no...no way if he was 21 with tons of upside, maybe yes. But he's actually 26 years old (he spent 5 seasons in college, Blutarski), will turn 27 next season, and you really have to wonder just how much upside he has left to tap into. Yeah, he has an efficient shooting game, and 'appears' to be decent as a defender but he's a mediocre rebounder and passer, at least he is statistically if the Blazers have a top-7 pick, their first lottery pick in 9 seasons, they really have to shoot for getting an all-star level player. There just aren't that many opportunities to land one. Yeah, whoever they pick may be worse than Johnson...that is the risk. But they have to chase the reward instead of settle for a role player
I can see an argument for that. I mean if it came down to Keegan Murray vs Cam I think an argument can be made for either. But if all our main targets are gone, I think I would rather roll the dice on Jalen Duren and trading for Grant. That would fill our needs better. At 210 and a 6'10 wing, Cam is more of a SF. We have those.
Well, to me he still seems like a better player than Grant. So maybe we could still go after him with whatever we hoped to get Grant with.
I'm fine with that, but I can't see any way that the Suns would agree that's assuming the Milwaukee pick + TPE for Grant. If it's a 6-8th pick + the TPE for Grant that will be a dark day
I still think if we end up with 6-8 that we'll trade back to the Hornets at 13 and 15. Then trade one of those two picks and use the other one. When you look at the guys that will be available at let's say 15 you have guys like Dieng, Sochran, Eason, Jovic, etc. So we get Grant and a forward to compete with Nas and Hart for the other starting forward spot. Obviously, I'd much rather trade the Pistons the Bucks' 2025 first, their 2025 second and the 57th pick in this draft and I think that should be enough when you factor in the cap relief that they would be getting along with the fact that they'll be able to draft Grant's replacement with their pick. That would be something a decent GM could negotiate but I honestly think after giving away what we did at the deadline that a lot of GMs will stonewall Cronin until they get similarly advantageous deals to the ones the Clippers and Pelicans got.
If we wanted Bridges we would have to give him a max deal. We could do that if our pick is at 7 or 8, we get Ant to chill on the contract signing until after we sign Bridges, let Bledsoe and Nurk walk. I think if we were going to do that it might be smart to trade back in the draft for the 13 and 15 picks from Charlotte or 9 and 25 from San Antonio. We could draft the forward that we want to play with Bridges with the 9th pick, let's say Eason and our starting C with the 25th pick let's say Orlando Robinson. Still get the BPA with the 36th pick and 57th. Dame, Ant, Eason, Bridges, Robinson, Nas, Hart, 36th pick and hope that one or two of Trendon, Keon, Greg or the 57th pick really pop. The problem with using cap space is that all exceptions go out the window. So no TPEs and no MLEs. That is a promising young squad though... I don't know how pleased Dame would be with all of that but I bet he'd give it to the trade deadline to see if he could live with it. Really, who knows how this all shakes out with our off season. I still think the most likely scenario is that we end up with the 7th pick, we trade that back for the 13th and 15th, we draft whoever the best forward available at 13 is and trade 15 for Grant. We keep Hart, re-sign Ant, Nurk and Ingles. Draft a backup big at 36. Sign someone like Schroder with the TPMLE. We'd be rolling with Dame, Ant, (13) Eason, Grant, Nurk, Hart, Nas, Ingles, Schroder and (36) Koloko. If Dame and Ant are better than Dame and CJ then that's the best team we've had since the Dame/CJ era began but it probably still isn't a contender.
I can say very confidently that Portland REALLY wants Grant, but does not want to include our lottery pick this year. I can also say with a lot of confidence that Chauncey has and will be recruiting for us. Guys around the league love him. Behind the scenes thus far, but a few players under contract with other teams love him. And lastly, I can say with confidence that some influential scouts for Portland absolutely LOVE Ousmane Dieng
https://www.nbaanalysis.net/2022/05...-philadelphia-76ers-portland-trail-blazers/2/ Philadelphia 76ers Receive: G Damian Lillard Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F Tobias Harris, G Tyrese Maxey, C Charles Bassey, G Jaden Springer, 2024 First-Round Pick, 2026 First-Round Pick
thanks for that MM from all the different mock drafts, it looks like there is a good chance Dieng will be available when the Blazers pick, even if they drop to 7. Do you have any indication that the front office would choose Dieng over Grant if it came to that? Looking at the rankings, a couple have Dieng in the top-10; others not even in the top-20; some not even 1st round
Philly doesn't have any 1st round picks to trade, so essentially it's Dame for Maxey and the albatross contract of Harris
If it’s Harris, Maxey and Thybulle with those picks it would be great. flip those firsts and Nurk, Hart and salary filler to Utah for Gobert, then draft bpa with our pick Maxey Ant Thybulle Harris Gobert nice line up
The defense in the starting lineup would be fantastic. I could see a dynamic forward like Keegan Murray fitting well off the bench for a squad like this.
