As soon as the draft ended, I've been giving some thought to what are the reasons we couldn't get a JB or PG, and along with the obvious with regards to assets, it comes down to MONEY, more specifically, the Salary cap and Tax level. In today's NBA, you just cannot have 4 max or near-max contracts, and that's what we would have had to deal with in the summer of 2018, if for example, we'd be able to get PG. Its now starting to make sense to me why it would have been a shortsighted move for NO to pull the trigger. Not only would it have been unfortunate to give up assets, but really, fitting our top 4 in the squad next summer would have been nearly impossible. Given the fact that Lillard takes up about 26-27% of the cap, CJ takes up 25%, and Nurkic will be taking up 20-25% (hopefully, if he stays healthy), there simply isnt enough left to sign another max player. Which leads me to the conclusion that Lillard or CJ has to go. Lillard is the heart and soul of this team, and even though i sometimes feel that CJ is the better player, I truly feel like Lillard wants to become the all time best Blazer, and that counts for a lot to me So to balance the roster out, I think a CJ trade is needed, and hopefully likely. We're not going anywhere with this backcourt given the porous perimeter defense both of them possess. I think CJ's highest value is right now, with the whole length of his contract left, but it could be argued that with a potential ASG appearance in the upcoming season, he'll be ripe for a mega offer next summer. TL;DR; - I don't think CJ is on the Blazers roster to start the 2018 NBA season
CJ's value is high for a reason. He isn't going anywhere, nor should he. Why would we ditch a legitimate asset to gamble on the legitimacy of another player?
The biggest factor I see, is CJ's willingness to possibly stay in Portland. Not sure you can find another player at his level who would be willing to commit, so if you have one, you don't give it up. Now, that said, if a deal came along, I'm fine with letting him go. We learned a lot about the difference between CJ and Lillard last year when we picked of Nurkic. Lillard found a way to play with him and CJ never did. It was a little concerning.
I wouldn't trade him for PG for exactly that reason Couldn't should have been didn't in the quoted text
I think if CJ had any chance of getting traded, we would have taken Malik Monk or Donovan Mitchell a couple of days ago.
That's an unknown, again, I'm talking about getting a star in return, for example porzingas as has been mentioned (even though I doubt he was ever on the market)
Wanna bet? There's two options: We would trade away a star we already have who wants to play in Portland, to get more role players who make less money, so that we can try to sign an all-star in free agency... Or We would trade away a star we already have who wants to play in Portland, for a different star, who isn't as high on being a Blazer, who'd likely have less years on hits contract and be a legitimate threat to leave once his deal is done, and is a lateral move that doesn't make us any better or clear cap space. "There simply isn't enough to sign a max player." When have we ever signed a max player? How does pursuing star free agents play a part in trading CJ?
This is in reference to trading for a star, the examples given were JB and PG. Not intended to mean "signing" another max guy. I should have been clearer and said "re-signing" because the ex i was thinking of is re-signing PG in summer of 18
