What does it take for Portland to make Playoffs

[Shem]

It would be really interesting to see how Portland performed if Plumlee was missing for several consecutive games. I suspect the Blazers would miss him a lot more then many suspect

I think you and I are one of few people who actually realize the value of Plumlee on the Blazers.

[BCS]

What about Ibaka, would you trade for him?

Seems to fill your teams need, even allows your team to play small with Serge playing some 5. Seems like a great fit but with your financial situation I don't know where your managements heads are at, to resign him, you would need to pulls some off-season moves to clear cap space to not hit that tax bill hard.

[DusterBuster]

What about Ibaka, would you trade for him?

Seems to fill your teams need, even allows your team to play small with Serge playing some 5. Seems like a great fit but with your financial situation I don't know where your managements heads are at, to resign him, you would need to pulls some off-season moves to clear cap space to not hit that tax bill hard.

I would love Serge in Portland. That contract of his scares me though. His ability to bolt this summer and his ability to be massively expensive are worrisome. However I'd probably still take a shot at him, I think he'd complement this roster perfectly.

In the end with Ibaka, as it is with any player, it all comes down to what the Magic would want for him. If he were resigned to a contract, you could probably talk me into Ibaka for CJ if the Magic added a bit of sweetener to the deal. As a upcoming FA, no way on CJ and it would require the Magic taking back some salary, but I'd be willing to throw a couple practically unprotected picks Orlando's way.

[DusterBuster]

It would be really interesting to see how Portland performed if Plumlee was missing for several consecutive games. I suspect the Blazers would miss him a lot more then many suspect

I think you and I are one of few people who actually realize the value of Plumlee on the Blazers.

For what it's worth, I'm with you guys on that. I'm constantly having to defend Plumlee on the Trade Board, and not justify his trade value, just having to justify him being a good player. People have heard for 6mo how the Blazers are desperate for a rim protecting C that they automatically equate that to mean Plumlee is a scrub. He's having a career year averaging 11/8/4/1/1 with a 19PER. He may not be an intimidating shotblocker at the rim, but the guy is really talent as a jack-of-all-trades C.

[BCS]

What about Ibaka, would you trade for him?

Seems to fill your teams need, even allows your team to play small with Serge playing some 5. Seems like a great fit but with your financial situation I don't know where your managements heads are at, to resign him, you would need to pulls some off-season moves to clear cap space to not hit that tax bill hard.

I would love Serge in Portland. That contract of his scares me though. His ability to bolt this summer and his ability to be massively expensive are worrisome. However I'd probably still take a shot at him, I think he'd complement this roster perfectly.

In the end with Ibaka, as it is with any player, it all comes down to what the Magic would want for him. If he were resigned to a contract, you could probably talk me into Ibaka for CJ if the Magic added a bit of sweetener to the deal. As a upcoming FA, no way on CJ and it would require the Magic taking back some salary, but I'd be willing to throw a couple practically unprotected picks Orlando's way.

I would love the Magic to work out a deal for CJ, that would also be ideal for us, but I also understand that would be a tough deal to make right now, but that should be our 1st option.

But we might take a little less, your unprotected this year, and maybe an unprotected future along with fillers to match up salaries. For example Ezeli and Vonleh could be enough.

I think if you deal CJ for Serge, the idea of Serge in your team won't be that great anymore, ideally you want Serge in there with CJ and Lillard. I mean we could give back Evan, take back one of the bad contracts and you'd still have a solid team but Lillard, CJ and Serge is a more threatening team imo. Serge works as a third option but is also a solid 3rd offensive option with those two attacking the rim.

[DusterBuster]

But we might take a little less, your unprotected this year, and maybe an unprotected future along with fillers to match up salaries. For example Ezeli and Vonleh could be enough.

If the Blazers only send out Ezeli and Vonleh, then Portland wouldn't be able to afford to resign Ibaka. The Magic absolutely would have to take back some sort of salary or a 3rd team needs to be brought in to do so.

This deals a bit big, but could accomplish what is needed for all....

