Ayton, Grant, and Simons for anything?

[PDXKnight]

Watching cronins presser for the first time and no shockets at all.. To me all the evidence points to him continuing to have inflated and borderline insane valuations for his veteran players. I almost feel like he'd sign Jerami to the same contract again if he had a do over based on how glowingly he spoke about his veteran players

Cronin is a nice guy in a job where you sort of need to be an a hole car salesman at times. Someone like Phil Knight or really any owner who cared about winning would never in a million years allow this sort of individual to control their team's fortunes. You sort of have to leave your emotions at the door at times when it comes to hard decisions and I'm not convinced Cronin has that in him.

[Sinobas]

Watching cronins presser for the first time and no shockets at all.. To me all the evidence points to him continuing to have inflated and borderline insane valuations for his veteran players. I almost feel like he'd sign Jerami to the same contract again if he had a do over based on how glowingly he spoke about his veteran players

Cronin is a nice guy in a job where you sort of need to be an a hole car salesman at times. Someone like Phil Knight or really any owner who cared about winning would never in a million years allow this sort of individual to control their team's fortunes. You sort of have to leave your emotions at the door at times when it comes to hard decisions and I'm not convinced Cronin has that in him.

We don't know what offers were on the table though. What if no one was offering a 1st for Grant, just spare parts and a 2nd. That would be like a give-away.

[dckingsfan]

Interesting to see the dichotomy between those that

1) think this team is ready to ready to compete next season and we have the core;
2) think this team just needs a piece or two to really compete; and
3) think this team needs a total tear down.

What I haven't seen is that this FO is capable of delivering on any of the three.

What am I missing?

[HoopsFanAZ]

I think the market just wasn’t there at the DL.

The real F is Cronin not making a move last summer when our guys had trade value.

There is argument Grant has one of the worst contracts in the league. I don’t see any market for him. Hunter is younger, cheaper and having a breakout season - and he didn’t even return a true FRP. Grant wouldn’t even get shorter salary w/o assets given the market rate Hunter returned.

Bogdanovic has injury issues but when healthy is a much more well rounded player than Simons. He went for no picks and a few JAGs. Sexton and Colby weren’t traded either - I think there just isn’t a real demand for small, 1-way guards.

Ayton never had a market.

We for sure demanded a FRP for RWIII and teams rightfully refused to pay that for a guy so injured.

MT hasn’t even played this year, no team would trade for him.

I saw no trade that happened that made me say ‘that could have been us!’. This is a deadline that showed little interest in the guys we wanted moved. Big long money for a non-star (Grant) - no real matches. FRP paid for a small 1-way guard - no real matches. FRP paid for an oft injured role player - no real matches.

We simply don’t have guys that other teams are willing to pony assets for.

This analysis/view/opinion is well balanced. A lot of us want player management from the Dame era done … which to me has Simons traded where he fits better with a new contract and Grant (who I like) but not in this timeline. Thybulle has been surpassed moving forward by Toumani.

RW vs. Ayton? One or the other with Clingan? Clingan, Avdija, Camara, Sharpe, Scoot. That’s a pretty good young core. More is needed and why I don’t take the most critical view of Cronin this deadline as the return from the usual trade suspects needs to be decent to good. Outgoing trades should have been LAST summer. They HAVE TO BE this summer.

[PDXKnight]

Watching cronins presser for the first time and no shockets at all.. To me all the evidence points to him continuing to have inflated and borderline insane valuations for his veteran players. I almost feel like he'd sign Jerami to the same contract again if he had a do over based on how glowingly he spoke about his veteran players

Cronin is a nice guy in a job where you sort of need to be an a hole car salesman at times. Someone like Phil Knight or really any owner who cared about winning would never in a million years allow this sort of individual to control their team's fortunes. You sort of have to leave your emotions at the door at times when it comes to hard decisions and I'm not convinced Cronin has that in him.

We don't know what offers were on the table though. What if no one was offering a 1st for Grant, just spare parts and a 2nd. That would be like a give-away.

