Personally i think they decided to keep him and that is why they dumped Skal. I also think they have talked to him and he has told them he will not only play here and sign here next year but he and Nurk both are willing to play inside of their roles. Might be different on different nights but in the end they both want to win. They both know Lillard is special. It's gonna take sacrifices to win a chip. This might be one of those sacrifices?
This would make sense, or they just couldn't find a trade partner and will dump his contract for space this summer. But, as many others have said, I wouldn't mind playing bully ball with two big pick and roll receiving centers. The biggest problem I see with this is they both need Lillard on the floor to be at their best. We need to teach Trent Jr. how to run the PnR with Whiteside.
I think Whiteside and Nurk could even play together in DOSES. We see some teams play two centers from time to time. Philly with Embiid and Horford. Denver with Jokic and Plumlee. Phoenix with Ayton and Baynes. Plus they’re centers. Foul trouble and injuries are just part of the deal and Nurk is at his best in the 25-27 minute range, leaving 20+ for Whiteside.
Whiteside and Nurk would be about as bully as it can get. Not sure that they could both be on the court together against many teams, but what a tag team they would make at the 5 spot.
We just gave Whiteside so much more leverage in what could be a dry free agent summer. He and his agent have to know that Olshey has total egg on his face if he loses him for nothing, so I'd assume they'll make him pay a premium to retain him. Then, if we do overpay to keep him, and we can't make two slow-of-foot centers work together, he'll point the finger elsewhere.
That is my TrailBlazer wet dream. Considering fouls and injuries, they would actually share the load. That's your title.
to have leverage he needs someone in Fa that will give him more than the MLE. I don’t see that team at the moment.
Possible. Though if he's half as good as most people on here think, he should get $20m/year. Let's say all he can get is the MLE elsewhere. He could still tell Olshey, he's taking a 1 year deal for the MLE elsewhere unless Olshey gives him big bucks. Then Olshey can either over pay him or tell him to kick rocks and have nothing to show for it.
There are six teams currently that project to have cap space. One of them is Atlanta who do not need a center. Other centers that could hit the market include Drummond, Marc Gasol, Baynes, Dwight, Lopez, Thompson, Plumlee, and Noel. Good luck to Whiteside getting that $20M offer.
You need teams with cap space for that to happen, and the ones with space are mostly set at center. The guys here who like him have maintained he’s only worth about 10-12 million. I think if the second scenario happens then Neil would happily let him leave. That is, if Whiteside actually believes he can punt on next year given he’s past 30....I just don’t see that happening. Centers in general are becoming devalued. It’s in Hassan’s best interest to get as much guaranteed money as he can this year. This situation is not a real threat imo.
If the Blazers trade Whiteside, Olshey can expect to find me on his front lawn with my shotgun in hand.
https://instagram.com/stories/trailblazers/2238233268579511099?igshid=l3x9s2mq8llr Lolll look how happy he is.
Interesting points. Do you think Olshey is banking on the market being so bad that he can get Whiteside to sign on the cheap? If that's the case, I'd assume that would be a short term solution because Whiteside won't sign on the cheap for more than 1 year. Where do you think Whiteside ranks amongst centers in the NBA?
I think Blazers are in the drivers seat and are more than willing to walk away or look for a sign and trade to a team Whiteside wants to go to if his asking price is to high. I don't see us paying Whiteside more than Nurkic so he should know where the teams mindset is at.
I guess my question is two fold: 1) Do you expect we'll resign him? 2) If yes, what do you think that contract will look like?
I don’t think Whitesides value will get higher as he gets older. That 10-15m range seems about right for him going forward. If Portland offers him something like 4/40, he should probably take it. But if it were up to me I’d offer something with a higher AAV with fewer years...like 2/24.
I really like Whiteside. I have posted on here that he is one Blazer I would love to hang out with. I have defended him here against the charge of being lazy. What worries me is that Olshey seems to be making decisions for sentimental reasons. I think example #1 would be the drafting of Swanigan. I don't think that was a pick by our scouts, who do a great job finding second round gems. Olshey fell for a feelgood story and drafted a guy who doesn't really belong in the NBA. Now we have another feel good story, Whiteside has found a home at last and wants to stay here. He says he will make all the sacrifices needed to make it work. I think he truly believes that. But the only way this works is if Nurkic keeps being injured and I'm sure not hoping for that. The "sentimental" theory might also explain the big contract for CJ and reluctance to trade him. I think a GM has to be a little bit tough some times.
