Trade DEADline fallout: The Aftermath

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What Grade would you give the Trade Deadline moves?

  • A (I'm Joe Cronin's valet)

    Votes: 2 2.9%

  • B (I love 2nd round Draft picks)

    Votes: 18 25.7%

  • C

    Votes: 24 34.3%

  • D

    Votes: 14 20.0%

  • What the 'F'

    Votes: 12 17.1%
  • Total voters
    70
oh god, how did i miss this one..


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glazeduck said:
As a fan, in a vacuum, today sucks. It's not fun to watch your team lose on the floor or at the deadline. As someone who's invested a ton of time, money and emotional energy into the franchise, it sucks to see such a pathetic ownership group.

All that said, today was about continuing to pay up for and try to right past sins, and honestly, I like the direction we took. Any chance of being truly competitive for a championship was out the window the second the Durant trade went down (spoiler alert: we couldn't have been competitive for him ANYWAY, but that's besides the point). Despite what all the armchair GMs here want to think, there wasn't another player available that would've really put us in the discussion, and anything less than that would've just fallen short and worked out like another Roco type move in the long run.

The worst thing to be in the NBA is mediocre and without assets -- and that's precisely what we were. We weren't going anywhere except maybe the back-end of the play-in tourney with GP2 and Hart, and one of them didn't seem bought in and the other was leaving for nothing in the offseason. So yes, our roster got worse today. But in the process, our situation, beyond a year that didn't matter either way, improved. NY will make the playoffs, which means we'll get a late teens pick in a great draft. We'll miss the playoffs, which means we'll get a top-10 pick in a great draft. We open up time for Little, Sharpe and our flyer bigs to develop. It sucks to punt on a year like Dame is having, but these conservative moves were the right decisions in the right climate, Dame or no Dame.
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This. Appreciate your heady response to a lack luster and emotional trade deadline.
 
Strenuus said:
What a surprise lol
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you find it funny when i point out the obvious? good luck trading for anything of significance without any moveable contracts.

blinders and pointless to engage in any discussion.
 
glazeduck said:
As a fan, in a vacuum, today sucks. It's not fun to watch your team lose on the floor or at the deadline. As someone who's invested a ton of time, money and emotional energy into the franchise, it sucks to see such a pathetic ownership group.

All that said, today was about continuing to pay up for and try to right past sins, and honestly, I like the direction we took. Any chance of being truly competitive for a championship was out the window the second the Durant trade went down (spoiler alert: we couldn't have been competitive for him ANYWAY, but that's besides the point). Despite what all the armchair GMs here want to think, there wasn't another player available that would've really put us in the discussion, and anything less than that would've just fallen short and worked out like another Roco type move in the long run.

The worst thing to be in the NBA is mediocre and without assets -- and that's precisely what we were. We weren't going anywhere except maybe the back-end of the play-in tourney with GP2 and Hart, and one of them didn't seem bought in and the other was leaving for nothing in the offseason. So yes, our roster got worse today. But in the process, our situation, beyond a year that didn't matter either way, improved. NY will make the playoffs, which means we'll get a late teens pick in a great draft. We'll miss the playoffs, which means we'll get a top-10 pick in a great draft. We open up time for Little, Sharpe and our flyer bigs to develop. It sucks to punt on a year like Dame is having, but these conservative moves were the right decisions in the right climate, Dame or no Dame.
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Super well said and bravo. Exactly, we didn't have a chance this year and the worst thing we could have done is set ourselves up to be low on assets and a first round exit. Getting a 1st for Josh is incredible, especially in this draft and the nice thing is, Josh is fanatical and will help Brunson alot. New York is almost certainly making the playoffs ironically in part due to who Josh is. So a 1st For Josh is pretty good which means we got Grant and a 1st for CJ. Again, what we all have to realize is this was all Fait Accompli after Olshey robbed the cupboards and hamstrung us with contracts again and again.

My biggest gripes with Cronin are the LAC trade and signing Nurk. Clearly signing GPII was a mistake, but 5 Seconds is probably worth a 1st or very close to it. Just as 1sts only rise in value year after year due to them being akin to "in-game currency" so too do 2nd's become increasingly valuable over time.

