Portland - 2016 Offseason

[Blazer50]

Looking at the Toronto cap situation - it appears that the Blazers would have a good shot at acquiring Bismack Biyombo. Maybe a reach based on one playoff series, but he does bring the defensive presence they have been seeking. $15 to $17M.

In my opinion, Portland should offer Ed Davis to Milwaukee for Greg Monroe who would give Stott's an offensive post player - good passer and rebounder. His skills would work well with CJ and Lillard by making other teams defend the post leaving more space the on the 3 pt line. Monroe also has a good midrange game which would leave the lanes open for Dame and CJ to drive. Monroe does have Good hands for steals and the PNR plays the ED was so successful with. The Bucks defensive problems this year were much more than simply bringing Monroe on board. If Monroe is the disaster some claim - its a 2 year commitment with $17M coming off the books.

It could work to sign Biyombo and acquire Monroe in a trade without moving any major players.

[Jsun947]

Monroe is not a good mid range shooter. About 29% of his shots came outside the restricted area and inside the three point line. He made 40% of those shots.

He has proven he can't play with another player who can't shoot and he's proven to suck on defense. His defensive rebounding is not good either.

Think a smaller, worse rebounding, Kanter but with better passing.

[Jsun947]

I'm assuming we aren't going to get the big name free agents, or even a step down. Horford, Whiteside, Howard, James, Durant, Parsons, Batum, etc.

This would be my plan
Sign Leuer for 25.8/4 years
Sign Aldrich for 30.1/4 years
Sign Turner for 43.1/4 years
Trade Plumlee for cap space and a future pick of some kind.

If Meyers, Crabbe, and Harkless get offered contracts we can match, and still be able to trade them into cap space then match them. I don't care how far we go over the salary cap, or how close we get to luxury tax.

Worst case scenario it gives us assets that we can trade moving forward. Worst case scenario we can dump them at the deadline, or next off season to create the cap space needed to go after a different free agent.

[Soulyss]

I'm assuming we aren't going to get the big name free agents, or even a step down. Horford, Whiteside, Howard, James, Durant, Parsons, Batum, etc.

This would be my plan
Sign Leuer for 25.8/4 years
Sign Aldrich for 30.1/4 years
Sign Turner for 43.1/4 years
Trade Plumlee for cap space and a future pick of some kind.

If Meyers, Crabbe, and Harkless get offered contracts we can match, and still be able to trade them into cap space then match them. I don't care how far we go over the salary cap, or how close we get to luxury tax.

Worst case scenario it gives us assets that we can trade moving forward. Worst case scenario we can dump them at the deadline, or next off season to create the cap space needed to go after a different free agent.

Wow that is horribly depressing...

[Jsun947]

Better team than we had last year. That's not too depressing.

[Wickzki]

I'd rather Plumlee over both of those bigs.

[jhern87]

It's crazy to me how many Blazer fans are so quick to give up on Plumlee. Almost every scenario I've seen thrown out where we give him up is a lateral move at best and just has a "grass is greener" / "move him to make a trade" type of feel.

I think fans drastically underrate his passing ability and ability to run the floor and the impact it has on opening up our offense. Having a big guy that Dame & CJ can dish to and cut / get open around, who is able to get them the ball when they're open is a truly a valuable asset that very few other big men can execute. Seeing how the league is evolving I'd much rather keep Plumlee and add a shooter at the 4 like Anderson or Leur than bring in a big that isn't able to dish out of the post like Howard.

Just my $.02.

[PDXKnight]

It's crazy to me how many Blazer fans are so quick to give up on Plumlee. Almost every scenario I've seen thrown out where we give him up is a lateral move at best and just has a "grass is greener" / "move him to make a trade" type of feel.

I think fans drastically underrate his passing ability and ability to run the floor and the impact it has on opening up our offense. Having a big guy that Dame & CJ can dish to and cut / get open around, who is able to get them the ball when they're open is a truly a valuable asset that very few other big men can execute. Seeing how the league is evolving I'd much rather keep Plumlee and add a shooter at the 4 like Anderson or Leur than bring in a big that isn't able to dish out of the post like Howard.

Just my $.02.

Honestly for me it all comes down to salary cap hits. Biyombo has played well but he could be a 17 million dollar cap hit and provides little offense. Plumlee isn't the best center imo but he is still on his rookie contract which buys us some cap flexibility.

[Wizenheimer]

It's crazy to me how many Blazer fans are so quick to give up on Plumlee. Almost every scenario I've seen thrown out where we give him up is a lateral move at best and just has a "grass is greener" / "move him to make a trade" type of feel.

I think fans drastically underrate his passing ability and ability to run the floor and the impact it has on opening up our offense. Having a big guy that Dame & CJ can dish to and cut / get open around, who is able to get them the ball when they're open is a truly a valuable asset that very few other big men can execute. Seeing how the league is evolving I'd much rather keep Plumlee and add a shooter at the 4 like Anderson or Leur than bring in a big that isn't able to dish out of the post like Howard.

Just my $.02.

