If CJ were to be traded, who are we most likely to get?

[BonesJones]

It feels like some of you are really overvaluing CJ

I'm valuing CJ just as highly as I'd value any other 23ppg, 5apg guy shooting 46% from the field and 40% from 3 on a max contract.

He just had a career year. If anything, fans might be undervaluing him.

 

[BonesJones]

Because the league recognized that Crawford was a bench guy. A spark off the bench. Our team has been stubborn as hell in admitting that CJ shouldn't be a starting two guard.

23ppg, 5apg, 46FG%, 40 3P%, all while playing in a shit offensive system that he helped make look a lot better than it was, but not a starting two?

Maybe not THE starting two next to Dame. He'd be a perfect fit in Philly or Milwaukee.

 

[BonesJones]

Two important truths that must not be forgotten in the "Trade CJ!" discussion.
1. His value is at an all-time low right now
Before his injury, it was at an all-time high, but these playoffs...

2. If we're trading him to keep Lillard happy, it severely restricts our options
The best offers we're likely to get are going to involve packages of picks (a la Harden/Paul George). If we're going to insist that trading CJ makes us better RIGHT NOW, then (a) we're going to have to include a shitload of picks, thereby hamstringing our progress for years to come (especially as picks are much more valuable to small-market franchises than to places like LA that can always land free agents)
(b) we're going to rule out our best offers right off the bat.

So... if you really want to trade CJ, the best thing to do is TRADE LILLARD FIRST, and then HANG ON TO CJ FOR A (HALF-) SEASON so he can pump up his value as the primary scoring threat.

Sorry folks, this is cold hard facts.

HAHAHAHAHA... Oh wait, you're serious?

 

[BonesJones]

I still think that if Middleton continues to struggle and the Nets sweep the Bucks, that a CJ + a pick (or two) for Middleton swap would make sense for both teams. The Bucks need a legitimate shot creating guard that can play off-ball as well as create for himself and others. They have so many good defenders that they could easily hide C.J on that end and not take much of a hit. Could use the additional assets to try to upgrade elsewhere as well.

Lillard (36) / Simons (12)
Powell (34) / Simons (10) / Middleton (4)
Middleton (30) / DJJ or MLE (18)
RoCo (32) / Little (16)
Nurkic (28) / Collins (20)

Seems like a team that should be Top 10 on both sides of the court if coached well.

 

[royo]

Two important truths that must not be forgotten in the "Trade CJ!" discussion.
1. His value is at an all-time low right now
Before his injury, it was at an all-time high, but these playoffs...

2. If we're trading him to keep Lillard happy, it severely restricts our options
The best offers we're likely to get are going to involve packages of picks (a la Harden/Paul George). If we're going to insist that trading CJ makes us better RIGHT NOW, then (a) we're going to have to include a shitload of picks, thereby hamstringing our progress for years to come (especially as picks are much more valuable to small-market franchises than to places like LA that can always land free agents)
(b) we're going to rule out our best offers right off the bat.

So... if you really want to trade CJ, the best thing to do is TRADE LILLARD FIRST, and then HANG ON TO CJ FOR A (HALF-) SEASON so he can pump up his value as the primary scoring threat.

Sorry folks, this is cold hard facts.

Here is a guy who agrees with you, he also advises trading Lillard:
"Trading CJ McCollum would be putting a bandaid over a situation that needs stitches. The Blazers could go the route of acquiring draft capital in a trade for McCollum or they could go explore getting back NBA ready talent now. But in any scenario in where McCollum is sent packing, it’s not as though the Blazers would be getting a player back that is wildly better. That’s not exactly how trades work.

A game plan that consists of a McCollum trade could shake things up and maybe that’s all the Blazers need. That’s what they would be banking in on at least. In the last few years of the Terry Stotts era, the Blazers had really maxed out as much as they could and started to plateau. Trading McCollum for another solid NBA player wouldn’t be enough to put them over the top in the loaded Western Conference."https://clutchpoints.com/damian-lil...re-cj-mccollum-by-the-blazers-this-offseason/

You both seem to forget, that we have Little. I believe he can jump straight to the S5 next season.
I have like 50% faith in Zach, but I hope he will be ok, as he is nothing like Meyers.
So, that's to guys that should make us better from the start.

