Keeping our pick? This might be a Lottery year

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Make the pick for the Future.....or trade it for 'now'?

  • One last attempt

  • Build for the future....one player won't make enough of a difference

  • Get bad enough to where the pick makes an immediate impact


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7th in draft order and closing in on Sac... if they can stop kinging it up. I honestly think that if we sit Hart after this next game against the Nets that we will be able to drop enough games to get to the 6th spot which would be nice and then we can all be on pins and needles on May 17th.
Whats your preference trade the picks for Dame time or keep one or both and trade Dame? Maybe they could trade up and get that out of the gate super star for Dame Time?
 
Whats your preference trade the picks for Dame time or keep one or both and trade Dame? Maybe they could trade up and get that out of the gate super star for Dame Time?

I know you're asking blazerkor, but I'm a jerk so I'll step in front and answer

* first thing...never trade Dame unless he demands to be traded

* 2nd thing...if the Blazers have a top-3 pick I would hope there's a good enough target available that player could start, and play well as a rookie

* 3rd thing...if they have 2 lottery picks but both outside the top-4 (likely), then sure, be willing to trade both for a major upgrade. But that upgrade has to be a higher level than Grant. John Collins, yes; probably; maybe?....Grant, no. I wouldn't trade a top-10 pick for Grant unless it was 9th or 10th and the Pistons were willing to trade for Bledsoe, effectively preserving that 21M TPE

it sure looks like Cronin is planning on copying a template many of the good teams use. That being having 2 or 3 or 4 highly paid players (20M or more); a couple around MLE-level; and then filling out the roster and lower end of the rotation with bargain & minimum contracts

Blazers have Dame/Ant. I am quite a bit more optimistic about that pairing than I ever was about Dame/CJ. Maybe my pro-Dame bias is blinding me to reality, I don't know. I just happen to think that Dame/Ant with Hart as the 3rd guard and Billups as coach is a much better formula that Dame/CJ + short guards & Stotts. And Portland has Nurkic who can be really good in a limited role. By limited I mean he should not be a primary offensive option. He's just too inconsistent. But his 2-man game with Dame can be dynamic.

what Portland lacks is a quality 2-way forward. Apparently Cronin thinks Grant can plug that hole. I'm hoping for somebody better. I like Little but he can's stay healthy; can't depend on him. I'm hoping Portland isn't forced to start Hart at SF because he fits so well with Dame/Ant as 3rd guard. I like Watford and Winslow as bench support; and even Eubanks as a backup C although I'm not sure he's good enough to be 2nd in C rotation. Portland seems to have enough options for those minimum salaries. They mainly need another star, even assuming Ant gets there sooner rather than later
 
Whats your preference trade the picks for Dame time or keep one or both and trade Dame? Maybe they could trade up and get that out of the gate super star for Dame Time?
My preference is to get lucky in the lottery and land a front court player who would make an immediate impact and be an all star player while Dame is still playing at an all nba or all star level or trade the picks for someone who is already an all star. When I say picks, I think if we're going all in on Dame the way that Cronin said we are about to, then we should do the small thing that it takes to get Chicago to let us lift the conditions on the pick we will owe them next season, so we can also trade up to three future firsts in order to build a win now team for Dame. That's my preference.

I think what happens between now and two months from tonight has the chance to change the way all of us see our team's future. That being said, unlike many in here I still believe we have the right assets to build a real contender and therefore if things go the right way for us a champion around Dame. We just have to get really ambitious right now. BPA with both picks, re-signing Ant, Nurk and then getting a rotational player in free agency isn't the right way to go. If we think that Dame and Ant are a championship back court despite their redundancies being familiar to us, then we either need to put our two picks and future firsts together for a superstar PF or use picks to get us two new borderline or established all stars that wouldn't necessarily have to be superstar level talent. Any way you look at it huge moves are still needed.

If none of that can be done, then yeah with a heavy heart we would need to draft the BPA that fit with Ant and Nas and move Dame for a young player with superstar potential or a young player or two with all star potential combined with some first rounders. That would restart us with a young core that should be able to compete immediately day to day in the NBA and potentially be a contender within the next few seasons if we get the right prospects. I see why that might be appealing to some fans and a new GM if Joe isn't retained but for me I really want to see what a complementary roster can do with Dame running things before we give up on that dream.
 
