2019 Offseason, June 30th 3PM PT.

[Jsun947]

Reports are now Westbrook is working with the Thunder on finding a trade destination... so maybe they move him after all..

[PDXKnight]

Reports are now Westbrook is working with the Thunder on finding a trade destination... so maybe they move him after all..

They’d better move him east

[BlazersBroncos]

The PG trade made it inevitable that Russ was on the move sooner or later.

The Grant trade made it clear that Russ was immenitley on the move.

I actually love what Presti is doing. Its clear that duo, with that cash strapped team, wasnt going anywhere. Tear it down and rebuild. Its the direction I would want Portland to go if we didnt make it to the WCF, albeit that may have been a bit of a mirage as this teams talent level is closer to OKC than the top tier in the West. Then again, the dynamic is different as playoff teams with the culture and chemistry of Portland right now generally dont get torn down. OKC was a combination of toxicity from its stars, overpaid loafs and a pie-in-the-sky deal from LAC.

But, ya, Presti is making the right move in rebuilding.

[Showdown]

Blazers should go for Galinari

[PDXKnight]

The PG trade made it inevitable that Russ was on the move sooner or later.

The Grant trade made it clear that Russ was immenitley on the move.

I actually love what Presti is doing. Its clear that duo, with that cash strapped team, wasnt going anywhere. Tear it down and rebuild. Its the direction I would want Portland to go if we didnt make it to the WCF, albeit that may have been a bit of a mirage as this teams talent level is closer to OKC than the top tier in the West. Then again, the dynamic is different as playoff teams with the culture and chemistry of Portland right now generally dont get torn down. OKC was a combination of toxicity from its stars, overpaid loafs and a pie-in-the-sky deal from LAC.

But, ya, Presti is making the right move in rebuilding.

Okc might’ve made the wrong move dealing grant before Westbrook as it might have brought down russ’s Price tag although I can’t argue with the return they got

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Absolutely. The hardest guys in the league to defend, the guys who can destroy a defense and win a championship, are those forwards like Paul George, Kawhi, Durant (next season), Giannis, LeBron, etc... The kind of guys who Harkless and Aminu specialized in defending. I can see if we had to cut corner and give up one, but why did we give up any and all our players with the ability to slow that type of player... they are going to be murdering us all season long. Its a huge hole in our defense that we cannot plug by committee and if we thought those players did well against us last season we have another thing coming. Anyone 6'8 who can handle the ball has the Blazers circled on their schedule as a night to get theirs.

Hopefully little can contribute immediately

Yikes, what I've seen from Summer League is not very promising. Either he keeps getting lost in screens or his lateral mobility was overstated. That's also assuming he can develop enough offensively to keep him on the floor for his defense.

I don't agree with it but maybe we figured we can't stop those guys with Aminu and Harkless so why bother bogging down our offense to do it....

I do kind of get that logic, its why I was careful to say "slow" instead of "stop" and why I get not having two guys (Aminu+Harkless) who both kind of fill the same niche.

But I am still of the opinion that defense wins championships. If you have your biggest defensive hole at the hardest position to stop, then we might feast against 80% of the league in the regular season but will die to the 20% of teams that have a player like that in the post-season.

I am happy that we split up Aminu/Harkless to gain more shooting, I just wish we hadn't gone all the way with it.

[Wizenheimer]

Blazers should go for Galinari

I'd probably do Bazemore and a 1st for Gallo, but my god that would leave the Blazers sucking at wing

**********************************************************************************

I'm looking at the Blazer roster and what's happening in the West right now and I'm wondering if Olshey has been getting too much credit for his off-season moves

right now

out - Aminu-Harkless-Kanter-Curry-Turner-Layman-Meyers

in - Whiteside-Bazemore-Hezonja-Tolliver-Little

I look at that and have a hard time seeing this year's team as better than last year's team. Everything would have to break in the right direction to make this year's team better. And there's a lot of room for failure with this current team

[d-train]

The PG trade made it inevitable that Russ was on the move sooner or later.

