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WesleyMatthews said:
Blazers would have to get at least Orlandos #6 pick. Not sure how they do that; Ant 23 and probably like 2 future unprotected picks? Maybe more?

Dame
Ausar Amen
Sharpe
Grant
Nurk

If the twins hit their potential the Blazers are probably a dynasty. If they are busts than the franchise is screwed.
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That’s a ton to give up just for the sake of having both twins. I’d understand doing it if Dame was off the team, Ausar/Sharpe/Ausar would be a fun trio to watch grow, but that’s asking for too long of a rebuild. I think that the longer Dame stays, the shorter our potential “rebuild” will be. Dame is a a culture setter, young guys need a vet. SGA had a full season playing with CP3 to miraculously make the playoffs, I can only imagine how much of his growth was under that one year.

If we draft one of the twins, it’s all about picking your favorite one to pair with Sharpe and learn under Dame with. Then trade down to the right spot and draft the Thompson you want, so #3 turns into a twin + other long term pieces:

#4, #20, and Eason for #3, Keon - Not too into this one, Eason might still need more time that we think to develop and fill out his frame. I think there’s a chance Whitmore or another gets selected by HOU if we trade to #5.

#5 and Duren for #3, #45, and Nas. Here, we can pick the best one and also have Duren as our cornerstone at C for a long time. Anyone here who has ever been enamored with the idea of bringing Ayton here should be equally as hopeful about Duren. Duren is younger than Sharpe, and already has shown he’s going to be an ELITE rebounder. On defense he’s switchable enough and he will be a good to great rim protector. He now gives me no worries about the C position. A Nurkic injury means Duren will get a start.

#3, #45, and Nas for #6 and Wagner. Wagner already looks like someone that can be a contributor to a top 6 team, and he’ll only be 22 in August. I would honestly say our starting 5 doesn’t miss a beat overall, with Wagner in place of Hart. If Wagner is encouraged to crash the boards so he can lead the break more often, maybe there isn’t a huge gap in rebounding. Defensively, Wagner is as good as Hart only he’s in a 6’9 frame. Offensively, he can get his own shot and is an exceptional passer. If ORL insisted on #23 instead of #45, I would probably still do it. Sharpe/Ausar/Wagner lock up our future wing rotation for a long time.

I wouldn’t go past trading to #7. If I could get Thompson and Franz, I’d do it over having both twins. Same with Duren and either twin. Ant + #23 and 2 unprotected 1sts is a whole lot to give up.
 
illmatic99 said:
Didnt they do the same with the Duren workout? Even Casey and Brooke made such a fuss on their podcast about how awesome he was.
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it would have been really interesting if PG13 hadn't got Covid and the Pels had lost in the play-in giving Portland the 11th pick (instead of the Milwaukee pick). It seems unlikely Portland would have traded an 11th pick for Grant. That's too much. So, would they have used in on Duren and tried to work with the Bulls so they could have had a free pick to send to Detroit for Grant.

for instance, top 8-10 protection for this year's pick reverting to 2nd's if not conveyed...? That would have been sweet

by the way, would Portland had been better off taking Duren or Jalen Williams?
 
wizenheimer said:
it would have been really interesting if PG13 hadn't got Covid and the Pels had lost in the play-in giving Portland the 11th pick (instead of the Milwaukee pick). It seems unlikely Portland would have traded an 11th pick for Grant. That's too much. So, would they have used in on Duren and tried to work with the Bulls so they could have had a free pick to send to Detroit for Grant.

for instance, top 8-10 protection for this year's pick reverting to 2nd's if not conveyed...? That would have been sweet

by the way, would Portland had been better off taking Duren or Jalen Williams?
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Getting Grant was key to Dame signing his supermax last summer. I think if we take Duren and dont get Jerami, Dame might be elsewhere right now.
 
illmatic99 said:
Getting Grant was key to Dame signing his supermax last summer. I think if we take Duren and dont get Jerami, Dame might be elsewhere right now.
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right...but if the Blazers worked out a deal with Chicago to free up their future picks past this season, they could have still had a 1st to send to Detroit. What has more value a 2025 first from Milwaukee or a 2025 first from Portland
 
illmatic99 said:
Didnt they do the same with the Duren workout? Even Casey and Brooke made such a fuss on their podcast about how awesome he was.
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I'm sure it's the same gang. They did a good job relating info to the GM, drafting Sharpe was a great idea. While Lillard might not be happy playing with 19 year olds, the Blazers training staff certainly is.
 
damianlillard said:
Against Mega MIS, amen had 18 point, 9 assist, 9 rebound, 5 steal, 4 block, and 3 turnover. He did go 5-14 with 0-4 on 3 point shot. He made up for it by going 8 for 8 on free throws. If you watch the tape, he easily could’ve scored more if he didn’t try to be fancy with his layups. But otherwise a stellar all around performance.
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To add further context to this, Amen Thompson went up against six teams from Spain, Australia, and Serbia. These leagues have produced Jokic, the Gasol Brothers (iirc, Marc Gasol was playing in one of these games against Amen), Giddey, LaMelo, Pekovic.