Orlando gets:

Aminu
Vonleh
Davis
Ezeli
POR 2017 1st Rounder (Unprotected)
POR 2018 1st Rounder (2018: Top 6 Protected, 2019: Top 4 Protected, 2020: Unprotected)

Portland gets:

Ibaka
Green
Zimmerman (just move for roster space reasons, could be anyone Orlando doesn't care about)
McCollough (ditto, via Brooklyn)

Brooklyn gets:

Leonard

Now granted, this deal is predicated on Brooklyn accepting Leonard for practically nothing. I think they're one of only a handful of teams that would accept him given their need for any youth they can get over the next few seasons.

It also requires the Magic being willing to take on a few guaranteed salaries. That being said, nothing they take on is a bad contract. Both Aminu and Davis are productive players on bargain old-cap contracts. Aminu in particular would be a good fit next to Vucivic defensively. Vonleh is a young player they can take a look at and Ezeli expires. Then they get two back to back 1st rounders. This years probably falls around the 10-16 range, even with Ibaka. Next years*.... that could be the real prize for Orlando if the Blazers lose Ibaka in FA.

*Note that Portland would be able to trade picks in back to back years because they'd still have a 1st rounder in 2017 with the Cavs pick they'd retain.

[BCS]

But we might take a little less, your unprotected this year, and maybe an unprotected future along with fillers to match up salaries. For example Ezeli and Vonleh could be enough.

If the Blazers only send out Ezeli and Vonleh, then Portland wouldn't be able to afford to resign Ibaka. The Magic absolutely would have to take back some sort of salary or a 3rd team needs to be brought in to do so.

This deals a bit big, but could accomplish what is needed for all....

Orlando gets:

Aminu
Vonleh
Davis
Ezeli
POR 2017 1st Rounder (Unprotected)
POR 2018 1st Rounder (2018: Top 6 Protected, 2019: Top 4 Protected, 2020: Unprotected)

Portland gets:

Ibaka
Green
Zimmerman (just move for roster space reasons, could be anyone Orlando doesn't care about)
McCollough (ditto, via Brooklyn)

Brooklyn gets:

Leonard

Now granted, this deal is predicated on Brooklyn accepting Leonard for practically nothing. I think they're one of only a handful of teams that would accept him given their need for any youth they can get over the next few seasons.

It also requires the Magic being willing to take on a few guaranteed salaries. That being said, nothing they take on is a bad contract. Both Aminu and Davis are productive players on bargain old-cap contracts. Aminu in particular would be a good fit next to Vucivic defensively. Vonleh is a young player they can take a look at and Ezeli expires. Then they get two back to back 1st rounders. This years probably falls around the 10-16 range, even with Ibaka. Next years*.... that could be the real prize for Orlando if the Blazers lose Ibaka in FA.

*Note that Portland would be able to trade picks in back to back years because they'd still have a 1st rounder in 2017 with the Cavs pick they'd retain.

Not a deal breaker as I don't consider any of those contracts bad, they are tradeable if need be. I wouldn't do Zimmerman but as he is just a filler it doesn't matter we can throw in Rudez or Wilcox instead.

I didn't want to touch Davis or Aminu because they can be a part of your rotation this year after the trade and they wouldn't be hard to trade when clearing cap space in the offseason. I actually thought maybe' you'd try to keep them and try to unload Turner or Crabbe instead somehow, I feel those contracts along with Leonard's are the ones that are truly hurting you.

[DusterBuster]

Not a deal breaker as I don't consider any of those contracts bad, they are tradeable if need be. I wouldn't do Zimmerman but as he is just a filler it doesn't matter we can throw in Rudez or Wilcox instead.

You'll have to forgive me as I'm not totally up to date with the end of the bench cheapo guys on the Magic's roster. That swap is fine. Likelihood would be whatever throwin there is for roster size considerations would likely just ride the bench all year and be cut at seasons end anyway. So yeah, that's totally Orlando's call and could be whoever they want.

I actually thought maybe' you'd try to keep them and try to unload Turner or Crabbe instead somehow, I feel those contracts along with Leonard's are the ones that are truly hurting you.

I try and avoid using Turner or Crabbe in trade discussion on here because, even though I feel their immovability gets overblown on RealGM, including those guys in trade ideas usually just ends with the other fan completely shutting down any negotiations.