I was thinking along those line but then I realized that the value of Plumlee's passing ability to Portland is distorted because Portland has a big deficit in play-making. Lillard is the only PG and he's a score-first PG with average play-making skills. CJ is only an average play-maker among SG's. That's it; there's no one else but Plumlee. This is a major roster issue

if Portland had a starting SF good at play-making, for instance, somebody similar to Batum, they would not be so reliant on Plumlee's play-making and could more easily consider upgrading their interior defense by adding a rim protector at C. Also, a real backup PG would help a little in this regard. CJ doesn't run the offense like a good backup PG would

besides all that, Plumlee only has one year left on his rookie deal, same as CJ. Portland's roster could get ridiculously expensive over the next 14 months if they don't make some hard decisions

[jhern87]

It's crazy to me how many Blazer fans are so quick to give up on Plumlee. Almost every scenario I've seen thrown out where we give him up is a lateral move at best and just has a "grass is greener" / "move him to make a trade" type of feel.

I think fans drastically underrate his passing ability and ability to run the floor and the impact it has on opening up our offense. Having a big guy that Dame & CJ can dish to and cut / get open around, who is able to get them the ball when they're open is a truly a valuable asset that very few other big men can execute. Seeing how the league is evolving I'd much rather keep Plumlee and add a shooter at the 4 like Anderson or Leur than bring in a big that isn't able to dish out of the post like Howard.

Just my $.02.

I was thinking along those line but then I realized that the value of Plumlee's passing ability to Portland is distorted because Portland has a big deficit in play-making. Lillard is the only PG and he's a score-first PG with average play-making skills. CJ is only an average play-maker among SG's. That's it; there's no one else but Plumlee. This is a major roster issue

if Portland had a starting SF good at play-making, for instance, somebody similar to Batum, they would not be so reliant on Plumlee's play-making and could more easily consider upgrading their interior defense by adding a rim protector at C. Also, a real backup PG would help a little in this regard. CJ doesn't run the offense like a good backup PG would

besides all that, Plumlee only has one year left on his rookie deal, same as CJ. Portland's roster could get ridiculously expensive over the next 14 months if they don't make some hard decisions

So you're saying Plumlee is only making plays because nobody else can? I could see that being a reason he's getting more attempts but regardless the guy can pass the ball and our offense is effective when he does so. it's a huge IF but if he's able to develop a somewhat reliable midrange jumper he could be a real weapon on offense.

To be honest, knowing that he's almost due for an extension is one of the only reasons I'd consider trading him but then when you see who's available it almost makes you want to see if we can just keep him on a decent long term deal. Difficult decisions to be made, for sure.

[Wizenheimer]

It's crazy to me how many Blazer fans are so quick to give up on Plumlee. Almost every scenario I've seen thrown out where we give him up is a lateral move at best and just has a "grass is greener" / "move him to make a trade" type of feel.

I think fans drastically underrate his passing ability and ability to run the floor and the impact it has on opening up our offense. Having a big guy that Dame & CJ can dish to and cut / get open around, who is able to get them the ball when they're open is a truly a valuable asset that very few other big men can execute. Seeing how the league is evolving I'd much rather keep Plumlee and add a shooter at the 4 like Anderson or Leur than bring in a big that isn't able to dish out of the post like Howard.

Just my $.02.

I was thinking along those line but then I realized that the value of Plumlee's passing ability to Portland is distorted because Portland has a big deficit in play-making. Lillard is the only PG and he's a score-first PG with average play-making skills. CJ is only an average play-maker among SG's. That's it; there's no one else but Plumlee. This is a major roster issue

if Portland had a starting SF good at play-making, for instance, somebody similar to Batum, they would not be so reliant on Plumlee's play-making and could more easily consider upgrading their interior defense by adding a rim protector at C. Also, a real backup PG would help a little in this regard. CJ doesn't run the offense like a good backup PG would

besides all that, Plumlee only has one year left on his rookie deal, same as CJ. Portland's roster could get ridiculously expensive over the next 14 months if they don't make some hard decisions

So you're saying Plumlee is only making plays because nobody else can?.

no, that's not what I'm saying. Plumlee is a good passer for a C, no doubt about that.

but if that has high value in the Blazer offense, it's because the rest of the roster is pretty weak in play-making. If there were more guys capable of initiating some team offense, Plumlee's passing wouldn't be such a significant need. Then, Portland could think about upgrading the interior defense without having a somewhat distorted view of Plumlee's passing ability. The C position is where teams can park rim-protectors and paint-patrollers, and there are some free agents who fit that description this summer

Plumlee only averaged 2.8 assists a game this year. I think Portland could afford to lose 1-2 assists/game from their C position if the trade-off was added rim-protection and interior defense

don't get me wrong, I like Plumlee too. However, I've concluded that Portland really needs to upgrade their defense and it sure seems the C position is the easiest and best position to accomplish that. It wouldn't be a giant upgrade in any event. With Dame/CJ logging 70 minutes a game, and with the possibility of Crabbe getting a bunch of the minutes left over, Portland's perimeter defense is going to suck, maybe for years

[DaVoiceMaster]

I do like having a big who can pass like that. He had 2.8 assists for the year, but didn't he pick up the assists more after the All Star game? It seems like he was doing a bit better than that, but that's just my weak memory. Having said that, I'm not opposed to either replace or add a bigger center. Plumlee got smashed in the Warriors series. Either get stronger or get closer to the basket before leaving the ground. It's kinda funny the difference Plumlee played in the two series ... He was a God in the Clippers series, but he was a goat in the Warriors series.