This sets us up to have a lot of assets on draft night. We have young talented players and likely a 1st and endless 2nd's we can trade. With the dreaded "CHI" trade we can remove the protection and get a real deal done. I think things are fine.

This season is already done and has been for weeks. The minute some of the sleeper teams like GSW catch their stride the West turns into the most insane murderers row in NBA history. So yeah, we aren't getting through all that talent this year, especially without HCA which is all but gone. Sure we could have gotten some of those fringe guys that were moved who were solid rotation players or at best 5th best starter material, but we wouldn't have the additional assets we have now that might get us a player of consequence. Only KD and Kyrie were true difference makers. The rest were pieces that matter for rebuilding teams, or championship teams looking to deepen their bench or filling a hole because they overloaded at 3 positions in terms of salary. None of the guys listed would have put Portland in contention. That's just facts.

One of the best things Joe did was what he didn't do and that's panic trade Ant, or especially Sharpe. Thank god he didn't piss away our two best assets for a move that made us marginally better. If we couldn't get KD for those guys (and I'm pretty sure we couldn't without getting rid of the CHI protections) then trading either of them would have been foolish. Only Mikal Bridges would have helped us other than KD and he went for KD so yeah. None of the list of guys that would help us would help us contend this year. Thinking long term is wiser.

Right now my dream path is them winning a chip in like 3-4 years when Dame is in his Twilight and Ant is in his prime and Sharpe is becoming the Superstar he's destined to be and next to them is....some guy we got with our hoard of draft picks, along with another guy we got with our Top-10 pick this year.
 
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illmatic99 said:
oh god, how did i miss this one..


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I don't disagree with Magic on this one. We get to evaluate three different young wings all of whom we can let leave or keep, it will be our decision. We got a first rounder and who knows how many seconds we added, I think three.

It's not what we did that makes me upset it's the one thing we didn't do. We did not add a mobile big and we desperately needed one. There were plenty being moved and not for steep prices. So that is my only criticism of Cronin. Now we'll see what we do on draft night because it better be big time stuff.

Oh and as far as big deals go, if we have four first rounders that we can trade that's the kind of haul that nets you a superstar and for a superstar we would for sure put both Ant and Nurk in to make salaries match.
 
Idog1976 said:
Super well said and bravo. Exactly, we didn't have a chance this year and the worst thing we could have done is set ourselves up to be low on assets and a first round exit. Getting a 1st for Josh is incredible, especially in this draft and the nice thing is, Josh is fanatical and will help Brunson alot. New York is almost certainly making the playoffs ironically in part due to who Josh is. So a 1st For Josh is pretty good which means we got Grant and a 1st for CJ. Again, what we all have to realize is this was all Fait Accompli after Olshey robbed the cupboards and hamstrung us with contracts again and again.

My biggest gripes with Cronin are the LAC trade and signing Nurk. Clearly signing GPII was a mistake, but 5 Seconds is probably worth a 1st or very close to it. Just as 1sts only rise in value year after year due to them being akin to "in-game currency" so too do 2nd's become increasingly valuable over time.

This sets us up to have a lot of assets on draft night. We have young talented players and likely a 1st and endless 2nd's we can trade. With the dreaded "CHI" trade we can remove the protection and get a real deal done. I think things are fine.

This season is already done and has been for weeks. The minute some of the sleeper teams like GSW catch their stride the West turns into the most insane murderers row in NBA history. So yeah, we aren't getting through all that talent this year, especially without HCA which is all but gone. Sure we could have gotten some of those fringe guys that were moved who were solid rotation players or at best 5th best starter material, but we wouldn't have the additional assets we have now that might get us a player of consequence. Only KD and Kyrie were true difference makers. The rest were pieces that matter for rebuilding teams, or championship teams looking to deepen their bench or filling a hole because they overloaded at 3 positions in terms of salary. None of the guys listed would have put Portland in contention. That's just facts.

One of the best things Joe did was what he didn't do and that's panic trade Ant, or especially Sharpe. Thank god he didn't piss away our two best assets for a move that made us marginally better. If we couldn't get KD for those guys (and I'm pretty sure we couldn't without getting rid of the CHI protections) then trading either of them would have been foolish. Only Mikal Bridges would have helped us other than KD and he went for KD so yeah. None of the list of guys that would help us would help us contend this year. Thinking long term is wiser.

