hands.
Especially if NO holds firm on his desire to not give up 1st rounders to fix his shitshow.(If he was willing to do this, Turner or Nards would've been gone before last season started.)
So, if he's unable to be traded Portland isn't benching Turner for Lin or Curry. So it'd be Jake who takes the hit.
Portland would run with Lin, Curry, Turner, Collins, Len.
Maybe you'd see Turner drop to the 4 and Collins take the 5. But that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

I don't agree that Nards has stunted the growth of Collins at all. In fact Nards has been somewhat of a savior.
I said before the season started that Nards would get the first look @ the backup 5 this year. He's clearly shown he's better than Collins in that spot all season long.
But given Nard's skillset it should've allowed Collins to thrive closer to the rim like Portland wanted out of him. However he's done anything but thrive.
Portland would be in a dire place right now if Nard's didn't help fill Davis' shoes.
This is coming from someone who likes Collins as well. Not TBF who hates him, or MM who doesn't like WABC.

I'm not trying to be an ass here, I'm just pointing out that a trade which leaves Portland with only 1 legit big on the roster is questionable.
Len couldn't carve out a rotation in phoenix for years, and Collins has shown he's not ready.
Who knows maybe Collins will have a strong second half again, and people will resume the 'Portland needs to trade Nurk because Collins is the future'.

I just feel like this trade would sacrifice the playoffs, which if that's what people want. Might as well sit Lillard/CJ/Nurk and play Simons/Trent/Collins as it will help with development for the younger guys.


Even with $$ Portland struggles to get guys to come here. More than likely it's because NO is better at drafting than he is recruiting.
Curry's the biggest name since what. Miller?

 

Well I was pretty clear in most of my posts that if you were able to trade Leonard and Harkless in a trade like this without giving up a 1st then you just go all-in and use our lottery protected 1st to dump Turner too. This completely clears the deck while also making roles pretty defined. I don't like giving up picks but to only give up one 1st to salary dump all of three of those guys is something that is definitely worth considering and puts us well below the cap next year.

Zach at the beginning of the year and now in short flashes since has been much better when he is the only big in the game, so I'm not sure what you're watching. He's still plagued by foul trouble. Leonard is fine in limited minutes but lets not act like he's dominating. He's still pretty bad defensively and keeping his man off of the boards. Again Alex Len isn't great but it's not like we'd be talking about how much we miss Meyers if he has to play a few minutes a game, nor would it really have an effect on wins and losses. We are almost to the point in the season where the rotations start to tighten up anyway. Besides in my posts I suggested making it a 3 team trade in which we ship Len and Turner to Sacramento and brought back a young big Skal Labissiere and an expiring big like Koufos or Z-Bo. Any of those guys is more than capable of covering Meyers role and no that isn't meant as me hating on Leonard.

I want Nurk and Collins to both succeed so I'm not included in that crowd. You seem to be set on ideas when one poster thinks a certain way.

You think losing Leonard is sacrificing the playoffs? If anything this makes our lineup better equipped both for the playoffs and getting there. I really don't get your point here that trading two guys one that has been inconsistent and in and out of the lineup with injuries and replacing him with someone just as good if not better and the other who plays 14 minutes a game would be the difference between making the playoffs or not. What does that have to do with tanking? Being under the tax would also allow us to be players in the buyout market without having to worry about how much additional tax we'd be paying when signing someone to a minimum contract.

Once again, it's not about thinking Portland can sign a key free agent. In the Andre Miller signing the Blazers were pretty much his last option because we were one of the few teams left with money. There are going to be good players this summer who are in the exact same boat. I'm not saying we will for sure land someone meaningful but I would like the opportunity to at least try. If not we are still in a much better financial situation making trades and other moves easier.

 

Long paragraph, but worth reading. It made me understand some things.

 

The more I watch Lin the more I realize he's Luke Ridnour

 

All I can say is.....ACK!

The deals you’re proposing make us worse. I don’t give a shit about clearing cap space now. That will happen next season or after next seasons over. Makes no sense to do that deal.

 

How does it make us worse?

A starting lineup of Dame, CJ, Prince, Aminu, and Nurk is at worse similar to the one we have now.

A 9 man rotation that includes Lin, Curry, Layman, and Collins isn't any worse than we have now either.