LA gone before or on draft day

Then don't deal him if they feel that way. But getting something for him over letting him walk is the smarter move

 

The idea behind trading him now is that he's going to have diminishing returns moving forward. The closer we get to his FA period the more value he loses because teams will feel they can steal him in FA without giving up anything in return.

 

Sure, you can always do a S&T the summer of his next contract with a team that wants him and get something out of them. Draft picks and players. Having him walk isn't the end of the world either.

 

Those two terms are not mutually exclusive, as you assume they are.

 

The more I read, the more I'm convinced that LMA stays in Portland this year and is dealt in the middle of the season or at the draft next year. Unless they get a sweetheart deal. There will be more teams with cap space and maybe better pieces available next year.

Having said that, I also think Blazers will draft for the long term, rather than short term (Adams over Zeller) realizing that they need to plan for Aldridge's exit.

 

What is up with this assumption we let LMA walk? What FAs allstars in the last ten years have left there team when offered the same money when the team was actively trying to keep them? Bosh/Lebron are the only ones otherwise they were let walk/traded or were offered more money. We won't be outbid on him and if he doesn't want to stay the chances are he lets management know so he can get traded to where he wants so he can get the five year deal.

If we keep LMA and he wants to leave you can be sure we get something for him, if we wait until the last year of his contract it won't be as much as we would get around this time or next year which is why I think we should keep him unless the offer is mind boggling and see what happens next year. There will still be good offers at the trade deadline next year or after the season is over.
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Well, if the offers are to "fill out the bench", I'd just as rather have him walk than get hosed out like that.

 

That makes very little sense to me. With the new CBA, we will be extremely limited in the teams we can S&T him to. And you'd rather he walk instead of getting good value for him now? What?

The return we get on the CLE rumor is hardly filling out the bench.

 

It feels so strange being in complete agreement with the hipster!

:MARIS61: :MARIS61:

 

I hope he stays with Portland long term with this core of Lillard and with Batum. That's my preference, and I its my thought he likes the guys, he doesn't mind the city...he just wants a more winning team and that just comes with time and more players. We certainly have the flexibility to get players to get us to that next level and I think LA knows that.

 

We will never let him walk and Aldridge won't walk either. I believe there is a mutual respect for both Aldridge and Portland.

 

Examples?

 

And I said we need star players. Are any star players coming back from CLE? Established impact players that can be the first option on a franchise? If not, its a waste of breath.
Draft picks are always uncertain. Especially in a bad draft such as this one.

 

There is also another chance that the team can actually be much better than anticipated; which may pursued Aldridge to stay on a contender.

 

It would be a little different if we were getting a top 3 pick in next summer's draft. This draft has impact players, but none of which are expected to be all-stars. That's my biggest beef. And even if we get a unprotected pick for next summer; them adding Aldridge would most likely get them to a high lottery pick anyway.

 

People didn't expect lillard to be an all star, how did that turn out?

 

Completely ignoring the reasons why he might want to leave and assuming that he'd stay, do we really want to pay him $18M? I can't see any way where he'd be worth keeping at that price. So, even if he doesn't actively want out, he's likely gone after this contract because he's not worth signing for that sort of money.

 

Define what you mean by "teams don't trade all-stars".

 

Since we have number guys in here, wouldn't the probability of Ben mclemore or victor oladipo becoming all stars be higher than say trading for with little assets or signing a max deal all star? I'd say history would suggest so.

 

They don't dump them for nothing unless they have serious warts.

They usually get traded for assets, which is why dealing lma for waiters, #1 and another pick is better than letting lma walk for nothing. Not saying we will trade him, that it is the right or wrong move, just that trading him for a package like that is way smarter than letting him walk for nothing