Right now my dream path is them winning a chip in like 3-4 years when Dame is in his Twilight and Ant is in his prime and Sharpe is becoming the Superstar he's destined to be and next to them is....some guy we got with our hoard of draft picks, along with another guy we got with our Top-10 pick this year.
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That is great and all. I agree, that not panicking about Ant and Sharpe is good. Saying that, I think Sharp hasn't proven anything and calling him future superstar is nothing more, than wishful thinking. I hope he will be that good, but it is 50/50 at this point.
But there is one big thing with this organization and that are priorities. And they are all but winning the Championship.
This crazy deadline, with all those teams trying to keep up with each other could be great opportunity to make bold move. There was no market for Nurk, maybe, but I am sure they could find market for Lillard. He could get tons of picks and/or young talent to develop along Ant and Sharpe and this would be exiting as motherf...
But, I know, Blazers are not this type of organization. Not Ring Chasers. It is about loyalty and friendship. And I get it and I got nothing but love for Dame, but from a profesional basketball perspective Blazers could be somewhere now. Instead there is one leg in past, one leg in future and nothing changes. Not one bit.
 
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Have fun with this one lol
 
Can’t wait for Cronin to use it
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blazerkor said:
I don't disagree with Magic on this one. We get to evaluate three different young wings all of whom we can let leave or keep, it will be our decision. We got a first rounder and who knows how many seconds we added, I think three.

It's not what we did that makes me upset it's the one thing we didn't do. We did not add a mobile big and we desperately needed one. There were plenty being moved and not for steep prices. So that is my only criticism of Cronin. Now we'll see what we do on draft night because it better be big time stuff.

Oh and as far as big deals go, if we have four first rounders that we can trade that's the kind of haul that nets you a superstar and for a superstar we would for sure put both Ant and Nurk in to make salaries match.
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Yeah, but it's f***ing Magic. That's like getting a compliment from Vladimir Putin.
 
robe said:
That is great and all. I agree, that not panicking about Ant and Sharpe is good. Saying that, I think Sharp hasn't proven anything and calling him future superstar is nothing more, than wishful thinking. I hope he will be that good, but it is 50/50 at this point.
But there is one big thing with this organization and that are priorities. And they are all but winning the Championship.
This crazy deadline, with all those teams trying to keep up with each other could be great opportunity to make bold move. There was no market for Nurk, maybe, but I am sure they could find market for Lillard. He could get tons of picks and/or young talent to develop along Ant and Sharpe and this would be exiting as motherf...
But, I know, Blazers are not this type of organization. Not Ring Chasers. It is about loyalty and friendship. And I get it and I got nothing but love for Dame, but from a profesional basketball perspective Blazers could be somewhere now. Instead there is one leg in past, one leg in future and nothing changes. Not one bit.
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We have definitely made the decision (as has Dame) that our fates are tied together, regardless of what gives either party a better chance at a Championship. So we're going to be more Ted Williams and less Kevin Durant. I'm not sure I have a problem with that.
 
DDolla said:
Can’t wait for Cronin to use it
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Those are actually two very nice assets if we decide to move into the luxury tax. And I don't dismiss that we will, we just try to save becoming a repeater once we get truly competitive.
 
glazeduck said:
As a fan, in a vacuum, today sucks. It's not fun to watch your team lose on the floor or at the deadline. As someone who's invested a ton of time, money and emotional energy into the franchise, it sucks to see such a pathetic ownership group.

All that said, today was about continuing to pay up for and try to right past sins, and honestly, I like the direction we took. Any chance of being truly competitive for a championship was out the window the second the Durant trade went down (spoiler alert: we couldn't have been competitive for him ANYWAY, but that's besides the point). Despite what all the armchair GMs here want to think, there wasn't another player available that would've really put us in the discussion, and anything less than that would've just fallen short and worked out like another Roco type move in the long run.

