CJ TRADE IDEAS

[ConstableChaos]

If Blazers get Simmons for CJ, would Zach Collins be able to play the 5? He'd be the stretch 5 he never had in Philly.

[PDXKnight]

it seems teams are offering high picks for cj and N.O. aint budging
if this is true and we can get from under his contract and get a high lotto pick, why not do it
i want to get rid of him and N.O. so bad. i dont like we treat him like an all star and he's never been one and probably wont be one in the west for the rest of his career

It depends. At the surface yes it seems insane but it could be portland trying to pump up his value or the flip side is if cj’s value is that high maybe we can pull off a decent trade for him

[Dame Lizard]

it seems teams are offering high picks for cj and N.O. aint budging
if this is true and we can get from under his contract and get a high lotto pick, why not do it
i want to get rid of him and N.O. so bad. i dont like we treat him like an all star and he's never been one and probably wont be one in the west for the rest of his career

It depends. At the surface yes it seems insane but it could be portland trying to pump up his value or the flip side is if cj’s value is that high maybe we can pull off a decent trade for him

I'm seriously hoping this rumour was created by Olshey to drive up CJ's trade value.

If he's truly turning down high picks, that we could use to acquire win-now players, he's absolutely out of his mind.

[Brandon-Clyde]

it seems teams are offering high picks for cj and N.O. aint budging
if this is true and we can get from under his contract and get a high lotto pick, why not do it
i want to get rid of him and N.O. so bad. i dont like we treat him like an all star and he's never been one and probably wont be one in the west for the rest of his career

It depends. At the surface yes it seems insane but it could be portland trying to pump up his value or the flip side is if cj’s value is that high maybe we can pull off a decent trade for him

Or it could be that CJ and the pick are only part of the deal. For example Cleveland could be sending their pick and Kevin Love to Portland, Portland sends out CJ and some other assets to Philadelphia and Philadelphia sends Simmons to Cleveland. The details beyond CJ and the pick could be the actual hold up.

[Village Idiot]

it seems teams are offering high picks for cj and N.O. aint budging
if this is true and we can get from under his contract and get a high lotto pick, why not do it
i want to get rid of him and N.O. so bad. i dont like we treat him like an all star and he's never been one and probably wont be one in the west for the rest of his career

It depends. At the surface yes it seems insane but it could be portland trying to pump up his value or the flip side is if cj’s value is that high maybe we can pull off a decent trade for him

Or it could be that CJ and the pick are only part of the deal. For example Cleveland could be sending their pick and Kevin Love to Portland, Portland sends out CJ and some other assets to Philadelphia and Philadelphia sends Simmons to Cleveland. The details beyond CJ and the pick could be the actual hold up.

Something like:

Cleveland trades: #3, Love
Cleveland receives: #8, Simmons

Orlando trades: #5, #8, Ross
Orlando receives: #3, Hill

Philadelphia trades: Simmons, Hill
Philadelphia receives: CJ, Ross, 22 1st from Portland (top 10 protected)

Portland trades: CJ, 22 1st (top 10 protected)
Portland receives: Love, #5

We draft Scottie Barnes at 5 and hope Love has something left to back-up PF and SF.

Cleveland lands an all-star, dumps their bad contract and trades back 5 spots

Orlando moves up to #3. This assumes the guy they're targeting won't be available at #5

Philadelphia gets two great compliments to Embiid and a future pick

[Sinobas]

One of the main reasons the Blazers need to trade CJ is simply to get RID of him. We could comfortably resign Powell if we shed CJs boat anchor of a contract, and that alone would lead to much improved defense.

If we are in "win now' mode we have to break up the Dame/CJ duo.

[wjun15]

Olshey needs to draft Bam instead of Zach Collins
then not sign Derrick Jones
and not hold onto Anfrenee Simons like hes the next Giannis. People dont realize Simons is just a midget version of Duncan Robinson at best that has 0 playmaking ability (mostly because hes a straight line player than doesnt have any moves to get past the defense)

[bmc11]

POR Out: CJ, Nurkic, Jones Jr, 2023 FRP (lottery protected)
POR In: Myles Turner, Ben Simmons

PG: Dame / Vet min
SG: Powell (resign) / Simons / Elleby
SF: Simmons / Vet min
PF: Covington / Little / Giles
C: Turner / MLE (Bobby Portis or Noel)

Get the all defense around dame and enogh 3point shooting around simmons to succed in playoffs.

