You also had fans here talking about how we should extend Meyers for the max because we wouldn't want to risk the next Nowitzki with better athleticism leaving for nothing. I really like having Hart on the team, but he's a role player. It would probably be ideal if he was on the bench because we have a superior option starting. But its nice having him on the team. Being a nice player doesn't make him one of the 15 best SG in the NBA though.
I never said being a nice player makes him a top 15 SG. I just didn’t realize that in your mind, you had to be a top 15 SG to be considered an “above average starter” at that position. I also didn’t realize no role players can qualify for “above average starter” to you. But alright dude.
Kinda makes sense that "above average" would be amongst the top half of the starters in the league, doesn't it?
Probably wouldn’t happen but I would trade anyone outside of Grant, Sharpe and Dame. I’m not even a KD fan.
Please produce one of these posts, I would love a lil comedic gold to parse thru whilst eating lunch today…
So, what would be the max you'd be willing to pay for Durant? Without considering Salary cap I'd consider any package that does not include Dame, Ant, Sharpe for Durant. Honestly, I don't really want to trade Grant either. I'd consider trading Ant maybe, but really I don't want to trade him. Heck I don't want to trade Hart either. So yeah, how about Sarr and Watford for Durant?! Seems a trade BKN would be chomping at the bit for. I just honestly can't conscience trading Sharpe or Hart for Durant. Sharpe for upside and Hart because of his, well you know HEART!
So you would trade Hart, Ant, Nurk, Payton, Little, Keon, and Watford? What about picks; Blazers could trade 2025*, 2027*, 2029 picks with swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028. Would you trade all of that too? Dame Sharpe Grant KD Eubanks with no bench doesn't look like a contending team to me, so I wouldn't do that. The time to trade for KD was in the summer; now that the Blazers are hard capped it isn't realistic.
Listened to Hollinger and Duncan's podcast yesterday (its probably a week old though). Their idea of a Durant Blazers trade was Grant, Hart, Sharpe, and a few picks for Durant. They said they wouldn't do it now from the Nets end but would if the Nets are struggling at the deadline and its the best offer they could get. Would you want the Blazers to make such a trade?
Not with Sharpe included from the Blazer's side. Even if it were Grant + Hart + 2 picks for Durrant - I'd have trouble pulling the trigger.
A lot of mileage on Durant's vehicle (body). I know he is still good but he seems less interested in defense then before. I would stay away, they will get a better deal then what we are willing to give up.
Jordan won his final title at Durants current age of 34. But Jordan was in his 12th full season. Whereas Durant is playing his 15th (16th if including rehab year) Doing a Durant trade probably gets the Blazers more talent for the playoffs this season. But only if he stays healthy, and that could quickly go down hill as early as next year. Plus Durant is on a huge supermax. Then losing picks, plus a possible decade of an elite talent like Sharpe. To me the answer is an easy no. But it makes sense for some team to give up value for him. It's just going to be tough because they have to give up talent to appease Brooklyn but keep enough to be able to contend.
This interview/article exposes KD for who he really is: a hooper with immense talent and skills, with a solid work ethic, who just wants to play ball in a positive environment. He's not a culture setter. But he appreciates getting in the trenches with his guys as part of a team. I love this quote: "It wasn't like, ‘Yo, y'all need to make sure everybody around me can make my life easier.’ Hell nah, I want to make everybody else’s life easier.I just like good practices, I like a good preparation, I like good energy, and we've been showing that, to be honest," Durant told B/R. "Coaches have been doing a great job, regardless of this loss tonight and last game. I think we've been preparing ourselves well. Guys want to win. We’re out there playing as hard as we can. That's really what I need. "That's what I said last summer. I didn't feel like we had those things last year like good preparation, great energy to start real team chemistry, and I feel like we’re building that right now. We got some guys in and out the lineup, but I think guys have been figuring out their roles within that. And it's been fun, regardless of games like tonight." https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-trade-request-coaching-frustrations-and-more I think he would be a tremendous fit in Portland in our culture.
also, i know people will feel a certain way about him essentially saying his teammates are trash in that interview, but he's just speaking the truth and highlights his deficiencies as the number 1 guy. make him a #2 next to a stronger personality, and you have one of the best ballers in the league.
I was on record saying I wouldn’t trade for either KD or Ben. I’ve somewhat come around to KD, but I still wouldn’t trade Sharpe and mortgage our entire future to compete with another offer. If all it cost was Ant, Nurk, Little, and four unprotected firsts, then I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Yeah I thought it’d scare me too. But Dame + KD + Grant is probably going to compete for chips for at least another 3-5 years, with Sharpe coming up after that. If KD goes out saying he wants to be in Portland, trade for it. If he asks out with a list of destinations and we aren’t on the list, just keep it moving.
Sometimes you have to do scary shit to win it all. That being said we don't have 4 unprotected firsts to trade. We could give them a 2024 swap, 2025 FRP, 2026 swap, 2027 FRP, 2028 swap and 2029 FRP. So only three FRPs available for us to trade and that's if we took the protection off of the pick we owe the Bulls. Given KD's age and Dame's, I don't think that it would be wise to leave all of those swaps and picks without protections but I could see us leaving the swaps and picks for 24'-26' completely unprotected, then only top 4 protections after that. Obviously you risk giving up a top pick in the draft or multiple top picks but you would increase your chances of winning a title by a lot. I do think even if the plan was to start a small ball team of Dame, Shae, Hart, Grant and KD... you might want to find a way to upgrade backup C if you were going to do this deal. At the same time a rotation of Dame, Shae, Hart, Grant, KD, Winslow, GP2, Drewbanks and whoever wins the most minutes out of Trendon, Jabari and Keon would be fucking scary for anyone facing us. That's a lot of firepower, defensive versatility and gritty guys. I guess realistically we would pick up the best guys on the buyout market if we pulled this off and that would solidify that rotation. We would likely be the title favorites this season and then with what we could do going into next, just using bird rights and TPMLE... we would be the clear favorites entering 2023-24 barring any catastrophic injuries.
