Quick: Offseason plans

[wizenheimer]

I'd really be curious about which team(s) are offering picks for CJ. "Top part" of the draft could be any pick 15 or higher and no team has the cap-space to absorb CJ's contract right now. So the trade would have to be more than just the pick. I doubt any team was offering a top-10 pick, but maybe

 

[e_blazer]

I'd really be curious about which team(s) are offering picks for CJ. "Top part" of the draft could be any pick 15 or higher and no team has the cap-space to absorb CJ's contract right now. So the trade would have to be more than just the pick. I doubt any team was offering a top-10 pick, but maybe

Sign me up for CJ to Cleveland for the #3 pick and absorbing Love’s contract. Not going to happen, but that would be nice.

 

[James lamphear]

Well, we could have had Collins + someone on the latter 5, if you love Collins so much.

Anunoby is the one that got away. A ton of people here wanted him, and he kept falling because of injury/project concerns, but then they took an project anyways. Ugh.

If don't know everyone those players you think should been drafted before Zach would been playing behind someone in his 1st two years. Plus without Zach against Denver 3 years ago we wouldn't made it to WCF that year if you forgot.

 

[RR7]

Sign me up for CJ to Cleveland for the #3 pick and absorbing Love’s contract. Not going to happen, but that would be nice.

Quick on 1080 just said it was a top 4 pick. Have to believe it was Cleveland if that's the case.

 

[B-Roy]

Quick on 1080 just said it was a top 4 pick. Have to believe it was Cleveland if that's the case.

hahaha, excuse me

I will drive up from Oakland right now to Portland and personally drag McCollum's ass to Cleveland if that is the case.

 

[illmatic99]

Quick on 1080 just said it was a top 4 pick. Have to believe it was Cleveland if that's the case.

lol and we rejected that?

Olshey needs to be fired on the spot if he dismissed it.

 

[Mr. Robot]

you get top 4 pick for cj mccollum and then trade the pick for immediate upgrade

 

[illmatic99]

https://www.audacy.com/1080thefan/hosts/primetime-with-isaac-and-suke

Quick: "CJ for Ben straight up isn't possible." Ya no shit.

Also Quick: "I know this depresses people but the team thinks this starting lineup is one of the best in the league and they simply got outcoached in the Denver series." For fucks sake

 

[B-Roy]

Just listened:

- Quick says Neil knows he's been conservative in the past regarding trades because of jettisoning too many picks or being left with a star on a one year deal (George).

- Blazers don't have a good handle on CJ McCollum's value. Not good enough to get Simmons in a 1:1 swap (No fucking shit).

- Team still believes this starting 5 is one of the best in the league (oh lord).

 

[JoshuaHall]

What the fuck if you can get Evan Mobley you trade CJ

Dame / Powell / Covington / Mobley / Nurk

Love off the bench

or u could start love and bring Mobley off the bench

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

CJ for Suggs is an easy choice.

Fucking Neil.

 

[B-Roy]

According to the numbers CJ is 88th percentile on defense. According to the numbers Covington was the second worst defender in the starting lineup (79th).

And yet, no one is buying it.

 

[Strenuus]

It's a strange feeling knowing the next few weeks is likely going to determine the next 5+ years.

 

[B-Roy]

Important point: Jody Allen is committed to paying the tax.

Also: fan backlash regarding Chauncey for sure affected Dame in some way.

 

[illmatic99]

After listening to this, I'm convinced Quick only got half truths. What he says doesn't really make sense.

 

[JoshuaHall]

CJ for Suggs is an easy choice.

Fucking Neil.

Fuck Suggs. We don’t need another guard.
Mobley is a no brainer.

Cunningham
Green
Mobley
Suggs

 

[B-Roy]

It's a strange feeling knowing the next few weeks is likely going to determine the next 5+ years.

I both hate this off-season and am also irrationally excited about the next two weeks. Just know there is a high (or at least higher) likelihood of some big shit going down one way or another.

 

[Natebishop3]

So ready for Neil to be gone.

 

[Cugel]

The 3 guard dame cj norm lineup is a waste of time.

 

[blazerkor]

I both hate this off-season and am also irrationally excited about the next two weeks. Just know there is a high (or at least higher) likelihood of some big shit going down one way or another.

I know a lot of people don't agree with me about this but if big shit doesn't happen before free agency Norm will walk and if we're left in that situation when Dame gets back from Japan, I think he'll ask out. He didn't sound patient, he said he wasn't committed, he said the team needs to show the same urgency in their efforts to get better that he does. There's no way that adds up to him having Olshey tell him that there just wasn't a way to make the roster better but wait for the trade deadline and Dame taking that excuse. What would be different at the trade deadline?

So I know a lot of people think Dame will give the team until the beginning of 2022-23 but he didn't sound like waiting was on his mind at all.

 

[illmatic99]

Who is Quick getting info from?

I really don't think he's that connected around the league. I know in the past he has referenced connections with agents, but most of the news he breaks comes from the team itself.

We also know Neil is tightlipped. Any leaks coming from him are strategic.

What purpose does it serve for Neil to leak to Quick now that he's going to get rid of CJ et al? And the one nugget he has about a potential CJ trade is that a team with a top 4 pick would give up their pick for CJ (something that vastly overvalues CJ), and apparently we would reject this.

Quick has been terrific these past few years, but think he's going around in the circles here. Don't buy most of what he's trying to sell.

 

[Scalma]

After listening to this, I'm convinced Quick only got half truths. What he says doesn't really make sense.

Quick is plugged in to a certain extent. I wouldn’t trust anything he says with regards to specific targets, trades, or signings.

 

[B-Roy]

Who is Quick getting info from?

I really don't think he's that connected around the league. I know in the past he has referenced connections with agents, but most of the news he breaks comes from the team itself.

