Best strategy for 2008 Lottery Pick

[Wizenheimer]

Trading up doesn't have to be done in one fell swoop. LaFrentz has a massive expiring that can be used to acquire a higher pick and take on bad contracts.

Step 1: Milwaukee-Portland

Bucks trade:

#7
Simmons
Gadzuric

Blazers trade:

#13
LaFrentz
$3 million

The Bucks move their two worst contracts and save a lot of money. Over $20 million and they make another $3 in cash!

Step 2: Memphis-Portland

Blazers trade:

Deal 1: #7 pick, 2010 1st-lottery protected, $3 million

Deal 2: Przybilla, $3 million

Deal 3: Outlaw, Blake, $3 million

Grizzlies trade:

Deal 1: #2/3/4 (rights to Rose/Mayo)

Deal 2: Jason Collins

Deal 3: Brian Cardinal, Kyle Lowry

By making this 3 deals the Grizzlies make $9 million and get rid of two worthless players. Outlaw and Przybilla can both come in and start for them on an up-tempo team. If the Grizzlies can't get one of Beasley or Lopez I can see them doing this. Blake's contract has a team option for 2009 it can be considered ending.

Getting Gadzuric in the Bucks trade makes it more palatable to move Przybilla.

Line-up

PG: Rose/Mayo, Lowry, Rodriguez
SG: Roy, Fernandez
SF: Webster, Jones, Simmons
PF: Aldridge, Frye, McRoberts
C: Oden, Gadzuric

so let me get this straight:

Portland trades Lafrentz, Outlaw, Blake, the 13th pick, and 12 million dollars

for

the 2nd-5th pick, Kyle Lowry, Jason Collins, and the absolutely awful contracts of Simmons, Gadzuric, and Cardinal

that would leave portland's C rotation at Oden, Gadzuric, and Collins...yuck. At least they'd have fouls to give.

Outlaw's place in the lineup would be taken by the cardinal/simmons duo...or should I say the place on the bench.

Portland, with an overloaded roster already in bench players, would be trading 3 players, including a starter and a major rotation player for 4 players, with one being a 6'0(being generous) 2nd string PG, and the other 3 not worthy of being in the rotation. The bonus being Paul Allen, having already paid out 12 million to get this deal done, would also be on the hook for 56 million dollars remaining on the three guys' contracts.

And of course, any option of 2009 cap-space upgrades would be gone.

That's a lot to pay and a lot to risk just for a 3rd or 4th pick in the draft.

Whoever portland drafts after this better be really, really good because the blazers would have gambled the farm on the deal.

edit: maybe I'm being to harsh with you VI. I'll give you a chance to return the favor by posting my own multi-step trade scenario below. Hammer away on me as you wish...

[Wizenheimer]

OK...so if the game is to trade up in the draft, here's an idea.

Assuming it would take 2 steps instead of 1. Further assuming Portland will have to take a hit to it's cap-space option to move up. And finally assuming it just isn't realistic for portland to make it into the top 5 picks

Portland/Indiana:

trade 1: #13 pick + 3 million to Indiana for #10 pick

trade 2: Lafrentz & Jack for Troy Murphy and Travis Deiner

would Indiana do it?...I don't know but they've certainly made noises about wanting to free some cap-space in 2009. Ridding themselves of murphy's contract gives them major cap-space in 2009. They add jack as well and only drop 3 places in the draft.

in portland's case, deiner could simply be waived. But even though Murphy's contract would essentially replace Miles's contract as a cap-killer, the positive is that Murphy is a productive player. As a matter of fact, I think he'd fit well on the blazers. He's an good rebounder and he's a 40% 3pt shooter.

Portland/Milwaukie:

trade 1: #10 pick + 2009 1st round pick + 3 million for Milwaukie's #7 pick

trade 2: either Outlaw or Webster + Mcroberts (or Frye) for Desmond Mason

Might be a tougher nut to crack then the Indiana trade. It would depend on what the Bucks wanted. Adding Troy Murphy means Frye would be expendable. Mason is a pretty good SG/SF combo player, so in a way, it would make more sense for Portland to move Webster then Outlaw. But Outlaw may have more value to the Bucks. CBA-wise, outlaw/mcroberts works, but it would have to be webster/frye in the other scenario.

Alternative Portland/LA Clippers:

This one would be preferrable to the Milwaukie trade but it would have a big "in the case of" factor: assuming Corey Maggette agreed not to opt out of his contract.

trade 1: #10 + 2009 1st round pick + 3 million (sterling likes those dollars) for the #6 pick

trade 2: either outlaw or webster + Frye + mcroberts + 3 million for maggette

would the clips do it?...I don't know, but they don't do bad. Portland could sweeten the pot (as they could in all the trades) by adding more cash and some 2nd round picks.

