I was listening to the most recent Front Office podcast with Keith Smith. They said the market for centers right now is brutal. Lots of teams are looking for big men. Hartenstein got $29 million per year. Claxton got $25 million per year. Goga Bitadze got $8.3 million per year. Even Drew Eubanks got $5 million per year. So it really makes me wonder what kind of market RWIII will have if he can prove that he's healthy. It also makes me see the value in taking Clingan. There seems to be some kind of renaissance for centers this summer.
There is no quantity of proof I could be provided with that would make me think RWIII will play meaningful minutes for my team. Maybe we will find a sucker but I think we’re holding the bag on this one.
Unfortunately I feel the same. They should have offloaded him for a first when we got him. They can maybe get some seconds now, and that's what they'll likely settle with at some point.
I'm not sure that I buy the assessment. But regardless, I think we ought to sell Reath to the highest bidder & hang onto the other 3
He's a pretty minimal risk though. Only two years left and he's making $12 million per year. If we could get a heavily protected first, I'd be happy.
I'm going to have to check it, but I'm pretty sure you're including two assets that were part of the Bridges trade.
I'm not entirely sure what New Orleans is trying to get out of Ingram, but I know the Pelicans need a center now and I'm wondering if we could get in on a trade between Sac and NOP. I'd love to get that Lakers pick from them.
That Laker writer Irwin said that he was asking about Timelord and this is what he heard: "I was asking around a little bit today to see how Portland views Timelord, and from Portland's perspective the consensus that I got was that there's no point in trading low... selling low on Rob Williams. He's been hurt a bunch, he didn't play at all last year. There's no point in selling low on him right now, when you're going to be bad anyway. You want to see him get out on the floor. You want to have him prove to people that he can still play. And if he gets hurt again, you're right back where you are right now. If the Lakers are willing to offer legit value for him, maybe, but right now I don't think he's the throw-in that he's seen as right now."
I will say that I don’t agree with not selling low on Timelord. If he gets hurt again hes sunk. He won’t be worth anything. The risk is too high that he will get hurt again and we will be shit out of luck. We should have moved him immediately last summer and if there’s a team that wants him and is willing to give us any value, we should move him.
I agree, and I'm not sure I'm buying what the LA guy is saying is Portland's position. If Ayton and Clingan are both healthy, which one does Portland bench to get Timelord some burn?
Well, playing devils advocate, I don’t think he even needs to log many minutes. He just needs to prove he’s healthy and that he can STAY healthy.
The new market for bigger centers is spelled “Wembanyama”. That BS about smaller centers played just fine as long as there wasn’t a truly talented big center to defend. That’s changed.
The only way he can do that is to play. And so trading him without playing him doesn't let him prove it. And without proving it, I can't imagine another team giving any value for him. I agree with the Blazers' reported approach here: hold onto him. Play him. Trade him when you can get him value, otherwise just re-sign him cheaply or let him walk if you can't.
They’ll never all be healthy. Have you learned nothing from being a Blazers fan? One of them will have a season ending injury before Thanksgiving.