IND Out: Myles Turner, Lamb
IND In: CJ

PG: Brogdon / A.Holiday
SG: CJ / J.Holiday
SF: Levert / Martin
PF: Warren / MLE
C: Sabonis / Bitadze

They know Turner/Sabonis is not working, and loves Bitadze, they have the perfect combo guard to complement CJ (Bogdon)

CHA Out: Hayward
CHA In: Nurkic, G.Hill, Jones Jr

They get their C and free future cap space

PG: LaMelo / G. Hill
SG: Rozier (other trade?) / Vet min
SF: Bridges / Jones Jr
PF: Washington / MLE
C: Nurkic / Zeller / Carey Jr

PHI Out: Simmons, G.Hill
PHI In: Lowry, Hayward

They probably are not going to get a lot of good offers for Simmons, they get 2 good veterans to complement Embiid.

PG: Lowry / Shake
SG: Curry / Maxey / Green
SF: Hayward / Thybulle
PF: Tobias / Reed
C: Embiid / MLE

TOR Out: Lowry
TOR In: 2023 FRP (lottery protected), Tolliver, Lamb

Get draft capital for helping out

[Wizenheimer]

So CJ, 2FRPs, and a swap for Simmons?

That's a pretty steep price, especially when the Sixers are getting a player in return who's an infinitely better fit for their team than the guy they're moving out.

I guess I would have to know the protections on those 3 picks... Also, I think the logistics of 2FRPs and a swap might be weird since they traded their 2021 pick and navigating that rule about not trading 2 consecutive FRP's. Maybe there's some way around that though... I'm not as brushed up on my CBA rules as I used to be.

I think the Blazers have to be real cautious about trading 1st round picks past the next couple of seasons that have limited protections.

to start with, the big issue would be if the trade fails, Dame demands a trade, and Portland has mortgaged picks in the out years like 2023-27. If Portland does end up having to trade Dame, by far their best option after (or during), IMO, is to also trade just about everybody over 24 years old for more picks and go full re-build. It's very unlikely that the Blazers will get any top-5 picks in a Dame trade; probably not even any top-10. Their best bet for a high draft pick or two is to adopt a Portland version of the Philly-OKC-Houston models and develop a catalog of future picks to combine with their own high-lottery picks and hope to strike gold 2 or 3 or 4 times in the draft.

all that would be monkey-wrenched by not having control over their picks in those out years. So, at least lottery or maybe top-10 protection on any picks past 2023. Now, maybe that's too paranoid. Maybe Dame will feel that management, and ownership, finally matches his urgency if they do trade CJ and a godfather package of picks for a player like Simmons

as far as Simmons himself, yeah, he's just had a terrible time in the playoffs. A HOF mental funk. It might be a permanent condition. Him and the hoop have a really rocky relationship. But his relationship with the floor, both ends, is strong. And the talent there is obvious. The chances that the combo of Dame and Billups might help solve the riddles that are blocking Simmons are high enough to warrant some substantial risks

it would be pretty clear that a settled-Simmons would make Dame-Powell-RoCo-Simmons-Nurkic lineup much better than a Dame-CJ-player X-RoCo-Nurkic lineup. And yeah, I'm skeptical that Portland can re-sign Powell to be either the starting SF or CJ's backup

[Epicurus]

Would it? I don't like as a rule three guard offenses in the NBA. Yet once a synergy developed that lineup worked very well for the Blazers down the stretch and in the playoff series. Other lineups with one or more less of the starters were the problem, not the starting lineup. The focus should be in my opinion determining how the non-starting lineups were so poor and fix those holes. Not a glam as moving around starters, but more warranted by performance.

[Epicurus]

Oops, I must include a caveat to my own thought. In the playoffs the starting lineup produced well because Lillard was no another planet. I boggles the mind to think how well it would have performed if McCullom and Powell would have come close to their norms (and Nurkic could have stayed on the court some more minutes).

[DusterBuster]

So CJ, 2FRPs, and a swap for Simmons?

That's a pretty steep price, especially when the Sixers are getting a player in return who's an infinitely better fit for their team than the guy they're moving out.

I guess I would have to know the protections on those 3 picks... Also, I think the logistics of 2FRPs and a swap might be weird since they traded their 2021 pick and navigating that rule about not trading 2 consecutive FRP's. Maybe there's some way around that though... I'm not as brushed up on my CBA rules as I used to be.

