Post#540 » by Walton1one » Fri Jan 3, 2025 7:14 pm
As someone who is on the get Simons out of here brigade and not a fan of Cronin at all, I am going to disagree with the prevailing sentiment here and elsewhere that ALL of POR vets are not worth much. I just flat out disagree with that sentiment.
I think especially with POR fans, we get to see their play (and flaws) every day and I know it has left me jaded about their value, but as another poster on this board posted a while back, teams do not view these players under the same lens that we do, and teams generally don't discount the worth of players b\c 30 games into a season they are not performing as they have historically, I just don't think that is how this works.
I also think it would be unwise to think that teams are not aware of the situation in POR regarding the veteran players:
- That Ant wants out
- That Grant knows he is on the trading block
- That RW3 (and Thybulle) are just playing out their contracts until they can sign elsewhere
Do you really think these vets are going to go 110% knowing their and the team's current situation? I surely don't. They are just going through the motions for the most part, until they are inevitably shut down for tank season, AGAIN.
Also, everyone wants to talk about a depressed trading market b\c DFS went for (3) 2nd's, however very few even bother to note WHY BRK opted for the LAL over MEM deal in the first place. The fact they had (4) 1st's in 25' already (3) likely in the 20's. The fact that MEM wanted BRK 25' 2nd back, which esesntially was a swap of about 10-15 spots, or that they had to take non-expiring salary back (Konchar) which they clearly are avoiding.
So DFS WAS worth a 1st, BRK just elected NOT to take that deal b\c it did not meet THEIR priorities.
Lastly, I think that this whole CBA talk and how it is going to cause teams to not want to take on big contracts or give value (1st round picks/young players) for them is WAY overblown at this point. As is the "fear" of 1st apron, which is not as restrictive as many are claiming it to be, the 2nd apron? Yeah, stay away from that unless you are at the endgame (championship or bust), but trading with a team above the 1st apron basically means they have to send out more than they take in and IF they are "hard capped" (5 teams - DEN\LAL\MIA\NYK\PHI) the amount they send back to a team under the apron must be within 110% (instead of 125%), these are not as restrictive to making a deal as some would believe.
I do think teams generally would like to avoid LONG TERM (3+ years) high $$ obligations, that makes some practical sense, but then again it is all dependent on what that team's salary structure & timeline is.
That is why IMO, Grant may likely be the hardest to move given he has 3yrs left @ $32/$34/$36 (player option, ugh), trading him is going to require the right team.
DA would be 2nd hardest IMO, but he is also a FA after NEXT season ($35mil) so a team looking to take advantage of a large expiring deal to clear salary off their books, COULD have interest, but IMO probably not until next offseason at the earliest
Simons, RW3, Thybulle IMO are all very tradeable, depending how reasonable Cronin is about their value. I think Simons and RW3 can get a protected 1st back, Thybulle 1-2 2nd's
Simons is an expiring $27mil next year and the salary this year, less that 1/3 season in is at an already pro-rated cost ($16mil) to the team acquiring him. Oh yeah, and he is actually pretty good on the court.
Young (25), only has 1yr left on his current deal ($27mil), and is a career 38.1% 3pt shooter on high volume (6.2/att) and has averaged over 20ppg over the last 2 years. He is a volume scorer and good outside shooter, PLENTY of teams have a use for that and 1yr of a contract is negligible to most teams.
He would be a clear upgrade for MANY teams (DET\ORL are obvious), and both those teams could likely acquire him w\o negatively affecting their core rotation, which would also be beneficial.
