Ayton traded again?

[JMAC3]

Zero rumors to this other than a few weeks ago when it was mentioned the Warriors might want to grab a legit big.

Warriors land Ayton.

Portland gets their choice of Wiggins or CP3.

Why for Portland? Ayton isn't really working there and they have Robert Williams coming back next year to take over center. They call the Ayton project a failure and move on.

Why for Warriors? They are pretty much screwed no matter what they do. They currently aren't projected to have any cap space. They have some options with Payton and Looney that are a bit muddy but even still doesn't do much for them in terms of flexibility. Lean into the team that is going to spend and try to get Steph one more good run. This allows them to move off Looney if they choose to in off-season. The hope is Draymond, Kerr and Curry can get Ayton to play his best ball and they get him for virtually nothing.

[gswhoops]

Hardest of passes unless Portland is adding some serious incentive

[Warriors Analyst]

Improbably, Ayton takes less shots from 0-3 feet and 3-10 feet than Looney does and is only marginally better from 0-3 feet percentage-wise than Looney. From 3-10 feet, Looney is shooting a better percentage than Ayton. Add in Ayton's disinterest in hard work and yeah, this is an easy, easy pass.

[The Graduate]

Hardest of passes unless Portland is adding some serious incentive

I am confident that Portland feels the same (but in reverse)... so this idea is assuredly DOA.

[tester551]

Ayton hasn't been good, but Portland is not looking to dump him without value coming back.

If the trade was Wiggins + Kuminga + minor draft assets <=> that may be doable..... but I fully expect Warriors to balk at that.

Portland's best course of action is to wait and see if Scoot/Ayton can develop some synergy. It looks like it is slowly starting to form

[Billl]

I'm shocked at how unproductive ayton is this year. I fully expected him to get a ton of touches and put up some empty stats. That was always his complaint playing alongside bigtime NBA scorers.

Maybe portland can trick a team into thinking they have the secret key to getting ayton to actually care about basketball, but I'm pretty confident that GS isn't going to be that team.

[gswhoops]

Yeah in the spirit of maintaining civility, I’ll just say that if Portland is expecting to get value back for Ayton there’s nothing more to discuss.

[Waynearchetype]

Yeah in the spirit of maintaining civility, I’ll just say that if Portland is expecting to get value back for Ayton there’s nothing more to discuss.

Same but for Wiggins or CP3. Theres also zero reason for Portland to help GSW since they own their pick, unless there is a big overpay.

Contextually, heres how Portland feels about Ayton:
He is capable of being great but often settles for being present.
When he is out, they regularly lose by 30 points.
When he is in, they regularly keep it competitive.
When he is engaged, they win.
When our iso chuckers pass to him, he is engaged.

Again, story as always with Ayton, but all of our "we're worse than detroit" losses come when he is out injured (or snowed in lol). Portland needs him to not be pathetic until, at the least, we draft a competent center. Theres a chance we'd deal him for a haul, but no one is going to offer a haul. We don't want that "biggest loss ever" title that we almost got when he was out.

[LV-Suns]

Ayton hasn't been good, but Portland is not looking to dump him without value coming back.

If the trade was Wiggins + Kuminga + minor draft assets <=> that may be doable..... but I fully expect Warriors to balk at that.

Portland's best course of action is to wait and see if Scoot/Ayton can develop some synergy. It looks like it is slowly starting to form

Getting a better player like Wiggins and asking for Kuminga is ridiculous. Ayton doesn’t have any positive value in the league. If anything, it has taken a nose dive since the summer. And you know what you gave up to get him.

[Waynearchetype]

Ayton hasn't been good, but Portland is not looking to dump him without value coming back.

If the trade was Wiggins + Kuminga + minor draft assets <=> that may be doable..... but I fully expect Warriors to balk at that.

Portland's best course of action is to wait and see if Scoot/Ayton can develop some synergy. It looks like it is slowly starting to form

Getting a better player like Wiggins and asking for Kuminga is ridiculous. Ayton doesn’t have any positive value in the league. If anything, it has taken a nose dive since the summer. And you know what you gave up to get him.

Wiggins is not better than Ayton, thats ridiculous.

[Texas Chuck]

Hardest of passes unless Portland is adding some serious incentive

I am confident that Portland feels the same (but in reverse)... so this idea is assuredly DOA.

I would be stunned if Portland turned down Paul for Ayton. And if they did, it would be a very expensive mistake on their part.

[BK_2020]

GSW should do this for Wiggins but not for CP3 who's nonguaranteed.

[Waynearchetype]

Hardest of passes unless Portland is adding some serious incentive

I am confident that Portland feels the same (but in reverse)... so this idea is assuredly DOA.

I would be stunned if Portland turned down Paul for Ayton. And if they did, it would be a very expensive mistake on their part.

Be stunned I guess. You must not watch many Blazer games. Team is completely lost without Ayton even if he isn't a world beater.

[Texas Chuck]

I am confident that Portland feels the same (but in reverse)... so this idea is assuredly DOA.

I would be stunned if Portland turned down Paul for Ayton. And if they did, it would be a very expensive mistake on their part.

Be stunned I guess. You must not watch many Blazer games. Team is completely lost without Ayton even if he isn't a world beater.

Oh yes the incredibly stupid trope of you don't watch as many games as me so your opinion is invalid.....

I don't watch every Portland game so you should ignore me. But for anyone else reading who realizes that isn't necessary....its pretty simple for me--is Ayton going to be worth close to his max salary in the seasons remaining on his contract? Nope. So would getting out of those years be a win for Portland? Yep.