I suppose the 'best case scenario' in this for the Blazers would be them trading Lafrentz + Outlaw/Webster + Jack + Frye + 13th pick + 2009 1st +9-12 million

for

Murphy + Maggette + Deiner + 6th pick.

It seems like a lot to give up, but then I don't think many of the other trades I'm seeing are close to realistic. This one brings in a couple of pretty good veteran players...Maggette would be a starter...plus the 6th pick.

[Butter]

Trading up doesn't have to be done in one fell swoop. LaFrentz has a massive expiring that can be used to acquire a higher pick and take on bad contracts.

Step 1: Milwaukee-Portland

Bucks trade:

#7
Simmons
Gadzuric

Blazers trade:

#13
LaFrentz
$3 million

The Bucks move their two worst contracts and save a lot of money. Over $20 million and they make another $3 in cash!

Step 2: Memphis-Portland

Blazers trade:

Deal 1: #7 pick, 2010 1st-lottery protected, $3 million

Deal 2: Przybilla, $3 million

Deal 3: Outlaw, Blake, $3 million

Grizzlies trade:

Deal 1: #2/3/4 (rights to Rose/Mayo)

Deal 2: Jason Collins

Deal 3: Brian Cardinal, Kyle Lowry

By making this 3 deals the Grizzlies make $9 million and get rid of two worthless players. Outlaw and Przybilla can both come in and start for them on an up-tempo team. If the Grizzlies can't get one of Beasley or Lopez I can see them doing this. Blake's contract has a team option for 2009 it can be considered ending.

Getting Gadzuric in the Bucks trade makes it more palatable to move Przybilla.

Line-up

PG: Rose/Mayo, Lowry, Rodriguez
SG: Roy, Fernandez
SF: Webster, Jones, Simmons
PF: Aldridge, Frye, McRoberts
C: Oden, Gadzuric

Village Idiot, I think that the Bucks would be very interested in Pryzbilla. I don't know if they'd welcome him back though. I was listening to the radio awhile ago, and they were interviewing someone from the Bucks front office who said the Bucks really wanted to get more toughness on their team.

All that being said, I don't know if I'd be very supportive of moving Joel..

[Effigy]

I don't think anyone wants to see Joel go, but the fact is, he's a backup center. If you can move him and get a young stud starter who will help the team, you do it. Getting back Gadz as a replacement is fine with me. Sure I'd rather have Joel, but Gadz isn't an awful prospect at backup center.

[Butter]

I read this in a different thread:

I dont know how reliable the sources were, but I heard somebody say that Sergio, Rudy, #13 and a 2nd rounder have a "good possibility" of being traded for Rose on draft day. That doesn't sound completely unrealistic if Fernandez truly would have been a top 5 pick this year.

It does raise a very interesting question, should the Blazers consider moving Rudy to get one of the top PG's in the draft? I'm as excited about Ruy as everyone else, but I at times if he's going to come with issues.

For example:
1st) Will he even come over
2nd) How will he fit with Roy? I realize that Roy can play some PG, but the reality is that Roy and Rudy both fit best at the SG spot. If I was Rudy, I'd see Roy as a road block to full minutes at SG.
3) Rudy has made some comments about his concern over Nate's coaching style (maybe not unfounded).

So if the Blazers had a shot to move Rudy and maybe some other pieces to move up and grab Rose, would it be worth it? That might help to consolidate some of the pieces for a star talent.

[DanBlazer]

[quote="Butter"][/quote]

I think Rudy will be a very solid player in the league, however I would have no hesitation in trading him and Sergio for Rose, it would finalize our starting 5 and be a lot better for the distribution of minutes. I dont see why this rumour would come out so far before the draft anyway so I doubt its legit, however it may be as Yada said. Even without Rudy, we would still have a more than solid bench, with Blake-Jack-Jones-Outlaw-Pryz and even Frye still there. It would give everyone a lot better minutes than squeezing so many guys worthy of minutes into the rotation, and we would still have Outlaw and Martell, even at the expense of Rudy and Sergio. Thats my opinion anyway.

[Wizenheimer]

-= original quote snipped =-



I think Rudy will be a very solid player in the league, however I would have no hesitation in trading him and Sergio for Rose, it would finalize our starting 5 and be a lot better for the distribution of minutes. I dont see why this rumour would come out so far before the draft anyway so I doubt its legit, however it may be as Yada said. Even without Rudy, we would still have a more than solid bench, with Blake-Jack-Jones-Outlaw-Pryz and even Frye still there. It would give everyone a lot better minutes than squeezing so many guys worthy of minutes into the rotation, and we would still have Outlaw and Martell, even at the expense of Rudy and Sergio. Thats my opinion anyway.

that's not bad logic at all. The major issue is, I don't think any team is going to trade for Rudy until he's under contract. So gives KP a small window of opportunity to get him signed. I don't know how long his season for Joventut is or when it ends. I'm assuming since Rudy is an unsigned blazer draft choice, KP can negotiate a contract with him any time.