I would. I'm not sure Josh Smith makes his team better. Sorta like Melo. But ya, Smith would work also. The simple fact is Aldridge is good, but replacing him with another good PF like Milsap or Smith, plus adding a ton more assets is a no brainer to me
1. I don't think Cleveland would make this offer. Are they even under the cap enough to absorb Aldridge's salary? 2. But if they did, why assume we have to take Noel? We could take Oladipo. Even if Noel turns out great, the GM has cover in that it'll take a while before he gets to show it. (Noel strikes me as Marcus Camby II: it was years later and on another team before Camby looked like anything more than a bust.) 3. Would Paul Allen get behind ANOTHER teardown? How's his health?
Would it necessarily be a "teardown" if we were able to sign Millsap or Jefferson to replace Aldridge's production? I mean, in comparison to last year, we'd be essentially swapping Aldridge/Hickson for Millsap/Thompson, then adding Oladipo and 2 other 1st round picks to fill in the roster. Definitely arguable that we'd be a better team, both in the short and long term.
I am not against Portland trading LMA to Cleavland - but they would HAVE to get picks in 2014. LMA + Freeland for Thompson + 2013 #1 + Cle 2014 First (top 3 protected) + Kings 2014 first (top 12 protected) Portland would have the #1 & #10 picks with around $22 mill in cap space.
Is Cleveland's #1 next year necessarily better than the #19 this year, considering that they would have Aldridge and Irving playing together in the East? Those two alone could potentially be a 50-win team. Add in improvement from Waiters and a (potentially) healthy Varjao--I'd rather have the pick now. And with Sacramento's pick being top-12 protected--that might not be conveyed for years... Edit: Ugh--I hate the protection on that pick. Top-12 in 2014, top-10 from 2015-17, 2nd round in 2017 if not conveyed by then. That Kings pick is a crappy asset.
I like this plan. And Cleveland might like it better too. If they want to trade for Aldridge, they want to start winning now. Thinking about Thompson, what is his upside? Maybe JJ Hickson; who we would have the cap room to sign if we wanted, and he is still a young guy. If this plan took us into the lottery again; we would have two lottery picks in 2014, supposed to be a great draft class. I know this means starting over; but i just have the feeling this team just doesn't have the toughness they need to ever be champions. On the other hand if olshey could somehow perform a miracle and find the missing pieces (and toughness) to add tot his team; he should do it. but it seems so unlikely. (by the way, how well protected is that Sac 2014 pick? OK, I see above, so we would not have two lottery picks next year and might never have that pick, hmmm, need to think about this)
I think this is the best argument for trading him. I can definitely see Aldridge deciding to walk. You get the vibe he's never felt like he was appreciated here. He was always the third guy after Oden and Roy. He had a year or two of limelight, and now Lillard seems to be taking it again while his team isn't even in the playoffs. He's got to ask himself if he wants to Kevin Garnett/Minnesota his way through his prime years this summer, or pull a LeBron and move on to greener pastures. You look around the league and even most of the great ones eventually ship out. Sure, Kobe and Duncan have stayed in one place, but it's not like Kobe didn't try to get himself moved. And Duncan is, well, pretty damned unique in terms of temperament, and so is the Spurs organization in terms of pretty much everything. I'm not sold on trading LMA, but I think I can be.
I really dont want to but I am beginning to wonder if our best player is the one that will hold us back from taking the next step. In others words aside from dumb luck or some Olshey miracle the more I look at it the more I wonder how we are going to get there with what we have to work with now. Ive said before I wish we really really knew where LMA's head is at with this. It would make things so much easier to decide.
I'm completely, 100% sold on the idea of trading LMA - have been for years. But I wasn't sold on this CLE trade until now. I honestly don't know enough about Thompson to know what to expect from him - but the fact that he's young and has trade value is essentially icing on the cake: Oladipo plus another one or two prospects AND the additional cap space which would allow us to really flesh out the roster. Even if you think that replacing LMA with Thompson/Oladipo/+ will make us worse in the short term, keeping him and adding a middling Center won't make us substantially better next season. There's just so much talent and parity at the PF position that you can take a "lesser" player and still get essentially the same results. Cash in while the value is high. Certainly we'd be have far more assets for future trades by swapping one asset for three. This season we really suffered because we had nothing worth trading.
Does Cleveland have a first round pick next year? That would seal it for me. I'd love to get as many 2014 first round picks as possible. Either way, it isn't just Thompson, #1 (McLemore? Oladipo?), and #19. It's also (probably) next year's first round pick (top 13 protected), because we'd probably lose a lot of games. For example, if they drafted Noel, they could park him for half the season if they want due to his injury. (Although the wind tells me we'd be better off with McLemore or Oladipo as actual players). Plus, Portland would have a boat load of cap room this year, and the ability to float that cap room for next year (my preference), and would still have all it's existing picks. As a long-term plan, such a move would rebuild the Blazers faster than plugging along incrementally IMO. It is basically what OKC did when they had something like 3 top 4 picks in 3 years (I forget the specifics).
I'm not as opposed to trading LMA as I used to be and this isn't a bad deal (I don't think its a home run deal like Melo's or Williams) but it doesn't knock my socks off. We don't have to draft Noels at 1 ,infact with our record I wouldn't go near him, but none of the other candidates really feel like a franchise player which you expect to get with a top pick. Add in that I'm not high on TT, I would look at him as a trade asset and not as a future part of the Blazers long term. We might be able to package TT and another pick to move up and or trade for a better player. If we can increase our capspace replacing LMA with another premium PFs on the market is possible but we will be one of a bunch of teams after them and none of them demand a double like LMA does. Id rather we pass on this deal because I'd like to fix the bench get a starting C and see what happens. We will be able to get a good deal for LMA at next years deadline or next summer. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Yup - this is what swayed me from "maybe" to "yes". If done I would also look into the possibility of trading the #1 down a few spots in order to add yet another asset. I'm not sure what that'd look like, but the idea would be to have whatever pick is necessary to get Oladipo. Then also have the #10 and #19. Perhaps package some 2nd rounders with the #19 to move that up a few spots? Then have Thompson and cap space to sign two quality players. Definitely seems like we'd be a better team right off the bat, with far more flexibility to make additional moves once we take stock of what we have and what we need. It would also be a lot more realistic to trade for a good Center if we had all those pieces.
I'm on the side of being opposed to trade LA for draft picks. Yes it clears up cap space and the tam can aquire a big name FA. But Blazers already have cap space to go after that would rather have LA, high priced FA and remaining squad than high priced free agent, couple of youngsters with potential and remaining squad. LA is in the peak of his career now. Either trade him for a proven player (all star seems like equal value) or keep in as part of a team to go into the playoffs, IMO
Part of me thinks do it. Any opportunity to have an young back court like Lillard/Olapido or Lillard/McLemore, along with our wings (Batum/Wes) is worth it. But on the other hand if we can get that stud SG while still keeping LMA then that is even better. Actually that is way better because you need his threat to post up to open the lanes for the guards. The cap space is intriguing, but who could we get that we can't get now? Not a big Josh Smith fan unless he played alongside LMA. No one else is worth the extra cap space we gain. I honestly go back and forth on this one. I am interested in following the Shabazz workouts. If (and that is a big if) he shows improvement in these workouts, he could turn out to be that stud SG. He still had a decent year in college. 1st team all pac 12 and and co-freshman of the year.
