Did we find our star via trades instead of high draft picks? (2 Viewers)

[sheed30]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Remember when many posters and a few that repeated it 24/7 and die on a hill saying the only way we will find our next star player is via high lottery draft picks via tanking over and over?

What are those people thinking about Deni and that trade now?

 

[SheedSoNasty]

I was luke warm on the trade at the time. I knew he was a solid defender and had one decent season of three point shooting. I still had envisioned him as a three and D kind of player when we acquired him. Giving up the two picks seemed somewhat risky.

That being said, the other side is that I guarantee nobody here had him putting up the kinds of numbers he did this season when we first picked him up. This was the best trade we’ve made in a very long time.

 

[blazerfan11]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Remember when many posters and a few that repeated it 24/7 and die on a hill saying the only way we will find our next star player is via high lottery draft picks via tanking over and over?

What are those people thinking about Deni and that trade now?

I never thought something like this could happen. Getting a star, or superstar, in a trade that didn't involve another star, or a haul of picks.

The Blazers are lucky as hell to have gotten Deni the way they did. The draft is a lot of luck too.

 

[Jelloman]

When was the last time we were able to trade for a star? Small market teams still need to draft very well in order to compete. We got lucky with Deni, I doubt the front office has this version of Deni in mind when traded for him. He is the byproduct of all of our injuries last season and this season and I feel like Chancey deserve some credit for his development as well.

 

[Natebishop3]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Remember when many posters and a few that repeated it 24/7 and die on a hill saying the only way we will find our next star player is via high lottery draft picks via tanking over and over?

What are those people thinking about Deni and that trade now?

It wasn't about finding A star. There have been plenty of dubious All-Stars in the history of the league. It was about finding a top 5-10 player.

For most teams, the draft is the only way to get a player of that caliber. Is Deni that good? Maybe. He's done some things that very few people can do. 99% of teams in the NBA don't usually give up guys like Deni at all, let alone for what we gave them. Joe Cronin doesn't get nearly enough credit. It was a heist.

The key though is that not many teams have won a title in the last 50 years without a top 5 player.

Is Deni good enough to be the best player on a championship team? That's the real question, because at the end of the day you need a star player that's capable of leading a team to a title. We're about to see if he can do his thing against the best interior defense in the league.

 

[wizenheimer]

Blazers traded 4 draft picks for Deni: a lottery pick + a future 1st that has a decent shot of being a lottery pick, + two 2nd's, so they still used substantial draft capital to land him

6th pick - Brandon Roy
2nd pick - Aldridge
6th pick - Dame
lottery pick + 1st - Deni

1st pick - Bill Walton
2nd pick - Maurice Lucas (dispersal draft)
6th pick - Lionel Hollins
5th pick - Moses Malone (dispersal draft)

It's been 27 years since the Blazers traded for Pippen; and 30 years since they traded for Rasheed. Both under a completely different CBA with much looser restrictions

Sydney Wicks - drafted by Blazers
Geoff Petrie - drafted by Blazers
Larry Steele - drafted by Blazers
Bill Walton - drafted by Blazers
Maurice Lucas - drafted by Blazers
Lionel Hollins - drafted by Blazers
Dave Twardzik - drafted by Blazers
Moses Malone - drafted by Blazers
Clyde Drexler - drafted by Blazers
Terry Porter - drafted by Blazers
Jerome Kersey - drafted by Blazers
Mychal Thompson - drafted by Blazers
Arvydas Sabonis - drafted by Blazers
Brandon Roy - drafted by Blazers
Lamarcus Aldridge - drafted by Blazers
Greg Oden - drafted by Blazers
Damian Lillard - drafted by Blazers
CJ McCollum - drafted by Blazers
Sharpe & Scoot - drafted by Blazers
Clingan - drafted by Blazers

Buck Williams - trade
Kiki Vandeweigh - trade
Rasheed - trade
Pippen - trade
Deni - trade

basically, the Blazers have had one team primarily built by trades, and that was under a different CBA with a different owner and a wild-west GM. Under different CBA's Portland actually signed good free agents like Rod Strickland and Brian Grant. That's not an avenue open to them right now either. How many trades did Portland make in the 25 seasons between Pippen & Deni? 30? more?

that's not to say that Portland can't execute a trade for a star. But what we're talking about all the time around here is packaging a bunch of those future 1st's together to create enough leverage

so no, there's no reason, at all, to believe higher draft picks are less valuable just because Portland struck gold with the Deni trade

 

[Strenuus]

We dont have a good consistent team. It doesnt matter. Way too much work to do. If we settle for this, nothing has changed.

