Whiteside can not be traded.

[CupWizier]

The Clippers don't have the contracts to trade for Hassan, so no.

actually they do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=we6juop

and draft picks can be included if need be. Harkless is expiring, Zubac is a serviceable back up at a very reasonable contract for 3 more years and JaMychael Green is a serviceable player with a player option he may or may not pick up and can be flipped if he opts in. Not a great deal, but not a terrible deal either.

 

[tester551]

I love the numbers Whiteside is putting up but I think a lot of people are forgetting just how well Nurk was playing and how improved our defense was the moment he got here. At the end of the day our defense has been awful this year, regardless of the number of blocks we get. Since Nurk won’t be able to play full minutes the two of them could be great together this year, but after that Whiteside is obviously gone. So when the trade deadline comes it’ll come down to what our expectations are for the remainder of the year and whether we want to go all in. He’s been great though.

The defensive issues are a whole lot more complex than Whiteside vs Nurk.

Also expecting Nurk to return to his level of play immediately after returning is foolish. I fully anticipate that he'll need 3-4 months to fully get back into BEAST mode.

 

[hoopsjock]

actually they do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=we6juop

and draft picks can be included if need be. Harkless is expiring, Zubac is a serviceable back up at a very reasonable contract for 3 more years and JaMychael Green is a serviceable player with a player option he may or may not pick up and can be flipped if he opts in. Not a great deal, but not a terrible deal either.

That's the thing about trade machines, that trade isn't valid because the Blazers only have one roster spot available and none of those guys fit into the Hood exception.

 

[tester551]

actually they do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=we6juop

and draft picks can be included if need be. Harkless is expiring, Zubac is a serviceable back up at a very reasonable contract for 3 more years and JaMychael Green is a serviceable player with a player option he may or may not pick up and can be flipped if he opts in. Not a great deal, but not a terrible deal either.

Clippers can't send out any 1st round draft picks for a long time (2028 draft). They do have some seconds that they can part with - but I'd expect them to be protective of those picks since they don't have much other ammunition.

 

[CupWizier]

That's the thing about trade machines, that trade isn't valid because the Blazers only have one roster spot available and none of those guys fit into the Hood exception.

3rd team can be included or even waive Hezonja to open up a roster spot.. Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[GDiama]

actually they do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=we6juop

and draft picks can be included if need be. Harkless is expiring, Zubac is a serviceable back up at a very reasonable contract for 3 more years and JaMychael Green is a serviceable player with a player option he may or may not pick up and can be flipped if he opts in. Not a great deal, but not a terrible deal either.

Τhey will be just left with Patterson to play PF since Kawhi and PG don't want to play there.

I guess Harkless, Zubac, McGruder, Robinson for Whiteside, Hezonja, Trent could work but when you have to go there it means almost 0% chance for a trade.

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[CupWizier]

Τhey will be just left with Patterson to play PF since Kawhi and PG don't want to play there.

I have no idea what Leonard is willing to do or not do and they have Harrell that can play PF as well. I'm not saying that either team would do it but with a little creativity it can be done. Clippers also appear to have a $9+ mil trade exception from the Tobias Harris deal they could use to acquire another pf.

 

[Natebishop3]

Is that Jason Petersen from the radio? I remember when that dude was just the recorder bitch for 1080 the fan.

 

[Tince]

a contender doesn't get swept in the conference finals...they actually contend. Portland was a pretender, and they had a advantageous track to those WC finals. As for Nurkic, he was fully healthy and playing well the year before when the Blazers got swept by the Pelicans. I know it's an unpopular opinion but my opinion is that Nurkic is not the key to Portland elevating over opponents selling out their defenses to stop Dame in the playoffs. Portland needs a guy who can take the ball from Dame when he's doubled and trapped, someone who can run the offense as well as consistently score. Another all-star level player and ball-handler. They don't have that. CJ can't run the offense and his scoring ability in iso-mode is overrated and often inconsistent.

I agree with a lot of what you say. The contending part I don't agree with, but I respect your opinion. The sweep narative implies that the Blazers were dominated from start to finish in that series, which is far from the case. Golden St had injury issues, but if Nurk is healthy, I think Portland wins that series. Teams don't get to the WCF by accident and dismissing them because they couldn't close out games seems far too slimplistic.

