Notice Bledsoe Waived

[B-Roy]

Keon Johnson is a nothing burger. A future 1st is more valuable than a scratched off lotto ticket that isn't even gonna play.

Sure, but there may not have been a team that would have given a future first.

 

[craigehlo]

Norman Powell at 17 million is not a bad contract.

The media outside of Portland was pretty negative on the number we gave Norm. Hell, even the trade grades at the time we sent out GTJ weren't effusive on the move since it was seen a very slight upgrade at best. Norm is a bench player on a good team IMHO. 17 mil for your 6th man is a bit steep.

 

[RR7]

Sure, but there may not have been a team that would have given a future first.

Most contending teams did not have either a need or a future 1st to give, as well.

 

[Pinwheel1]

There are still people defending it.

Norman Powell at 17 million is not a bad contract.

Our prize from that trade was Keon Johnson. Someone who isn't going to sniff any playing time.

The trade was horrible.

Would Norman be sniffing any playing time? Who would you rather have at shooting guard: Hart, Ant, Gp2, or NP?
That is not even including SS who needs some minutes. I agree that NP's contract was not bad, but dumping it still saved us some money. Either way, Roco was not returning and I like Winslow better. The trade was not great for us, but the way people are whining about it is like we lost a difference-maker.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

There are still people defending it.

Norman Powell at 17 million is not a bad contract.

Our prize from that trade was Keon Johnson. Someone who isn't going to sniff any playing time.

The trade was horrible.

Simons/Hart/Sharpe/GP2.... so Keon is our 5th or 6th string SG; depending on Didi being in front or behind him.

 

[TBpup]

Silver Lining - we have one less guard.

 

[DDolla]

Jody needs to go. She don’t care about competing and winning. She want to save as much money and just make it to the playoffs.

 

[julius]

Jody needs to go. She don’t care about competing and winning. She want to save as much money and just make it to the playoffs.

Hold on, if she only cared about saving $, why did they over pay for Simons and Nurk? Why are they rumored to be paying Dame that HUGE extension?

Why would they have signed GP for as much as they did?

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I gave 4 examples of similar/better players that were traded for a similar returns. The league clearly did not value Norman Powell the same way fans did.

Could Powell have been worth more a week later at the deadline? Possibly. Could he have been worth at the least what LaVert and others were at the deadline when traded for an actual first round pick? Possibly. If we had then flipped such first round pick from a Norm trade for Grant could the Blazers have drafted Duren? Perhaps. If Cronin never found a deadline deal for Powell could he have been worth much more this summer? Possibly.

Cronin stated he worked to get players to their preferred destinations. He also said he felt pressured to do the Clippers trade to duck the tax and negotiate a CJ deal, a clear sign of an inexperienced negotiator. You don't know for certain the league's value of Norman Powell was low and would remain so any more than others suspect it was higher. GM's don't always make moves for the best long term value or the best long term maximum return. We know Norm was traded for a player on a rookie contract in Gary Trent Jr. A GM job is to maximize the value of players they send out and acquire players for the least assets or smallest team friendly contract.

Cronin failed to get any meaningful asset for Norm or Roco. The Blazers are a long way from having contending talent; they can't give up multiple starting level players for meaningless returns and build a winning team. It's better to hold an asset for a possible valuable return at a later date, then to dump it immediately for irrelevancy.

 

[damianlillard]

Lol, I accepted it was bad on the first day. Also, if you value Keon as a first round pick (which apparently Cronin did), and you look at some of the trades that happened this off-season, it was valued about right. Norm did not have much trade value on that contract.

Grant traded for a late first.

Brogdon traded for a late first.

Wood traded for a late first.

Huerter traded for a non-lotto first.

It sucks that RoCo was a sunk cost and had to be moved, but not much we could have done there. He was probably valued as the Detroit second we got in the deal.

I wouldn’t say Grant was traded for a late 1st. That bucks pick turned into Jalen Duren, a lottery pick

 

[B-Roy]

I wouldn’t say Grant was traded for a late 1st. That bucks pick turned into Jalen Duren, a lottery pick

Detroit made some smart moves after. But I wouldn't use that to evaluate the Grant deal in a vacuum. Just like I wouldn't really say CJ + Nance were traded for Hart + Grant.

But you're right, they also got cap flexibility in the deal. We also got that in the Powell deal.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Was hoping we would at least squeeze him into the grant trade.