Id give grant away for expirings or maybe even just shorter/2 year contracts personally but I don't think we'd get that fortunate to have those offers anymore. But he did possibly blow an opportunity to get a first for jerami this summer it seems like at least if reports are true

[PDXKnight]

Random thought but I wonder what assets we'd need to attach to ayton to upgrade to Damontas Sabonis if the Kings fall apart?

[GreenRiddler]

I think we should trade Ant this offseason for some assets and Ayton at the trade deadline next year so we don't lose him for anything. You can find a serviceable offensive big without the cap hit of Ayton who surely wants max or close to max money and someone will foolishly give it to him.

Clingan is someone I am very big on he just needs more exp and to greatly improve his stamina, very easy thing to fix in the offseason. Lineups with him as the back stop speak for themselves and allows guys like Camara and Deni to be even more aggressive on defense.

Scoot is ready to start at PG he is a 17-18 PPG gaurd who will give you 7-9 Asts and good defense which we need when Shaedon is reintroduced into the starting 5.

Waiting till next tradedeadline for Ayton give Clingan more time to transition into heavy mins and gradually gain experience. Hopefully his stamina greatly improves this offseason so we can play him 25-30 a night this time next year.

I think Grant is a contract that most team do not want and I don't think we are so desperate to get rid of to the point of losing assets. Will be a valuable trade asset when his contract is in its last year and will shore up space for us to prioritize resigning Sharpe and Camara to much bigger contracts.

I am in the camp this core of Sharpe Scoot Camara Deni and Clingan just needs 1 more peice before they are good enough to make deep playoff runs together. Cooper would be an amazing fit but the lotto balls have rarely been in our favour and outside of Cooper I don't see anyone in the draft who has the talent worth being BPA like a Dylan Harper or who fits our core group like Ace Bailey and his black hole Carmelo like tendencies.

Our pick this year plus what we get for Ant will help that core and will allow us to afford paying them without going into deep tax territory like we would if we resign Ayton or keep Ant.

Ant and Sharpe just don't work together and Scoot and Sharpe really do on both ends if I had to choose the choice is obvious as Sharpe is a Anthony Edwards level prospect who I envision being a close it out player for us who gets 25+ PPG with good playmaking. Scoot is what his per 36 mins show a really good starting caliber PG who maybe has a chance at D Fox level production if his scoring can be a bit more diversified.

The great thing is that core is all under 24!!!!

[HoopsFanAZ]

1. Big Sabonis fan (even irrationally so) so I like your random thought. Sign me up for Clingan and Sabonis.

2. We may need a new thread for which teams the Blazers MAY have talked with up to the trade deadline … which deals/players could have been discussed OR should have been discussed … something like SUMMER 2025 TRADE TALKS. The kind of talks Portland did regarding Grant and Deni that led to acquiring them in the summer.

Paging through trade machine and trade checker and SPOTRAC … Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans, Orlando, Sacramento, Utah. Contract sizes, years, targeted players, where the teams are in growth cycle, rumored on the block …

Just an idea.

[Walton1one]

Portland Trail Blazers: D-

Incoming: N/A
Outgoing: N/A

Wait a minute. Robert Williams III is still here? And Jerami Grant? Anfernee Simons, too?
OK, but what about Toumani Camara, an affordable, defensively dominant forward any contender would have ponied up a first-rounder to acquire? He didn't get traded either?
It's true that teams operated carefully when it came to onboarding bloated salaries attached to non-stars, and seeing the Grizzlies give up a first-rounder to dump Marcus Smart's money probably gave the Blazers pause. Maybe the team's recent run of success (9-1 heading into the deadline) convinced Portland it could climb all the way into the Play-In.
Trot out all the excuses you can think of, and it still fails to excuse the Blazers' inaction. This is a rebuilding team saddled with a few bad deals but plenty of decent ones that could have brought back future-focused assets.
By sitting out the action entirely, Portland only prolonged its stay in the NBA wilderness.