Going to the two afternoon games today players to watch for draft?
 
I know you're asking blazerkor, but I'm a jerk so I'll step in front and answer

* first thing...never trade Dame unless he demands to be traded

* 2nd thing...if the Blazers have a top-3 pick I would hope there's a good enough target available that player could start, and play well as a rookie

* 3rd thing...if they have 2 lottery picks but both outside the top-4 (likely), then sure, be willing to trade both for a major upgrade. But that upgrade has to be a higher level than Grant. John Collins, yes; probably; maybe?....Grant, no. I wouldn't trade a top-10 pick for Grant unless it was 9th or 10th and the Pistons were willing to trade for Bledsoe, effectively preserving that 21M TPE

it sure looks like Cronin is planning on copying a template many of the good teams use. That being having 2 or 3 or 4 highly paid players (20M or more); a couple around MLE-level; and then filling out the roster and lower end of the rotation with bargain & minimum contracts

Blazers have Dame/Ant. I am quite a bit more optimistic about that pairing than I ever was about Dame/CJ. Maybe my pro-Dame bias is blinding me to reality, I don't know. I just happen to think that Dame/Ant with Hart as the 3rd guard and Billups as coach is a much better formula that Dame/CJ + short guards & Stotts. And Portland has Nurkic who can be really good in a limited role. By limited I mean he should not be a primary offensive option. He's just too inconsistent. But his 2-man game with Dame can be dynamic.

what Portland lacks is a quality 2-way forward. Apparently Cronin thinks Grant can plug that hole. I'm hoping for somebody better. I like Little but he can's stay healthy; can't depend on him. I'm hoping Portland isn't forced to start Hart at SF because he fits so well with Dame/Ant as 3rd guard. I like Watford and Winslow as bench support; and even Eubanks as a backup C although I'm not sure he's good enough to be 2nd in C rotation. Portland seems to have enough options for those minimum salaries. They mainly need another star, even assuming Ant gets there sooner rather than later
Agree about Dame, I'm glad it appears that he direction for the next few years anyway. I hope Grant isn't who Joe is targeting . You'd think with the picks and player current assets we'd be able to maybe get target a guy like Brown? I see Boston maybe breaking them up? I mean, its possible we have a new GM before draft night and a plan is already in place.
 
Agree about Dame, I'm glad it appears that he direction for the next few years anyway. I hope Grant isn't who Joe is targeting . You'd think with the picks and player current assets we'd be able to maybe get target a guy like Brown? I see Boston maybe breaking them up? I mean, its possible we have a new GM before draft night and a plan is already in place.
I think if we did drop the conditions on the pick we owe the Bulls, lets just say for the later of our two second rounders then our future firsts starting in 2025 are open. I could then see us trading our pick if it was 4-6, a future first or two and both Bledsoe and Hart for Brown. Then I think the Pelicans pick for Grant would make sense. Obviously we'd re-sign Ant and Nurk at that point. We could get a really good backup big for the TPMLE (Portis or Boucher) and maybe even another with our second rounder (Adji).

Dame, Ant, Jaylen, Jerami, Nurk, Nas, Portis, Justise and whoever does the best out of Keon, Greg, Trendon and Didi. Really if we had those eight guys who are such known commodities we wouldn't really have a position of need so that last rotational spot or whatever minutes are leftover would just be up for grabs from our young guys. If you assume that Ant would be the second scoring option, it would be like Grant, Brown and Nurk would be jockeying for options 3a-c. We would have a scary offensive attack with as good of Chauncey style defenders around Dame and Ant as you could really ask for.

I guess for me the only dream scenario that's better is winning the first pick in the lotto with which we pick Jabari Smith, then preemptively break up Dame and Ant by sign and trading Ant and the Pelicans pick for Jaylen Brown. Then we would just re-sign Nurk. We'd probably want to pick up someone like Tyus Jones to backup Dame with the full MLE. Dame, Nas or Hart, Jaylen, Jabari, Nurk, Nas or Hart, Justise, Jones and Trendon or some min level big or a big we pick up with our second rounder. That's a contending team, especially with Chauncey's schemes.
 
