Trade DEADline fallout: The Aftermath

[LayneStaley]

wut?

Wasn’t there some Reddit trade rumor at the beginning of the season that everyone was talking about on here about SGA? Maybe I’m wrong but if it was true we shoulda pounced.

 

[wizenheimer]

Wasn’t there some Reddit trade rumor at the beginning of the season that everyone was talking about on here about SGA? Maybe I’m wrong but if it was true we shoulda pounced.

I don't think there was any chance of that being real. SGA was a couple of tiers better than Ant last season. And if Simons was involved in a S&T last summer he would have been BYC and the BYC differential would have made him nearly impossible to trade

 

[blazerkor]

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.

I think one of two things will happen this off season. We will either make a blockbuster trade on draft night for a superstar and possibly another solid role player who is a good fit or Joe will go to Dame and tell him he doesn't think we can compete during his prime and ask Dame what he wants to do essentially forcing Dame to ask for a trade in July which we will give him.

 

[wizenheimer]

I think last night's game with OKC may have been a snapshot of what kind of roster Cronin wants to have:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 6-6
Jalen Williams 6-6
Josh Giddey 6-8
Luguentz Dort 6-3
Isaiah Joe 6-4
Kenrich Williams 6-6
Aaron Wiggins 6-6
Jaylin Williams 6-10
Eugene Omoruyi (TW) 6-7
Ousmane Dieng 6-10

adding Thybulle (6'5), Reddish (6'8), and Knox (6'7) was a step in that direction....maybe a stumbling step, but still...

 

[Mediocre Man]

I think last night's game with OKC may have been a snapshot of what kind of roster Cronin wants to have:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 6-6
Jalen Williams 6-6
Josh Giddey 6-8
Luguentz Dort 6-3
Isaiah Joe 6-4
Kenrich Williams 6-6
Aaron Wiggins 6-6
Jaylin Williams 6-10
Eugene Omoruyi (TW) 6-7
Ousmane Dieng 6-10

adding Thybulle (6'5), Reddish (6'8), and Knox (6'7) was a step in that direction....maybe a stumbling step, but still...

Long athletic freaks. Who woulda thunk it

 

[HoopsFanAZ]

I think one of two things will happen this off season. We will either make a blockbuster trade on draft night for a superstar and possibly another solid role player who is a good fit or Joe will go to Dame and tell him he doesn't think we can compete during his prime and ask Dame what he wants to do essentially forcing Dame to ask for a trade in July which we will give him.

1. Superstar?
Star like Bridges or Siakam? Yes.
The Chicago pick is gone or returned (than you, Knicks and Joe) and picks free.

2. Dame traded right then? In a blockbuster night after pre-draft “star conversations” are kaput AND rip that bandage off all at once! The bidding war during the summer is annoying unless teams load up during the draft with what we want to maximize what we’d want.
Full-on Ant/Shaedon rebuild … old guys need not apply.

A roster of Bridges, Cam Thomas, Grant, Ant, and Shaedon (with a couple Phoenix picks?)

EDIT: PLEASE IGNORE THE ABOVE NONSENSE.

 

[wizenheimer]

1. Superstar?
Star like Bridges or Siakam? Yes.
The Chicago pick is gone or returned (than you, Knicks and Joe) and picks free.

2. Dame traded right then? In a blockbuster night after pre-draft “star conversations” are kaput AND rip that bandage off all at once! The bidding war during the summer is annoying unless teams load up during the draft with what we want to maximize what we’d want.
Full-on Ant/Shaedon rebuild … old guys need not apply.
A roster of Bridges, Cam Thomas, Grant, Ant, and Shaedon (with a couple Phoenix picks?)

lol....c'mon man

let me ask you a question: if your team had Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dinwiddie, and a boatload of draft picks would you trade them for 33 year old Damian Lillard. That was a rhetorical question because of course you wouldn't, and neither would the Nets

also, Johnson is RFA this summer and will be getting a much bigger deal making him BYC, so he'll be really difficult to fit into a trade

 

[illmatic99]

Ibaka just got waived. We are well below the tax and can sign a player if we wanted to.

Just need to waive someone like Ryan A.

 

[blazerkor]

Ibaka just got waived. We are well below the tax and can sign a player if we wanted to.

Just need to waive someone like Ryan A.