I think the Blazers have to be real cautious about trading 1st round picks past the next couple of seasons that have limited protections.

to start with, the big issue would be if the trade fails, Dame demands a trade, and Portland has mortgaged picks in the out years like 2023-27. If Portland does end up having to trade Dame, by far their best option after (or during), IMO, is to also trade just about everybody over 24 years old for more picks and go full re-build. It's very unlikely that the Blazers will get any top-5 picks in a Dame trade; probably not even any top-10. Their best bet for a high draft pick or two is to adopt a Portland version of the Philly-OKC-Houston models and develop a catalog of future picks to combine with their own high-lottery picks and hope to strike gold 2 or 3 or 4 times in the draft.

all that would be monkey-wrenched by not having control over their picks in those out years. So, at least lottery or maybe top-10 protection on any picks past 2023. Now, maybe that's too paranoid. Maybe Dame will feel that management, and ownership, finally matches his urgency if they do trade CJ and a godfather package of picks for a player like Simmons

as far as Simmons himself, yeah, he's just had a terrible time in the playoffs. A HOF mental funk. It might be a permanent condition. Him and the hoop have a really rocky relationship. But his relationship with the floor, both ends, is strong. And the talent there is obvious. The chances that the combo of Dame and Billups might help solve the riddles that are blocking Simmons are high enough to warrant some substantial risks

it would be pretty clear that a settled-Simmons would make Dame-Powell-RoCo-Simmons-Nurkic lineup much better than a Dame-CJ-player X-RoCo-Nurkic lineup. And yeah, I'm skeptical that Portland can re-sign Powell to be either the starting SF or CJ's backup

Totally agree on every single point.

A part of me wonders tho... if Dame sees the team doing what he wants - going big with a major trade that requires losing multiple picks like this for a high-level player - if that's enough to get him to stay for the majority of his new contact? Obviously, that's a totally unanswerable question, but maybe?

[BlazersBroncos]

Assuming GSW's guys are pushing hard for another 'star', and assuming that system prioritized shooting over size, what about:

PDX Trades - CJ McCollum, 2022 FRP (Unprotected), 2023 Swap Option (Unprotected), 2024 FRP (Top-8 Protected)
PDX Receives - Pascal Siakiam

GSW Trades - Andrew Wiggins, #14
GSW Receives - CJ McCollum

TOR Trades - Pascal Siakiam
TOR Receives - Andrew Wiggins, #14, 2022 FRP (Unprotected), 2023 Swap Option (Unprotected), 2024 FRP (Top-8 Protected)

We pay a big price, but balance the hell out of the roster. I actually prefer Pascal to Simmons, but below Butler (Who I dont think is available in reality).
GSW gets another shooter and can move Klay to SF, where he needs to be after likely losing speed from injury.
TOR brings Wiggins home while getting 3 FRPs and a swap.

[Dame Lizard]

So CJ, 2FRPs, and a swap for Simmons?

That's a pretty steep price, especially when the Sixers are getting a player in return who's an infinitely better fit for their team than the guy they're moving out.

I guess I would have to know the protections on those 3 picks... Also, I think the logistics of 2FRPs and a swap might be weird since they traded their 2021 pick and navigating that rule about not trading 2 consecutive FRP's. Maybe there's some way around that though... I'm not as brushed up on my CBA rules as I used to be.

I think the Blazers have to be real cautious about trading 1st round picks past the next couple of seasons that have limited protections.

to start with, the big issue would be if the trade fails, Dame demands a trade, and Portland has mortgaged picks in the out years like 2023-27. If Portland does end up having to trade Dame, by far their best option after (or during), IMO, is to also trade just about everybody over 24 years old for more picks and go full re-build. It's very unlikely that the Blazers will get any top-5 picks in a Dame trade; probably not even any top-10. Their best bet for a high draft pick or two is to adopt a Portland version of the Philly-OKC-Houston models and develop a catalog of future picks to combine with their own high-lottery picks and hope to strike gold 2 or 3 or 4 times in the draft.

all that would be monkey-wrenched by not having control over their picks in those out years. So, at least lottery or maybe top-10 protection on any picks past 2023. Now, maybe that's too paranoid. Maybe Dame will feel that management, and ownership, finally matches his urgency if they do trade CJ and a godfather package of picks for a player like Simmons

as far as Simmons himself, yeah, he's just had a terrible time in the playoffs. A HOF mental funk. It might be a permanent condition. Him and the hoop have a really rocky relationship. But his relationship with the floor, both ends, is strong. And the talent there is obvious. The chances that the combo of Dame and Billups might help solve the riddles that are blocking Simmons are high enough to warrant some substantial risks

it would be pretty clear that a settled-Simmons would make Dame-Powell-RoCo-Simmons-Nurkic lineup much better than a Dame-CJ-player X-RoCo-Nurkic lineup. And yeah, I'm skeptical that Portland can re-sign Powell to be either the starting SF or CJ's backup

Agreed

[Case2012]

Im hoping that dame see’s Giannis comments about doing it the right way and staying loyal, and it resonates with him. I agree that we should be cautious throwing 3 or 4 picks into a deal, but I don’t really see how we can demonstrate we’re committed unless we do. I think you just have to put some lottery protections on them and go for it. Simmons may be the anti clutch to dames goat clutch but his defense and playmaking are exactly what we’ve been missing.

After that our offseason should look like this.

