Everything but the Nurk/Ayton trade would work. The cap wouldn't allow for Ayton after acquiring large contracts of Collins and Hayward. But i like the thinking. And i'd love to be able to draft the perfect backup center in Duren. Who may end up being a top notch starting center with development.
The important thing about Grant is that, while he may not be an elite wing, he can definitely guard elite wings at an elite level. He can at times play on offense at an elite level too.
More importantly — he’s an UNRESTRICTED free-agent next summer. You don’t trade anything of substance when you can outright sign him next summer.
I figured that was a given in any trade for him, by the Trail Blazers or another team. Detroit seems to be pretending they might re-sign Grant if the offers they get aren't enough, but I don't believe them. I don't think they have the intention of re-signing Grant to a big contract, and he will be traded at some point. They actually don't mention re-signing him, only saying that he might still be on the team next season.
He rebounds well and protects the rim well too. I think he's more of a starting caliber PF than we've had since LaMarcus. When you look at Chief then Melo then RoCo/Larry... I think Collins is more of a power forward than any of those guys but if you're saying that he's versatile and can get out and defend wings, I agree.
The more I think about it, the more I think we're all in for a summer of disappointment. It's easy to come up with deals that seem to make sense, but there are 29 other teams that are all angling to get the best players possible, and I think we're going to see them all be just as aggressive as Portland, if not moreso. I wouldn't be surprised to see Detroit and Atlanta just trade Grant straight across for Collins, or NY deal directly with Houston, or Toronto deal OG+?? to Phoenix for Ayton, etc. 'Cause all these other teams have better assets to offer than we do--which is why we want them... Raining on my own parade, I guess, but when all the star/semi-star players find homes, I just see us being left without a chair when the music stops.
I'm fine with not having any major moves if we just end up drafting BPA and not taking on any horrible contracts or getting fleeced once again at the table. To me, if we completely whiff, we just trade Dame and finally start the rebuild.
Yep, agreed. Take Ant, Keon, Hart, Nas, Watford, Nurk, 7, and whatever assets we can get in exchange for Dame, and start over.
I am not going to be disappointed unless we go back to lazy offense and inconsistent defense or consistently bad defense. That's my worry. I would like to see the players who won 4 straight boosted by the addition of Damian Lillard, Nassir Little and whomever else we add before using assets to add s0-s0 players. So I'm ok with not doing much.
This has been my thoughts for 4 months and why I hated the Clippers trade so much. It wasn't just losing the 4 starters whom yes all had flaws. It was the Blazers having less assets to improve the roster short term or long term.
The more i think about it some fans need to have some faith -- at least get through this summer and prolly All star break and see where things stand instead of going into glass is ALL empty mode Now do not get me wrong I think if the Blazers do not make serious strides in the coming season I will be for trading Dame as hard as it is for me to say that as he is the heart of this team since he has been a Blazer and one could argue talent wise is the top Blazer of all time.
I think if we don't make major strides on paper this offseason and then don't win at a better rate than we were with the Dame/CJ teams before the trade deadline, then you won't have to start being in favor of trading Dame because I think Dame and the team will do it for you. I might be mistaken but I expect that before training camp starts and starting in a couple weeks Joe will be wheeling and dealing like Dame's legacy as a Trail Blazer for life is on the line. I guess we'll see.
If Chauncy and Joe have at the top of their board like, Banchero, Ivey, Murray the should try and trade up, as they may not be in this position for some time. We have assets to do so.