Davis is a fairly low on the rotation, so he's definitely movable. Aminu is much more vital to the Blazers rotation. He's far and away the teams defensive cornerstone and massively underrated on RealGM for that quality. I would definitely prefer to keep him, but contracts being what they are, combined with what I mentioned before and the fact that Ibaka would eat into a good chunk of his minutes, he becomes a bit expendable in this specific situation.

[Downtown]

Keep an eye on the Pelicans. They've quietly been improving their play and have been winning. I'm watching them play the Raptors right now and they are looking like a cohesive team. Their backcourt of Holiday and rookie Heild look like they're starting to gel.

[DusterBuster]

Keep an eye on the Pelicans. They've quietly been improving their play and have been winning. I'm watching them play the Raptors right now and they are looking like a cohesive team. Their backcourt of Holiday and rookie Heild look like they're starting to gel.

Good on them for playing a bit better, but I wouldn't take a close game against the Raps as a good litmus test at the moment. Toronto has been pooping the bed like they just went on a 3 day Taco Bell bender.

[PDXKnight]

It would be really interesting to see how Portland performed if Plumlee was missing for several consecutive games. I suspect the Blazers would miss him a lot more then many suspect

I think you and I are one of few people who actually realize the value of Plumlee on the Blazers.

It depends what you mean by value. Hes extremely important to this team no doubt but it's not like we're world beaters even with him playing. That being said compared to Turner or crabbe hes worth way more

[zzaj]

Keep an eye on the Pelicans. They've quietly been improving their play and have been winning. I'm watching them play the Raptors right now and they are looking like a cohesive team. Their backcourt of Holiday and rookie Heild look like they're starting to gel.

Good on them for playing a bit better, but I wouldn't take a close game against the Raps as a good litmus test at the moment. Toronto has been pooping the bed like they just went on a 3 day Taco Bell bender.

Jrue Holiday is a PG that gets pretty underrated here on RealGM, IMO. When he's healthy (which seems to be almost never) he can go toe to toe with almost any PG in the league.

If they could ever stay healthy, New Orleans could be really, really good.

[Shem]

It would be really interesting to see how Portland performed if Plumlee was missing for several consecutive games. I suspect the Blazers would miss him a lot more then many suspect

I think you and I are one of few people who actually realize the value of Plumlee on the Blazers.

It depends what you mean by value. Hes extremely important to this team no doubt but it's not like we're world beaters even with him playing. That being said compared to Turner or crabbe hes worth way more

I've seen the offense fall apart when he leaves the game. So he's very important on the Blazers.

[PDXKnight]

I think you and I are one of few people who actually realize the value of Plumlee on the Blazers.

It depends what you mean by value. Hes extremely important to this team no doubt but it's not like we're world beaters even with him playing. That being said compared to Turner or crabbe hes worth way more

I've seen the offense fall apart when he leaves the game. So he's very important on the Blazers.

I'm not denying that and I'm on board for bringing him back actually, I'm just saying we are a massively flawed team with or without him

[d-train]

All I was trying to clarify is your statement that if Blazers are hard-capped, that they can't make trades. I think that is false, as they should be able to trade down in salary (send out more than they receive).

I didn't say they couldn't make trades, or at least didn't mean to say that. What I was thinking is if they used the MLE to sign a player when over the apron, they could only make trades that dropped them below the apron

looking quickly thru the old FAQ's, that's probably not be true either. Teams that are over the tax but below the apron that use an exception do become hard-capped at the apron. Teams above the apron to start with may very well be able to make trades that drop their payroll, even if it's not enough to drop below the apron. I was probably mixing those 2 rules when I shouldn't have

looks like teams that are within the apron can use their BAE, but teams above the apron can only use their taxpayer-MLE. It will be interesting to see if any of these rules are changed in the new CBA

I haven't read anything, but it sounds like a rule designed to force the order that teams do their salary transactions. Meaning, the league doesn't want to allow a team over the cap with undervalued cap holds to get a bigger MLE and then balloon their salary when they sign their cap holds to market deals.

[d-train]

The Blazers need a killer competitor. We don't scrap or fight like we have an appetite for blood that can't be satisfied. The early 90's Blazers had 4 killer competitors and thus was successful.

[heyPlayer]

The blazers really need someone that can score in the post....