If you afraid bout CJ value, let him play and put numbers, with Lillard on low profile style for some time. Hopefully, with new coach, CJ will look better, cos with Stotts all his value was in 3 points %.

I believe Stotts was our biggest problem, that's why I don't participate in "your biggest off-season fear" tread. I don't have any. If someone with Billups mindset will coach Blazers, we all good.

 

[damianlillard]

I still think that if Middleton continues to struggle and the Nets sweep the Bucks, that a CJ + a pick (or two) for Middleton swap would make sense for both teams. The Bucks need a legitimate shot creating guard that can play off-ball as well as create for himself and others. They have so many good defenders that they could easily hide C.J on that end and not take much of a hit. Could use the additional assets to try to upgrade elsewhere as well.

Lillard (36) / Simons (12)
Powell (34) / Simons (10) / Middleton (4)
Middleton (30) / DJJ or MLE (18)
RoCo (32) / Little (16)
Nurkic (28) / Collins (20)

Seems like a team that should be Top 10 on both sides of the court if coached well.

Middleton would be such a great fit on that team and especially next to dame. He has been asked to be #1 on the bucks far too often. On this team he has Dame, Powell, and Nurk (on some nights) to share that scoring load. The defense on that team would be incredible

 

[BBert]

I would love to get Middleton for CJ and keep Powell. Nothing against CJ but that lineup makes us a better team.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Since Cleveland has been mentioned in some CJ trade talk:
CJ and DJJ for Love and Sexton

People who think CJ is a black hole would be in for a real eye-opening experience. Plus, it'd be funny if nobody told Keven Love that Sexton was being traded alongside him and he gave a big speech about how he was finally going to see the ball once in a while.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

HAHAHAHAHA... Oh wait, you're serious?

Incisive analysis, as always.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You know, I keep thinking there's no way we get Simmons so cheap. And then I see shit like this:


He's standing next to the rim and it's a dead ball and he misses 4 layups in a row. How the fuck do you do everything else so well and have just zero ability to score?

He is the absolute, complete opposite of CJ in every basketball sense.

Especially when it comes to helping his team win in the playoffs:

 

[TBpup]

I'm valuing CJ just as highly as I'd value any other 23ppg, 5apg guy shooting 46% from the field and 40% from 3 on a max contract.

He just had a career year. If anything, fans might be undervaluing him.

He was quite good....on the offensive side of the ball. And as long as we only look at 50% of the court, he looks very good.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

You both seem to forget, that we have Little. I believe he can jump straight to the S5 next season.
I have like 50% faith in Zach, but I hope he will be ok, as he is nothing like Meyers.
So, that's to guys that should make us better from the start.

If you afraid bout CJ value, let him play and put numbers, with Lillard on low profile style for some time. Hopefully, with new coach, CJ will look better, cos with Stotts all his value was in 3 points %.

I believe Stotts was our biggest problem, that's why I don't participate in "your biggest off-season fear" tread. I don't have any. If someone with Billups mindset will coach Blazers, we all good.

I personally think he may have some value. Just laying some opinions out there that may be more valid than my own. Are you saying we don't need any big changes, that just getting a new coach will cure everything? BTW, what is S5?

 

[jlprk]

starting 5

 

[mook]

Especially when it comes to helping his team win in the playoffs:
View attachment 39021

lol. Touche!

 

[royo]

I personally think he may have some value. Just laying some opinions out there that may be more valid than my own. Are you saying we don't need any big changes, that just getting a new coach will cure everything? BTW, what is S5?