The worst thing to be in the NBA is mediocre and without assets -- and that's precisely what we were. We weren't going anywhere except maybe the back-end of the play-in tourney with GP2 and Hart, and one of them didn't seem bought in and the other was leaving for nothing in the offseason. So yes, our roster got worse today. But in the process, our situation, beyond a year that didn't matter either way, improved. NY will make the playoffs, which means we'll get a late teens pick in a great draft. We'll miss the playoffs, which means we'll get a top-10 pick in a great draft. We open up time for Little, Sharpe and our flyer bigs to develop. It sucks to punt on a year like Dame is having, but these conservative moves were the right decisions in the right climate, Dame or no Dame.
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good post...sorry it took me so long to get to it

I think in a 'dark-cloud/silver lining' kind of way the Blazers are in of a bit of a win-win situation. If they do 'sink' into the lottery, and the Knicks don't, the Blazers would have two first's in a solid draft. A lot of flexibility in that and good opportunity to seriously upgrade talent. If Portland, in a major upset, does get into the playoffs, then holy-shit! that 'flexibility-killing-dumbass-WTF' encumbrance Olshey locked all future 1st round picks into is done. And the Blazers have a world of opportunity with future 1st's that has been not there for years

I get people's frustration and negativity. Yeah, I do think some of it is just ridiculous, but at the same time, some of it is valid. The entire saga of Payton's career in Portland is a giant cluster-fuck...for example

I do think some of these negative reactions are based upon unrealistic expectations. Some people have seriously over-valued Blazer assets leading into the trade deadlines

I don't give Cronin a full pass here either. But he inherited from Olshey a roster filled with pennies, nickels, and maybe a couple of dimes; maybe. And of course one dollar. And it sure seems that people expected Cronin to convert a roster of 'pennies-nickels-a-dime-or-two-and a dollar' into a roster of 'dimes-quarters-and 2 dollars', and do so in a year. It's just not realistic at all to expect that quick a turnaround, especially with ownership allergic to tax in a league where the have's seem to have no concern about tax, and lots of it. And especially, part 2, in a league where teams were willing to spend 3 or 4 or 5 future first round picks at a time the Blazers had none to spend
 
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The high school quality PPT presentation. LOL
 
Really wanted a big at the deadline. I guess they did not like Bamba who was incredibly cheap to acquire by the lakers, they likely could have got Jalen Smith from Indy very cheaply as well. That's my main gripe, really did not expect much else besides the Hart trade which I think we did fine on. Thet take fliers on guys like Reddish but no bigs?
 
TBpup said:
Unrealistic expectations? What were those exactly?

Personally, I didn't have them anywhere near contender status. What I did expect is them not battling Utah who got rid of their 2 biggest stars or the baby Thunder. There is an argument to be made we have the greatest Blazer ever and what many believe is the best leader in the NBA. We have a young SG who is a very good scorer. We got "the best forward we've had since LaMarcus". We had an absolutely play his Hart out SF who is now gone.

I didn't not expect them to be in the nearly same place they were for much of last year when they were purposefully tanking. Fair enough?
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How much of that is a reflection of the Blazers and how much of that is the Jazz and Thunder performing better than anyone anticipated, though?

The Blazers are in a mosh pit of teams in the West with those two teams and a bunch of others. If this is your assessment, how would you like to be a Lakers, Clippers, Pels, T-Wolves, Warriors or Suns fan? I think it'd be fair to say all of them had higher expectations than we did. Yet we're all in that same mosh pit.
 
noknobs said:
Didn't see this anywhere else so...

ESPN+ 2023 NBA trade deadline: Grades for every deal

Warriors send Wiseman to Detroit in four-team deal
Warriors get: Guard/forward Gary Payton II

Pistons get: Center James Wiseman

Hawks get: Forward Saddiq Bey

Trail Blazers get: Forward Kevin Knox
Five second-round picks

Golden State Warriors: B
Detroit Pistons: C-
Atlanta Hawks: A
Portland Trail Blazers: C+

With this deal, the Blazers essentially take a mulligan on signing Payton using their non-taxpayer midlevel exception last summer, getting a handful of second-round picks for their troubles.

Earlier Thursday, I wrote about newly added Matisse Thybulle as a replacement for starting small forward Josh Hart, dealt Wednesday night to the New York Knicks. With this trade it becomes clear Thybulle is really a replacement for Payton, who brings similar defensive playmaking with limited outside shooting.