Good grief, Jalen Duren's hands ... it's like watching Connie Hawkins.
 
Duren's first shot in the game against Boise State was an airball over the hoop from 7 feet away on the baseline.
 
Duren is is slow on his feet and imo, not at top 7 talent.
 
Jeremy Sochan is starting to look a little intriguing, shooting is horrific though.
 
I really like Murray's demeanor. Calming presence who you cant speed up
 
is there any kind of consensus in mock drafts past the top 3 picks or so?
 
Duren is is slow on his feet and imo, not at top 7 talent.
He's just raw. Those quick twitch muscles for bigs seem to fire a bit later and the kid is only 18. He looks kinda like dale davis today
 
I really like Murray's demeanor. Calming presence who you cant speed up
Am I the only one who was unaware of his brother? Are they gonna be the next set of NBA twins?
 
He's just raw. Those quick twitch muscles for bigs seem to fire a bit later and the kid is only 18. He looks kinda like dale davis today
He’s built like DHoward.
Is he a top 5 pick you think?
 
He’s built like DHoward.
Is he a top 5 pick you think?
I've been pretty cool on him from the start but his size is hard to dismiss. Need to see who else jumps up in the mocks. We're still two months from workouts where guys can have a big jump.
 
Top 5 is a stretch because he has NO offensive game.

But the slowness thing is interesting.

Part of the reason he is thought of so highly is due to his… quickness, especially for his size. He is a legitimate defensive anchor because his switchability and his ability to anchor a defense and get out to contest shots on the perimeter.
 
Depends what you’re looking for. He’s not some polished offensive player.

He’s also one of the youngest players in the draft.
Yeah, if we have a new GM that doesn't want to continue to build around Dame then Duren would be an ideal pick with the Pelicans pick. Especially if we got the first or second pick and got one of the more offensively polished Banchero or Smith with it. If that were the case you would trade Dame for Jaylen Brown and whatever picks and filler you could get out of the Celtics and let Nurk walk. At that point we could renounce our rights to Nurk, tell Ant to wait so we could just have his cap hold instead of his new salary that will be far greater than that hold and see if we can pry Miles Bridges away from Charlotte for a max deal. Ant, Brown, Bridges, Banchero or Smith and Duren. With Nas, Hart, Williams, Greg, Trendon, Didi, Winslow and a big with our second rounder coming off the bench would be pretty fun to watch and would be scary for everyone in the league.

If we're continuing to build around Dame (which as fun as that other shit sounds is definitely what I want) then you just don't draft a project like Duren with a lotto pick. If he's the BPA then you find the team that wants him the most and get the best immediate contributor you can for him. We're lucky because if we have a team that wants him bad enough we have the TPE or Bledsoe's contract and Winslow's if needed that would expire at the end of next season. To be honest if we did get one of the top three picks and Toronto wanted it badly enough... I'd give them the pick, Hart and Bledsoe for Siakam. I would then consider trading the Pelicans pick if it was in the 10-12 range to Detroit for Grant. I think Grant and Siakam have the versatility on both ends of the court to be great forwards playing together with Nurk at C and a Dame/Ant back court.
 
Yeah, if we have a new GM that doesn't want to continue to build around Dame then Duren would be an ideal pick with the Pelicans pick. Especially if we got the first or second pick and got one of the more offensively polished Banchero or Smith with it. If that were the case you would trade Dame for Jaylen Brown and whatever picks and filler you could get out of the Celtics and let Nurk walk. At that point we could renounce our rights to Nurk, tell Ant to wait so we could just have his cap hold instead of his new salary that will be far greater than that hold and see if we can pry Miles Bridges away from Charlotte for a max deal. Ant, Brown, Bridges, Banchero or Smith and Duren. With Nas, Hart, Williams, Greg, Trendon, Didi, Winslow and a big with our second rounder coming off the bench would be pretty fun to watch and would be scary for everyone in the league.

