IMHO, it’s still (pre-NBA) Sabas, Dirk, and Luka … though Luka gets to #2 All European which is pretty good while playing at one end. As to Dame or Ant? False choice unless Ant in a package delivers a guy like Jaylen Brown to play the 3.
Try to find another team that could get excited about Ant. It's actually pretty hard. There are Ant-like players all over the place. I think you could sell Dallas on him just because they might be desperate to try to persuade Luka not to ask out. But I wouldn't worry about making them a contender, because that backcourt would be even worse defensively than ours currently is.
I'm not sure why anyone believes Dame or Ant are getting traded anytime soon. Seems highly unlikely. Would make a lot more sense to focus on moves involving players likely to be traded such as Hart, Winslow, Johnson, etc.
For the long haul just keep Ant and put a long defensive player next to him, ~~like a Lonzo Ball type guy (but one that stays healthy).
Why would we trade players who can play defense, and who would be unlikely to bring back anything more than a scrub? Anfernee, on the other hand, is a shiny bauble that might tempt some team to give us a good player that would actually complement Dame.
Please don't confuse me pointing out that Hart is far more likely to be traded with me bagging on Hart. To answer your question: The guys I listed are going to be much difficult to resign and Cronin will probably like to get something in return for them instead of losing them for nothing. Feel free to bump this if Ant/Dame are off the roster before Hart; I'll gladly eat crow. This seems pretty straight forward to me though.
Let's explore trading Simons for Lauri Markkanen. The Blazers would be much improved with a strong 3 and D forward, better scoring, spread court, balance, height, and rim protection. We would even save salary, as Lauri has a contract for only $16.5 M.
If we didn't already have Simons, is there anyone who would've been excited about us acquiring him after getting rid of CJ and keeping Dame? I really don't think so. Say what you want about Cronin, but he was not afraid to shake things up massively. Something Olshey wasn't willing to do. It wasn't the direction I preferred, but it was drastic change. I'm holding out hope he's able to pull off more major changes at the trade deadline or (deep sigh) over the summer. If we're still arguing over whether Dame and Ant can coexist a year from now, I'm done. I will not sit through year after year of this shit again.
Damian's salary per year age 32-36: 42, 45, 48, 58, 63 Ant's salary age 23-26: 22, 24, 26, 28 Ant played 25 games in the calendar year of 2022 without Lillard. In those games he averaged 25 pts a game on 44.22% shooting. You can't honestly say that Damian is going to be twice the player that Simons is as Simons enters his prime and Lillard exits his.
I know people are going to say a team can't win with Simons at pg but I don't believe that. This is a .500 team with Damian healthy but in those games Simons plays without Damian it is like leading a team with a roster salary of less than 120 million. The only team that wins with a roster salary that low is Memphis so it shouldn't be surprising that we don't look amazing in those games. You are talking Detroit level of roster value when you remove Damian with no replacements.
same old song: "CJ has better stats when Dame doesn't play"...as if that really meant anything....which it didn't because of sample size, usage, and records now it's just plugging Ant into the old CJ refrain. Still doesn't mean anything significant. Dame was and is a much better player than CJ. The same is true with Dame and Ant that's not to say that Portland should definitely trade Ant. But it is to say that the Blazers should take a serious look at what the trade market is for Ant. That's just due diligence. If nothing decent is available then stay with Ant
During the CJ years CJ was making only 2-3 million less per year than Damian and CJ wasn't 23 with upside. We are now talking about a player making half as much as Damian that is nearly a decade younger. Stop bringing up CJ. It makes no sense.
The thought of building around Lillard at this point is perplexing to me. You don’t build around a guy who has shown obvious signs of turning the corner from peak play to slowing down.
He's having a fantastic year and still getting used to playing form all the time off last year. I don't think he's old & decrepit at all.
It does if you're a fanboy grasping at straws I'm for trading one of the two. To my thinking, trading Dame makes more sense as the rest of the roster isn't close to being a contender. If you're building around DL you've got to know the window you're choosing isn't a big one. If they build around Dame they should probably explore what Shaedon could return as well. Move the youth for now assets while resigning Hart and Grant. If they trade Dame, then use Hart and Grant as the trading chips for contending tomorrow. Trying to go forward on both the now and tomorrow roads might keep season ticket sales going but it will never bring the franchise anywhere close to championships. STOMP
wasn't talking about salary....I was talking about your strange gauge for exploring Simons trade possibilities.
