Downtown wrote:I just wanted to expand on some quotes regarding Mason Plumlee.
....like others here I have to wonder if trading him may make some sense by selling high. If this team made the next step up the ladder this season after Paul Allen agreed to overspend to keep this group together then perhaps giving Plumlee a big payday might have been in order and take the luxury tax hit. But since this team is going the other direction you have to wonder if he's willing to do so, which is a shame because unlike a number of our high paid players Plumlee is actually playing like he deserves a raise. Plumlee is in the right spot at the wrong time.
I don't know what team would want him other than I think it would be a playoff contending team looking for that extra ingredient for just this season but if such a team had some extra assets they may be willing to give up for that I would think Olshey would have to consider it. The big question is who then takes over the starting centre spot?
first, I don't think it would be a case of "selling high". You can't sell high on a player who has 30 or fewer games left on their rookie deal. Not only that, teams want to have rim protectors...those are coveted C's....that's not Plumlee. Teams that have good rim protectors aren't inclined to trade them, and teams that don't have good rim protectors are usually desperate to get one. Unfortunately, there aren't nearly as many decent rim protectors as there are teams. Portland is desperate to find one, but it sure looks like that search may be as frustrating as their decade long search for a PG (and that's why Olshey's logic, if you can call it that, in the Robin Lopez vs Meyers decisions was such a colossal failure)
anyway, while I don't like the thinking behind trading Plumlee (because there's a lot of bad management leading to it), there may be reason to do so if Portland can get a later 1st round pick in the trade. If Portland had something like the 25th and 28th picks in the draft, they could use them to move up a little in the order or as leverage to unload some bad salary. If nothing else, they would represent inexpensive options for filling out a roster next year that may be deep into the luxury tax
the added benefit to it deals with your last question...who would replace Plumlee. Meyers of course. That's what Olshey apparently wants, and that's what Stotts would be forced to do. Now, a team that's hard to enjoy watching a lot of the time would become almost unbearable with lots-of-meyers, but the benefit would be that it would elevate Portland's own pick. Based just upon winshares, Meyers for Plumlee would give Portland 3-4 fewer wins, which in turn would allow Portland to climb up in the draft order and increase lottery odds. I actually think it would be fewer wins then just 3-4 because I believe Portland has become extremely dependent on Plumlee's play-making and facilitating; without it, my hunch is that Portland's offense would stall-out consistently. Besides that, as much grief as Plumlee gets for his defense, he's still better then meyers, and a much better rebounder as well
now, if you happen to think that Paul Allen would be ok with paying 60-70 million a year in luxury tax then it's probably a non-issue. I just have a hard time believing he'd be ok with those kinds of tax bills for a team stuck in the
late-lottery-to-8th-seed purgatory.