.

https://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/10153346-grading-every-teams-2025-nba-trade-deadline

Portland Trail Blazers: D+
Portland's recent success may have been a bit blinding. The Trail Blazers have won nine of 10, but they needed to do a better job separating the outcome from the components of it that actually mattered. Their young players are thriving. Great! Nobody was suggesting a Scoot Henderson trade. Moving some of their veterans, though, was probably necessary. Robert Williams III is healthy now. His track record suggests that may not last much longer. Jerami Grant's contract is a time bomb, but he's still useful enough to good teams that he probably could have been moved for value. But Portland, as it has done for several transaction cycles, continues to overvalue its veterans. Having Grant around isn't going to do those youngsters any good in two years if his contract prevents the Blazers from improving around them. A decent return for Williams now might have looked great later if he gets hurt again. With Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe starting to come into their own, it might even be time to explore Anfernee Simons trades. Maybe the Blazers clear some of the veterans out over the summer, but the longer they wait, the harder it could be.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-trade-deadline-grades-for-every-team-lakers-spurs-ace-moves-mavericks-among-three-teams-with-an-f/

Oof, what’s done is done but the reviews from around the league are not kind on POR inaction and as confused as most of us are.

OTOH, I think Cronin hit\repeated every talking point I predicted he would

[Walton1one]

Did anyone else see this? lol...

Watch on YouTube

[DeBlazerRiddem]

It's a pretty abject failure IMO.

I get you can make arguments for each individual player why we might keep them, but if we couldn't even find any move to help with future goals then that is still our GM's fault for putting us in that situation. It looks like the team expects itself to be a playoff team next year, bet Chicago is just thrilled we will actually be giving them a real pick sooner rather than later.

One thing I have never understood is the idea that expiring contracts suddenly have value. All they do different is allow you to take on bad salary and gain assets, like a less useful version of capspace. If its an actually useful player that other teams want they would prefer them locked in a contract, they aren't going to give any grand value for a guy they have to immediately resign, chances are they would rather try and poach him in free agency then give up real assets and have other teams potentially poach them. But that's a windmill I have tilted at enough and the perception remains that for some reason teams will give more for a player that could walk from them.

[Norm2953]

It'll be interesting to see if the Lakers make another run at Ayton this off season, now that
the Mark Williams trade was rescinded

[dckingsfan]

Did anyone else see this? lol...

Watch on YouTube

[Wizenheimer]

It's a pretty abject failure IMO.

I get you can make arguments for each individual player why we might keep them, but if we couldn't even find any move to help with future goals then that is still our GM's fault for putting us in that situation. It looks like the team expects itself to be a playoff team next year, bet Chicago is just thrilled we will actually be giving them a real pick sooner rather than later.

One thing I have never understood is the idea that expiring contracts suddenly have value. All they do different is allow you to take on bad salary and gain assets, like a less useful version of capspace. If its an actually useful player that other teams want they would prefer them locked in a contract, they aren't going to give any grand value for a guy they have to immediately resign, chances are they would rather try and poach him in free agency then give up real assets and have other teams potentially poach them. But that's a windmill I have tilted at enough and the perception remains that for some reason teams will give more for a player that could walk from them.

yeah, every year it seems the potential of expiring contracts in the following season takes on major value in peoples' minds. Then the following season arrives and runs it's course, and it seems about 9 times out of 10, a team's expiring contracts just expire

I think there are two main reasons for that: one is that most times, a team's expiring contract(s) has/have more value to that team than any other team. And the other is that most of the offers for expiring contracts is for longer-term salary, often for worse players, and usually some mediocre draft compensation

it's also an issue of scale. An expiring contract of 10-15M may have some versatile flexibility in trade options. But in this new CBA Portland's expiring contracts may be so large they are worthless as expiring contracts. The Blazers big 3 contracts are for 28M, 32M, and 36M. Those are very likely to be unmovable from Portland's POV. I mean they start out next season with 2-4M more in guaranteed salary than they currently have; and their 1st round pick could make that 8-12M more and put them 25-30M over the salary cap, and once again,flirting with the luxury tax line

I'm sorry, but in this case people chattering about next year's expiring contracts only has one real function and that's to excuse Cronin's lack of activity

[Walton1one]

I think it is wishful thinking to expect Cronin to trade any of the vets this offseason. He has no financial pressure to do so, there are no teams that are willing to meet whatever stupid value he is demanding for them and he won't trade them for little\no value b\c he has to try and preserve whatever he can in the hopes he can get lucky and a team desperate or stupid enough will meet his demands.

