Deni is not the guy, he's the guy you want on your team who doesn't need to be the guy but has the ability to be the guy when needed. He's special.
True. Important to point out that Chicago already had MJ when they drafted Pippen. And they could make lopsided trades with no salary restrictions, and didn't have to worry about a salary cap. Also, Pippen didn't cost them 2 or 3 first rounders. So they were able to draft guys like Horace Grant.
I'd still probably lean towards the trade being an overpay just because I really liked that 2029 pick. But Deni has been arguably the best Blazers this season and has such a fun game to watch, really enjoy rooting for him and very happy he's on the team.
Interesting, considering I didn't address the chances of it being #2. I certainly didn't say it was likely. Only potentially that high. Which seems to be exactly as high as that pick could be. In other words, there are not protections eliminating the possibility of it being a #2 pick. There was absolutely no exaggeration in my post.
pretty clearly, the chances the Blazers land the #1 AND #2 picks in that draft are close to nil. Yeah, it could happen; the laws of gravity might change as well however, it's entirely possible that pick is a top-10 pick; meaning Portland paid 2 lottery picks and two 2nd's for Avdija. And Avdija could have already walked away in free agency a year before the Blazers have to send that pick to Washington. It was a steep price, and a risky price, paid for a role player who will turn 24 next week
yes, saying it could be a #2 pick is stretching probability past the breaking point. However, it could easily be, for example, a 9th pick; after already giving up a 14th pick 6 months ago the last time the Blazers did something similar was when they traded 2 firsts for RoCo. The first was the 16th pick in the 2020 draft when the Balzers lost the opportunity to draft one of: Isaiah Stewart Saddiq Bey Tyrese Maxey Immanuel Quickley Payton Pritchard Jaden McDaniels Desmond Bane the 2nd pick was the 23rd pick in 2023. It was less impactful than the year before, but Portland did lose out on an opportunity to draft one of: Quentin Grimes Cam Thomas Santi Aldama Herbert Jones Ayo Dosunmu that was the opportunity cost of the RoCo trade. The cost from a 16th and 23rd pick, which was pretty clearly a bad trade for Portland. The opportunity cost from a 14th & 9th pick could be much higher; and that still doesn't account for the Blazers giving up their 2028 & 2030 2nd round picks too. As I said, those 3 later picks could all be shipped to Washington when Avdija is no longer a Blazer now, if Avdija's ceiling is all-star and he reaches that ceiling, no issue. But if his ceiling is a starting level role-player the cost could be quite high
I would take Deni over pretty much all of those guys. Maybe Maxey but short scoring guards are not exactly rare.
If Scoot, Sharpe, and Clingan reach their absolute maximum potential adding Deni to them might be enough to be a legit contender at some point in the next 5-10 years. But we won't be a very deep team (unless our front office simply out maneuvers the rest of the front offices in the league, or if we get the next great coach). If they don't, we're going to need quite a bit more talent. I'm just not sure what assets we'll have to add that talent if we're getting late lotto picks or worse next year and beyond. Hopefully we can knock it out of the park with this draft.
that wasn't the choice though. It was RoCo over all those guys, not Deni we don't know yet what the opportunity cost of Avdija is going to be.
Deni was a great move by the front office. When he's hitting shots he's a needle moving player and recently he's been shooting well. For a 6'9 guy he's got a really explosive first step and the strength to finish through contact. He's got me watching games again.If you think we overpaid with 2 picks for him and Brogdan, I think he's worth it and we were basically gifted DB for peanuts as well as Camara in the Nurk deal..basically got him for Nassir Little....I think Joe did a good job given the circumstances.
Anyone lamenting the potential lost value of draft picks 4.5 years from now is clearly not attending games currently - because I'm much more interested in seeing competent basketball prior to November of 2029.
Also, people are only lamenting losing them because we lost them. They were "low value, distant" picks of contenders when we possessed them.
I challenge you to find any posts of mine saying anything of the sort. You won't, because I considered those picks essential to rounding out a contender or extending the window of a contender. I was also very interested in turning Brogdon into a pick. However, I think it's important that I reiterate that I don't hate the deal. And I really like Deni. I'm just concerned with adding as much talent as possible while we have the opportunity. We aren't going to do it via free agency, and we have no advantage in trades.
That's loopy.....there was a ton of 'worthy' discussion here about the super "haul" the Blazers got for trading Dame. Pretty ridiculous to claim those picks had great value when the Blazers landed them, then turn around and claim they have irrelevant value now and it's unworthy discussion Blazers didn't get Avdija for free. They paid a price. It's entirely legitimate to discuss the price, especially when the value of that price shifts over time