Fact, not opinion.

 

[Natebishop3]

Blazers traded 4 draft picks for Deni: a lottery pick + a future 1st that has a decent shot of being a lottery pick, + two 2nd's, so they still used substantial draft capital to land him

6th pick - Brandon Roy
2nd pick - Aldridge
6th pick - Dame
lottery pick + 1st - Deni

1st pick - Bill Walton
2nd pick - Maurice Lucas (dispersal draft)
6th pick - Lionel Hollins
5th pick - Moses Malone (dispersal draft)

It's been 27 years since the Blazers traded for Pippen; and 30 years since they traded for Rasheed. Both under a completely different CBA with much looser restrictions

Sydney Wicks - drafted by Blazers
Geoff Petrie - drafted by Blazers
Larry Steele - drafted by Blazers
Bill Walton - drafted by Blazers
Maurice Lucas - drafted by Blazers
Lionel Hollins - drafted by Blazers
Dave Twardzik - drafted by Blazers
Moses Malone - drafted by Blazers
Clyde Drexler - drafted by Blazers
Terry Porter - drafted by Blazers
Jerome Kersey - drafted by Blazers
Mychal Thompson - drafted by Blazers
Arvydas Sabonis - drafted by Blazers
Brandon Roy - drafted by Blazers
Lamarcus Aldridge - drafted by Blazers
Greg Oden - drafted by Blazers
Damian Lillard - drafted by Blazers
CJ McCollum - drafted by Blazers
Sharpe & Scoot - drafted by Blazers
Clingan - drafted by Blazers

Kiki Vandeweigh - trade
Rasheed - trade
Pippen - trade
Deni - trade

basically, the Blazers have had one team primarily built by trades, and that was under a different CBA with a different owner and a wild-west GM. Under different CBA's Portland actually signed good free agents like Rod Strickland and Brian Grant. That's not an avenue open to them right now either. How many trades did Portland make in the 25 seasons between Pippen & Deni? 30? more?

that's not to say that Portland can't execute a trade for a star. But what we're talking about all the time around here is packaging a bunch of those future 1st's together to create enough leverage

so no, there's no reason, at all, to believe higher draft picks are less valuable just because Portland struck gold with the Deni trade

The other thing is that he's reframing the argument. It was never about going out and getting some random All-Star. A lot of us were pushing the draft because we saw it as the only way to get a top 5-10 player, which is critical to winning a title.

Just look at San Antonio. Fucking absurd that these assholes were able to draft Wemby after having Duncan for close to 20 years. Would they be nearly as good without Wemby right now? Not even close. If we had drafted Wemby we'd be one of the best teams in the league. San Antonio is really the only team that most people would say has a legit shot at beating the Thunder.

 

[STOMP]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Also in the package that landed Deni was a back of the lotto 2024 pick which turned into Bub Carrington and two 2nds. If they stand pat with the young guys on the current roster, that 2029 pick looks like it will be in the mid to late 20s. Obviously this is nowhere close to the amount of draft capitol thats normally included for a star let alone a 23 year old, the Wiz just weren't patient enough to find out they had one in hand.

Often it takes a few years for talented young guys to put it together metally &/or physically. Deni was the 9th pick in the lotto back in 2020. Shaedon, Scoot and Clingan were all higher picks in their respective drafts and are all younger then Deni was when he was traded for. I remain pretty excited about the future of this team.

STOMP

 

[blazerfan11]

It wasn't about finding A star. There have been plenty of dubious All-Stars in the history of the league. It was about finding a top 5-10 player.

For most teams, the draft is the only way to get a player of that caliber. Is Deni that good? Maybe. He's done some things that very few people can do. 99% of teams in the NBA don't usually give up guys like Deni at all, let alone for what we gave them. Joe Cronin doesn't get nearly enough credit. It was a heist.

The key though is that not many teams have won a title in the last 50 years without a top 5 player.

Is Deni good enough to be the best player on a championship team? That's the real question, because at the end of the day you need a star player that's capable of leading a team to a title. We're about to see if he can do his thing against the best interior defense in the league.

Yes, he is good enough to be the best player on a championship team.

But, he needs to be surrounded by good players, obviously.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Remember when many posters and a few that repeated it 24/7 and die on a hill saying the only way we will find our next star player is via high lottery draft picks via tanking over and over?

What are those people thinking about Deni and that trade now?

No, I don't remember people saying the only way we would find a star is the draft.

I remember saying the only way we were going to build a championship caliber team that could compete with San Antonio and Oklahoma City was through the draft, as well as some trades.

