What we “know”

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The Jrue/Simons trade is not finalized and Cronin can't talk about it, meaning it could likely get expanded. Jrue could potentially be sent elsewhere.

The Blazers are continuously shopping at least Ayton and Williams and it appears they want Clingan starting next season. Though, Cronin said we could potentially go into next year with the current roster if moves don't happen, though it seems his plan is to make more moves.

Grant could be moved but is likely the hardest contract to get rid of.
 
There are some teams out there who need a decent C and there are very few to be had, maybe Ayton does get moved
 
Mediocre Man said:
The Blazers aren’t done

Drafting Yang Jokic means RWIII is all but gone

This team still does stupid shit, way too much


What am I missing
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I would love to see Grant and Ayton traded. Grant more so because of that contract, Ayton because I despise watching him play basketball the most of any Blazer.

We cut Diop IMO (contract has $0 guaranteed before Aug1)

I'm totally fine with keeping Timelord, great veteran presence. He'll probably be hurt but in that case he doesn't take anyone's playing time. If he is healthy thats unexpected gravy. He can also play PF - only one of the centers that can.

Logically I'd prefer Jrue is rerouted to some other team, that contract isn't a smart bet. But if we keep him I'm excited to root for him.

Someone posted an Ayton for Kuminga S&T swap - interesting idea. Probably can only take on that salary if we send out one of Jrue/Grant.
 
Blazinaway said:
There are some teams out there who need a decent C and there are very few to be had, maybe Ayton does get moved
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The issue is his salary. Very hard to get that to fit on other teams cap. Might be more likely during the season if some team has an injury or such.
 
Blazinaway said:
There are some teams out there who need a decent C and there are very few to be had, maybe Ayton does get moved
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technically, there are a lot of UFA C's scheduled for the market. Many will probably re-sign with their team. But just about every one of them will cost considerably less than 35M

very few starting level C's like Ayton though
 
What we know:
  • We have Yang, Reath, DC, Ayton, RW, Walker (played ahead of Reath at C last season) all on the same team. Reath likely gone? Another center likely to be traded as well.
  • Yang will likely need time to develop - the term "2 years away from 2 years away" has been uttered. We'll see.
  • Summer League is starting in a couple of weeks. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Right now, I'm cautiously optimistic.
  • Drafting a C could be an endorsement of Murray and Rupert - imagine the effect of drafting Carter-Bryant would have on Kris Murray. Regardless, I'm Pretty sure this is a make or break year for Murray. Maybe Rupert, too.
  • I'm Ok with the Ant trade and drafting Yang, but it's been literally exhausting to get to my current accepting mind space.
  • Yang doesn't appear to speak English. This is really going to hamper his development. English is very different to Chinese. This will color some judgments of him.
  • We traded for Jrue, and the Starting PG is still under debate.
  • Free Agency hasn't started, Blazers unlikely to "be done".
  • Grant is still on the team. If we trade Grant for a C, I'm gonna need to hydrate more....
  • Ayton is still on the team.
  • Ayton, RW, and Thybulle are on expiring contracts.
  • Sharpe still doesn't play defense.
What else:
  • People here and all around the internet say BPA, BPA, BPA. However, when we draft a C, then they question fit. Fucking crazy.
  • Including Portland, THREE teams were interested in Yang in the 1st round. This is 3 teams will full staffs - not just "guys on the internet." I was initially pissed that they didn't just get a pick in the 2nd round, but now I've learned that that wouldn't have worked.
  • Blazers have scoured the world for talent, and it's a little weird we don't get more diversity cred. We've got players from Israel, Belguim, Australia, Louisiana (idk wtf creole means, but it seems appropriate), China, Africa, France... and that's just off the top of my head. (Ooops, I forgot about the legendary Cedar Rapids) :)
 
Walker is a restricted free agent. Reath has $0 guarantee so can be cut by Aug1. Banton is a free agent.

I wonder if there is any free agent out there the Blazers will target? Kuminga is a name mentioned and would be a sign and trade.

Can't really think of any other free agents. Funny - it use to be a list I'd spend hours looking over but now with so little free agency activity I don't know that I can even name 5 players.

Murray I've completely written off a long time ago. He's what 26? Rupert I'd like to see what he does this year but I'm not expecting anything. These guys are what 12-14 men on the depth chart? I don't think what the Blazers did in the draft is any reflection of them one way or the other. Their basically in a group with two way players.
 
The one rumor I heard and it’s a rumor so I don’t know it and I probably shouldn’t bring it up in this thread is the possibility of a Chinese buyer.
Now that would make sense to me.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
What we know:
  • Yang will likely need time to develop - the term "2 years away from 2 years away" has been uttered. We'll see.
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Great post. Thank you.

