Blow it Up Trade Ideas

[Goldbum]

I don't think Ingles will be here, but Winslow is a decent enough compliment to Grant at the other forward spot. Honestly so is Nas, strong athletes with a nose for rebounding and hustle plays makes for a nice pairing with Dame/Ant/Grant and Nurkic. I would like to see Dame down around 32 minutes a game, Hart plays 32 (all at shooting guard), and Ant spend 16 minutes at each. Dunn as your chess piece point of attack defender, Keon in a development role, and B.Will on a 2 way. I'm intrigued by DiDi but he seems like more of a quick shooting SF who can run off screens and pin downs.

[BlazersBroncos]

TPE (Covington trade) + 10 for Cam Johnson
Bledsoe + 6/7 for John Collins
SRP - Gabriele Procida GF

G – Damian Lillard / Anfernee Simons / Kris Dunn
G – Anfernee Simons / Josh Hart / Keon Johnson
F – Cam Johnson / Nas Little / Gabriele Procida
F – John Collins / Justice Winslow / Greg Brown
C – Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

[Goldbum]

Anyone else like Taurean Prince as a FA? I think that if we make a move for Grant with the second pick using the BAE on Prince could be a fantastic addition.

[BlazersBroncos]

Anyone else like Taurean Prince as a FA? I think that if we make a move for Grant with the second pick using the BAE on Prince could be a fantastic addition.

Would love Prince, but I think we have the backup F spots locked in w/ Nas + Winslow. Not sure Prince is a guy you want starting, but it could be worse. A minute split at SF b/t Prince / Little could be workable, especially if our LP can play SF. Like hedging and not relying on rookies too much. Something like:

F - Taurean Prince / Nas Little / (Murray or Eason or Griffin)
F - Jerami Grant / Justice Winslow / (Murray or Eason or Griffin)

And see if the rookie and play his way into the rotation.

[Case2012]

Not sure if I've seen anyone suggest this but wouldn't it make sense to trade down with Chicago for the NO pick for the rights to our pick back? Moving down several spots sucks but it allows us to get out from those insane protections olshey (Cronin?) Put on it. That way we can make an even bigger swing with multiple firsts as trade bait.

[Goldbum]

Not sure if I've seen anyone suggest this but wouldn't it make sense to trade down with Chicago for the NO pick for the rights to our pick back? Moving down several spots sucks but it allows us to get out from those insane protections olshey (Cronin?) Put on it. That way we can make an even bigger swing with multiple firsts as trade bait.

If the Detroit is will to take that pick plus maybe Williams or Keon for Grant then it's a no brainer.

[BlazersBroncos]

Not sure if I've seen anyone suggest this but wouldn't it make sense to trade down with Chicago for the NO pick for the rights to our pick back? Moving down several spots sucks but it allows us to get out from those insane protections olshey (Cronin?) Put on it. That way we can make an even bigger swing with multiple firsts as trade bait.

If the Detroit is will to take that pick plus maybe Williams or Keon for Grant then it's a no brainer.

I wish, I just cant see DET taking a late teens pick for Grant.

Alsot think Keon might have high SRP value and that no team would value Williams much.

[Case2012]

Not a fan of Keon, which makes Cronin look like even more of an idiot. I hope to god we get a “real gm” before the draft.

[Goldbum]

I guess it's all a matter of what you're looking for when you look at Keon. I see a potential lo k down defender, who's turning into a decent spot up shooter and who's athletic ability is beyond elite. As a teenage rookie who got zero run before arriving there's something to work with. He seems to get it on defense and understands the grind. I see Powell + potential. However he's a year away from being a year away.

[BlazersBroncos]

I guess it's all a matter of what you're looking for when you look at Keon. I see a potential lo k down defender, who's turning into a decent spot up shooter and who's athletic ability is beyond elite. As a teenage rookie who got zero run before arriving there's something to work with. He seems to get it on defense and understands the grind. I see Powell + potential. However he's a year away from being a year away.

I still think its a tossup whether he develops into a playoff rotation guy but he has a great motor and that somewhat rare combination of being an elite athlete while also understanding how to play defense. I think he could become a nice 7-8th man but should be penciled in as the 3rd string SG for probably the next 2 years - A guy that gets spot minutes to disrupt the game but shouldnt be relied on to play real minutes on a nightly basis.

He was considered a near consensus top-10 pick going into the early days of the draft but other risers + lack of shooting pushed him down. He really does have an elite athletic toolbox, just needs to keep working. I think he has the right work ethic, but sometimes even that isnt enough.

I think he is much more likely to be a Tony Allen (w/ + shooting, Tony averaged 0.2 3PT makes over his career at 28%, Keon is already at 0.7 3PT makes at 33%) than a Oladipo. Dipo had much more skill than Keon in his younger years, but athletically he is on par with Vic, just an insane athletic talent.

Keon was a 27% 3PT shooter in college, with a shorter 3PT line so if this 33% isnt an anomaly then he is showing some pretty rapid 3PT improvement.

I think Billups and the FO must have viewed Keon closer to the pre-draft hype version who was a consensus lotto talent. I think they really must like the kid and saw him as the prize of the LAC deal. Hyper athletes that want to compete on defense are not too easy to find. He has a ways to go but if he can be Tony Allen w/ 35% 3PT then your looking at a quality rotation defensive specialist that can get minutes in the PO's as a 7-8th man. Thats nothing to scoff at IMO.

A final thing worth noting about Keon is that he didnt play organized BBall until High School, and even then as a Freshman he was recovering from nearly blowing his hands off in a fireworks accident and as a Senior he suffered a injury and played like 5 games. So this is a kid who is way, way behind the curve in regards to the little stuff about the game, which IMO makes it more impressive that he is not a full blown train wreck when given NBA minutes. There is a history of guys not playing much ball prior to the NBA and starting on the game late ending up blossoming as NBA players. Hope Keon is the next on that list.

[Wizenheimer]

Not a fan of Keon, which makes Cronin look like even more of an idiot. I hope to god we get a “real gm” before the draft.

I'm pretty sure Keon was just filler to make the salaries work. I doubt either side placed much value on him, especially the Clippers as They are loaded at SG/SF.

(that's not to say that Cronin didn't botch the Clippers trade. He should have had more value coming back, IMO. But, I still have a sizable suspicion there was some pressure from Seattle to make that particular deal)

as for his upside....impossible to say at this point. He'll probably be a good defender. And he's athletic and moves really well. But you'd expect that from an NBA wing. The trick is attaching that athleticism to skills and that's unclear for him at this point. He hasn't displayed good skills in any area yet on offense. And I'm not sure if he'll ever be a decent shooter; maybe, but he didn't shoot well from distance in college and that's not an encouraging sign

But his NBA career is only 514 minutes over 31 games. With him on a cheap rookie deal for the next 3 seasons, Portland has time to evaluate. Hopefully, he surprises. He may have a good role model & comp in Hart

[Wizenheimer]

I think Billups and the FO must have viewed Keon closer to the pre-draft hype version who was a consensus lotto talent.

I could have my math wrong but when I played with the numbers I came up with the Clipppers needing to add about 1.2M to the trade to make it pass CBA muster. That would mean Keon was the needed filler. From what I can see, they didn't really have another salary that worked other than Mann & Batum, which they wouldn't have been willing to send, IMO