Dozens of NBA players have come from these leagues. In terms of talent, they are lower Division I caliber teams. For example, he played against a 36ers team that beat the Phoenix Suns in an exhibition match a few days later.....so that level of competition is solid and features several former NCAA stars.

In those six games, Amen Thompson averaged 17.0 PPG//5.5 RPG//3.8 APG //2.0 SPG//1.5 BPG //74.4% FT (5.8 FTA)//63% TS......in 27.5 MPG
 
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Dame just followed Amen and Ausar on IG. He's been following Scoot a while (not sure if before or after the lottery). Not following Brandon Miller on IG (at least not yet)
 
MrDraftGuy said:
To add further context to this, Amen Thompson went up against six teams from Spain, Australia, and Serbia. These leagues have produced Jokic, the Gasol Brothers (iirc, Marc Gasol was playing in one of these games against Amen), Giddey, LaMelo, Pekovic.

Dozens of NBA players have come from these leagues. In terms of talent, they are lower Division I caliber teams. For example, he played against a 36ers team that beat the Phoenix Suns in an exhibition match a few days later.....so that level of competition is solid and features several former NCAA stars.

In those six games, Amen Thompson averaged 17.0 PPG//5.5 RPG//3.8 APG //2.0 SPG//1.5 BPG //74.4% FT (5.8 FTA)//63% TS......in 27.5 MPG
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Thank you! Knew someone had the stats from that trip lol
 
BankTeller said:
That’s a ton to give up just for the sake of having both twins. I’d understand doing it if Dame was off the team, Ausar/Sharpe/Ausar would be a fun trio to watch grow, but that’s asking for too long of a rebuild. I think that the longer Dame stays, the shorter our potential “rebuild” will be. Dame is a a culture setter, young guys need a vet. SGA had a full season playing with CP3 to miraculously make the playoffs, I can only imagine how much of his growth was under that one year.

If we draft one of the twins, it’s all about picking your favorite one to pair with Sharpe and learn under Dame with. Then trade down to the right spot and draft the Thompson you want, so #3 turns into a twin + other long term pieces:

#4, #20, and Eason for #3, Keon - Not too into this one, Eason might still need more time that we think to develop and fill out his frame. I think there’s a chance Whitmore or another gets selected by HOU if we trade to #5.

#5 and Duren for #3, #45, and Nas. Here, we can pick the best one and also have Duren as our cornerstone at C for a long time. Anyone here who has ever been enamored with the idea of bringing Ayton here should be equally as hopeful about Duren. Duren is younger than Sharpe, and already has shown he’s going to be an ELITE rebounder. On defense he’s switchable enough and he will be a good to great rim protector. He now gives me no worries about the C position. A Nurkic injury means Duren will get a start.

#3, #45, and Nas for #6 and Wagner. Wagner already looks like someone that can be a contributor to a top 6 team, and he’ll only be 22 in August. I would honestly say our starting 5 doesn’t miss a beat overall, with Wagner in place of Hart. If Wagner is encouraged to crash the boards so he can lead the break more often, maybe there isn’t a huge gap in rebounding. Defensively, Wagner is as good as Hart only he’s in a 6’9 frame. Offensively, he can get his own shot and is an exceptional passer. If ORL insisted on #23 instead of #45, I would probably still do it. Sharpe/Ausar/Wagner lock up our future wing rotation for a long time.

I wouldn’t go past trading to #7. If I could get Thompson and Franz, I’d do it over having both twins. Same with Duren and either twin. Ant + #23 and 2 unprotected 1sts is a whole lot to give up.
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Yeah good post, getting both twins probably isn't realistic, I was just trying to consider what that fantasy could look like. Seems like if we tried to get both twins - it would make more sense to move on from Dame, as you mention no way to align his timeline with all of Ausar/Amen/Sharpe timelines. Its possible one of them develops to contribute much sooner than we expect, but it's extremely unlikely they all do. Also we could likely use a Dame trade haul to get one of the twins as well as then keep #23/future firsts and flip Ant for a different asset or just keep Ant with all of those guys.

Ant
Ausar Amen
Sharpe

So even if all of them are eventually starting quality - we probably have plenty of minutes with one of them backing up 3 spots to get everyone over 30 mpg. Or maybe the plan would be to just roll with this for a year or two - and once twins show they are ready you trade Ant for frontcourt help. Ant value might jump way up if he can take over some of Dame's touches.

Would be a heck of a lot more exciting to watch, even if this team loses a ton, than the last decade of irrelevant Dame teams.
 
#GetBoth
 

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Samuel said:
#GetBoth
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Why would HOU want Ant with Green and KPJ? None of those guys are real PGs, and they already have a hard time with Green or KPJ trying to run the point.

Ant is still a clear upgrade in talent than Eason is right now.
 
