This summer

[Roy The Natural]

Is it just me or is trading a late first (maybe the Cleveland one?) for a future first or drafting a euro player not necessarily the worst thing? We have a lot of picks this year and a lot of guys are still locked in contracts, unless Olshey really loves 3 big men at the bottom of the first that's a lot of young players to add to the roster

Not only is it not the worst thing, it may be a priority. I don't think having 3 1st round rookies next season is ideal. I imagine it's tough to develop that many guys at once on a team trying to be successful

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

Really depends on what you're looking at. I'm not sure there's anything in the 10-12 range worth giving up the 15+19 for. In a vacuum it might seem decent... but I'm not impressed with anything in this draft in the 10-12 range at this point.

[Norm2953]

I tend to go back and fourth between offering up 15,19 for 9 or 10 in hopes that Zach Collins
would fill Portland's #1 need for a C/F or drafting Og at 15 and one of the other bigs at 19. Likely
Portland's draft strategy will be finalized after the pre-draft workouts and draft camps for if
the coaching staff feels all of the available bigs are more or less the same, just draft who falls
to them. Og if he can play next season might be a significant upgrade over Aminu and Harkless
in time.

[Norm2953]

Is it just me or is trading a late first (maybe the Cleveland one?) for a future first or drafting a euro player not necessarily the worst thing? We have a lot of picks this year and a lot of guys are still locked in contracts, unless Olshey really loves 3 big men at the bottom of the first that's a lot of young players to add to the roster

Not only is it not the worst thing, it may be a priority. I don't think having 3 1st round rookies next season is ideal. I imagine it's tough to develop that many guys at once on a team trying to be successful

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

Imagine what the fans would think if Portland's top two picks had last names Anonoby and Anigbogu? I like the idea of
20 and 23-26 for 16 or 17.

[Dame Lizard]

Is it just me or is trading a late first (maybe the Cleveland one?) for a future first or drafting a euro player not necessarily the worst thing? We have a lot of picks this year and a lot of guys are still locked in contracts, unless Olshey really loves 3 big men at the bottom of the first that's a lot of young players to add to the roster

Not only is it not the worst thing, it may be a priority. I don't think having 3 1st round rookies next season is ideal. I imagine it's tough to develop that many guys at once on a team trying to be successful

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

These are all good points. First up however, I'd like to see whether we can dump Leonard for the CLE or MEM pick. That Leonard + pick for Kyle O'Quinn deal mentioned previously would be a perfect result.

I agree that bringing in 3 rookies isn't the smartest decision, however trading up only makes sense if we're doing it for a player that we really, really like.

[Dame Lizard]

Meyers Leonard's contract might not be all that bad after all. There- I've got your attention (I should be a journalist...).

If we didn't sign Meyers to his horrendous 4/41 contract, there's a very good chance that the Nurkic trade wouldn't have gone ahead. We traded Plumlee for Nurkic, because of how hard it was going to be to resign Plumlee given the cap and the fact that Meyers could not possibly be our future starting centre.

Quite frankly, it's impossible to predict what would have happened (Olshey himself probably doesn't know, given the dynamic nature of this hypothetical discussion), however if we had extra cap room, I think there's a good chance that Olshey would have stuck with Plumlee going forwards. I mean we already had Plumlee, Ed Davis and an injury rehabbing Ezeli, so there's a chance that Olshey might have stuck with those three as our centres, or sign the cheapest possible centre they could (to perserve cap-space to resign Plumlee).

Alternatively, if we had signed another player instead of Meyers for that 4/41M contract (if we assume a decent center), that would also affect the eventual Nurkic trade you'd think?

Of course we can say "we could have had Nurkic AND not signed Meyers", but I'm trying to remove the hindsight out of this equation, given there are heaps of factors at play.

DISCLAIMER: This is optimistic me trying to deal with Meyers' contract situation.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Not only is it not the worst thing, it may be a priority. I don't think having 3 1st round rookies next season is ideal. I imagine it's tough to develop that many guys at once on a team trying to be successful

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

Imagine what the fans would think if Portland's top two picks had last names Anonoby and Anigbogu? I like the idea of
20 and 23-26 for 16 or 17.

I would want Mike Rice back just to hear him try and pronounce those names

[DusterBuster]

Meyers Leonard's contract might not be all that bad after all. There- I've got your attention (I should be a journalist...).

If we didn't sign Meyers to his horrendous 4/41 contract, there's a very good chance that the Nurkic trade wouldn't have gone ahead. We traded Plumlee for Nurkic, because of how hard it was going to be to resign Plumlee given the cap and the fact that Meyers could not possibly be our future starting centre.

Quite frankly, it's impossible to predict what would have happened (Olshey himself probably doesn't know, given the dynamic nature of this hypothetical discussion), however if we had extra cap room, I think there's a good chance that Olshey would have stuck with Plumlee going forwards. I mean we already had Plumlee, Ed Davis and an injury rehabbing Ezeli, so there's a chance that Olshey might have stuck with those three as our centres, or sign the cheapest possible centre they could (to perserve cap-space to resign Plumlee).

Alternatively, if we had signed another player instead of Meyers for that 4/41M contract (if we assume a decent center), that would also affect the eventual Nurkic trade you'd think?