I'm just frustrated after months of being told that Clipper deal was not that bad because we had the bledsoe contract

The Clipper deal wasn't bad because it cleared salary and gave us options. That's pretty much it. The Bledsoe contract would have been nice if we'd decided to trade #7 for a Veteran. We decided not to, so it wasn't needed.

And I'm perfectly happy with Shaedon Sharpe over pretty much any vet we could have traded for.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

The Clipper deal wasn't bad because it cleared salary and gave us options. That's pretty much it. The Bledsoe contract would have been nice if we'd decided to trade #7 for a Veteran. We decided not to, so it wasn't needed.

And I'm perfectly happy with Shaedon Sharpe over pretty much any vet we could have traded for.

The Clippers trade was great because we shipped out two starters but gained so much flexibility to add talent.

 

[Phatguysrule]

The Clippers trade was great because we shipped out two starters but gained so much flexibility to add talent.

Who said it was great? It cleared space and provided insurance in case the guy we wanted wasn't available in the draft.

The guy we wanted was available. And it's a good thing we got rid of those guys because we couldn't afford to pay them now anyway.

 

[TBpup]

Jody needs to go. She don’t care about competing and winning. She want to save as much money and just make it to the playoffs.

But Jody said she was committed to winning in Portland and Seattle.....right after she traded the franchise QB away, and we traded 3 starters for 'meh' so far.
#Winning

 

[Fitz303]

From a purely value/optics standpoint, the Clippers deal sucked. I wasn't thrilled when it happened.

That being said, going into this season, I'm happier with GPII (not possible to sign with Powell's contract on the roster), Winslow, and Keon than Powell and Covington on this team. Not to mention, it helped us get Sharpe. Could they have gotten more? Probably. We'll never know. But yeah the deal definitely feels light value wise. Fit wise, give me the new guys, on their contracts, all day long.

 

[Phatguysrule]

From a purely value/optics standpoint, the Clippers deal sucked. I wasn't thrilled when it happened.

That being said, going into this season, I'm happier with GPII (not possible to sign with Powell's contract on the roster), Winslow, and Keon than Powell and Covington on this team. Not to mention, it helped us get Sharpe. Could they have gotten more? Probably. We'll never know. But yeah the deal definitely feels light value wise. Fit wise, give me the new guys, on their contracts, all day long.

Bingo. We're better off having done that deal. And it would have been invaluable had Sharpe not fallen to us and we decided to trade for vet.

 

[illmatic99]

I wonder if we will stretch his contract?

This is the other key point. If they stretch, it could indicate that they want to use the Roco TPE (or any of the other exceptions to bring someone else in).

Also helps in getting closer to the tax line.

 

[julius]

But Jody said she was committed to winning in Portland and Seattle.....right after she traded the franchise QB away, and we traded 3 starters for 'meh' so far.
#Winning

traded away 3 starters, one which was playing horrible, another which was massively overpaid and people bitched about, and the third was playing out of position and didn't exactly set the world ablaze as a Blazer.

So maybe they traded 2 of those starters for "meh", but it's more likely that they were worth "meh" to begin with.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

I wouldn’t say Grant was traded for a late 1st. That bucks pick turned into Jalen Duren, a lottery pick

They also took on a ton of salary. That's not without worth.

 

[wizenheimer]

Could Powell have been worth more a week later at the deadline? Possibly. Could he have been worth at the least what LaVert and others were at the deadline when traded for an actual first round pick? Possibly..

you know what? fuck the Powell trade...I don't give a shit about it. He was not altering Portland's trajectory, at all, as a Blazer. He was massively overrated as a defender when he arrived. And he is not a SF and is only a provisional starting SG, at best. Olshey was overrating him when he traded for him and was trying to deflect from the massive chorus of Blazer fans singing "trade CJ" and the growing realization that Powell's contract had significant negative value

the lack of return for trading Powell was not really on Cronin...it was on olshey and to a lesser extent, the vulcans

as far as the Levert trade, it's not a comp because the Cavs publicly stated they were trying to get bigger in the back court. Levert fits with Garland, Powell wouldn't fit and the only team dumb enough to start Powell full-time at SF was the Blazers

the only other trade of a guard for a 1st I see was the Spurs sending Derrick White to the Celtics. That trade is not a good comp either because White is bigger than Powell, a hell of a lot better defender, and more than capable of playing PG. Powell is a terrible passer. White fits really well with the Celts and has playoff value, as he showed. Underrated guard

simply put: it's a nutty notion that somehow Portland missed out on a big haul of better assets from trading Powell and RoCo. Sure, they might have leveraged a little bit more. But the difference between Keon Johnson and a maybe/maybe-not 27th pick is not so big that it justifies all the soap opera anguish around here about that trade

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Womp

Womp

WOMP

 

[Wizard Mentor]

But Jody said she was committed to winning in Portland and Seattle.....right after she traded the franchise QB away, and we traded 3 starters for 'meh' so far.
#Winning

Everything Joe has done has made perfect sense.... if we're trading Lillard.
He's systematically turned older players into younger players.
He drafted a kid instead of using it as a chip to get a proven vet.

