We got the #3 pick. Discuss the possibilities.

If all else fails, you tell Dame to suck it up and draft BPA.

 

Not sure how you read it that way; he says if Brookkyn included none of those 5 picks he'd consider it.... implying he might not agree to acquire Dame even if the Blazers foolishly acquire none of those 5 picks.

 

Second round picks and Ben Simmons? If we want any of their 5 future first round picks he suggests they hang up lol.

 

My “split the baby” dream scenario would be to draft Miller at #3, trade Ant and #23 for OG, cut a deal with Chicago to lock the pick we owe them into next year in exchange for a second round pick, and trade Nurk and Little and future picks to the Pacers for Turner. Make it so, Joe.

 

My concern with Siakam is he'll be on an expiring contract. That's too risky for the #3 pick.

 

I would trade pick 3 and Nurk to the Raptors for OG, pick 13 and a future first rounder.

I would trade pick 13 to the Knicks for Hartenstein and a future first.

I would trade Ant, Nas, rights to pick 23 and up to three future FRPs (two of which would be the firsts we would get from the Raptors and Knicks) to the Wolves for KAT. We would have to send Chicago a second and guarantee them our FRP next season to do this but I would, it replenishes Minny's future firsts that they lost in the Gobert trade and gives them back court help that they need.

All of these trades are separate and they work under the CBA. The Hartenstein trade would be completed during this NBA fiscal year so he would fit into our TPE. That would mean that the OG trade would have to be completed by then as well. The KAT trade would have to be completed in the new fiscal year so his salary matches closely enough with Ant and Nas and also so we are no longer hard capped.

We could use pick 45 on the best available upperclassman PG who could compete with Mays to be Dame's backup. We would re-sign Jerami and Matisse and pick up the option on Knox. We would get the best wing (most likely a PF) that we could the the TPMLE.

Dame, pick 45, Mays
Shae, Matisse, Keon
OG, Matisse, Knox
Jerami, TPMLE, Trendon
KAT, Hartenstein, Drewbanks, Badji

If the change of scenery and playing with Dame has KAT playing the best ball of his career and this team can stay healthy for the most part, I think it would grab HCA in the first round and be a scary match up for any team in the league.

 

https://syndication.bleacherreport....-trade-market-to-help-damian-lillard.amp.html

Nothing new here except this bit about Grant returning:

This time it's Zach Lowe reporting it.

 

Agreed. No way we make that trade without a guarantee

 

I'd trust Dame to get an "agreement" or "understanding" that he staying long term so that not really an issue.

Problem I see is more that Siakam is a clunky fit with Grant, close to 30, and probably doesn't get the Blazers close enough to contention now to give up that #3 pick upside.

 

This is an overpay.

 

Yes, it takes a lot of character to intentionally lose games.

 

Siakam/Grant is such an awkward pairing. Bridges/Grant makes WAY more sense.

Siakam is older, on an expiring (I'm less worried about this), and hasn't really shown himself to be a very useful player without the ball. He puts up counting stats, but on mediocre efficiency (career 56.7% TS), and is not a great defensive player. This is like a last resort type of option, and only if the deal is right.

Plus dealing with Masai is going to be a nightmare. He's not going to ask for anything near fair value.

 

I'd rather just do your KAT trade on its own and first see how he fits with Dame.

If it works, great maybe then go with that next move for the last contending veteran. If KAT doesn't work, then consider it a sunk cost and move on.

I wouldn't give up the #3 pick where the best asset we get back is OG. Quality trumps quantity. That's a very poor use of the Blazers second best draft pick since 1984.

 

There seems to be a lot of trust between Dame and the new FO - and that trust is built on honesty and sticking to the plan they've laid out. If they use the pick on a player and tell Dame to suck it up, he's 100% asking out.

Since Cronin has taken over, he's given lots of people insight into their actual thought process. He's been honest with media members (Highkin, Marang), honest with Dame and his agents. It's all been building towards this moment. If they walk out of the draft with Miller or Scoot they are 100% trading Dame.

 

It's a fucking game. Yeah, that's how teams win long term in this game. Example: Spurs

You make it sound like he stole food from a kids cancer clinic.

 

Then they can give us OG, pick 13 and two future FRPs and then we don't have to use any of our future FRPs in the KAT deal.

The fact is both the starting lineup and bench would be the best Dame has ever played with both in terms of talent and fit. All KAT needs to get back to an all nba level is to be reinvigorated, the dude hasn't lost a step and none of his skills have declined... he has just been in a bad situation since COVID took so much of his family and then having to play twin towers with Gobert in 2023. Let KAT and Dame pick and roll/pop other teams to death while Sharpe, OG and Jerami get open looks from three and easy baskets cutting to the hoop from all of the attention/gravity that P&R would have. The defense would be very good and far more mobile than we've had in years. We would also have a really really good bench which isn't something we've ever been able to say in the Dame era.

 

Easier with Miller than Scoot

 

If it's Miller available at 3 then I could see this making sense. Our bench would be much weaker though. I honestly think you go all in on winning now with Dame or you trade Dame. These "split the baby" ideas are one thing in theory but I do not think they are what Joe and Dame have agreed to. I think Joe will shop our two firsts this year along with future firsts and anyone on the roster who isn't Dame, Shae and Jerami. If Joe can come up with a roster he sees as contending then he'll make the deals... if he can't he will tell Dame and they'll get him traded in a way that sets us up for a big time youth rebuild and gets Dame to a contending situation.

 

Trade Simons to Toronto for Siakam.
Draft Scoot Henderson.