Much as I appreciate Payton's game, that swap is probably good for Portland. Thybulle is more than four years younger and likely to be cheaper to re-sign this summer as a restricted free agent.

Again, however, the question is whether the Blazers should simply have cut out the Hawks and gotten Bey in return for Payton. Bey's modest 2023-24 salary would be ideal for a Portland team that may not be willing to pay the luxury tax, while he would have offered more size on the perimeter -- addressing a major Blazers weakness.

For now, Portland moves forward with Thybulle and Nassir Little at small forward and Justise Winslow likely to play a key bench role when he returns from a grade II ankle sprain that has sidelined him since late December -- just before Payton made his Blazers debut. Re-signing Winslow could become more of a priority because, like Payton, he offers Portland's second unit needed playmaking.


Thybulle to Blazers in 3-team deal
Trail Blazers get:
Forward Matisse Thybulle

76ers get:
Forward Jalen McDaniels
2024 second-round pick (via New York)
2029 second-round pick (via Portland)

Hornets get:
Guard Svi Mykhailiuk
2023 second-round pick (via most favorable of Atlanta, Brooklyn and Charlotte)
2027 second-round pick (via most favorable of New Orleans and Portland)

Philadelphia 76ers: A-
Charlotte Hornets: C+
Portland Trail Blazers: A

Consider this part two of the Blazers' deadline plan, which started Wednesday night by dealing Josh Hart to the New York Knicks for a protected first-round pick. That move created enough room under the tax line, as well as a trade exception, for Portland to take on Thybulle's contract.

As players, Hart and Thybulle are probably more similar than their reputations would suggest, particularly with Hart's reluctance to shoot 3s this season. (He has attempted fewer per 36 minutes and has made them at a worse clip than Thybulle so far.) Thybulle is almost precisely two years younger and is likely to have a weaker market as a restricted free agent this summer than Hart will unrestricted.

Add in the Blazers converting a couple of distant second-round picks into what could be a first-rounder in the late teens this season and this looks like a strong piece of business for the Portland front office.

There are still questions about how Thybulle fits offensively, but given that the Blazers entered the trade deadline 26th in defensive rating, adding Thybulle should help.


Blazers send Josh Hart to the Knicks

Knicks get: Guard/forward Josh Hart

Trail Blazers get:
Guards Ryan Arcidiacono
Svi Mykhailiuk
Guard/forward Cam Reddish
2023 first-round pick (via New York, top-14 protected, converts to four second-round picks)

New York Knicks: B-
Portland Trail Blazers: B+

Part of the Blazers' unspoken task this season was to play well enough to persuade ownership to pay the luxury tax to re-sign Hart, assuming he declined his player option, and fellow starting forward Jerami Grant.

With Grant averaging 21 PPG and making a career-high 41% of his 3-pointers, Portland has to prepare to give him a significant raise over this season's $21 million salary, meaning a new deal for Hart would likely take them into the tax.

As the Blazers hover around .500 and currently sit outside the play-in spots in the Western Conference, they couldn't justify paying the tax, making a Hart trade all but inevitable before the deadline. Likely getting a first-round pick is a good outcome, particularly because Portland will also get a free look at Reddish the rest of the season.

Remember, it was less than 13 months ago that the Knicks gave up a first-round pick to get Reddish, then in the third season of his four-year rookie contract. Thibodeau apparently wasn't part of that decision. Reddish has logged just 653 minutes since then, causing his trade value to crater.

Despite the occasional big effort, including a 26-point outburst in November against Oklahoma City, Reddish's game has always looked better on a scouting report than on the court. He could be a shooter but has hit just 32% of his 3s. He has the physical tools, including more size than Hart at 6-8, to be a strong defender. That skill set hasn't translated consistently either, though.

Those issues noted, Reddish is actually younger than a player drafted last June (Atlanta Hawks wing Tyrese Martin), so there's still time for him to put it all together. With minutes available and a need for more size on the perimeter, the Blazers will surely give him the opportunity he never found in New York.

Because the Knicks had to include two minimum-salary players (Ryan Arcidiacono and Svi Mykhailiuk) to match salary, Portland will have to either waive or trade a player under full NBA contract to complete this deal. There's no obvious candidate, so a deal might be the best solution.
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This is good and fair, for the most part.