He did trade for a 28 yo, and used our exception to get a 29 yo, but he who won't get many minutes, and those will be off the bench.

Future: Ant/Sharpe/Nas/Grant/Nurk - where is Damian Lillard?

 

[RR7]

Everything Joe has done has made perfect sense.... if we're trading Lillard.
He's systematically turned older players into younger players.
He drafted a kid instead of using it as a chip to get a proven vet.

He did trade for a 28 yo, and used our exception to get a 29 yo, but he who won't get many minutes, and those will be off the bench.

Future: Ant/Sharpe/Nas/Grant/Nurk - where is Damian Lillard?

Everything he has done leans towards trading Lillard because he drafted Sharpe? And then you try to discount the 2 main moves of bringing in win now pieces of Grant and Payton? Ok. I guess we'll continue to ignore where he said it wasn't a 1 year turnaround and insist it means moving on from Lillard.

 

[julius]

Everything Joe has done has made perfect sense.... if we're trading Lillard.
He's systematically turned older players into younger players.
He drafted a kid instead of using it as a chip to get a proven vet.

He did trade for a 28 yo, and used our exception to get a 29 yo, but he who won't get many minutes, and those will be off the bench.

Future: Ant/Sharpe/Nas/Grant/Nurk - where is Damian Lillard?

Or, and go with me on this, they're built to work with him going forward AND not empty the cupboard to try to put a bandaid on an ax wound?

It makes sense to keep Little, Simons and potentially Sharpe instead of trading them for a quick fix now (that probably wouldn't be a quick fix).

Look at the clusterfuck that is Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Especially Brooklyn.

The players they got fit the mold of defense, youth AND potentially not having to have Damian carry the load and bail them out every game.

By the time Simons and Sharpe (and *maybe* Little) are "taking over", there's no guarantee that those 3 will all be starting, so there is still room for Dame in the starting 5. Dame, Ant, Sharpe, or Dame, Ant, Little, etc.

 

[Freshtown]

Rip EBEC (2022-2022)

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Everything he has done leans towards trading Lillard because he drafted Sharpe? And then you try to discount the 2 main moves of bringing in win now pieces of Grant and Payton? Ok. I guess we'll continue to ignore where he said it wasn't a 1 year turnaround and insist it means moving on from Lillard.

no.
He accomplished both getting better with a critical need, and stayed relatively young with Grant - good move. Unless there are injuries, Payton probably won't that much - not many minutes behind Lillard and Ant... especially with Hart and Sharpe in the fold.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Everything Joe has done has made perfect sense.... if we're trading Lillard.
He's systematically turned older players into younger players.
He drafted a kid instead of using it as a chip to get a proven vet.

He did trade for a 28 yo, and used our exception to get a 29 yo, but he who won't get many minutes, and those will be off the bench.

Future: Ant/Sharpe/Nas/Grant/Nurk - where is Damian Lillard?

I honestly think the only other good value, "move the needle" move he could have made was getting Randle and the 11... and that would have cost us Sharpe.

That's a tough sell... I'm really high on Sharpe. If he can come on quickly at the 3 and move Grant to the 4 that could be as good as adding Randle, without the risk of Randle's attitude (which is a risk I was totally willing to take if we couldn't get sky-high potential in the draft).

 

[Natebishop3]

Everything he has done leans towards trading Lillard because he drafted Sharpe? And then you try to discount the 2 main moves of bringing in win now pieces of Grant and Payton? Ok. I guess we'll continue to ignore where he said it wasn't a 1 year turnaround and insist it means moving on from Lillard.

I don't think they're trying to trade Dame. I think they're trying to keep him happy without completely destroying our future... hopefully to keep the team profitable so they can sell asap. (fingers crossed)

 

[MickZagger]

We have never taken advantage of one.

There was the Raef LaFrentz contract. I think there was another one that was highly touted as being valuable as well. We never use them.

Theo Ratliff