I would point out that winning a couple more games this year shouldn't be a goal, but I'm afraid I'll get yelled at again, despite another Blazers poster being clear again that's important to them.

[Waynearchetype]

Wiggins contract is longer. Wiggins contract is more expensive. His numbers are worse. Blazers have no other starting caliber center.

Ayton might not be worth much in a trade, but he is very much not on the chopping block in Portland. We want to tank but we don't want another 62 point loss

[Waynearchetype]

I would be stunned if Portland turned down Paul for Ayton. And if they did, it would be a very expensive mistake on their part.

Be stunned I guess. You must not watch many Blazer games. Team is completely lost without Ayton even if he isn't a world beater.

Oh yes the incredibly stupid trope of you don't watch as many games as me so your opinion is invalid.....

I don't watch every Portland game so you should ignore me. But for anyone else reading who realizes that isn't necessary....its pretty simple for me--is Ayton going to be worth close to his max salary in the seasons remaining on his contract? Nope. So would getting out of those years be a win for Portland? Yep.

I would point out that winning a couple more games this year shouldn't be a goal, but I'm afraid I'll get yelled at again, despite another Blazers poster being clear again that's important to them.

You say I'm using a stupid trope and also accuse me of yelling at you? Don't be so sensitive, especially when I did nothing to insult you. It would make sense if people don't watch the Blazers, we are bad. But what people don't understand is the difference from being normal bad to our streak of losing by 30+ points every night is Ayton. Reath is the only other serviceable center on the roster. Yes, the goal isn't to win, but you do not want to be as bad as the Blazers consistently are when Ayton sits out. Any Ayton trade that doesn't bring back a warm body at center(or assets to make the embarrassment worth it) is DOA.

[Texas Chuck]

You say I'm using a stupid trope and also accuse me of yelling at you?

I didn't accuse you. There is another poster who doesn't post on this board much, but comes to defend the Blazers against me and yells at me for repeating back what Blazers posters are saying. It's amusing but also gets tired.

And it is a dumb trope. Think about it. If you only watch Portland games, then your opinion, by your own logic, would be invalid on Portland players because you would have zero context to put them in. Right? But I don't tell you your opinion is invalid because you are too focused on them.


So yes, I am quite able to see that Ayton is a bad contract and thus getting out of it is a big win for Portland. Thanks.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Some say Ayton is still at the top of the key, waiting for Jokic's shot to come back down.

But in all seriousness, this is not a good time for Portland to try to flip him. They should definitely find a veteran big man coach who can try to find some fire in this guy, because he has talents.

[Waynearchetype]

You say I'm using a stupid trope and also accuse me of yelling at you?

I didn't accuse you. There is another poster who doesn't post on this board much, but comes to defend the Blazers against me and yells at me for repeating back what Blazers posters are saying. It's amusing but also gets tired.

And its is a dumb trope. Think about it. If you only watch Portland games, then your opinion, by your own logic, would be invalid on Portland players because you would have zero context to put them in. Right?

So actually those posters who aren't myopically focused on one franchise tend to be better at valuing players than fans of that player's team. This isn't unique to you or Portland, its a universal truth.

So yes, I am quite able to see that Ayton is a bad contract and thus getting out of it is a big win for Portland. Thanks.

I do not expect anyone replying on this forum to do a serious analysis on every team in the nba unless they are getting paid for it. "You must not watch many Blazer games" is akin to "you must not like waking up depressed everyday". It's not an insult. However, what bothers me is that many folks rage against that accusation because they feel the need to appear as someone "smart" so they lie about it. Everyone wants to be an expert. "Why, of course I watch one of the most unwatchable teams in the NBA" yet all they give you is numbers off basketball-reference or google-able contract information. Sure, I'm sure you watch a ton of Blazers, yet you haven't addressed the key missing context i've been trying to give you about how bad the Blazers center rotation currently is and how necessary Ayton is to them, even if the goal isn't to win games. We lost by 62 points dude, we don't want that again even if the goal is still to lose games. We aren't in tax, and if Aytons contract ever does become limiting then shaving years off it hanging on to him is going to make it easier to move.

I don't expect anyone to seriously watch or analyze the Blazers, they're bad, but to be brushed off when I'm expending energy to provide some of that context is awfully annoying.

[The Sebastian Express]

You say I'm using a stupid trope and also accuse me of yelling at you?

I didn't accuse you. There is another poster who doesn't post on this board much, but comes to defend the Blazers against me and yells at me for repeating back what Blazers posters are saying. It's amusing but also gets tired.

And it is a dumb trope. Think about it. If you only watch Portland games, then your opinion, by your own logic, would be invalid on Portland players because you would have zero context to put them in. Right? But I don't tell you your opinion is invalid because you are too focused on them.


So yes, I am quite able to see that Ayton is a bad contract and thus getting out of it is a big win for Portland. Thanks.

With all due respect, you have been wrong multiple times about what Portland should expect to get from certain players over the last two years. Watching teams is important because you have to understand what they're looking for and expecting this year.

Ayton is a bad contract. But Portland doesn't have a need to move on from Ayton right now. We've tried to tell you before the guys behind Ayton are probably not good for playing heavy minutes this year as they could impact the development of the young Portland guards.

Unless Portland is suddenly going to become a free agent destination (we are not), there's no need to up and trade him half a year into an experiment to see how he fits here. He's not a malcontent, so trading him for just an expiring is likely something Portland isn't exploring at this exact moment.