The Grant trade made it clear that Russ was immenitley on the move.

I actually love what Presti is doing. Its clear that duo, with that cash strapped team, wasnt going anywhere. Tear it down and rebuild. Its the direction I would want Portland to go if we didnt make it to the WCF, albeit that may have been a bit of a mirage as this teams talent level is closer to OKC than the top tier in the West. Then again, the dynamic is different as playoff teams with the culture and chemistry of Portland right now generally dont get torn down. OKC was a combination of toxicity from its stars, overpaid loafs and a pie-in-the-sky deal from LAC.

But, ya, Presti is making the right move in rebuilding.

What was Presti supposed to do when PG comes to him and says I want to be traded? Add to that, the Clippers are willing to give an up and coming potential franchise player in Alexander on a rookie contract. Plus they get 5 1st round picks and 2 swaps. I think Presti's choice was an absolute no-brainer. He would probably rather keep George and continue to build around him and Westbrook, but that is always assuming your stars are buying into your plan and want to lead your team.

[d-train]

Blazers should go for Galinari

I like Bazemore better. I would rather not trade for Gallo.

[Jsun947]

Blazers should go for Galinari

I'd probably do Bazemore and a 1st for Gallo, but my god that would leave the Blazers sucking at wing

**********************************************************************************

I'm looking at the Blazer roster and what's happening in the West right now and I'm wondering if Olshey has been getting too much credit for his off-season moves

right now

out - Aminu-Harkless-Kanter-Curry-Turner-Layman-Meyers

in - Whiteside-Bazemore-Hezonja-Tolliver-Little

I look at that and have a hard time seeing this year's team as better than last year's team. Everything would have to break in the right direction to make this year's team better. And there's a lot of room for failure with this current team

Couldn't agree more. I understand all the implications with luxury tax, and the repeater, and everything else, and I don't even dislike the moves on singular basis in a vacuum.

Drafting Little = Good
Signing Tolliver = Good
Signing Hezonja = Good
Hanging Onto Hood = Good
Trading Turner For Bazemore = Good
Trading Meyers and Harkless for Whiteside = Fine I Suppose

We all kinda figured we'd lose Kanter and Curry in free agency and losing Layman is nothing to be upset about.

It just seems like we took opportunity of what was in front of us but without a clear plan for what the roster would look like in the end.

In retrospect I think we would have been better off resigning Kanter, still trading for Bazemore, trading Harkless and Leonard for Gallinari and Grant, and resigned Aminu, all of which I think we could have done in hindsight.

[d-train]

The way Leonard, Davis, Durant, George, and Butler have bounced around from team to team should give anyone pause when these quiter's are offered up for trade again. Teams have to make huge investment in their stars, you want people that are committed to the same goal as your team. I'm not saying these trades should be dismissed, but you have to look at quiter's as a final piece and not as a building block because they are proven quiter's.

[BlazersBroncos]

I prefer the idea of Bazemore on this team moving forward, but would reluctantly trade him and a FRP for Gallo. This team lacks a 3rd ballhandler who can create and Danilo is just that.

Ideally, we could wait until Nurkic is healthy and then move Whiteside + FRP for Danilo. Or, if Hassan is playing well, simply move Whiteside for Gallo (May have to be a 3 team deal). Lillard/McCollum/Bazemore/Gallinari/Nurkic is a great lineup with Hood/Zach off the bench. Really love that.

