It’s usually quiet the week leading up to the deadline. I don’t think we’ll see more than maybe one or two trades before Thursday.
I was a bit annoyed about Ariza because of the Rudy thing.... Then I watched some of last year's playoff highlights and saw ET on the court. Yikes!!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...stern-conference/id1470466331?i=1000464424434 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...stern-conference/id1470466331?i=1000464420930 Woj and Marks previewed the deadline for both conferences. Some notes: Woj says not a lot of activity usually until Monday morning the week of the deadline when front offices huddle up. So the lack of moves isn’t a surprise. No trade involving Kevin Love between now and Thursday. Drummond isn’t very likely to move either. If someone was offering a first he would’ve been traded by now. Orlando isn’t looking to dump Gordon. Want value in return. Atlanta could be open to moving John Collins, but more likely in the summer. They want a center. Minnesota might be the most active team in the west and Woj is confident they will trade Covington next week. Didn’t mention specific destinations, but multiple teams are in on him....obviously. Memphis is confident they will find a trade for Iggy. The sign and trade market is back in vogue (something to keep in mind with Whiteside) That’s about it.
As someone who often doesnt listen to podcasts, thanks for sharing! I think I we're holding on to whiteside, and if theres anything done, it's similar to the hood deal last year. Hezonja, biggie, tpe, etc. and 2nds for ...??
Honestly the only “major” trade that is both realistic and interesting would be the Dieng/Covington for Whiteside/pick idea. Other than that I’m looking for one of the Olshey bargain specials ie Valentine.
Melo can swing to SF when needed off the bench. Bertans is better than Collins/Melo/Skal. It's a talent upgrade. He's putting up 15/5 in 29 mpg on 42% from 3 with over 8 attempts a game now on that broken WAS team. Can you imagine what he would do with Dame/Nurk? And I think there will be some clearing of the clutter to open up roster spots so Skal/Mario/Caleb might be gone.
From the Windhorst pod: much ado about nothing really. http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=28622827 - Ariza has been really good. - Nurk is not coming back til after the All Star break. - I don't see any of the young kids moving the needle (in a trade). - Neil is usually aggressive at the deadline, but key is to get back some sorta value for next year. - Hypothetically, you can break that Whiteside deal into two pieces (specifically mentioned Dieng/Roco as an idea). -Not a big appetite for Love in Portland. They really like Zach and Nurk as the frontcourt.
Wasnt windhotsy the guy that said Portland wouldn’t do anything? I don’t like him floating ideas I actually like.
Lowe (who btw I think kinda sucks; he’s an expert for casuals) https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28622376/nba-trade-talk-happen-deadline • The Blazers sliced their tax bill by a lot in the Bazemore-Ariza swap, and they are slated to be well under the tax next season. They might not feel pressure to duck the tax this season, though it's always helpful. (They could get close by dealing Ariza again, and several contenders -- including the Heat -- have expressed interest in Ariza at points this season, sources say.) They are only two games out of the playoffs, and they owe Damian Lillard (absolutely volcanic right now) and CJ McCollum an honest chance. That said, the noise on Portland making a big win-now move has cooled, sources say. That makes sense. The Blazers are climbing from a deep hole. Any big deal would have to involve Hassan Whiteside's expiring contract, and Whiteside is giving Portland quality minutes -- at a time when they have no other healthy center. They can regroup next season with Lillard, McCollum, Rodney Hood, Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic, and all their young players and picks.
maybe he said it as well, but so did windhorst. They’re all clueless. Only national guys I trust for blazers info are Woj and Haynes. http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/windhorse-blazers-planning-to-stand-pat.353175/
Lowe also mentioned there aren't many sellers due to they think they can make the playoffs this year or next, don't want to give up assets. He believes Jrue Holiday is the best player who might be available.
I don't want to re-trade Ariza and he's right that ducking the tax completely would probably have to include trading him but Miami wouldn't be an example of a team that could help us shed money to get us under the tax as they are hard capped.
I tend to think last year was an extreme outlier. How often do you have teams like Boston and Charlotte just happen to agree to sign each other's free agents? In almost every sign and trade last year the team acquiring the free agent had cap room to sign that player too. Miami was just short. Indiana gave up picks because they didn't want Milwaukee to match. The only real sign and trade in my opinion was the Durant/Russell trade and in that particular case the Warriors had to give up a 1st just to talk Brooklyn into not just signing Durant outright. There's just too many variables in a sign and trade. I sure hope no GM would plan on that as an option as a reason to keep someone.
