Notice Joe Cronin Press Conference

I do believe that that might be the very first original thought you have ever posted. At least it's not a re-tweet.......

 

that Dame went public with his I'm outta here the day after the Grant deal was signed seems too coincidental. He and Jeremi were photographed hanging out together in France the week prior. It sure seemed a choreographed way of securing the max bag for JG and Lillard exiting stage left. I agree that without Lillard, why in the hell would they want to reup with Grant?

STOMP

 

"But for us, the goal to improve has always been via trade and it’s continuing to work those deals.” That was part of his answer in response to what he was doing in free agency. Does that sound like he is planning more trades once the Lillard trade is completed?

 

If you're looking for a GM to not lie to you, John Nash was your guy and he was of course a complete idiot.

Lying is part of the gig

STOMP

 

The only thing really missing was Cronin pulling out a samurai short sword and about to commit seppuku before Keanu Reeves jumps in from nowhere, stops him, and convinces Joe to go on.

 

I think Grant and Ben Simmons could be the best pair of forwards we have had in a while. I would have preferred it with Dame, but Scoot, Ant, and Shae still can fit with those two in another year. I would not mind Bey starting next to Grant as he is a decent rebounder for an SF. The bottom line is Grant can still work here if they pair him with a rebounding forward and center.

 

Dame is my second favorite Blazer ever behind Sheed, that being said if you’re sitting here defending Dame and shitting on Cronin and the organization then you’re more of a Dame fan than a Blazers fan. If you can honestly sit here and say Lillard is handling all this better than Cronin I think you might be delusional or still deeply hurt by the fact Lillard is gone. If it makes you feel better almost every great player has changed teams at some point(minus Bird/Magic) and just because one is leaving doesn’t mean more aren’t to come. If you think the Blazers deserve to get a shit deal or hope they get screwed somehow you are not a Blazers fan and should be posting on the Damien Lillard board.

 

What do you make of the report that Simmons has yet to progress to 3v3?

 

Grant and anyone is the best pair of forwards they've had in a while, but he's not going to be part of a winner in PDX for at least a couple seasons. By the time the other talents on the roster are developed and ready to win, he'll be well on the wrong side of 30. I'm guessing they'll deal him next offseason for assets that fit their timeline before he fades or just for expirings to clear their books for Free Agents who will come if (A) Scoot & Shaedon are showing real promise to compete & (B) if they have capspace cleared.

STOMP

 

About the same as how hard he is working out in the weight room.

 

I know it seems easy, but I question if you're doing the critical math

The Blazers are only 1.7M under the tax line, right now. In that trade, the Blazers would be sending out 62.5M; they'd be taking back 73.4M, not counting Martin. Counting Martin, the Blazers would be taking back 80.2M. Portland would either be 9.2M over the tax line and 2.4M over the 1st apron; or with Martin they'd be about 1-2M below the 2nd apron

the problem is Lowry, as I've been saying. Simmons + Lowry is 5M more salary than Dame + Nurkic. Does anybody really believe the Vulcans would sign off on a team bound for the lottery that would be 9-18M over the tax line?

But in order to take back Nurkic Miami has to send out Lowry. Where to if not Portland?

Brooklyn is 15.5M below the tax line. They'd be 27M below the line if they exchanged Simmons for Herro. The solution may be to send Dorian Finney-Smith to the Blazers. He's not a good player; certainly not worth his 14M/year deal for the next 3 seasons. I guess he could be a tradable salary, but would he have any positive value? In any event, he might be able to keep Portland under the tax line and Brooklyn might like to get out of his contract

it might be easier to delete Lowry and Nurkic from the mix. Or maybe, no Simmons to Portland but instead DFS & Royce O'neal

 

Just sayin... He might not be ready to play this season. I was talking myself into Ben until I saw that report

 

Not many GMs would say "I failed Dame"..gotta respect Joe. I thought this was a good press conference that confirmed my gut feeling about the situation.

 

Hard to say. A lot of mixed messages. They might just be overly cautious. It is July and these images are from over a month ago.
https://www.netsdaily.com/2023/5/31...s-as-enthusiasm-in-australia-remains-unabated

“He’s not doing 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 yet.” said Marks. “I was down there two weeks ago with him and the training staff and saw the progress. Happy to report he’s in a great physical shape and also mentally. He’s rearing and champing at the bit to get out there,”

“We’ve got time,” he added. “This is not something where we’re going to rush him back in to play 5-on-5 in the next couple weeks. But he’s progressing — he’ll be ready to go hopefully very, very soon.”

The Nets original plan for Simmons rehab, — and there’s no indication that it’s changed — had Simmons ready to go by September 1. Indeed, Vaughn speaking to NBA TV on Friday said Simmons had had “no setbacks.” So how good could he be?

 

Send Lowry to Brooklyn, send Dinwiddie here. Then, obviously, look to immediately move Dinwiddie. I think it probably turns in to a 4 team deal to be able to massage the$$ aspect a litt.e

 

I agree there are ways here to massage the trade. the trick is bringing teams in that won't want to immediately rob value that Portland needs

 

I don’t know. Heat weren’t great in regular season last year. Who knows how Dame fits in?

 

You sir, are a grade a, top notch, pimp!
I missed it, so this is simply fantastic. Thank you Nate!