Living in Arizona I have not watched much Blazer basketball this season to have a perspective on Grant. I defer to those here that watch him daily. Is he a 3 or a 4? Or is that settled when Portland gets another front court player? I've been bored a bit and playing on Tankathon a few minutes here and there. I don't just look at what pick Portland gets, I also look at where Orlando and Utah finish. Those two clubs have two lotto picks each. If you don't get number 1, there is a drop-off to next tier which is picks 2-3 (Henderson/Miller). Tier 3 is picks 4-5-6, Thompson twins and Walker. I'm not enamored with either twin as both are not position specific, like grant. Depending on direction management wants to go, only pick 1 or 2 are coveted and staying at 5 would be a great result as well, taking Walker there. He is the only 4 I would be interested in. If we didn't get Wemby or Miller in top 3, I wouldn't really be shocked with a trade out for a veteran. If a good veteran is not available then they could trade with Orlando/Utah possibly for their lotto picks, which is more swings for the fences. But I am not really impressed with players outside of the top 5, but there are always sleepers. Two shots at it are better than one, especially with our roster. Just thoughts. But I do have far more pick success with Portland in the 5 spot alone. As soon as we are tied with another club and split the odds, far less success.
I am not sure it matters so much whether Grant is specifically a 3 or 4... however, you had better surround him with length, rebounding, and at least one interior presence in his frontcourt partners. The dream would be a Jarrett Allen/Mitchell Robinson/Clint Capela type on one side and a lengthy, rebound-willing, 3-pt.-capable wing on the other side (seriously... this is why Kevin Durant is the most valuable prototype player in the NBA; such a unicorn). It's why the Brandon Millers, Taylor Hendricks, and perhaps Jarace Walkers are potentially so appealing. They all have parts of their game that fit the complementary forward prototype. They all certainly have their questions as well. And while we certainly don't want to prioritize "who fits with Jerami" in our pick, the reality is that a nice complement to Jerami is really an ideal frontcourt player anyway. Determining the most promising option, however, is thankfully up to those minds far smarter and wiser than me.
I really wonder how the season trajectory would have changed if Portland was able to get a hold of Jarred Vanderbilt. He seems like a perfect forward match to put with Grant. Both could switch the 3/4 roles depending upon matchups. Vando is a great rebounder to help cover for Grant's weakness. Grant can shoot/score to make up for Vando's weakness. Seems like an ideal low-cost fit.... In this draft, I'm really intrigued by Leonard Miller with the Knicks pick. I think he could come in and fill that same sort of role.
I'm not convinced, one way or the other, what type of roster flux Dame is ok with. I remember that comment about a rebuild and I saw a whole lot of wiggle and vagueness to it I'm as big a Dame fan as anybody, but the Blazers have to make the best moves they can for both the near-term and long-term, and I think mortgaging the future for 'win-now' is almost never a good option for a small market team. Since 2016 Portland has spent 3 first round picks on Afflalo & RoCo and still has to spend another on Nance. Those were win-now moves (olshey-style) and they were really bad ideas. Of course, what the Blazers did in the 2017 draft were bad ideas too...but again, that was olshey in any event, the Blazers should not make a questionable trade with the worry about Dame as the motivation. They should make the best decision for the future and if Dame isn't ok with it he can ask out. If they do trade a top-5 pick then I'd say a player like Siakam should be floor of what they settle for
I don’t think he has a no trade clause. I also don’t think that would matter. The team would trade him to one of the teams he wants to be on. After all he’s done for us, I’m almost positive the team would give him that courtesy if that day came.
That makes sense in another 2-3 years. But right now I don't see that helping us at all. Based on this current season Dame is still in his prime.... which means he has value. I keep thinking about which teams he would want to go to. I assume he would want to go to a contending team. How many of those teams need a PG that has extra assets to give us? GS-No SAC-No, Denver-No. Lakers-they could use him but have no assets to give back. Phoenix would be one option if we wanted Ayton and filler. Boston maybe for Brown and filler. Would he want to go to Toronto? Not a lot of teams can match salaries and still have enough assets left for Dame to win.