BankTeller said:
Why would HOU want Ant with Green and KPJ? None of those guys are real PGs, and they already have a hard time with Green or KPJ trying to run the point.

Ant is still a clear upgrade in talent than Eason is right now.
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Why would they need James Harden?

I don’t buy that they view KPJ as a solution long term.
 
WesleyMatthews said:
Yeah good post, getting both twins probably isn't realistic, I was just trying to consider what that fantasy could look like. Seems like if we tried to get both twins - it would make more sense to move on from Dame, as you mention no way to align his timeline with all of Ausar/Amen/Sharpe timelines. Its possible one of them develops to contribute much sooner than we expect, but it's extremely unlikely they all do. Also we could likely use a Dame trade haul to get one of the twins as well as then keep #23/future firsts and flip Ant for a different asset or just keep Ant with all of those guys.

Ant
Ausar Amen
Sharpe

So even if all of them are eventually starting quality - we probably have plenty of minutes with one of them backing up 3 spots to get everyone over 30 mpg. Or maybe the plan would be to just roll with this for a year or two - and once twins show they are ready you trade Ant for frontcourt help. Ant value might jump way up if he can take over some of Dame's touches.

Would be a heck of a lot more exciting to watch, even if this team loses a ton, than the last decade of irrelevant Dame teams.
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I totally see where you're coming from. A group of young talent led by Sharpe and both twins would be fun to watch grow even if we have 1-2 losing seasons. If we move away from Dame, getting both is certainly not out of the realm of possibilities. If HOU brought back James, maybe they try and speed something up to get talent around him and compete, at which Dame could be traded for #4, young talent, and multiple 1sts. If you could also get #6 and Franz for #3, #45, Nas, and a pick from HOU.

Ant/Amen
Sharpe/Ausar
Amen/Ausar
Franz/Amen

You'd pretty much have to only look for your C of the future, and maybe another lotto season or two helps us find that. But yeah, doesn't seem like a direction we are headed towards.
 
BankTeller said:
#5 and Duren for #3, #45, and Nas. Here, we can pick the best one and also have Duren as our cornerstone at C for a long time. Anyone here who has ever been enamored with the idea of bringing Ayton here should be equally as hopeful about Duren. Duren is younger than Sharpe, and already has shown he’s going to be an ELITE rebounder. On defense he’s switchable enough and he will be a good to great rim protector. He now gives me no worries about the C position. A Nurkic injury means Duren will get a start.
Click to expand...

We gave up the Bucks pick and salary relief for Jeremy Grant that Detroit used to acquire Duren. I have often wondered from that moment what the Blazers would've looked like if they pivoted at that moment and committed to the long rebuild - so not acquiring Grant but instead drafting Duren. We might have traded Dame at last deadline or been exploring it more this summer. Probably still lose similar games as last year so not sure our draft pick would be any different. We probably still trade Hart for a similar pick, or traded him sooner.

Ant
Sharpe
?
?
Duren

Dame trade haul
#3 #23

Now we have to resign Grant - and I'm skeptical we will get him at a dollar value that has an trade value, similar to Nurkic. So Duren is probably worth more than what Grant will be. Yeah I'll probably look at this in the future as we see Duren develop.

I guess the concern is what decisions do we possibly similarly make a suboptimal long term choice with this offseason? Trading away the #3 pick could be much worse. Only way these decisions likely all look good is if the Blazers can acquire enough pieces to become contenders in the next few years with Lillard, which seems very unlikely.
 
I like this video of Amen. His shot is not nearly as bad as some here suggest. But what I do find interesting is that despite their huge difference in height, he and Scoot have the same 6'9" wing span

 
Pinwheel1 said:
I like this video of Amen. His shot is not nearly as bad as some here suggest. But what I do find interesting is that despite their huge difference in height, he and Scoot have the same 6'9" wing span

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Do they? I thought the Thompsons were reported to have 7-foot wingspans.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I like this video of Amen. His shot is not nearly as bad as some here suggest. But what I do find interesting is that despite their huge difference in height, he and Scoot have the same 6'9" wing span

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I'm one of the bigger Amen fans, and I'd say Amen's shot is just as bad as some here suggest lol. But I have a lot more faith in Amen developing his shot.

Amen's wingspan is 7'0, 3 inches longer than Scoot.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I like this video of Amen. His shot is not nearly as bad as some here suggest. But what I do find interesting is that despite their huge difference in height, he and Scoot have the same 6'9" wing span

Click to expand...


Yeah; I want us to get Scoot. He has by far the least question marks of anyone at the top of the draft but still has hall of fame upside.
 
BankTeller said:
I'm one of the bigger Amen fans, and I'd say Amen's shot is just as bad as some here suggest lol. But I have a lot more faith in Amen developing his shot.

Amen's wingspan is 7'0, 3 inches longer than Scoot.
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I don't doubt you, because he looks longer, but when I googled it, several sites list him with a 6'9" wing span (From May 2023) Although I now see some that say 7'
 
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