Blazers acquires an entire bench from the Suns

[cucad8]

he was picked 11. The trade boils down to Leonard for that pick. Worst part is the mention by the MN fan that they can put the Memphis pick in, which maes it exchanging a lottery picked C for a late 1st. no.

[fishercob]

I'd be willing to give up Leonard to Phoenix but only if Gortat is coming back.

This seems to make sense to me. Phoenix has to strip it down and get worse, frankly. Trading Gortat for Leonard gives them a high upside prospect that they can start to groom as well as revs up the tank.

I think Freeland, Leonard and a lotto-protected first (with descending protection) is a fair package for Gortat.

Gortat would give PDX a nice boost and he's on a very reasonable deal through next season. By my count the Blazers would be some $12M under the cap this summer with which to keep Hickson and bolster the rest of the bench.

[hcsilla]

he was picked 11.

I'm not sure that you understood but I repeat:

Then Leonard wasn't a lottery picked center either since we know that 1 and 2 spots do not count and #12 is basically a lottery protected pick according to you.

Worst part is the mention by the MN fan that they can put the Memphis pick in, which maes it exchanging a lottery picked C for a late 1st. no.

No, that is not correct.

Lon Babby clarified earlier that if the Grizzlies convert their pick to MIN (which they will if they make the PO) and the Wolves don't (which they probably won't if they will miss the PO) this year then the Suns will get MIN's pick in the next 3 years.

[cucad8]

great, you can feel free to argue semantics. I'll stop with, this is an easy no for the Blazers, because for them, it boils down to Leonard for a protected pick. Not interested.

[JasonStern]

I'd be willing to give up Leonard to Phoenix but only if Gortat is coming back.

This seems to make sense to me.

I also like where something built around this trade proposal instead of OP's is going.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Almost a complete bench and a future 1st rounder isn't enough for Leonard?

Telfair and Brown aren't good. O'Neal will be lucky to make it through the year healthy.

Good or not, healthy or not, that is debatable. They all are better than the Blazers have on their bench right now.

Portland's goal is not to give up long term assets for a short term gain. Listen to their GM, he has been saying this for a while, and your proposal flies right in the face of it. It's easy to see why Portland is turning it down.

[hcsilla]

I love how effortlessly you guys overlook the fact that POR also gets a late lottery-mid 1st round pick in the deal.

Besides, I think that getting the better part of the Suns bench for some mid 2nd rounders is a pipe-dream.

[cucad8]

I love how effortlessly you guys overlook the fact that POR also gets a late lottery-mid 1st round pick in the deal.

.

it's the only thing worthwhile they get in the deal, and they give out a prospect for it. It's trading to trade, at that point. O'Neal, Brown and Telfair are mediocre bench pieces that MAYBE help us get the 8th seed. We're not giving up a young project C for that and a worse pick than where we got the C at in the first place.

[Golabki]

I love how effortlessly you guys overlook the fact that POR also gets a late lottery-mid 1st round pick in the deal.

Besides, I think that getting the better part of the Suns bench for some mid 2nd rounders is a pipe-dream.

I'm not overlooking the pick (likely 15-20 range). I'm ignoring the amazing "Suns Bench", which consists of the 60th best SG in the NBA, the 90th best PG in the NBA, and a geriatric.

[hcsilla]

The Suns bench is not amazing but at least an average one while the Blazers don't have a bench at all which leads to the conclusion that getting the Suns bench means a massive upgrade for them.

[cucad8]

dude, it's a no. defend it all you like. Answer is the same. Not happening.

[hcsilla]

dude, it's a no. defend it all you like. Answer is the same. Not happening.

, who do you think you are, the Blazers GM or what? You already told what you could, there is no need to do it again and again.

[DusterBuster]

dude, it's a no. defend it all you like. Answer is the same. Not happening.

, who do you think you are, the Blazers GM or what? You already told what you could, there is no need to do it again and again.

He's not the Blazers GM, but Neil Olshey is and this deal goes against everything Olshey has ever said he plans on doing for this team. He's not going to sacrifice the future for a short term gain.

The Blazers would NEVER do this trade. Yes, you're right that the players you're sending to Portland are much better than the Blazers current bench. That's not a big accomplishment. I've seen HS teams that are better than the crap the Blazers are trotting off their bench. So don't pretend like you're doing the Blazers some huge favor here, you're not.

As one of the early posters said, the only way Leonard gets sent to Phoenix is if Gortat is coming back to Portland. Basically end of the discussion there.

[I_Socrates]

I'd be willing to give up Leonard to Phoenix but only if Gortat is coming back.

Almost a complete bench and a future 1st rounder isn't enough for Leonard?

Doesn't matter what Portland says, Suns aren't giving up a load of quality players AND a first for a B-rate prospect and a D-rate prospect, especially when the B-rate prospect plays the same position as our best player. It makes no sense unless we're getting a steal, and giving up 3 quality players along with a first for someone who will likely be a backup C is not worth it. If we were looking to do something like this, we could have easily kept Robin Lopez, but we're not interested.

[hcsilla]

dude, it's a no. defend it all you like. Answer is the same. Not happening.

, who do you think you are, the Blazers GM or what? You already told what you could, there is no need to do it again and again.

He's not the Blazers GM, but Neil Olshey is and this deal goes against everything Olshey has ever said he plans on doing for this team. He's not going to sacrifice the future for a short term gain.

As one of the early posters said, the only way Leonard gets sent to Phoenix is if Gortat is coming back to Portland. Basically end of the discussion there.

Remember that a deal of Gortat for Leonard would be also sacrifying the future for a short term gain so based on what Olshey said the Blazers would NEVER do that trade. Since they have no moveable veterans and want to retain their cap flexibility, they would NEVER do any trade in the next couple of years. Basically end of any discussions regarding the Blazers here on the trade board,