He would help us win so if we don't do anything about it that might be telling but the very frustrating nature of being a fan is that we won't know if the team just doesn't give a shit or if they talked to him and he wasn't interested.

 

[blazerfan11]

lol....c'mon man

let me ask you a question: if your team had Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dinwiddie, and a boatload of draft picks would you trade them for 33 year old Damian Lillard. That was a rhetorical question because of course you wouldn't, and neither would the Nets

also, Johnson is RFA this summer and will be getting a much bigger deal making him BYC, so he'll be really difficult to fit into a trade

Did you think the Lakers would trade for Russell Westbrook?
Brooklyn isn't Utah. It's a huge market with a desire to "win now" and I think they would be very interested in Lillard.
Edit: Mikal Bridges may be a great overall player but who's going to sell more tickets? Mikal Bridges or Damial Lillard? Not even close.

 

[blazerfan11]

Furthermore, once you get Lillard in Brooklyn, you can use your players and picks to build your next super team with guys who have always wanted to play with him, and now he's in New York City.
Maybe there's a team like Miami or Toronto who have an older player like Siakam or Butler who will take some picks.

 

[HoopsFanAZ]

lol....c'mon man

let me ask you a question: if your team had Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dinwiddie, and a boatload of draft picks would you trade them for 33 year old Damian Lillard. That was a rhetorical question because of course you wouldn't, and neither would the Nets

also, Johnson is RFA this summer and will be getting a much bigger deal making him BYC, so he'll be really difficult to fit into a trade

Cool. I got a c’mon man! [Extremely polite response. ]
The answer is no.
The real question is which teams would have a combination of a youngish vet and picks and a star SF and who would have enough after a Dame trade for it to make sense?

 

[wizenheimer]

Cool. I got a c’mon man! [Extremely polite response. ]
The answer is no.
The real question is which teams would have a combination of a youngish vet and picks and a star SF and who would have enough after a Dame trade for it to make sense?

actually, I think the question would be what teams would be interested enough in Lillard to trade a huge package for him. This wouldn't be 26 year old Donovan Mitchell. This would be 33 year old Damian Lillard with 4 years left on his contract at 54M/year

the pool of teams that would be interested would be really really small...as in 2 or 3 or 4 at the most. And all would have to be close enough to contending or already contending, to justify the risk. The odds of any decent draft picks coming Portland's way over the next 3 to 4 years would be really small. Think picks in the 20's. The best Portland might see in high draft compensation might be picks and/or swaps 5-7 years in the future.

Portland might get a Cam Johnson level player in the deal, and maybe a Vanderbilt, but no all-star. But they will also have to take on some substantial contract burden to match dame's salary

people have these fantasies about getting some godfather package for Lillard, but I don't think that's in the cards. Maybe 3 or 4 years ago. But not this summer.

 

[wizenheimer]

Furthermore, once you get Lillard in Brooklyn, you can use your players and picks to build your next super team with guys who have always wanted to play with him, and now he's in New York City.
Maybe there's a team like Miami or Toronto who have an older player like Siakam or Butler who will take some picks.

this is all nonsense

if the Blazers had 26 year old Mikal Bridges, and 26 year old Cam Johnson, and a bunch of 1st's, there isn't a single person in this forum, including me who is a big Dame fan, who would be advocating trading a package something like Bridges, Johnson, Nurkic, Sharpe and 4 first round picks for 33 year old Lillard. Not one single poster.

Dame is special in Portland. For other cities he's an elite PG but he's also 33 years old and his loyalty to Portland doesn't count for anything

 

[TBpup]

Is the team's goal to 'shy tank'? If they really wanted to compete for a Playoff spot, they would have went and got some much needed size that was available. With so many other teams improving and by them not addressing their 'biggest' need, it seems like they are quite okay with being in the Lottery again.

 

[Freshtown]

Now that the dust has settled, the more I think about it the more I think this was a great deadline for us.

1. we aren’t winning the ship this year, so we didn’t make any desperate win now moves that would have involved doing stupid things like giving up sharpe or unprotecting picks for a player of the caliber of OG or something, who wouldn’t have moved the needle for us anyway.

2. we got a first for an expiring player that we couldn’t pay.

3. we got a shitload of 2nd rounders for a 1-dimensional malcontent on a long term deal.

4. we got thuybulle for nothing to evaluate.