Resign Powell, sign a defense first back up center, hopefully pick up love on a buy out for the bench and a 2 way back up pg. Trade away our prospects for future picks and fill out the bench with vet minimum deals.

This is contingent on Neo having the ability to pull that off, which I doubt, so…

[Wizenheimer]

A part of me wonders tho... if Dame sees the team doing what he wants - going big with a major trade that requires losing multiple picks like this for a high-level player - if that's enough to get him to stay for the majority of his new contact? Obviously, that's a totally unanswerable question, but maybe?

I don't know

I'd like to think that management, if they do make a move like this, would know that one single transaction would not be enough. Just getting Simmons, for instance, and calling it completion would not convey the urgency that Dame wants to see. It won't be a single move that convinces him, IMO, but a new attitude from management, and a process.

I remember last off-season when management was getting high grades for the off-season. "Best off-season in a long time" was a common refrain. But the regular season exposed some of the flaws with the roster, although, as usual, everybody had the injury excuse to jump to. However, the regular season, the mid-terms if you will, was only 25% of the grade. The playoffs were 75% of the grade and Portland failed their final, big time. And they were healthy (zach doesn't count any more). Meaning, all the expectations based upon the misreading of the roster last fall were irrelevant. That it doesn't matter much what the content is of rotation slots 4-9 when there are big flaws in rotation slots 1-3. That has always been the issue in the Stolshey era.

roster-wise, Portland's problems are pretty glaring: 1) they are too small on the perimeter...not nearly enough length; 2) they don't have any top-level two-way players at wing; 3) they don't have enough high end talent

which loops back around to my first point and that's the reality that one single move is not going to push Portland into contention. Dame is smart...he knows that. So, keeping him content will be a process and he'll be focused on that 75% of the grade that is the playoffs

[GEE]

That's a tip-in "And 1" at you Wiz. Solid assessment. with strong points all around. Biggest takeaways for me are:

A: Being too small on perimeter with Dame/CJ at the 1 & 2, and IMO, doubling down on stupid by starting Powell at SF. Also feel that the NEED to resign Powell is being HUGELY overstated. He's admittedly a nice option for next year... but should be considered amongst other possible options. Not the top priority IMO. SG's, especially short ones, are a dime a dozen. Moving CJ, while replacing him with another smallish SG with a strapping big contract solves nothing IMO, and only repeats the original mistake.

And B: Being relatively healthy for once (minus Collins), eliminated a big excuse for Stotts, and was likely the final straw. Of course people will still blame the group of guys acquired by Olshey, but I feel history has shown a long abuse of Blazer forwards getting played out of position, or just not seeing the court at all, due to the desire to play small-ball. Guys like Little, Giles, Jones Jr can ball, but just never saw the floor much.

CJ to Cleveland for Love and #3 doesn't look so good to me, and I'd hope we can do better. If they'd include Sexton, to be moved to a third team, then sure... but maybe Olshey can work a similar hand-shake style of deal that sends CJ for #3, Sexton and filler, with the understanding(hand-shake) that Love will be bought out, and mysteriously signed by Portland sometime later. The salary Portland offers Love, would then come off the books for Cleveland (I think, but not 100% certain). Result being, we would still eat most of Love's contract, but acquire some good assets in the process for doing so: #3(Mobley), whatever we can get for Sexton, plus a solid rotation player or two on short deals. Could make for a solid roster.

[Epicurus]

Once again you may not like a three guard (small) lineup, but that starting lineup, despite what you or I say can'twork, did work, both in the regular season and in the playoff series. The problem was backups. In the playoffs, those used were as a whole bad; but those not used were not going to be any better. The holes in Little, Giles, and Jones games are enormous.

[Epicurus]

Once again you may not like a three guard (small) lineup, but that starting lineup, despite what you or I say can'twork, did work, both in the regular season and in the playoff series. The problem was backups. In the playoffs, those used were as a whole bad; but those not used were not going to be any better. The holes in Little, Giles, and Jones games are enormous.

[Norm2953]

That 3 guard lineup in the playoffs led to Portland's playoff rotation with four players 6-3 with three such
players on the court at all times. Offensively it worked because of Dame but when one man has to do so
much, he turns everyone on the court including his team mates into spectators. Defensively, Denver could d
send three guys to their offensive board for Portland had no transition game for the players had to pace
themselves due to heavy minutes. There is a reason why JaMychal Green for example had big second half
in game six for he was being blocked out on his offensive board by a 6-3 Blazer.

I'm skeptical of any real trade ideas that will move the needle. What they can try to do is perhaps break
CJ's contract into two $16 Million players, assuming they can sign Powell. It would be like trying to re-create
Aminu/Harkless, just a pair of solid players who help them physically match up with the bigger front courts
in the western conference