I will, however, push back on this point. I actually don't think he is that much of a project... or at least shouldn't be. He isn't the Bruno Caboclo (about whom that phrase was originally said) physical ball of clay out of which to be modeled. Rather, he has the soft skills: BB IQ, court vision, shooting touch, etc. all seem to be his strong points. It's the physical aspects (and perhaps most importantly, defensive technique) that need to be refined. And thus, while I agree it might take him a season to adapt to the speed and our physicality of the NBA game. I'm guessing that by the middle of his second year, we'll have a strong understanding of whether this monumental experiment will work out.

At the very least, it's going to be fascinating case study.
 
SharpesTriumph said:
I wonder if there is any free agent out there the Blazers will target? Kuminga is a name mentioned and would be a sign and trade.
.
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GS was looking at Yang. If we wait to sign him, can we include him in a sign-and-trade for Kuminga along with Grant?
 
Pinwheel1 said:
GS was looking at Yang. If we wait to sign him, can we include him in a sign-and-trade for Kuminga along with Grant?
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Yes - we can include his draft rights anytime if we dont sign him and the cap hit is $0. If we sign him we have to wait 30 days then can include him and his cap hit is his contract (about 4.4 million)
 
Graduate32 said:
Great post. Thank you.

I will, however, push back on this point. I actually don't think he is that much of a project... or at least shouldn't be. He isn't the Bruno Caboclo (about whom that phrase was originally said) physical ball of clay out of which to be modeled. Rather, he has the soft skills: BB IQ, court vision, shooting touch, etc. all seem to be his strong points. It's the physical aspects (and perhaps most importantly, defensive technique) that need to be refined. And thus, while I agree it might take him a season to adapt to the speed and our physicality of the NBA game. I'm guessing that by the middle of his second year, we'll have a strong understanding of whether this monumental experiment will work out.

At the very least, it's going to be fascinating case study.
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Agreed, I don't think he's that far away. However, adjusting to the speed, physically, culture, language, the blazers offense. He's also got to find a placed to live... I'm sure he's a very hard worker, but that's a LOT. Hopefully, he has an epic support system.

edit: he's also got to deal with Chinese/American political bs. Hopefully, a lot less than Yao did.
 
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Wizard Mentor said:
Yang doesn't appear to speak English. This is really going to hamper his development. English is very different to Chinese. This will color some judgments of him.
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Yeah this will be a huge aspect of Yang development. I mean its not going to make him a great NBA player just because he eventually speaks English - but if he has language troubles or issues adapting to being in a new culture it could prevent him from realizing his NBA potential.

I'd imagine he has some friends/family that will move over with him. Maybe the Blazers hire a couple bilingual staff to help him. It will also come down to him learning English himself of course.

I lived in Belgium for 4 months and had all these plans of learning French while there but totally gave up. Its very difficult to learn a new language as an adult. Also a lot of everyday cultural little things that were different there are irrelevant if your visiting a few weeks but over months just really started to piss me off. Like having to go to a Pharmacy even to buy ibuprofen - which is closed Sundays and holidays. China to the US is a way bigger change than I had to deal with.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
Agreed, I don't think he's that far away. However, adjusting to the speed, physically, culture, language, the blazers offense. He's also got to find a placed to live... I'm sure he's a very hard worker, but that's a LOT. Hopefully, he has an epic support system.

edit: he's also got to deal with Chinese/American political bs. Hopefully, a lot less than Yao did.
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At least DA can advise him to invest in a real bed immediately and not try sleeping on an air mattress.
 
theprunetang said:
At least DA can advise him to invest in a real bed immediately and not try sleeping on an air mattress.
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Ayton is such a moron. Earning 35 million, 7 foot tall professional athlete, and he sleeps on an air mattress for months.

That was $427k he made every single game for 82 games. Can't figure out how to buy a bed.

I'm sure the Blazers would have helped him out as well. Literally could've just said "Hey Cronin can you send someone to my house to help me buy a bed".

But this coming from a guy who brought computers to the bubble in Covid just so he could play video games 24/7
 
SharpesTriumph said:
I would love to see Grant and Ayton traded. Grant more so because of that contract, Ayton because I despise watching him play basketball the most of any Blazer.

We cut Diop IMO (contract has $0 guaranteed before Aug1)

I'm totally fine with keeping Timelord, great veteran presence. He'll probably be hurt but in that case he doesn't take anyone's playing time. If he is healthy thats unexpected gravy. He can also play PF - only one of the centers that can.

Logically I'd prefer Jrue is rerouted to some other team, that contract isn't a smart bet. But if we keep him I'm excited to root for him.

Someone posted an Ayton for Kuminga S&T swap - interesting idea. Probably can only take on that salary if we send out one of Jrue/Grant.
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You think Clingan is ready to play 30 minutes a night and put up DA Numbers……A NIGHT!
 
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