All 4 decisions were smart. Good work.

 

[HoopsFanAZ]

Now that the dust has settled, the more I think about it the more I think this was a great deadline for us.

1. we aren’t winning the ship this year, so we didn’t make any desperate win now moves that would have involved doing stupid things like giving up sharpe or unprotecting picks for a player of the caliber of OG or something, who wouldn’t have moved the needle for us anyway.
2. we got a first for an expiring player that we couldn’t pay.
3. we got a shitload of 2nd rounders for a 1-dimensional malcontent on a long term deal.
4. we got thuybulle for nothing to evaluate.

All 4 decisions were smart. Good work.

IMHO, it wasn't a "great deadline for us." Semantics about one word, only. I gave it a C at first, did some reading, listening ... then switched to a B ... for basically everything you've said.
Nurkic is still a Blazer. Hope that changes this summer. No big, mobile, defender was brought in -- Not Vanderbilt (PF), not Bamba -- and Drew and Trendon can only do what they can do, and no one should expect the end of the bench bigs to do much except get better someday.

I'll buy the reasoning Cronin gave ... for now. After this summer if not much happens? Not so much.

 

[BBert]

Is the team's goal to 'shy tank'? If they really wanted to compete for a Playoff spot, they would have went and got some much needed size that was available. With so many other teams improving and by them not addressing their 'biggest' need, it seems like they are quite okay with being in the Lottery again.

I've had that thought. Build assets but not big man assets that might help us squeeze into the playoffs. We can fill those needs in the off season.

 

[BBert]

Now that the dust has settled, the more I think about it the more I think this was a great deadline for us.

1. we aren’t winning the ship this year, so we didn’t make any desperate win now moves that would have involved doing stupid things like giving up sharpe or unprotecting picks for a player of the caliber of OG or something, who wouldn’t have moved the needle for us anyway.

2. we got a first for an expiring player that we couldn’t pay.

3. we got a shitload of 2nd rounders for a 1-dimensional malcontent on a long term deal.

4. we got thuybulle for nothing to evaluate.

All 4 decisions were smart. Good work.

I agree

 

[wizenheimer]

 

[blazerfan11]

I watched the Brooklyn Nets last night against the 76ers. They led the game from the first quarter to near the end then got one field goal in the last 7 minutes of the game and lost.
They obviously need a go-to clutch scorer.

 

[BBert]

I watched the Brooklyn Nets last night against the 76ers. They led the game from the first quarter to near the end then got one field goal in the last 7 minutes of the game and lost.
They obviously need a go-to clutch scorer.

You sure it wasn't the Blazers?

 

[Freshtown]

I watched the Brooklyn Nets last night against the 76ers. They led the game from the first quarter to near the end then got one field goal in the last 7 minutes of the game and lost.
They obviously need a go-to clutch scorer.

Ant would fit perfectly on that team if they moved dinwiddie.

 

[Freshtown]

IMHO, it wasn't a "great deadline for us." Semantics about one word, only. I gave it a C at first, did some reading, listening ... then switched to a B ... for basically everything you've said.
Nurkic is still a Blazer. Hope that changes this summer. No big, mobile, defender was brought in -- Not Vanderbilt (PF), not Bamba -- and Drew and Trendon can only do what they can do, and no one should expect the end of the bench bigs to do much except get better someday.

I'll buy the reasoning Cronin gave ... for now. After this summer if not much happens? Not so much.

I agree, but if we felt like this season was out of reach to contend for a title (which it is), no need to burn assets for a mobile big. We can do that this summer.

I would be absolutely shocked if we go into next season with both Ant and Nurk. I expect one or both to be gone.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Now that the dust has settled, the more I think about it the more I think this was a great deadline for us.

1. we aren’t winning the ship this year, so we didn’t make any desperate win now moves that would have involved doing stupid things like giving up sharpe or unprotecting picks for a player of the caliber of OG or something, who wouldn’t have moved the needle for us anyway.

2. we got a first for an expiring player that we couldn’t pay.

3. we got a shitload of 2nd rounders for a 1-dimensional malcontent on a long term deal.

4. we got thuybulle for nothing to evaluate.

All 4 decisions were smart. Good work.

Totally agree it was great, but only in a Neil Olshey-sense. No needle-movers were obtained.