IMO lack of accountability was the biggest issue. You can not play the plan when you got mad man on the court and you can't take him out. CJ and Lillard need real coach, not good uncle.
I think CJ is able to play different basketball and I am big fan of his unreal skills.
Like many others I think our back is too small, but I'm eager to see them play in some system under smart coach for some time maybe. I want to see CJ playing smart and Nurk keeping his head up. If not, they can both go to Dynamo.

 

[BonesJones]

He was quite good....on the offensive side of the ball. And as long as we only look at 50% of the court, he looks very good.

Honestly, I don't think CJ was as bad defensively this year as people think. I think he cleaned up a lot of the off-ball mistakes and the ones he made, everyone on the team was making. He was still below-average but not terrible. So I think he'll have a lot of value to a team can fit him in and surround him with a bunch of good defenders (Milwaukee or Philadelphia).

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[Haakzilla]

...so are you asking us to flood this sub reddit with glowing reviews of "CJ loves sharing the ball!" // "CJs entry passes off the dribble are best in NBA!" // "Nobody can pass from the elbow like CJ" // etc.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Thybulle would have to be a main cog.

Tony Allen pt 2

 

[Sheldon Shape]

If I'm acquiring CJ, I'm making him my starting point guard. He always fills in for Damian so well.

 

[TBpup]

CJ would be quite good as the lead guard full time....better than he is here. He just can't do that here and that is part of the 'fit' problem.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

CJ would be quite good as the lead guard full time....better than he is here. He just can't do that here and that is part of the 'fit' problem.

Agreed. I think Simmons for CJ makes a lot of sense for both clubs. Defensive we would be terrific with Powell, Simmons, Roco and Nurk as the 2, 3, 4 and 5.

 

[glazeduck]

CJ would be quite good as the lead guard full time....better than he is here. He just can't do that here and that is part of the 'fit' problem.

Will certainly be interesting. With this logic, he's almost guaranteed to be "undervalued", in that the team acquiring him will probably end up getting more out of him, relative to what they paid for, than what we did, relative to what we got for him.

But is he more Ron Mercer (great as co-pilot, floundered as lead) or James Harden?

 

[Ed O]

I don't know what we can get... most of these ideas seem either way too optimistic (Paul George? KAT?) or way too pessimistic (Kevin Love?).

It seems to me that the Blazers should trade CJ only if we can get a guy who can be the Blazers' second-best player. Better than Nurkic, and someone to help Dame win over the next few years.

If we can't--if it's just a salary dump, or we get a batch of inferior players--I think we should trade Dame. Get younger and build for the future while we play out more of CJ's contract. The team wouldn't be markedly worse (we should be able to be a borderline playoff/play-in team even without Dame) and it would be fun to feel optimistic about the future, even if Dame was killing it for another franchise.

 

[LayneStaley]

Agreed. I think Simmons for CJ makes a lot of sense for both clubs. Defensive we would be terrific with Powell, Simmons, Roco and Nurk as the 2, 3, 4 and 5.

I like the idea of a defensive point forward but I hate the idea of him shooting the ball, dude can’t even make FTs

 

[wizenheimer]

I don't know what we can get... most of these ideas seem either way too optimistic (Paul George? KAT?) or way too pessimistic (Kevin Love?).

It seems to me that the Blazers should trade CJ only if we can get a guy who can be the Blazers' second-best player. Better than Nurkic, and someone to help Dame win over the next few years.

If we can't--if it's just a salary dump, or we get a batch of inferior players--I think we should trade Dame. Get younger and build for the future while we play out more of CJ's contract. The team wouldn't be markedly worse (we should be able to be a borderline playoff/play-in team even without Dame) and it would be fun to feel optimistic about the future, even if Dame was killing it for another franchise.

