I wonder if Neil is going to try to get Hood to stick around here without using the MLE. If he likes it here and wants to stick around, we could theoretically give him 17.9M/4y using his non-bird exception. Or he could sign an $8.5M 1-&-1 deal, and if he opted out the summer of 2020, we could theoretically offer a 31.3M/4y deal on early bird rights 16 months from now. Hood would have to really like the culture and his role here in order to take that gamble, but I'd hope Neil tries to make that happen.
If I had to make a conservative guess I think we’re going to package one or two expirings along with our pick for a rotational player with multiple years left. Some possibilities Aaron Gordon Robert Covington Will Barton And some bigger, more unlikely names Love G. Hayward B. Griffin
Knowing Neil's track record, is that really a conservative guess? That would be an outlandishly impressive move for him in comparison to the majority of his efforts in Portland.
I don't think there's a team out there that would trade a quality player for our trash and a first. A bad team with cap may absorb one though....
If we wait until the draft we could select a player for another team and include our 2020 1st too. I'm rooting for things to end poorly for Detroit this season as I think an offer of Turner, either Leonard or Harkless, the rights to our 2019 pick, and our 2020 1st is pretty solid if they don't want to continue building around his contract.
Do you think that is lack of experience or a physical limit? He seems quick and long enough to do better.
Meyers, Turner, and Moe stop becoming anchors the minute the season ends and turn into assets. The market may be flooded with expirings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every team is willing to move them. And unlike a lot of unwanted players on expirings, they can actually contribute to a team. For example, Denver owes Barton $40M after this season. Trading him for Meyers or Moe would save them *roughly* $20M if they keep the first they’d get from Portland, and $30M if they don’t. They can replace Barton with Malik Beasley who’s six years younger and arguably a superior player. If you’re Denver, why wouldn’t you consider that?
That was my thought as well, but I don't get to watch enough games to know how legit that thought was.
eh but do they lie? I agree I think his natural defensive stance is a little awkward, I feel like he's getting better though.
Because even if everything you said is true it's much less risky to wait until the trade deadline to do something like that.
He's jumping at pump fakes a little lest and when a shot does go up, he has the length to really contest. Not a lot of shots that he is flying at going in lately.
He reacts so quickly once his man has beaten him. Each time he gets beat I am surprised at how fast he is able to recover and try to make a good defensive move. I really think he will improve his D significantly with experience. This kid could be a stat stuffer with his skill set.
They're unrelated. If we were able to re-sign Hood with the non-bird exception, we would still have the full (taxpayer) MLE available for another free agent.