We also know Neil is tightlipped. Any leaks coming from him are strategic.

What purpose does it serve for Neil to leak to Quick now that he's going to get rid of CJ et al? And the one nugget he has about a potential CJ trade is that a team with a top 4 pick would give up their pick for CJ (something that vastly overvalues CJ), and apparently we would reject this.

Quick has been terrific these past few years, but think he's going around in the circles here. Don't buy most of what he's trying to sell.

Sounds like him talking to random people around the league and maybe some that work for the organization. But definitely not in the front office. I don't think he ever gets leaks from Olshey's FO.

But yes, the stuff about the org understanding they're on the clock with Dame, but then also okay with running it back is contradictory.

I do think he talks with people that work for the org though. He cited each individual player's defensive percentile. Sorry, I just don't buy that he looked up those numbers himself. Those numbers and reasoning were obviously fed to him by someone.

 

[illmatic99]

Quick is plugged in to a certain extent. I wouldn’t trust anything he says with regards to specific targets, trades, or signings.

specific targets, i WOULD actually listen to. I'm fairly certain he had DJ pegged before FA started as a target last year.

But his valuations, claims about direction of the roster, handle of the CBA, etc-- he has no idea what he's talking about.

 

[Hoopguru]

Who is Quick getting info from?

I really don't think he's that connected around the league. I know in the past he has referenced connections with agents, but most of the news he breaks comes from the team itself.

We also know Neil is tightlipped. Any leaks coming from him are strategic.

What purpose does it serve for Neil to leak to Quick now that he's going to get rid of CJ et al? And the one nugget he has about a potential CJ trade is that a team with a top 4 pick would give up their pick for CJ (something that vastly overvalues CJ), and apparently we would reject this.

Quick has been terrific these past few years, but think he's going around in the circles here. Don't buy most of what he's trying to sell.

Yeah, its crazy the pressure put on reporters to compete in this on line 24/7 news cycle. The temptation to add sizzle with claimed sources must be great.

 

[Strenuus]

I both hate this off-season and am also irrationally excited about the next two weeks. Just know there is a high (or at least higher) likelihood of some big shit going down one way or another.

Exactly. This is exponentially bigger than the LMA offseason.

It's put up or shut up time, and this is one time where I hope olshey doesn't shut up. But I doubt it.

A change is gonna come.

 

[illmatic99]

From OCT 16, Quick had this in his mailbag. We signed DJ on Day 1 of FA a month later:

I don't think Quick knows the league or understands the stats well enough to pull a random name like Jones out of his ass. He heard it from someone.

https://theathletic.com/2141622/202...olshey-sign-derrick-jones-jr-blazers-mailbag/

What’s one realistic move that Olshey can pull off to improve this team’s ceiling for next year? — Husein A.

Sign free agent Derrick Jones Jr.

It’s no secret the Blazers need better defensive players. Badly. Only Cleveland, Washington and Atlanta had a worse defensive rating than Portland last season. The 6-foot-7 Jones is a plus-defender who can switch on pick-and-rolls, much like Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu did the last time Terry Stotts coached a top 10 defense (2017-18). Jones has a 7-foot wingspan and has pogo-stick hops that make him an elite shot blocker. According to Cleaning The Glass, Jones last season among NBA wings ranked in the 93rd percentile in offensive rebounds, 92nd percentile in blocks and 88th percentile in steals. The guy can instantly help shore up the Blazers’ soft perimeter defense.

If there is a hesitation with Jones, it is his shooting, which the Blazers value from a wing for spacing purposes if he is going to be paired with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Jones is a poor 3-point shooter (career 28 percent), but I would argue he can excel as a slasher who is exceptional at finishing around the rim. Plus, I’m not worried about the Blazers’ offense. With Lillard, McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, this team will always be a top 10 offense. It’s time this team starts addressing its defense.

The biggest hurdle will be convincing Jones to leave Miami. In April, before the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals, Jones said he wanted to return to Miami, noting a sense of loyalty to the franchise that gave him his first real shot at playing in the NBA. Miami holds his Bird Rights, meaning it can go over the cap to sign him, but it is also believed that the Heat want to preserve cap space for the summer of 2021 to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Olshey’s biggest carrot in this free agency will be the roughly $9 million mid-level exception, and even though Jones will likely be a hot commodity, I don’t think it will take the full mid-level to land him. And if it does take the full $9-plus million to lure him from Miami’s beaches to Portland’s pine trees, I think you still do it. He’s only 23, which down the road could align him with the next iteration of the Blazers’ core that includes Anfernee Simons, Gary Trent Jr., Nassir Little and Zach Collins.

As a parallel, I'd keep an eye on someone he has mentioned in the past few weeks this year: Marcus Smart. And one of these guys:

At wing, the Blazers could parse a free agent field that includes Nic Batum, Tony Snell, Alec Burks, Bobby Portis, Reggie Bullock, Otto Porter Jr., and Torrey Craig. At center, there is Nerlens Noel, Daniel Theis, and Willie Cauley-Stein.

 

[Scalma]

From OCT 16, Quick had this in his mailbag. We signed DJ on Day 1 of FA a month later:

I don't think Quick knows the league or understands the stats well enough to pull a random name like Jones out of his ass. He heard it from someone.

https://theathletic.com/2141622/202...olshey-sign-derrick-jones-jr-blazers-mailbag/



As a parallel, I'd keep an eye on someone he has mentioned in the past few weeks this year: Marcus Smart.

lucky guess.

 

[illmatic99]

lucky guess.

he was like the 30th ranked FA among a field of 50 that SI rated last offseason. And there was no other noise about him, yet Quick makes him a headline?

Dude shoulda hit the slots if he got just lucky with that one.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Of course Neil would believe that this roster is a Reggie Bullock away