Of course we can say "we could have had Nurkic AND not signed Meyers", but I'm trying to remove the hindsight out of this equation, given there are heaps of factors at play.

DISCLAIMER: This is optimistic me trying to deal with Meyers' contract situation.

I disagreed with resigning Leonard, but I understood Olshey's thinking of hoping that Leonard could be some sort of an asset. And to be fair, he may be. You let Leonard walk and you got nothing for him but 4 really **** years of what Meyers calls basketball. At least resigned, you can use him as salary filler to make a trade and you never know how that trade could work out in the end.

[Masterfully]

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

Imagine what the fans would think if Portland's top two picks had last names Anonoby and Anigbogu? I like the idea of
20 and 23-26 for 16 or 17.

I would want Mike Rice back just to hear him try and pronounce those names

We got 3 picks. Why not add Bam Adebayo?

[Brandon-Clyde]

Imagine what the fans would think if Portland's top two picks had last names Anonoby and Anigbogu? I like the idea of
20 and 23-26 for 16 or 17.

I would want Mike Rice back just to hear him try and pronounce those names

We got 3 picks. Why not add Bam Adebayo?

I actually believe Bam makes sense at one of our picks as he has the size to play both PF and center

[Norm2953]

Anonoby, Anigbogu and Adebayo...

[Tim Lehrbach]

Anonoby, Anigbogu and Adebayo...

...teaming up with Aminu.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Anonoby, Anigbogu and Adebayo...

...teaming up with Aminu.

And Allen
A A A A A

[Wizenheimer]

Anonoby, Anigbogu and Adebayo...

...teaming up with Aminu.

And Allen
A A A A A

too bad they let Affalo leave

[Blazinaway]

...teaming up with Aminu.

And Allen
A A A A A

too bad they let Affalo leave

Lets hope these "triple AAA's" have more game then the lower case "a's" we got now

[Wizenheimer]

First up however, I'd like to see whether we can dump Leonard for the CLE or MEM pick. That Leonard + pick for Kyle O'Quinn deal mentioned previously would be a perfect result.

I doubt the Blazers will get a useful player out of any Leonard + pick deal, and that particular trade doesn't work, this year or next, unless NY renounces Rose. If they did that, I'd seriously doubt they'd choose to burn 10 million in cap-space on Meyers...they already have to be suffering major buyer's remorse with Noah. Phil Jackson sure appears to have been a better coach then a GM

I agree that bringing in 3 rookies isn't the smartest decision, however trading up only makes sense if we're doing it for a player that we really, really like.

yeah, I mentioned that assumption as being key

Ezeli is gone so there is one open roster slot

Connaughton's salary is non-guaranteed so there's an option there. Trouble is he has actually looked like a functional NBA player lately and his 1 million salary is really attractive to a tax challenged team like the Blazers will be

on the other hand, Quarterman could easily be replaced by one of those draft picks, and that would still leave Ezeli's slot to either fill or leave open. I can see Portland quite readily using two of those picks. Even in the new CBA rookie scale salaries will be relatively cheap

agreed though that 3 picks seem like overkill

[Norm2953]

I do think there will be changes for this team was built this season with no expectation of an
interior post presence. Nurkic's arrival means the #4 scorer is going to get a lot of open looks.

I do think we can get either the backup center or that #4 scorer from the 15/16th pick. I'd
like to see us package 19/20 + 23/26 to move up to perhaps Miami's #14 spot which would
give us the 14th and 15/16th pick in the draft. LIkely the team will make no other major
moves other than seeing what it would take to move Meyers.

[PDXKnight]

I do think there will be changes for this team was built this season with no expectation of an
interior post presence. Nurkic's arrival means the #4 scorer is going to get a lot of open looks.

I do think we can get either the backup center or that #4 scorer from the 15/16th pick. I'd
like to see us package 19/20 + 23/26 to move up to perhaps Miami's #14 spot which would
give us the 14th and 15/16th pick in the draft. LIkely the team will make no other major
moves other than seeing what it would take to move Meyers.

If we package 2 picks to move up I'm hoping its to get up to at least 10-12. Late lotto picks are generally as much of a question mark as late firsts so why not just take 2 guys and hope 1 of them pans out?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Not only is it not the worst thing, it may be a priority. I don't think having 3 1st round rookies next season is ideal. I imagine it's tough to develop that many guys at once on a team trying to be successful

the other benefit is it punts the trade leverage of extra 1st round pick(s) forward. I don't think Portland could dump Turner or Meyers without attaching a pick right now (and maybe Crabbe as well after today's game), and that might be the case moving ahead too. So having a pick or two extra in the two or three drafts after this one may be a significant advantage

first though, I'd imagine the Blazers might want to see how high they could climb in the draft using a 2 for 1 swap. Would 15 + 19 get them to 12 or 10? Or would 20 + 25 get them to 17 or 16? This all assumes of course they like a player higher in the draft then they already are slotted

Imagine what the fans would think if Portland's top two picks had last names Anonoby and Anigbogu? I like the idea of
20 and 23-26 for 16 or 17.

Those are the two players I want right now too

[Blazinaway]

Melo and his waif LaLa have separated, its news because it "might" mean Melo would accept more teams in a trade

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/carmelo-anthony-splits-wife-la-la-article-1.3066086

[deanwoof]

I'ma leave this right here.. *eyeroll*

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