Tank for Wembanyama

I personally didn't care about dumping RoCo at all. He was never going to re-sign here after the season. I was mostly pissed about dumping Norm for a pile of garbage.

 

I get that

I just look at last season's trade deadline in a different manner. I don't separate the two trades, I look at them as parts of the same operation, and that includes adding Grant. Mainly it was the long overdue dismantling of the crappy dysfunctional roster. So in my mind it was CJ+Nance+Powell+RoCo for Grant+Hart+Eubanks+Winslow+2nd's. And yeah, the Hart part turned into Thybulle+Knox+Reddish+23rd pick. Eubanks may have been added in any event but it's doubtful if the Blazers hadn't dropped below the tax line

in other words, I kind of look at it as a year-long multi-part transaction where the Blazers traded those 4 players for
Grant+Eubanks+Winslow+Keon+2nd's+Thybulle+Knox+Reddish+23rd pick.

it's not great but it's not bad either. And I think it's pretty clear that at last season's trade deadline the Vulcans were driving the bus more than Cronin was

so, in terms of the Powell part of the trade I think he was just sunk cost from the mismanagement and malpractice by Olshey
*******************************************************************

I'm curious, so I decided to gauge the trades in/out by winshares

CJ 6.9 + Nance 5.3 + Powell 4.2 + RoCo 4.0 = 20.4 winshares @ 91M = 4.5M/winshare

Grant 4.1 + Hart 4.2 + Eubanks 6.4 + Winslow 0.6 +Thybulle 0.9 + Reddish 0.3 + Knox 0.1 = 16.6 winshares @ 44.8M = 2.7M/winshare

and that Blazer winshare number is skewed because the Blazers spent a lot of time tanking with thos players

 

The complaint when I said guys that gave their teams minutes or in Ariza's case his salary was used to match an acquired starter, were about the guys that we gave up along with the picks for the two role players that we eventually sent out for virtually nothing. I get why RoCo went for so little and why Nance was just an addendum in his deal (I would have called RoCo the same but we didn't get shit for Norm either)... I am still just livid that we gave up three FRPs for such minimal upgrades that we ended up just dumping.

 

And those two couldn’t even make the play-in last year. You need depth.

 

OKC didn’t squeak into the playoffs. They lost to the Timberwolves. We were one of the youngest teams in the league this year, by the way. Does OKC have a better young player than Sharpe?

 

Yes

 

I know, thought about that after i already did post. Knew LaRue was truly the 1st, and Bill came after. But i guess i give the Blazers Mgmt. a break for LaRue, because soon after they got Bill and we all know how that turned out. But wear the real Big Man mess up began was with the Bowie pick. Then the Blazers not having deep medical info on Oden was second. So hoping , if we get lucky, Wemby is the charm.

 

SGA is expected to be 1st team All NBA. Williams had a tremendous rookie season & we'll see next year what Chet brings... big upside there.

Outside of Ant Sharpe and Matise, what young Trailblazers do you think have a real shot at being part of a good team's rotation?

STOMP

 

Wow. More excited than to be in the playoffs? A draft pick? You can have that shit.

 

We would've gotten dog-walked in the playoffs. Not very exciting. No potential to change the direction of the franchise.

There is a reason the Mavs intentionally missed even trying for the playoffs.

Making the playoffs as the 7th / 8th seed in my opinion just isn't that exciting with the current direction of the franchise.

 

They made it to the "play-in". They could've easily did what we did and went fishing for a top pick. They didn't do that.

And yes, he's known as "SGA".

 

They both had injury issues last year AND yes, you need depth. But it's easier to address "depth" when you have two of the best players in the NBA already.

We don't have 1 player on the caliber of a (healthy) AD or Lebron, let alone 2.

And if you say Dame, you can save it.

AD, on the rare occasions he's healthy, can impact the game on BOTH ends of the floor MASSIVELY.

And even if I granted you Dame was "on that level" (although both of those players are so super defensively, I'll be lenient), we are FAR, FAR, FAR away from having a 2nd player at that level.

 

I'm much more invested in the May 16th ping pong balls than many years of doomed to lose playoffs.

 

The last time I had some optimism (albeit not alot) when the Blazers hit the playoffs, Aldridge was on the team. They've clearly been undermanned ever since. Finally firing Soapy gave me at least a glimmer of hope that they might not continue to be mismanaged and somewhere down the line they could become relevant again.

What happens with the ping pong balls 5/16 will of course be of note, but other then winning the VW lotto it will be telling what they decide to do afterwords. Failing to get #1, I'm completely open to being blown away by a lopsided trade in PDXs favor that vaults them into contention, but without dealing Dame or SS it seems very unlikely that they can just reshuffle their underwhelming deck to hold a winning hand in 2023-4. The surround me with a contending level vet cast now line Dame has drawn in the sand seems unattainable without dealing Shaedon and no one wants to see that happen. Dame has to know this, but again I'm open to him orchestrating personnel moves that seem out of reach. My guess is that no such behind the scenes moves will be possible and Lillard will let management know he's open to a trade. The clock is ticking on Dame time & I won't fault him for wanting the opportunity to go out on top elsewhere.

STOMP

 

I'm not sure what Shaedon would bring in return. If Dame wants vets around him, someone on their rookie deal would have to be packaged with another higher salaried vet which could boost or deflate the talent coming back. I do think he has more value on the market then Ant though, higher ceiling. Failing winning the VW lotto, if they decide to build a contender around Lillard then hopefully they break their trend and don't half ass it. Push the chips into the middle and trade the pick, Ant and Shaedon for talent that fits. I think Grant and Matise both fit though Thybulle may be a 20-25 minute guy.

STOMP

 

Trading Sharpe will be a massive mistake, so i expect it to happen.

 

How do we feel about Nurk and our filler guys (Nas, Knox, Watford, etc.) for Simmons and their PHX first.

 

I don't think we have enough filler to bridge the gap between Nurk and Simmons.

 

No. The only way I would be happy with Simmons is if he was waived and picked up on a minimum.