We got the #3 pick. Discuss the possibilities.

I don't follow your question...

Yes, we are talking about the 2023 #3 draft pick. At this point we don't know who that is going to be.
Since the rookie contracts are all slotted, the amount they get paid is going to be the same for whomever the #3 pick is.

The draft occurs in June. The player can sign a contract beginning July 1. By August 1, they are trade eligible (30-days after signing the contract).

My point was that after the #3 pick signs their contract, that player + Little is enough salary to get Bridges back (in August).

 

Would they and would you if you were Joe?


I think it's a good deal for them I realize they are giving up their two best players but getting pick 3, Ant and pick 23 might even be an overpay because neither of their two best players has been an all star. For us this makes sense and it leaves us with our TPMLE and all of our future picks starting in 2026 if we guarantee Chicago next year's FRP and send them a second rounder, the GP2 TPE and a new 9.6M TPE from this trade. We would need a backup big and PG.

Dame, Shaedon, Bridges, Jerami, Claxton, Matisse, backup big, backup PG and whoever wins time between Nas, pick 45, Trendon, Mays and the rest.

 

I can’t see Brooklyn being interested in Brandon Miller.
I think all the hypothetical trades that people are coming up with depend on Scoot being available at #3.

 

I thought it was already established that they won't.

 

So could Brown extend for 5 years $250 million in 6 months? I thought he couldn't, which is similar to Grant not being able to extend for the full amount thus he is going into free agency.

 

I don't know why anyone wouldn't want Miller. He has a way higher upside than Bridges. If I weren't so emotionally connected to Dame, I would want us to draft Miller to play the 3, start Ant and Shae in the back court and draft a big with pick 23.

For me though, I think an addition like Bridges along with a guy like Claxton combined with pushing some future draft picks in to bolster our bench would result in a contender.

 

Just reminds me of all the ideas of great starters we were going to trade Norm/Roco/CJ for - then we end up with Didi and Eric Bledsoe.

 

There are reports that they are saying they aren't interested in trading Bridges but it's that time of year... a lot of talk just to drive prices up. I guess we'll see, or someone will beat that offer. I think a lot of us as Blazers fans think that Joe is the one having to go out and sell our pick but I'd be surprised if his phone isn't ringing off the hook from GMs who want the third pick in a three player draft (really 1, 2a, 2b and the rest).

 

I'm just going to be extremely disappointed if we go into next season with Dame and Ant starting again.

 

Holy hyperbole Batman! Dude... I'm not a big Ayton fan, especially at for his contract, but he is not anywhere CLOSE to the problem that Ben Simmons is, that's just silly. One of them has always been the 3rd (or worse) option on great, championship-level teams and tends to struggle, some, when he's not engaged in the offense. The other was supposed to be THE franchise player and now willingly passes up wide open layups *because*...

 

We aren't dealing with Norm or RoCo and we did get a solid return on CJ. We're dealing with the number three pick in a draft where there is a decided drop after the third pick, Ant who is a young, extremely athletic, knockdown shooting combo guard and another first rounder in this draft. These aren't future firsts, they are players staring GMs in the face right now.

I've already said this, I really want to win with Dame and I think it is not just possible but probable that we can put a contender around him but if other GMs aren't willing to play ball with our picks and give us fair value for them then I know there are GMs that would give us a haul for Dame and that's when we should do that. That being said, I don't think that it will come to that because Scoot and Miller are such badasses, I think GMs are likely annoying Joe right now trying to get in on one of them... which ever one that front office has landed on as a bigger star.

 

Cannot happen. It has to be Dame and Shae with Ant on a different team, Ant and Shae with Dame on a different team or if we draft Scoot, it needs to be Scoot and Shae with both Ant and Dame on different teams. Fuck this mini back court shit we've been running for almost a fucking decade now.

 

I'm fine with DameAnt - If;
1 Miller and
2 Sharpe are here and both develop well! - Those two young guys are 90% of what determines our franchises future and is far more important.

Other things that would make me positive;
3 Watch another rookie at #23 begin developing into a useful player - most years this would be the most exciting offseason addition to our roster. Instead this is a distant third behind seeing Sharpe or Miller develop.
4 Grant is resigned at an amount I don't puke at
5 We sign someone that can play for the MLE (Bruce Brown/ Hartenstein/etc)
6 We get a playable backup center who is taller than 6'9". Hell I just saw old washed up Tristan Thompson with key 4th quarter minutes in the WCF.
7 Sign two more vet minimums that can fill in for injuries or play situationally instead of the joke's we've had on the roster the last few years.

That roster still has a ton of promise, isn't stuck in salary cap hell, can make other moves if a star becomes available, has nearly all of its future firsts, and might be able to make some real noise if Miller/Sharpe begin to pop.

Thats way more exciting than sending out Ant/#3 for an irrelevant OG/Siakam - just so you lose your DameAnt duo.

 

For me, it’s not that Simons and Dame are small. It’s that both like to walk the ball up the court and neither seems interested in running with Shaedon Sharpe or looking for Sharpe on baseline lobs. It was pathetic how few half-court lob looks that Sharpe had last season. The Blazer would throw one, which would be successful, then that would be it for the game.

 

Nobody seems to think about finding a partner for Sharpe.
That’s exactly what I’d be doing after lucking out on getting the 3rd pick.

 

Plus you still have potential with this deal to unlock the future picks and pick up another potential big time asset.

 

And a set C if some team wants someone else at #3.

There's no way they go into draft night without 20 different scenarios lined up.

 

Super simple.

Sharpe needs BPA so the roster builds up the talent. Thats clearly whoever is still there for Scoot/Miller. Either can fit in a lineup great with Sharpe the next decade. No "finding a partner" is needed; just draft BPA.

 

Dame is great, and a perfect backcourt mate for Sharpe. We all hope Shaedon is gonna be that much more ready at the start of next season. Dame was already lobbing it to Shaedon successfully since you put so much on the freakin' lob. Plus Dame has outstanding court vision to thread the needle wherever Sharpe is. When Dame retires, Shaedon will still be young (25-26) potentially . Sharpe needs to be the partner Dame needs. Dame will get Sharpe the ball. It's on Sharpe to get it done whether it be scoring, or assisting once the ball comes his way. Where Sharpe has the potential to make the backcourt more lethal is because he has the size Ant does not. And Sharpe proved to be a very good rebounder on the offensive end.

 

Either of those guys would be a good fit with Sharpe.