Part of me wants to acquire Durant because obviously him and Dame are instant contenders. Part of me wants to say Fuck Durant and root against him wherever he ends up. First he jumps to the 73 win warriors now he prefers to join the team with the best record. What a bandwagon player. I also love the Sharpe pick, so giving him up would be a major bummer. Even though Durant is obviously much better now and the chance very slim Sharpe becomes a superstar.
So you don't want Simmons. You don't want Ayton. Do you actually want the Blazers to get better or do you want them to stay mediocre? Both of those guys are star level players who would greatly improve the team's ceiling.
Of course, if they prefer Bam, they could ship out Ben Simmons to a third team potentially in a Miami deal... but they seem to like Simmons at the moment.
Curious that Dame hasn’t signed? The minute they put that contract in front of me I’m signing it. Is he holding off to leave options open for the team in trade (not involving him)
Dame extension has zero impact on Blazers current roster moves. His extension wouldn't kick in for years. Maybe the Blazers and Dame are bargaining on the final year option or guarantees. Or maybe Blazers are super active in negotiations for other players so Dame and everyone is focusing on that. It hasn't even been 24 hours.
I absolutely want the Blazers to improve, but not by bringing in a whiney , malcontent who will be a cancer to the team. And i don't want to see Hart leave to make a deal happen. He's made of the right stuff. I'm not sure pouty Ayton won't go all slacker once he's paid.
As much as I love Josh Hart, he's a role player and we're talking about star level players in Simmons and Ayton. What have we been talking about Olshey's tenure? Not getting real stars around Dame. Both Simmons and Ayton would be massive talent upgrades. If they acquire one or both, Chauncey and Dame feel like they can wrangle the personalities. Gotta roll the dice on that kind of talent. It's a no brainer.
It isn't about fitting Durant under the apron. The problem is that if you're hard capped (if I'm understanding this right) you can't go out and sign other players. Not even for the vet minimum. It's fucking ridiculous but it is what it is. So if we sent out 6 guys for Durant, and we're still hard capped, we can't fill those 5 empty spots that we're left with.
Unfortunately it's impossible because of the CBA. It would be just as likely as us adding Luka and Giannis as well.
Timberwolves receive: • Rudy Gobert Jazz receive: • Malik Beasley • Patrick Beverley • Leandro Bolmaro • Walker Kessler • Jarred Vanderbilt • 2023 first-round pick • 2025 first-round pick • 2026 pick swap • 2027 first-round pick • 2029 first-round pick (protected) If that's the cost of Rudy Gobert, what does that mean for Kevin Durant??
That trade makes no sense for the Timber Puppies. So they're going with Twin Towers? As for Utah, those picks could end up being latter qtr. of 1st round. Glorified 2nd rounders basically. Utah now is guard heavy. Wonder if Mitchell is long for the Jazz.
Says they want 2 All Stars in return. How they gonna get that? Suns aren't gonna send Booker & Bridges. Heat aren't gonna send Jimmy Buckets & Bam. This is a ridiculous situation the Nets are put in. KD wants to join these good teams, but they can't offer anything close to what Nets want. Sounds to me like the Nets might play hard ball, and tell Cryee to STFU, and play. Or they could give him the Wall treatment and let him rot for a year. I think that suits Irving well.
The ridiculous price for Durant has definite shades of Daryl Morey, which does not bode well for Durant. But who gives a shit? Only difference is that the Nets can't afford to suck because all their draft picks belong to Houston. Talking of whom: That might be the best package the Nets could hope for. The Rockets probably don't want to give up Green, but come on - he'll never approach Durant level. Sengun is a very solid player but the Rockets CAN'T play both him and Paolo at the same time, so it's no real loss. But the main advantage for Brooklyn is (once again) with their own picks back they can suck as much as they need to without just helping someone else.
Dame and Little for Durant. The Nets can then trade Kyrie for other pieces and build around Dame. The Blazers have instantly balanced their starting lineup with more height and even greater firepower: Nurk, KD, Grant, Hart, Simons. That’s a contender. I feel dirty. Gotta go shower again.
or maybe...bear with me here...all the chatter about Dame wanting that extension and holding it over Portland's head was...bullshit? Dame himself said it was
I don't think that's the rule, at least not technically the only rule is if you're hard-capped you can't cross the apron at any time, for any reason. You can sign as many players as you want, you just can't cross the apron. in the example you gave, let's reduce it to a 5 for 1 trade, it would be Durant coming in, the 5 going out, and every roster slot above 12 left open would incur a roster charge of about 1M. That math would have to add up under the apron. So, the Blazers would have to increase their roster to 14 players (might be 13). Jabari walker would be signed for about the same as a roster charge. Then, the Blazers would have to complete their roster with minimum signings and still stay under that apron. If they couldn't do that the league office would veto the trade the one thing I'm unclear on is Bledsoe. His trade value to another team is 19M, but until July 11 that team can waive him and only pay 3.9M. But does Portland, in order to trade him, have that 19M count against their cap?