Ultimately, we value Nurkic differently. I think he was better than CJ last year in terms of overall value. I think he provides a huge safety value when Dame gets doubled and he can be the play-maker at the top of the key, and he can punish teams down low when they go small. Will Nurk be able to get back to where he was or even better? Who knows!

You're right I did undersale how much Olshey spent in 2016, I appreciate the correction!

 

[noknobs]

Also expecting Nurk to return to his level of play immediately after returning is foolish. I fully anticipate that he'll need 3-4 months to fully get back into BEAST mode.

I know... That's why I said, "Since Nurk won’t be able to play full minutes the two of them could be great together this year".

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

That's the thing about trade machines, that trade isn't valid because the Blazers only have one roster spot available and none of those guys fit into the Hood exception.

I hate to stick up for Cup, but we could ask for Harrel instead of Green and include Tolliver from our side.

 

[hoopsjock]

I hate to stick up for Cup, but we could ask for Harrel instead of Green and include Tolliver from our side.

Yeah, but to do that would completely ignore that the Clippers would never even consider that deal.

 

[CupWizier]

Yeah, but to do that would completely ignore that the Clippers would never even consider that deal.

but would they consider it for either Little or Simons instead of Tolliver? Nobody knows what the Clippers are looking to do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ue57ee2

 

[CupWizier]

I hate to stick up for Cup, but we could ask for Harrel instead of Green and include Tolliver from our side.

Golly gee. I think there might be somewhat of a compliment there somewhere.

 

[hoopsjock]

but would they consider it for either Little or Simons instead of Tolliver? Nobody knows what the Clippers are looking to do.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ue57ee2

Um, no. This weakens the Clippers chances at a title. We can know what the Clippers won't do and that is this trade.

 

[CupWizier]

Um, no. This weakens the Clippers chances at a title. We can know what the Clippers won't do and that is this trade.

It's all just speculation by any of us so no reason to try and speak for the Clippers or any team for that matter. Draft picks can also be involved as well as a 3rd team. I never thought the Clips would do Outlaw and Blake for Camby, but they did as well as many deals over the years.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Yeah, but to do that would completely ignore that the Clippers would never even consider that deal.

I don't know. It's mostly just expirings for expirings. Maybe they see their future as a defensive juggernaut. I think Cup might be right; we don't know what they are thinking. I think Cup is making a valiant effort to show that your blanket statement that it can't be done might be an overstatement?

 

[wizenheimer]

I just want to address one thing, the whole they had a “easy road to the WCF’s”,.

but I didn't say they had an "easy" road....I said they had an "advantageous" road, and for me, there's a significant difference between those two terms.

* they had HCA against OKC....that's even called an "advantage". And OKC didn't have the defenders or the inclination to do what teams have always done against Portland, and that's focus their defense on Dame. The result was Dame torched them. Advantages

* against Denver, Portland was in the playoffs for the 6th straight season while Denver hadn't been in the playoffs for 5 straight seasons. Denver was the younger team, and several of their starters and rotation players had no playoff experience. And while Denver did try to double and trap Dame a lot, what they lacked was the length in the back court or the front court mobility to make the doubles truly effective. It wasn't like Klay & Iggy with Green, or Holiday & Rondo with AD.

that's what I was referring to when I said advantageous. Portland's vulnerabilities were still the same as they've been for 4 years (still are), and until the WC finals they didn't have to face a team that could exploit those vulnerabilities. If they would have been in the other side of the bracket, with Golden State, Houston, and/or Utah. the playoffs would probably have looked a lot different

 

[CupWizier]

but I didn't say they had an "easy" road....I said they had an "advantageous" road, and for me, there's a significant difference between those two terms.

* they had HCA against OKC....that's even called an "advantage". And OKC didn't have the defenders or the inclination to do what teams have always done against Portland, and that's focus their defense on Dame. The result was Dame torched them. Advantages

* against Denver, Portland was in the playoffs for the 6th straight season while Denver hadn't been in the playoffs for 5 straight seasons. Denver was the younger team, and several of their starters and rotation players had no playoff experience. And while Denver did try to double and trap Dame a lot, what they lacked was the length in the back court or the front court mobility to make the doubles truly effective. It wasn't like Klay & Iggy with Green, or Holiday & Rondo with AD.

that's what I was referring to when I said advantageous. Portland's vulnerabilities were still the same as they've been for 4 years (still are), and until the WC finals they didn't have to face a team that could exploit those vulnerabilities. If they would have been in the other side of the bracket, with Golden State, Houston, and/or Utah. the playoffs would probably have looked a lot different

Why do you constantly discount any success the Blazers have Is it really that hard to be a fan of the team without constantly discounting their efforts? Try just enjoying some success and then we can hope for more and better. You remind me of the cartoon with the guy having the rain cloud always over his head.