[Wizenheimer]

I do like having a big who can pass like that. He had 2.8 assists for the year, but didn't he pick up the assists more after the All Star game? It seems like he was doing a bit better than that, but that's just my weak memory. Having said that, I'm not opposed to either replace or add a bigger center. Plumlee got smashed in the Warriors series. Either get stronger or get closer to the basket before leaving the ground. It's kinda funny the difference Plumlee played in the two series ... He was a God in the Clippers series, but he was a goat in the Warriors series.

that Clipper series was tailor-made for Plumlee. The Clips were completely selling out to stop Portland's perimeter game. When Plumlee caught the ball around the foul line, he not only had no defenders near him, he had plenty of open passing lanes. To his credit, he made smart passes and was also a beast on the boards

the Warriors didn't leave him that space though and the combination of Jordan and Aldrich was just to big, strong, and long for Plumlee.

[Norm2953]

I see Kevin Durant is looking at SA and the GSW if he decides to leave OKC. While its
likely he'll end up staying in OKC, I'd be curious to see how NO builds this team for
next season for the division champion Thunder with future max contracts for Durant,
Westbrook, Adams and others like Kantner, Ibaka making big $$$. It might do NO
well to take a measured approach to FA and look at the trade market as opposed
to overpaying for a free agent.

[skoharry]

portland outgoing - mccollum, plumlee, & vonleh
portland incoming - stauskus, okafor, & #1

atlanta outgoing - teague & patterson
atlanta incoming - mcconnell, plumlee, & #24

philadelphia outgoing - stauskus, okafor, mcconnell, & #1/#24
philadelphia incoming - teague, mccollum, & patterson

we then either draft someone to replace mccollum or trade #1 with vonleh for someone to replace mccollum
somethink like vonleh, aminu, & #1 to CHI for gibson, butler, & #14

we then resign crabbe & harkless
sign r.sessions, dudley & mahinmi to fill the rest of the roster

so our team would look like this
PG - lillard/sessions/montero
SG - butler/crabbe/stauskus
SF - harkless/dudley/connaughton
PF - gibson/davis/alexander
C - okafor/mahinmi

i know this is a pipe dream, but that would be a pretty lethal defensive squad.

[DusterBuster]

Terrible for Philly.

And terrible for me for having to read and respond to yet another CJ for Okafor trade.

[DaVoiceMaster]

You traded Vonleh twice

[Jsun947]

Wiz, The problem with upgrading from Plumlee to a rim protecting C is adding that other play maker in the line-up.

To complicate it even more, our offense sucks when we have two players on the floor together that can't shoot.

That play maker would have to be at the PF spot (really Lebron, Griffin, and Green might be the only ones in the NBA) or would have to be a small forward.

So really that leaves two options

Play making SF who can shoot + Defensive center
Or
Defensive Center who can shoot + play making SF

How many defensive centers that can shoot are in the NBA? How many play making SFs that can shoot are in the NBA? Then how many of those guys are obtainable?

I think it will be extremelly hard to do both. However I'd give up Plumlee's passing for a defensive anchor in a heart beat.

[Downtown]

Isn't that what we've been discussing in the centre upgrade thread? We certainly haven't brought up the likes of Biyumbo and Aldrich for their scoring. and I imagine that's why Dwight Howard gets brought up because he can score and be a presence defensively. So if we want a big man that can do it all be prepared to pay a huge amount in free agency. If you want to spread the money around then a tandem of Plumlee and Aldrich might be a better option.

It's a tough call. I still like the idea of going for a Dwight Powell type. He hasn't wowed anyone but his stats are similar to Trey Lyles from Utah who everyone seems to love. Powell puts up 5.8 points a game on just a little over 4 attempts and is a good young defender with loads of effort.

If Dallas has Howard on an offer sheet I'd go for Powell and see what Cuban does. Maybe Olshey would get him and maybe not. But it might keep enough money free to then find a good perimeter player and still keep a couple of our own free agents.

[skoharry]

Wiz, The problem with upgrading from Plumlee to a rim protecting C is adding that other play maker in the line-up.

To complicate it even more, our offense sucks when we have two players on the floor together that can't shoot.

That play maker would have to be at the PF spot (really Lebron, Griffin, and Green might be the only ones in the NBA) or would have to be a small forward.

So really that leaves two options

Play making SF who can shoot + Defensive center
Or
Defensive Center who can shoot + play making SF

How many defensive centers that can shoot are in the NBA? How many play making SFs that can shoot are in the NBA? Then how many of those guys are obtainable?

I think it will be extremelly hard to do both. However I'd give up Plumlee's passing for a defensive anchor in a heart beat.

depends on which kind of defensive C we go after. if we include all ages, PF who can play C, & C's that can be traded for too...well there is cousins, p.gasol, j.noah, dieng, horford, j.henson, & hibbert