there would be no optimism in watching CJ chuck up 30 shots and dribble 453,673 times a game. CJ is one of the most boring players in the league

if Portland goes the nuclear route of trading Dame, they should absolutely dump CJ's ass at the same time, get as bad as they can, load up on high lottery picks and try the Philly route

and if they are really lucky, maybe one of those high lottery picks will turn out to be a player almost as good as Dame. Maybe this time, Portland will actually try and build a team around that player and not ridiculously overvalue another player cluttering up the rebuild

and why would it be that Portland has to trade CJ for somebody who would be the 2nd best player on the Blazers? It's highly debatable if CJ is the 2nd best right now. He sure as hell wasn't in the playoffs. Setting that as the standard for a CJ trade, narrows the options way to much

 

[BBert]

...so are you asking us to flood this sub reddit with glowing reviews of "CJ loves sharing the ball!" // "CJs entry passes off the dribble are best in NBA!" // "Nobody can pass from the elbow like CJ" // etc.

Yes please

 

[Ed O]

there would be no optimism in watching CJ chuck up 30 shots and dribble 453,673 times a game. CJ is one of the most boring players in the league

I don't care about how boring an individual player is or is not. I'll take 10 boring players winning over ten exciting players losing.

if Portland goes the nuclear route of trading Dame, they should absolutely dump CJ's ass at the same time, get as bad as they can, load up on high lottery picks and try the Philly route

I don't think that this would be a good move since we wouldn't get much for CJ. It'd be better for him to play another year or two while his contract gets less offensive, and then we can move him for value, rather than dumping him.

and if they are really lucky, maybe one of those high lottery picks will turn out to be a player almost as good as Dame. Maybe this time, Portland will actually try and build a team around that player and not ridiculously overvalue another player cluttering up the rebuild

There's still not much evidence that bottoming out is the way to rebuild a team. Maintaining relevance while adding draft picks seems to be at least as good a move. The 76ers bottomed out and aren't a whole lot better than the Blazers are now in spite of losing for years and year... and yet they're the best example of a team rebuilding through a teardown in recent NBA history.

and why would it be that Portland has to trade CJ for somebody who would be the 2nd best player on the Blazers? It's highly debatable if CJ is the 2nd best right now. He sure as hell wasn't in the playoffs. Setting that as the standard for a CJ trade, narrows the options way to much

Well, if he were better in the first round we might still be playing. I would argue we probably WOULD still be playing. But he didn't play well, which is why we're home and looking to trade him.

Without getting a player that's better than Nurk (who I think is pretty easily our third-best player) then we won't be a better team than we were this year, and there's no real reason to trade CJ since his trade value should improve over time.

I agree there's not a lot of daylight in terms of finding a player who's of that level, which leads me to think it makes more sense to trade Dame if we don't want to waste Lillard's best years without really going anywhere in the playoffs.

 

[wizenheimer]

I agree there's not a lot of daylight in terms of finding a player who's of that level, which leads me to think it makes more sense to trade Dame if we don't want to waste Lillard's best years without really going anywhere in the playoffs.

this is basically your argument....that being that Portland has screwed up so badly in building a contender around Dame they should just give up and trade Dame because of their own incompetence. And, your desired result from trading Dame is to hand the keys over the CJ so he can "build his value"....fuck that. He isn't going to build his value at all because the NBA knows what he is as a player

Before entertaining thoughts of trading Dame, everything else should be on the table. EVERYTHING. And the first thing that should be on the table is getting Olshey's butt out of the GM's office because he's the reason Portland is in the desperate situation of having to put everything on the table. It's his fucked-up vision of what a contender should look like that has left Portland as a frustrated pretender for 8 seasons

Olshey is the author of all things wrong with the Blazers right now

so, in the absolute worst case scenario of Portland having to shop Dame around, the absolute last person that should be in charge of the shopping is Olshey

 

[royo]

Finding a way to trade CJ for good player is one thing and full rebuild with Dame gone and "going Philly's way" is another. Trading Dame would be worst thing that could happen to Blazers.
You would give up best player in franchise history, cos you couldn't handle him and then we would go talking about "small market" shit again.
We got MVP candidate and soft coach was our biggest problem, so stfu and see what we can play with proper coach.
And yes, CJ can pass the ball. You just need to bench his ass when he going crazy.
Calm the f down.