I hope new ownership has taken over before the next offseason or Cronin has been scapegoated by Jodi\bert and fired, otherwise it could get real ugly. I don't think his intention is to let any of those guys walk away for nothing. I find it totally believable that he would overpay to resign them, if for nothing else just preserving the "asset\value" that he thinks he may get one day.

[tblazrdude]

OK, but what about Toumani Camara, an affordable, defensively dominant forward any contender would have ponied up a first-rounder to acquire? He didn't get traded either?

.

https://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/10153346-grading-every-teams-2025-nba-trade-deadline

Okay 'Portland should trade Toumani Camara' thing has reached Jarace Walker proportions. I never understood the rationale of moving off a 2nd year player just because--what, he's a little older?

This rebuild is so labyrinthine that Camara might be the one main piece the team can circle around. Any other comment he had was invalidated by that Camara bit.

[zzaj]

OK, but what about Toumani Camara, an affordable, defensively dominant forward any contender would have ponied up a first-rounder to acquire? He didn't get traded either?

.

https://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/10153346-grading-every-teams-2025-nba-trade-deadline

Okay 'Portland should trade Toumani Camara' thing has reached Jarace Walker proportions. I never understood the rationale of moving off a 2nd year player just because--what, he's a little older?

This rebuild is so labyrinthine that Camara might be the one main piece the team can circle around. Any other comment he had was invalidated by that Camara bit.

First of all, these types of "Team Grades" tend to be pretty team tone-deaf--and this one seems to fall in line with that.

I haven't seen any other media criticize the Blazers for not-trading Camara. In fact, I've only seen them call out the Blazers for finding a diamond in the rough.

There are a lot of hubris-filled, hack writers out there who think good, small market players only should be playing on big market teams--usually teams they are associated with.

[Case2012]

I think if anyone on this team has a real chance if being a real 2 way star it's Camara and i think it's because of his age this has been overlooked. If he was 20, we would all be calling him the next blazers superstar. He checks all the boxes. If we gave him all of Grants shots, or Simons shots, or eve Sharpe's, he would be a 18-22 ppg player and with his defense, he would absolutely be a star. If we luck into Bailey, Flagg ir even Harper, i would not sacrifice his starting role for Deni who we paid an obscene price for. I would rather sell high on Deni and combine our lottery pick with him to move into the top 3 somehow. It was it was insane to give up that MIL pick for a win now type player, on top of our other lottery pick that could have been used to get Knecht on a rookie deal.

Anyways, I think it makes more sense to build around Camara and his skillset than Sharpe or Scoot who have very questionable motors. Someone compared Edwards to Sharpe and i choked on my bbq, Sharpe has all the tools but has a 78 iq and no motor. Hell maybe you keep Deni and dump Sharpe? Like if we got the first pic by some miracle, I'm pairing flagg with Camara and Deni in the starting lineup. Scoot,Camara,Flagg,Deni,Clingan. Defensively that team is sick. You just need to groom Camara into a 18 shot a game guy and have him be the number 2/3 option.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Camara is the one player i would not trade on the roster. I'm gonna look for more defensive players and build around that.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Wanted Grant + others gone for Ben Simmons’ god awful but short contract plus any draft capital (1 1st rounder) to re-set the team salary. Or even Middleton’s this year plus a p-opt next year. So I’m not looking for the Blazers to WIN on their veteran trades as much as (1) get the roster cleaned up and (2) get some useful assets back. Not too much to ask IMHO.

I’m not sold on Scoot as the PGOTF. Possible, yes. I recognize that Demin has some serious improvement to do. And Jakucionis may not translate well given his below the rim game. I am an unrepentant sucker for the 6’6 to 6’8 distributor PGs.

I’m already looking beyond this season except for watching the younger Blazers improve. The 25 and older types? Don’t much care.