I might give the Blazers a B- on the Payton trade because they got a lot of assets and got out of a moderately bad contract for a guy that didn't do a heck of a lot when he played and didn't play a heck of a lot. Not sure what "playmaking" the author is referring to with Payton; I honestly can't remember him running the offense. He barely shot enough to even be called a 3-and-D guy. He hustled. He hustled well. And he was quick with the joke. But even beyond the contract, he might be addition by subtraction -- maybe I'm the only, but I look at Keon Johnson and I say to myself "couldn't he be contributing what Payton does and a little bit more?"

Maybe they get the lower grade because they didn't get Bey.
 
robe said:
That is great and all. I agree, that not panicking about Ant and Sharpe is good. Saying that, I think Sharp hasn't proven anything and calling him future superstar is nothing more, than wishful thinking. I hope he will be that good, but it is 50/50 at this point.
But there is one big thing with this organization and that are priorities. And they are all but winning the Championship.
This crazy deadline, with all those teams trying to keep up with each other could be great opportunity to make bold move. There was no market for Nurk, maybe, but I am sure they could find market for Lillard. He could get tons of picks and/or young talent to develop along Ant and Sharpe and this would be exiting as motherf...
But, I know, Blazers are not this type of organization. Not Ring Chasers. It is about loyalty and friendship. And I get it and I got nothing but love for Dame, but from a profesional basketball perspective Blazers could be somewhere now. Instead there is one leg in past, one leg in future and nothing changes. Not one bit.
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I don't think we are ever trading Lillard. Doing so would be an unbelievably bad look for the franchise unless he publicly asked out, which is extremely unlikely IMO. His entire brand is loyalty. Also, I'm pretty sure we couldn't trade Dame even if we wanted to until the off-season. Be careful what you wish for!
 
Idog1976 said:
I don't think we are ever trading Lillard. Doing so would be an unbelievably bad look for the franchise unless he publicly asked out, which is extremely unlikely IMO. His entire brand is loyalty. Also, I'm pretty sure we couldn't trade Dame even if we wanted to until the off-season. Be careful what you wish for!
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My bad, I should remember he cant be traded. But for "bad look", I don't know if this team can have worse "look" than now.
 
Strenuus said:
Trading dame sure would
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Strenuus question. That would be "bad look" for who exactly? And what would be the consequences?

I think trading dame for young future would be the first thing Danny Ainge would do and I don't think it is unusual for professional teams in sports to trade players to get better. What I think is unusual in professional sports is a professional team not trying to win and Blazers are not trying.
They could trade 7th pick and trade Simons and Little for a run for Damian and I would be happy for the doing so. What they do is wasting another year of his career and wasting another year for the fans. What are we waiting for? Because it looks like we are waiting for Dame to brake all the records, playing40mins a game for losing team, then there will be statue in front of Moda and then finally Blazers can reset and start again. From zero.

Unless I am blind and there is some kind of plan to win it all and I just don't see it.
I am addicted to this team and I love Dame's game. But for 25 years I've been addicted to Blazers, not Dame and this is going nowhere. It would be really exiting and good for my mental health to see this team stacked with young talent having fun together. What this team is now is depressing and, from what I see, for players as well.

So, this question again. What would be this "bad look" consequences exactly?
 
robe said:
Strenuus question. That would be "bad look" for who exactly? And what would be the consequences?

I think trading dame for young future would be the first thing Danny Ainge would do and I don't think it is unusual for professional teams in sports to trade players to get better. What I think is unusual in professional sports is a professional team not trying to win and Blazers are not trying.
They could trade 7th pick and trade Simons and Little for a run for Damian and I would be happy for the doing so. What they do is wasting another year of his career and wasting another year for the fans. What are we waiting for? Because it looks like we are waiting for Dame to brake all the records, playing40mins a game for losing team, then there will be statue in front of Moda and then finally Blazers can reset and start again. From zero.

Unless I am blind and there is some kind of plan to win it all and I just don't see it.
I am addicted to this team and I love Dame's game. But for 25 years I've been addicted to Blazers, not Dame and this is going nowhere. It would be really exiting and good for my mental health to see this team stacked with young talent having fun together. What this team is now is depressing and, from what I see, for players as well.

