I think it's a complete myth that CJ could have elevated his value any by finishing the season in Portland. His numbers were shitty as a Blazer this year, and NBA front offices have seen him for 7 years. He had plenty of games without Dame in Portland this year and he didn't elevate his efficency a bit, just his usage. There is no hidden value to be tapped there. And I know you don't believe the 'reporting' about the offers Atlanta and Dallas made for CJ, I think Fisher has a pretty solid track record of having his sources. That indicates the return Portland got for CJ was similar to the other offers they were getting just because you don't like the payoff doesn't mean that dismantling that bollixed roster wasn't necessary, and I think it's pretty clear that historically the returns are better at the trade deadline. seems a little illogical that some of the people trashing the Blazers for "selling low" at the trade deadline because Portland gave away their leverage, somehow believe that the Blazers would have had more leverage in trading those same guys this summer when they obviously had to re-sign Simons and Nurkic. Other teams would absolutely know the Blazers had to deal because they'd be facing a 90M tax bill otherwise
he would be, but I think he's going to be one of those 'coveted' young players that will likely command more than the MLE it might be do-able though, especially if the Blazers give up the Grant dream which kind of brings up an interesting hypothetical: if the Pels lost last night, would that 11th pick to Indiana for Smith in a S&T, say for 12-13M/year be a lot better than than the 11th pick for Grant? Even though the Blazers would be hard-capped?
Agreed 100%. CJ is CJ. He is 30 years old. The league knows who he is. A scorer that can get buckets and doesn’t play defense. Unless he absolutely just went nuclear down the stretch, he wasn’t going to increase his trade value here. At this point in his career, by keeping him for the remainder of the season, there is only downside risk.
I don’t think that the league knew with certainty that CJ could be as effective at the PG spot as he is proving to be in NO. In Portland, he played more of a combo guard role. Occasionally, when Dame was out, he’d play PG, but never with as good of a teammate as Ingram.
I should have explained my reasoning more fully. My assumption is that without the Pelicans’ pick to pair with the TPE, it’s unlikely to be useful. The non- TPMLE seems likely to be the next best option to add a quality player.
I don't agree with that, although it depends on the Vulcans and the GM just every year decent players are traded for TPE's, especially as the trade deadline approaches. I think that kind of option is a lot more useful around the deadline when a lot more players are on the move and teams are looking at their final chance to trim their tax exposure; more-so than around the draft
Okay, let’s say that’s true. Do you think the Blazers, Dame and/or the fans have the patience to wait until just before the deadline, after which the TPE dies if not used, to use that exception? My sense is that everyone wants the team to be competitive on opening night. A second question is whether the quality of the player obtained with that exception is necessarily better than who you could get with the non-TPMLE?
In all the many, many years Olshey was running things, did the team ever acquire an impact player with a trade exception? The Joker is in Arkham asylum...and one of his henchmen is now in charge. I'll be damned if I can see any reason to believe the front office will get better!
I'd imagine that Dame, and everybody else with some logic and a sense of the process will understand that a major reset of the roster may be really difficult, if not impossible, to complete in 8 months, especially considering that the remodel is only in the demolition stage. in fact, expecting the Blazers to go from the 6th worst record in the league to a contender in one off-season might be an insane expectation. well, the full-MLE will be about 10M. That TPE is 21M. That's a significant difference. Half a dozen teams will have cap-space exceeding the MLE, and at least a dozen will probably be willing to use the MLE...and it's not a good free agent class. Meaning when it comes to that 10M level, it could be at least half of the teams in the league, if not more, in the market. That looks like a seller's market to me. Besides that, the last time the Blazers used their full-MLE they signed Derrick Jones....yikes! on the other hand, that 21M TPE is currently the largest in the NBA. And the level of players who might be available above the level of the MLE is very likely better than the MLE players.
I would hope that the Blazers plan on using that TPE like cap space, hoping to find a player who is worth more than the MLE that they can slightly overpay to come here, and then convince the team with his rights to S&T him here for some nominal compensation. Exactly who, I don't know... maybe TJ Warren or Bobby Portis.
The full MLE would be a huge huge raise for Portis who I like a lot too, TJ Warren hasn't played enough to justify the last contract he had so I definitely wouldn't want to use all of that TPE money on. I actually think with his inability to play a full season that Warren should be looking for right around the full MLE too. That being said, it would be the final nail in the coffin of those trades from February to use more than the TPMLE and effectively nullify our ability to use the highly touted ~21M TPE. So I don't know what to do. I also don't know what we offer any team along with the TPE to get a deal done at this point. Olshey's assistant GM who is our current interim GM had his plan blow up in his face in an extreme way. He very obviously planned without concern on using the Pelicans pick with TPE to justify the lack of talent we got back for 4 of our 7 best players. It was also part of that plan to use a pick earned through tanking to facilitate get better and justify losing so much for so little. Executing that plan is no longer an option and I'm strained to see the viability of a plan B that will accomplish the goal of building an immediate contender around Dame. The Pelicans just took away our ability to take a big step forward after taking a step back.