 

[blazerfan11]

The other thing is that he's reframing the argument. It was never about going out and getting some random All-Star. A lot of us were pushing the draft because we saw it as the only way to get a top 5-10 player, which is critical to winning a title.

Just look at San Antonio. Fucking absurd that these assholes were able to draft Wemby after having Duncan for close to 20 years. Would they be nearly as good without Wemby right now? Not even close. If we had drafted Wemby we'd be one of the best teams in the league. San Antonio is really the only team that most people would say has a legit shot at beating the Thunder.

San Antonio is a pretty good team without Wemby too. Here is a stretch of games without him, in which they were 9-3.
I don't know if the Blazers were ready to be that good, a contender. I guess if the Blazers had made all the same moves the answer might be Yes since Wembanyama and Deni would be perfect together, I think better than any teammate on the Spurs.

 

[Phatguysrule]

I was luke warm on the trade at the time. I knew he was a solid defender and had one decent season of three point shooting. I still had envisioned him as a three and D kind of player when we acquired him. Giving up the two picks seemed somewhat risky.

That being said, the other side is that I guarantee nobody here had him putting up the kinds of numbers he did this season when we first picked him up. This was the best trade we’ve made in a very long time.

When we traded for him I said I thought he had all NBA potential.

I also thought he might be good enough, soon enough, that he would prevent us from building enough talent around him to compete with Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Hopefully we're able to do that. Thus far, we have not.

 

[wizenheimer]

When we traded for him I said I thought he had all NBA potential.

I also thought he might be good enough, soon enough, that he would prevent us from building enough talent around him to compete with Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Hopefully we're able to do that. Thus far, we have not.

you might set a gauge as each team's 'big-3' or best 3....however you want to label

OKC - SGA --> Holmgren + Jalen Williams
Spurs - Wemby --> Fox + Castle
Denver - Jokic --> Murray + Gordon
Lakers - Doncic --> Lebron + Reaves
Minny - Edwards --> Randle + Gobert

Blazers - Deni --> Clingan + Jrue/Dame...?

not only is Deni below other teams' stars, when the Blazers move down below their star to the next tier, they don't compete well either

 

[BassPlaya]

I dont know what is funnier....reading fans who predetermined why Cronin was going to suck when he took over...or fans now thinking that his best moves were lucky.

Ahhhh, good times.

 

[Natebishop3]

you might set a gauge as each team's 'big-3' or best 3....however you want to label

OKC - SGA --> Holmgren + Jalen Williams
Spurs - Wemby --> Fox + Castle
Denver - Jokic --> Murray + Gordon
Lakers - Doncic --> Lebron + Reaves
Minny - Edwards --> Randle + Gobert

Blazers - Deni --> Clingan + Jrue/Dame...?

not only is Deni below other teams' stars, when the Blazers move down below their star to the next tier, they don't compete well either

That's the problem... SGA, Wemby and Jokic are so much better than everyone else.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

you might set a gauge as each team's 'big-3' or best 3....however you want to label

OKC - SGA --> Holmgren + Jalen Williams
Spurs - Wemby --> Fox + Castle
Denver - Jokic --> Murray + Gordon
Lakers - Doncic --> Lebron + Reaves
Minny - Edwards --> Randle + Gobert

Blazers - Deni --> Clingan + Jrue/Dame...?

not only is Deni below other teams' stars, when the Blazers move down below their star to the next tier, they don't compete well either

Correction.

Blazers - Giannis --> Deni + Clingan + Jrue/Dame...?

 

[inconceivable]

We got Dame the second time not via draft (obviously)

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Our star player is now Deni, who we got from the Wizards via Brogdon and 2029 1st round pick

Remember when many posters and a few that repeated it 24/7 and die on a hill saying the only way we will find our next star player is via high lottery draft picks via tanking over and over?

What are those people thinking about Deni and that trade now?

You didn't negate the statement. Good draft picks were responsible for acquiring Deni. Whether you use them or trade them, they are among the most valuable assets for a rebuilding team. If we didn't ever make a deal to acquire those picks, we would have never had a shot at acquiring Deni.

 

[wizenheimer]

 

[KingSpeed]

When was the last time we were able to trade for a star? Small market teams still need to draft very well in order to compete. We got lucky with Deni, I doubt the front office has this version of Deni in mind when traded for him. He is the byproduct of all of our injuries last season and this season and I feel like Chancey deserve some credit for his development as well.

Carmelo Anthony

 

[Natebishop3]

This is what we have been saying for over a year...