If we're continuing to build around Dame (which as fun as that other shit sounds is definitely what I want) then you just don't draft a project like Duren with a lotto pick. If he's the BPA then you find the team that wants him the most and get the best immediate contributor you can for him. We're lucky because if we have a team that wants him bad enough we have the TPE or Bledsoe's contract and Winslow's if needed that would expire at the end of next season. To be honest if we did get one of the top three picks and Toronto wanted it badly enough... I'd give them the pick, Hart and Bledsoe for Siakam. I would then consider trading the Pelicans pick if it was in the 10-12 range to Detroit for Grant. I think Grant and Siakam have the versatility on both ends of the court to be great forwards playing together with Nurk at C and a Dame/Ant back court.
I’m torn on Duren because his complete lack of offensive skills, other than dunks, putbacks and finishing around the basket. He is also a terrible passer. He’s like the anti-Nurk. Nurk sucks at finishing around the basket but that’s about all Duren can do.

That said… fortunately for him the NBA is a PnR league and he will excel with his strength, size, athleticism in that area. And he’s a monster on the glass and defensively.

I actually think he is rather NBA ready. But he can’t be a featured part of the offense. Kinda reminds me of DeAndre Ayton in some aspects.
 
I’m torn on Duren because his complete lack of offensive skills, other than dunks, putbacks and finishing around the basket. He is also a terrible passer. He’s like the anti-Nurk. Nurk sucks at finishing around the basket but that’s about all Duren can do.

That said… fortunately for him the NBA is a PnR league and he will excel with his strength, size, athleticism in that area. And he’s a monster on the glass and defensively.

I actually think he is rather NBA ready. But he can’t be a featured part of the offense. Kinda reminds me of DeAndre Ayton in some aspects.
I still think if the Pelicans pick is early enough to get him that we don't need a backup C with that pick we need to trade it for a legit immediate contributor... if we're building around Dame. If we are building around Dame and we can get Jerami Grant for that pick... Dame would be rightfully livid if we took Duren instead.
 
I still think if the Pelicans pick is early enough to get him that we don't need a backup C with that pick we need to trade it for a legit immediate contributor... if we're building around Dame. If we are building around Dame and we can get Jerami Grant for that pick... Dame would be rightfully livid if we took Duren instead.
I think we have very, very different opinions on Jerami Grant. If we trade any (decent) lottery pick for Jerami Grant I’ll be livid.

I’d much rather have Siakam / Duren than Siakam / Grant.

Not saying I want Duren, so you can pretty much change Siakam / Duren to almost any other combo. Grant sucks IMO. Lol
 
Grant would lose his mind on a team that prioritized…

Ant / Dame / Siakam and Nurk over him. Just no way that goes well IMO. He wants to be “a primary” option, so I don’t see him accepting being the 4th or 5th fiddle slot like he did in Denver.
 
Could be off but Duren is at least 2 yrs away from being a starting caliber player. He's an upside pick if there ever was one.
 
Grant would lose his mind on a team that prioritized…

Ant / Dame / Siakam and Nurk over him. Just no way that goes well IMO. He wants to be “a primary” option, so I don’t see him accepting being the 4th or 5th fiddle slot like he did in Denver.
If there was a way to get Grant and Siakam without giving up Ant, I wouldn't give a flying **** how Grant felt about it.
 
Grant would lose his mind on a team that prioritized…

Ant / Dame / Siakam and Nurk over him. Just no way that goes well IMO. He wants to be “a primary” option, so I don’t see him accepting being the 4th or 5th fiddle slot like he did in Denver.
Why is it that you say that? He took the most money possible and yes was excited to be the first option but if he was talking to Dame about teaming up he knows he wouldn't be the first option anymore and the fact is if he believes in himself he'll have the confidence to come in here and try to earn touches that would otherwise go to Ant, Siakam and Nurk before him and I don't think as it stands that Nurk would get touches before him. The dude can both get to the hoop really well and finish by cutting without the ball and putting the ball on the floor as well and he can hit open spot up threes. He's also a really good defender. I don't think he'd have a problem at all if he was starting on a championship team and we paid him.
 
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