Honestly, with our personnel, I'm not sure why we're not a top 3 or 4 seed, but whatever the problem is, this deadline did not solve it.

 

[Whyachi]

the PR spin surrounding this botched trade deadline is uncharted. During the recent Blazers Edge t.d. podcast analysis, featuring only positive outcomes, the writers over there claimed Lillard putting up MVP performances is prohibiting Anfernee Simons from reaching his maximum potential.

WTF ??

I think Damian is outta here this summer. Portland's Anfernee Simons hype is reaching new lows.

BLAME LILLARD

 

[Ed O]

Totally agree it was great, but only in a Neil Olshey-sense. No needle-movers were obtained.

Honestly, with our personnel, I'm not sure why we're not a top 3 or 4 seed, but whatever the problem is, this deadline did not solve it.

It's so weird how widely opinion can vary.

"Our personnel" is not very good. Dame is awesome but other than that guys are either young and unproven and/or just not that good. We're undersized and have very little depth. We play our starters a ton due to that and due to our coach, and that's just begging for more injuries to our key players.

In other words: us being a 3 or 4 seed is crazy, and no trade we were going to make was going to get us there.

 

[TBpup]

the PR spin surrounding this botched trade deadline is uncharted. During the recent Blazers Edge t.d. podcast analysis, featuring only positive outcomes, the writers over there claimed Lillard putting up MVP performances is prohibiting Anfernee Simons from reaching his maximum potential.

WTF ??

I think Damian is outta here this summer. Portland's Anfernee Simons hype is reaching new lows.

BLAME LILLARD

Nothing against Dame, but Dame and Ant's style will keep them both from reaching their peak at the same time. Ant is better when he has the ball in his hands. It's what got him paid even though it wouldn't be his role as long as Dame is here. It's not that Ant can't be good playing off of Dame, but "maximum potential"? Very doubtful because of how they both play. If Ant were more like say, Klay Thompson, perhaps he could reach his max potential, but he is not.

He is also stuck playing out of position. That is not Dame's fault, but a result of the roster construction. His D is not good to start with. Then put him against bigger, stronger players and it isn't going to get better any time soon. He has said he is more comfortable playing at under 200 lbs. There will be matchups where that size/frame is just going to get crushed....even more than usual.

So I can agree with the basic premise that he can't reach his peak, but as for it being Dame's fault, that is more of a collateral result than something overtly on Dame.

 

[blazerfan11]

Now that the dust has settled, the more I think about it the more I think this was a great deadline for us.

1. we aren’t winning the ship this year, so we didn’t make any desperate win now moves that would have involved doing stupid things like giving up sharpe or unprotecting picks for a player of the caliber of OG or something, who wouldn’t have moved the needle for us anyway.

2. we got a first for an expiring player that we couldn’t pay.

3. we got a shitload of 2nd rounders for a 1-dimensional malcontent on a long term deal.

4. we got thuybulle for nothing to evaluate.

All 4 decisions were smart. Good work.

We got bigger players than what we had. going by ESPN's roster: 6' 8" Reddish, 6' 7" Knox and 6' 5" Thybulle.

 

[wizenheimer]

I don't believe that Simons would be better not playing with Dame

we heard that same narrative for years about CJ....how much better he'd be if he was on another team and wasn't playing with Dame. "CJ would be an all-star if he wasn't paired with Dame!" But the reality is he isn't better. In fact, he's a little worse, maybe because he hasn't had Dame around to be the focus of opposing defenses

CJ's career PER is 17.5, this year it's 16.0; his career TS% is .552, this year it's .540; his career eFG% is .526, this year it's .512. Both his career 2ptFG% and 3ptFG% are better than his marks this season. His career winshare/48 is .101, this year it .075; his career BPM is 1.3, this year it's 1.2. The only area where CJ is above his career norms is assists; but then he's the full-time starting PG for the Pels with the ball in his hands all the time. And it's no coincidence that his turnover rate is by far the worst of his career

so no, I don't buy that Simons would be better off not playing with Dame. Dame is always the focus of opposing defenses and draws the best defender, so, like CJ, Simons gets to draft off of the single coverage he gets playing with Dame

I find it strange the the widely accepted logic is that playing with an elite player opens up opportunities for teammates to be better. But somehow playing with Dame inhibits opportunities. I don't think playing with Dame limits Simons. What limits him is his talent, versatility, and experience