 

[wizenheimer]

I don't know. It's mostly just expirings for expirings. Maybe they see their future as a defensive juggernaut. I think Cup might be right; we don't know what they are thinking. I think Cup is making a valiant effort to show that your blanket statement that it can't be done might be an overstatement?

I've lost track of what is being argued here, but if anybody is claiming that somehow Portland can trade for Harrell by giving up a draft pick, and a couple of low level rotation players....yeah, that ain't happening, and is just rose-colored pipe-dreams. I'd be really skeptical about the notion that LAC is even looking to move Harrell, but if they are, teams will be lining up with better packages than what Portland can give. And if LAC is actually trading Harrell now, stupidly, because they can't afford re-sign him, then Whiteside wouldn't be much of an option, especially considering they'd have to gut their depth just to match salary

 

[wizenheimer]

Why do you constantly discount any success the Blazers have Is it really that hard to be a fan of the team without constantly discounting their efforts? Try just enjoying some success and then we can hope for more and better. You remind me of the cartoon with the guy having the rain cloud always over his head.

that wasn't "discounting success" in my view, that was a realistic assessment of what happened. If the Blazers had played Utah in the 1st round, and Golden State in the 2nd round, assuming they beat Utah, the playoffs would have been different; and, but for a miracle game 82 from Simons and Skal, that's what would have happened

by the way, since I remind you of a cartoon, you remind me of one too:

 

[CupWizier]

that wasn't "discounting success" in my view, that was a realistic assessment of what happened. If the Blazers had played Utah in the 1st round, and Golden State in the 2nd round, assuming they beat Utah, the playoffs would have been different; and, but for a miracle game 82 from Simons and Skal, that's what would have happened

by the way, since I remind you of a cartoon, you remind me of one too:

actually, nitpicker fits many of your posts. Funny how you never mentioned we were missing Nurkic and that Aminu and Kanter were playing on fumes as they were fasting during the GS series. Kind of fits the description of the nitpicker.

 

[wizenheimer]

Funny how you never mentioned we were missing Nurkic and that Aminu and Kanter were playing on fumes as they were fasting during the GS series.

why should I mention it since people like you bring it up all the time? Nurkic was healthy the year before when the Pelicans swept the Blazers and Aminu wasn't fasting either

 

[CupWizier]

why should I mention it since people like you bring it up all the time? Nurkic was healthy the year before when the Pelicans swept the Blazers and Aminu wasn't fasting either

People bring it up cause it's a fact. You like to cherry pick facts that fit your narrative and leave out those that don't. As for the Pelicans series, that was 2 years ago. Obviously had no effect on how the team did last year did it? Let's bring up the team from 30 years ago or 40 years ago or 50 years ago then as well?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

but I didn't say they had an "easy" road....I said they had an "advantageous" road, and for me, there's a significant difference between those two terms.

* they had HCA against OKC....that's even called an "advantage". And OKC didn't have the defenders or the inclination to do what teams have always done against Portland, and that's focus their defense on Dame. The result was Dame torched them. Advantages

* against Denver, Portland was in the playoffs for the 6th straight season while Denver hadn't been in the playoffs for 5 straight seasons. Denver was the younger team, and several of their starters and rotation players had no playoff experience. And while Denver did try to double and trap Dame a lot, what they lacked was the length in the back court or the front court mobility to make the doubles truly effective. It wasn't like Klay & Iggy with Green, or Holiday & Rondo with AD.

that's what I was referring to when I said advantageous. Portland's vulnerabilities were still the same as they've been for 4 years (still are), and until the WC finals they didn't have to face a team that could exploit those vulnerabilities. If they would have been in the other side of the bracket, with Golden State, Houston, and/or Utah. the playoffs would probably have looked a lot different

Yes but you play the regular season to get “advantages”, and HCA. Again no ones giving GS a hard time for getting the one seeds and having “advantageous” runs to the finals. Its still the western conference full of good teams that they beat, and Denver with all that lack of experience beat SAS with Pops and co. Does there success getting to the 2nd round not really matter because Tim Duncan retired a few years ago?

