How is LaVine so much better than CJ? Especially to give up 2 future 1sts? I get that he's younger & 2" taller... but he's still very high usage, and a poor defender. IMO, LaVine is what CJ would look like if he had his own team.
if the fries are in a brown paper bag and I can barley finish them...I'm all in! 5 guys is my where my son and I eat before going to any event at Mathew Knight arena.....always delivers!
Siakim is completely overrated. He's a nice role player. I'd swap him directly for CJ - but I wouldn't add any more value there.
He didn't get along with Nurse which is a flag for me...I wouldn't mind getting Boucher from them for another player....he's the center of the future and I watched him play for the Ducks ...he's fast for a 7 ft player and can drill the 3 at a pretty good clip
neil olshey needs to go all-in either you win big or send franchise into rebuild that being said, we dont know how much is jody allen willing to spend
I would agree with you if LaVine didn't just post a 64% TS season on 31% usage, with better playmaking and rebounding as well. Oh and he's younger and taller. There's no question he's better. You can debate how much better but the idea is improving your top level talent improves your ceiling in a way that shuffling the deck with role players just can't. And it's hard to find these guys. CJ TS% is 57% last year, and that was his best year. I usually look at 60%+ TS with 27%+ USG rate as dominant level offensive players. Go look at history for the last decade and you'll see that most superstars are ones that can play at this threshhold.
I would trade CJ and if needs be future draft picks to Philly for Simmons. I would trade Nurk to the Raptors for Boucher and Baynes. I would re-sign Norm I would sign Austin Rivers with the BAE I would sign Nerlens Noel with the taxpayer MLE I would start Dame, Norm, RoCo, Simmons and Boucher I would bring Ant, Nas, Rivers, Noel, Baynes and likely an opted in DJJ off the bench. That team is deep, that team is really solid on D and that team has firepower.
I'd rather have Simmons than Siakam especially at the price you're asking. This helps Toronto way more than Portland.
I agree that Portland needs to find a top level talent - which is extremely hard to do. LaVine is not that guy though. Yes, he's better than McCollum, but the difference is slight. He's not the top tier talent we should be looking for.
Portland will not have the BAE to use. If they do, they will be hard capped at ~$6M above the tax line. The salary for next year will be significantly above that.
You'll be chasing for a long time then. That level of talent doesn't become available very often and we're on the clock. Our own top end talent may become available soon if we don't do something!
Boucher would be very nice next to Simmons. To me it's get Simmons, then put shooters around him and Dame. The core is Dame, Simmons, RoCo, ZC on a cheap contract, Little and Nas. You build around that core. I'd personally resign Melo to a Vet min and use him like a Vinnie the Microwave Johnson scoring role on mismatches and mostly as a big Shot Bob kind of role when you need buckets late. He'd get zero playing time next to defenisve sieves like Kanter and would never get extended run unless he was shooting lights out. I'd see if the Celtics would still swap Smart for a pick assuming we have any after the CJ Simmons trade. Trading Nurk is the puzzle piece for me. What stretch 5 is available that we could get for Nurk? If not a stretch 5, what wing could we get to play next to Simmons at the 5 and Roco at the 4? PG: Lillard/Smart SG: Powell/Ant SF: Simmons/Little/ or wing here and Simmons as a modern 5 PF: Roco/Simmons/Melo C: Stretch 5???/Collins/RoCo/Simmons Thoughts on serviceable wings we could get for Nukr or stretch 5's?
Everyone hates my Nurk for Kuzma/22nd pick deal, but it's there and I would seriously consider it if we got Simmons. Also Nurk/DJ/heavily protected 1st (like maybe top 25) for Harrison Barnes.
It's use it or loose it. Last year, it would have put Portland into the Tax. They were trying to avoid it. That is why we spent half the season with Kanter as the only guy over 6'-8" on the roster.
I'm down for Barnes or....much less interested in Kuzma. Do the Lakers really want Nurk though? They need shooting.
