Chris Haynes on what Portland did at the deadline

[Orion Bailey]

somebody needs to point out what the situation was, so I'll do it: Portland was 1.3M over the tax line, and their tax bill was going to be 2M. That's it. It would not have been hard to shed 1.3M dollars. And yes, I know, future repeater tax was a bigger concern

I'm not buying the spin that teams were blackmailing the Blazers in trade discussions because Portland was 1.3M over the line. I think that's bullshit, or at least extreme exaggeration.

yeah that's a hard one to swallow. I think it was an internal thought only of what might happen. Not what was actually happening to them. How could they even know trading so early?

 

[oldmangrouch]

Why do you think the Clippers passed up on these 100 deals to flip Roco or Norm considering they already have PG and Kawhi? Seems like it would've been smart for them to do as well.

Please show me the trade that was actually on the table for those two that would've got us under the cap. I'm not asking for 100 like you claim, but 2-3 provable ones would be a great start.

How about the obvious answer? They want Powell and RoCo to make a desperation run at the play-offs, rather than thinking about next season when their big guns are healthy again. Or maybe, I know this is crazy, they see those 2 guys as useful on a team that already has 2 stars?

Just because they got them for pocket lint doesn't mean they don't value them - it just means they felt they got a really good deal. They are working off their valuation of the asset, not Cronin's.

 

[Tince]

How about the obvious answer? They want Powell and RoCo to make a desperation run at the play-offs, rather than thinking about next season when their big guns are healthy again. Or maybe, I know this is crazy, they see those 2 guys as useful on a team that already has 2 stars?

Just because they got them for pocket lint doesn't mean they don't value them - it just means they felt they got a really good deal. They are working off their valuation of the asset, not Cronin's.

If the Clippers are only running their organzation thinking about the current year and disregarding the future, that's a really bad sign for them and a great sign for us.

I never suggested the Clippers found those two guys to not be useful. Portland certainly found them useful at one point. If the Clippers could've got a 1st for Cov, they would be idiots to not take it. The theory that they would choose to stop upgrading their roster because they felt they won the trade with Portland makes very little, to no sense. The Clippers do have an advantage that their owner appears to not care about paying the tax, where our owner clearly has her limitations.

Were you able to find 2 or 3 of the 100 better deals that were claimed Portland turned down? I'm not saying it's impossible to imagine there was a better deal, but I'm suggesting I haven't seen one to date.

 

[Strenuus]

If the Clippers are only running their organzation thinking about the current year and disregarding the future, that's a really bad sign for them and a great sign for us.

I never suggested the Clippers found those two guys to not be useful. Portland certainly found them useful at one point. If the Clippers could've got a 1st for Cov, they would be idiots to not take it. The theory that they would choose to stop upgrading their roster because they felt they won the trade with Portland makes very little, to no sense. The Clippers do have an advantage that their owner appears to not care about paying the tax, where our owner clearly has her limitations.

Were you able to find 2 or 3 of the 100 better deals you claimed Portland turned down?

The trade sucked. We got fleeced. They gave us the reasoning. The reasoning was trash.

No further discussion is needed on their future from us. They already hosed us.

At least the rest of the trade deadline in terms of what we actually did made sense. This trade? Count it as a fucking garbage trade. It's all it is. A fucking horrible, no good, very bad trade with no redeeming qualities.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Nah, further discussion is needed. Maybe we did get fleeced, but that doesn't mean there was a better deal out there. We weren't getting high draft picks for those guys, certainly not with Powell's long contract.

Having them would have hurt our chances at keeping our pick. And we had to get their salaries off the books to get better. We weren't going to get better players out of those two, as far as I can tell.

 

[oldmangrouch]

If the Clippers are only running their organzation thinking about the current year and disregarding the future, that's a really bad sign for them and a great sign for us.

I never suggested the Clippers found those two guys to not be useful. Portland certainly found them useful at one point. If the Clippers could've got a 1st for Cov, they would be idiots to not take it. The theory that they would choose to stop upgrading their roster because they felt they won the trade with Portland makes very little, to no sense. The Clippers do have an advantage that their owner appears to not care about paying the tax, where our owner clearly has her limitations.

Were you able to find 2 or 3 of the 100 better deals you claimed Portland turned down? I'm not saying it's impossible to imagine there was a better deal, but I'm suggesting I haven't seen one to date.

As for the 100 better deals - I wasn't the one who said that so I can't respond.

I agree that Balmer seems too aggressive in his win now approach...but in this case he got to make a blatant win now move without any significant long-term cost. If nothing else he may have been making an effort to keep the fans engaged for the rest of the season. If he was offered a 1st for RoCo, he should have taken it...but my speculation was that 2 2nds would have been a more likely and reasonable offer.

 

[Tince]

The trade sucked. We got fleeced. They gave us the reasoning. The reasoning was trash.

No further discussion is needed on their future from us. They already hosed us.

At least the rest of the trade deadline in terms of what we actually did made sense. This trade? Count it as a fucking garbage trade. It's all it is. A fucking horrible, no good, very bad trade with no redeeming qualities.

That's certainly one opinion, but nothing more. It's totally fair if you don't like or understanding the reasoning for the move.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Nah, further discussion is needed. Maybe we did get fleeced, but that doesn't mean there was a better deal out there. We weren't getting high draft picks for those guys, certainly not with Powell's long contract.

Having them would have hurt our chances at keeping our pick. And we had to get their salaries off the books to get better. We weren't going to get better players out of those two, as far as I can tell.

I agree we weren't likely to get a hot prospect for those guys - but even a few more 2nd rounders would have been better than what we got.

 

[Tince]

Nah, further discussion is needed. Maybe we did get fleeced, but that doesn't mean there was a better deal out there. We weren't getting high draft picks for those guys, certainly not with Powell's long contract.

Having them would have hurt our chances at keeping our pick. And we had to get their salaries off the books to get better. We weren't going to get better players out of those two, as far as I can tell.

Well put!

 

[Phatguysrule]

I agree we weren't likely to get a hot prospect for those guys - but even a few more 2nd rounders would have been better than what we got.

Maybe so... But I'm having a hard time worrying much about a couple 2nd rounders...

 

[Tince]

Still waiting for someone to explain the following questions:

1. What were the salary reducing trades for Norm/Cov we turned down?
2. What motivation would Cronin and his staff have for turning down better offers for Norm/Cov? Seems counterintuitive for a guy auditioning for a job.