So the Blazers got swept by NO one year but made it to the WCF’s the next year but werent any better because they had advantages? Did they have HC against New Orleans?

Just seems like a way to undermine any success they had, which is fine thats your prerogative, you dont like Neil and I can get with that to some extent. Nurkic had grown into a much better player before he got hurt which guys are apt to do when their 23-24 years old... Saying well they had Nurk the year prior and that meant nothing, he was still a relatively young player going up against an older AD who’s just better than him especially at that point in their careers. Anyways my only real point is, its ok to say last year was a fun year and they maybe overachieved but they were a good team, they fought hard, they were an excellent rebounding team, almost every team has weaknesses, its also ok to note that matchups with teams that have a lot of length in multiple positions are tough to beat (for everyone really), but yes the Blazers too. Its just my opinion but Im gonna remember last year as one of the funner Blazer seasons of my life even though it ended on a frustrating note.

 

[wizenheimer]

and that was 2 years ago. Obviously had no effect on how the team did last year did it? Let's bring up the team from 30 years ago or 40 years ago or 50 years ago then as well?

you used Nurkic's injury as an excuse; and you used Aminu's fasting as an excuse. But that's all it was...excuses. Both players were healthy and there for a sweep just the year before. Maybe they would have made a difference last year, but we don't have to theorize much because we have an actual playoff series to go by as a gauge, not a hypothetical, and against a team far less capable than the Warriors

1-4
0-4
0-4
0-4

that's how Portland has bowed out of the playoffs over the last 4 years. Sometimes healthy, sometimes not; and the same is true for who they played. after 1-16 all the excuses seem kind of hollow to me. Next year will always be different...until it's not

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

you used Nurkic's injury as an excuse; and you used Aminu's fasting as an excuse. But that's all it was...excuses. Both players were healthy and there for a sweep just the year before. Maybe they would have made a difference last year, but we don't have to theorize much because we have an actual playoff series to go by as a gauge, not a hypothetical, and against a team far less capable than the Warriors

1-4
0-4
0-4
0-4

that's how Portland has bowed out of the playoffs over the last 4 years. Sometimes healthy, sometimes not; and the same is true for who they played. after 1-16 all the excuses seem kind of hollow to me. Next year will always be different...until it's not

Last year and the NO year were the only really, frustrating ones to me though. Those GS teams were amongst the best in the history of basketball, thats not an excuse its just the truth.

 

[CupWizier]

you used Nurkic's injury as an excuse; and you used Aminu's fasting as an excuse. But that's all it was...excuses. Both players were healthy and there for a sweep just the year before. Maybe they would have made a difference last year, but we don't have to theorize much because we have an actual playoff series to go by as a gauge, not a hypothetical, and against a team far less capable than the Warriors

1-4
0-4
0-4
0-4

that's how Portland has bowed out of the playoffs over the last 4 years. Sometimes healthy, sometimes not; and the same is true for who they played. after 1-16 all the excuses seem kind of hollow to me. Next year will always be different...until it's not

I didn't use any thing as an excuse. I was simply using facts that you failed to point out. Have a nice day, but I am done with you.

 

[wizenheimer]

Last year and the NO year were the only really, frustrating ones to me though. Those GS teams were amongst the best in the history of basketball, thats not an excuse its just the truth.

I agree to a degree, but...that 2015-16 Warrior team needed 7 games to beat OKC and lost the finals to Cleveland and went 15-9, so they weren't unbeatable at all in the playoffs. The next season was when they were nearly unbeatable and went 16-1 in the playoffs. Blazers weren't the only team they swept

what bothers me was that the Warriors exposed the weaknesses in the Blazer roster and the Blazer schemes in those 1st two series....and nothing was done to correct them. All the Pelicans had to do was use the Warrior template and they coasted to a sweep. And last year, the Warriors were back doing the same thing that worked against Portland the three previous playoffs, and the Blazers had no answer. I mean, both the Clippers and the Rockets were able to get 2 wins against the Warriors, but Portland couldn't get even one the 3rd time they had faced the Warriors. That's kind of why I don't have much patience with the excuses

Have a nice day, but I am done with you.

LOL...that's your usual closing statement. If only it were true and you were done with me...then I could be done with you