[d-train]

I'm looking at the Blazer roster and what's happening in the West right now and I'm wondering if Olshey has been getting too much credit for his off-season moves

right now

out - Aminu-Harkless-Kanter-Curry-Turner-Layman-Meyers

in - Whiteside-Bazemore-Hezonja-Tolliver-Little

I look at that and have a hard time seeing this year's team as better than last year's team. Everything would have to break in the right direction to make this year's team better. And there's a lot of room for failure with this current team

This is a fair question to ask and we can answer it after next season is over. It's easy to see our goal is to improve our rebounding especially when we don't have Nurkic for most of the season. Also, we might have slightly improved shooting when you consider the minutes played by Aminu and Harkless are going to be played by Bazemore, Collins, Hood, Tolliver, Mario, Simons, and Trent. Also, we improved shot creation with the ball with a full season of Hood, Mario, Bazemore, and more PT for Simons. It's hard to project what we will be worse at doing, likely nothing. Sure, we lost some quality people, but ultimately it's all about what we can do with Lillard and CJ. The new supporting cast should be better than the previous one. Afterall, the previous support cast failed to rebound in the later stages of the playoffs against Nuggets and Warriors.

[PDXKnight]

Blazers should go for Galinari

I'd probably do Bazemore and a 1st for Gallo, but my god that would leave the Blazers sucking at wing

**********************************************************************************

I'm looking at the Blazer roster and what's happening in the West right now and I'm wondering if Olshey has been getting too much credit for his off-season moves

right now

out - Aminu-Harkless-Kanter-Curry-Turner-Layman-Meyers

in - Whiteside-Bazemore-Hezonja-Tolliver-Little

I look at that and have a hard time seeing this year's team as better than last year's team. Everything would have to break in the right direction to make this year's team better. And there's a lot of room for failure with this current team

Hopefully whiteside or bazemore’s expiring is lucrative to someone. Perhaps we can take on a couple role players on 2-3 year deals for bazemore if a team is looking to blow it up? Teams still have plenty of pieces they’ll likely try to move with the major landscape changes going on in the nba

[HoopsFanAZ]

In looking up and down the rosters of 10 teams in the West who are more or less likely to make the coming season's playoffs, I see exactly no one with a lock. No team to "fear" their improvements for the upcoming season. No team who has the Blazers' number. With the improvement of the offseason signings and trade, I much prefer this lineup to last year's (including Kanter and Hood's arrival).

A couple shrewd minimum picks yet to do ... BUT I've already said I see the Blazers as a 50+ win team. Home court advantage in the 1st round. I am more hopeful today than I've been in a LONG time of watching the Blazers (since 1970). This is looking like a team.

[I still really want the Blazers to trade Hassan Whiteside for Steven Adams.]

[zzaj]

For someone who understands the team payroll rules better than me...

Is it still possible for the Blazers to sign Joakim Noah and Jeremy Lin? I understand there would be tax ramifications.

[Wizenheimer]

For someone who understands the team payroll rules better than me...

Is it still possible for the Blazers to sign Joakim Noah and Jeremy Lin? I understand there would be tax ramifications.

Sure

Blazers have two open roster slots and they could sign them for vet minimum deals. It would add about 3.3M in salary and 8-9M in tax. Their 'current' tax bill is about 23-24M since they are 13M over the line (current higest payroll in the league)

but the tax isn't calculated till the season ends so they could reduce their obligation with a trade before the deadline

[d-train]

For someone who understands the team payroll rules better than me...

Is it still possible for the Blazers to sign Joakim Noah and Jeremy Lin? I understand there would be tax ramifications.

I'm not a Jeremy Lin fan. I expect players that come off the bench to make a contribution on defense.

[No-Man]

Is this the current roster?

Lillard-Simons
McCollum-Trent-Hezonja
Hood-Bazemore-Hoard
Collins-Tolliver-Little
Whiteside-Labissière
+Nurkic whenever he is back

Man, I love Dame, but that's pretty rough, unless guys like Simons, Trent and Skal really pick it up, I like Trent a lot so maybe

You also have a ton of negative BBIQ players, Whiteside, Skal, Hezonja, Hoard, Little have very little feel for the game

[DusterBuster]

Not Blazer related, but I am getting some enjoyment out of the Thunder changes. The idea of them sending Russ to Miami is particularly ironic since two of the eleventy billion picks the Clippers sent them are from Miami, so if they send Russ to the Heat, he's gonna hurt the value of those picks. Will Presti still do it know that he'll be hurting the value of some of his assets by doing so?