So, this question again. What would be this "bad look" consequences exactly?
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Jason Kidd, and quite possibly Chris Paul (Finally!) this year, leading a team at PG and still hitting open shots and finding teammates. If Dame wasn't such an insanely good shooter I would worry that when his athleticism drops off he'd have nothing left, but Dame is a vastly better shooter than Paul or Kidd and while a tier below them in passing, not by much. I explained exactly what I would try for and I believe Cronin is doing. To get a bunch of players on Sharpe and Ant's timeline and Dame will lead them in grizzled veteran fashion to a ring. That's what I want to happen, and it seems like we are trading along those lines. And if Dame should retire we will have a strong team to build off of. You can't trade Dame unless he asks out and I don't see that happening.

In my dream Scenario Sharpe puts it all together. Honestly, our single best shot at a title given what we had this year is that in a year or two Sharpe breaks out and becomes an All-Star on his way towards becoming a Superstar. You ALWAYS have to get lucky to win a championship. We also could get lucky and get a top 3 pick. It's not likely, but Sharpe plus a top 3 pick, plus Dame, plus Ant, plus grant, plus a Knicks 1st in a deep draft, you have a young team that's extremely talented. The point is we need some things to break right for us.

Eventaully, you need to trade for a player like Durant when there is a disgruntled superstar by stockpiling assets *gestures to growing draft pick pile and young players** OR you get super lucky in the draft. I personally believe in Sharpe and think he will be a Superstar some day. If we also strike gold in this draft we can be loaded with young talent which we can either trade for a star to put next to Dame, Grant, Sharpe and Ant or who themselves break out into All-Star talent. There is a way forward but it's not going to be easy, and it's likely not going to be quick.
 
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robe said:
Strenuus question. That would be "bad look" for who exactly? And what would be the consequences?

I think trading dame for young future would be the first thing Danny Ainge would do and I don't think it is unusual for professional teams in sports to trade players to get better. What I think is unusual in professional sports is a professional team not trying to win and Blazers are not trying.
They could trade 7th pick and trade Simons and Little for a run for Damian and I would be happy for the doing so. What they do is wasting another year of his career and wasting another year for the fans. What are we waiting for? Because it looks like we are waiting for Dame to brake all the records, playing40mins a game for losing team, then there will be statue in front of Moda and then finally Blazers can reset and start again. From zero.

Unless I am blind and there is some kind of plan to win it all and I just don't see it.
I am addicted to this team and I love Dame's game. But for 25 years I've been addicted to Blazers, not Dame and this is going nowhere. It would be really exiting and good for my mental health to see this team stacked with young talent having fun together. What this team is now is depressing and, from what I see, for players as well.

So, this question again. What would be this "bad look" consequences exactly?
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I seriously have to answer why it would be bad optics to a fanbase if they just up and traded dame?

It's the most obvious answer. I'll let you figure it out. Wow. Lmao.
 
Strenuus said:
I seriously have to answer why it would be bad optics to a fanbase if they just up and traded dame?

It's the most obvious answer. I'll let you figure it out. Wow. Lmao.
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Ah, to a fanbase... To a fanbase, I get it now. Fanbase that have to watch this shitshow Blazers playing this season? Or a fanbase that is watching Blazers hitting 1st round wall since WW2?
I truly believe, that this fanbase would be ok with it very next season after trade happen, watching someone like Giddey playing aleyoops with Sharpe. For two reasons: 1. It is 2023 and people forgeting things after 5 mins. And 2: Fresh is always exiting.
 
illmatic99 said:
oh god, how did i miss this one..


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From the mouth of one of the greatest GM's ever.... But I do hope he's right this time.
 
B-Roy said:
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The high school quality PPT presentation. LOL
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A couple things in there were encouraging, Reddish was 12th among wings in block % (although I'm surprised the stats guru didn't point out what a limited sample that was based on) and Thybulle, although not a shooter is in the 94th percentile of wings when he gets it to the basket.
 
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If it was real we shoulda traded Simons and picks, or whatever the rumored deal was, for SGA at the beginning of the season.
 
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