The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

jumping off crown point if this happens

 

Really? No mention of lullaby, invisible monsters or snuff?

 

Courtney Lee
Wilson Chandler
Eric Gordon

 

I suffer from severe ADD due to advancing age and a congenital cognitive disorder. I don't have the ability to read any more. I would read those books if I could.

 

I mean I really want Burks but UTA would never go for it Joe Johnson I could see tho

 

I could see Utah dumping Burks contract for sure. He's not in their rotation and is making too much.

 

I let go of my shorts

 

Really? Is that true? Man I'd do that in a heartbeat

 

No me gusta.......

 

You learn to survive. Podcasts are a godsend. As are magazine articles under 6 pages. Be happy if you are born with a healthy brain.

 

Jordan Clarkson is solid.

 

That sucks man.

 

Healthy, but completely fucked up. I got the generalized anxiety disorder thing on lockdown.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y79rrpze

 

You guys think Portland is going to use a trade exception without sending almost the same amount of salary out? Don't hold your breath on that. Portland doesn't want to be over the luxury tax.

 

Portland wants to win.

 

I'd take Vucevic.

 

No problem. Not going to put that much effort into it as I'm sure Neil already has plans for that trade exception.

Tobias Harris makes $16 million. So, we can't get him with the $12.9 million TPE.

Tony Allen is, I believe, an unsigned free agent. If so, the TPE cannot be used to sign him outright, although a sign and trade with MEM is a possibility.

I took a quick look through some of the other teams rosters. I mostly focused on teams that are suddenly over the lux tax threshold and may welcome a TPE to get under the threshold and teams that are rebuilding and have a veteran player that doesn't fit in with their future plans. Honestly, there isn't a lot out there. We might be better off holding onto the TPE until the trade deadline when some teams that aren't contending may be looking to blow it up, or maybe be a facilitator in a multi-team trade.

Anyway, my thoughts...

Moving Crabbe leaves us potentially short handed in the back court. The obvious use of the TPE would be to shore up our back court. The two most obvious choices have already been mentioned: Eric Gordon and Courtney Lee. The TPE is large enough to swap straight across for either player. Both are older than Crabbe, but both are better (IMHO) and make 2/3 as much. Gordon is a better, more aggressive scorer. Lee is basically an older version of Crabbe with defense. I'd be fine with either of these as our Crabbe replacement, if that's Neil's plan.

My dark horse Crabbe replacements are Danny Green, should SAS go all in to land Kyrie and need to shed some salary for some reason (although I'm not sure why CLE wouldn't just take Green) and Jared Dudley. Dudley is a solid 3-point shooter that's used too coming off the bench. Both Green and Dudley currently make $10 million. Dudley has two years left. Green has two years, but the second is a player option he will probably decline. Both are career .400 3-point shooters with extensive playoff experience. Both also give us something Crabbe didn't - Green defense and Dudley is a better rebounder and much better passer than Crabbe.

Of the four SGs mentioned, Green would be, by far, my first choice because of his defense (2nd team all defense last season). He's a true 3 and D player.

For now, I'll assume we are keeping Harkless and if we do, we are flush at SF. Hark will be the starter and after adding two young bigs in the draft, I believe Aminu will see more minutes at the 3, with Turner and Layman also pitching in for spot minutes.

Other than a replacement SG, I believe a solid, experienced back up center is our biggest need. This is where it gets interesting. There are several that are potentially available, that either don't fit with their current team's plans or may be available in a salary dump. Here's a few examples:

Kyle O'Quinn. It's no secret I like this guy. Solid back up that can play both the 4 and 5. Great rebounder, elite rim protector, high motor, underrated passer. Jump shot does not extend to 3-point range, but he scores efficiently around the basket and has a solid mid range game. Would be great backing Nurk, but could also play beside him. Great transitional piece to ease Swanigan and Collins into their future roles. Knicks would be fine moving him as he doesn't fit in the future plans. He's cheap and would leave us with $8.8 of the TPE to use on someone else, if we choose.

Cole Aldrich. Another great rebounder and rim protector that is underutilized on his current team. Was great backing up DeAndre Jordan two years ago. Also cheap, would use less than half the TPE this season and 2018-19 is a team option. Another solid transitional piece to give the young guys a year of seasoning before we have to rely on them in a major role. MIN is currently just over the salary cap. So, they may be willing to move Aldrich for part of our TPE if they decide they want to go all in for Kyrie Irving.

John Henson - supposedly available, makes $11+ million, with three years left. At least it's a declining contract. Not a fan. His individual stats look good, but he's a good shot blocker that also happens to be a terrible defender. He's thin and soft and gets pushed around way too easily. MIL suddenly finds themselves over the tax threshold. So, they'd love to dump his salary, but I'd pass on this one. Either of the first two would be far better, far cheaper and on shorter contracts.

WAS is another team that suddenly finds itself over the luxury tax threshold. I'm sure they'd love to dump Ian Mahinmi on us, but at $16.6 million he's way over our TPE. Wouldn't want him anyway. I'd love to have Marcin Gortat. At $12.8 million, the TPE would just cover his salary, but no way does WAS move him. They are in win now mode and depending on what happens in CLE, WAS could be challenging BOS for the No. 1 seed in the East. Worst case, they are a top 3 team in the East and the Polish Hammer is a vital part of that.

Tyson Chandler - at $13 million he just exceeds our TPE. That's OK, I don't want him anyway. Too old. He'll be 35 before the season starts and this isn't the same Tyson Chandler that patrolled the middle in NY and DAL. Both C.J. McCollum (42) and Meyers Leonard (28) blocked more shots than Chandler (24) last season. No thanks to that.

BNM

 

So does 26 other teams. Realistically only 3 have a chance