Mock Off-season starts again...

[Soulyss]

For anyone who is interested, I am running the Blazers again in the Mock Offseason game... I've posted my guiding principals I will use for this game here: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=340&t=1706357&p=66144671#p66144671

My First Order of Business was to declare that: Stotts is safe. He's been given the "vote of confidence" for the upcoming season.

More updates to come!

[Wizenheimer]

I've never stopped mocking the 2016 off-season

[Downtown]

I've never stopped mocking the 2016 off-season

We know. And it's going to be mocked, and talked about for a decade and Neil Olshey will forever be attached to it.

[Soulyss]

I didn't think I would deal CJ... but it has happened. Interested in your thoughts on this deal:

Nuggets-Trailblazers:

To Nuggets
CJ McCollum
Meyers Leonard
Caleb Swanigan

To Blazers:
Paul Millsap
Malik Beasley
#14
#58

Milsap is a little older (33) than our core, but still a very good player and a nice spacing fit at the PF. It gives Portland a strong PF-C Rotation where Colins, Milsap, and Nurkic can play relatively interchangeably. This moves Aminu back the SF for the most part.

Malik Beasley was the #19 pick in last years draft and I really liked him last year.

We also dump Meyers contract, and pick up a late lotto pick giving us #14 & #24 which I can either combine to move up targeting one of the mid lotto wing or stand pat and get us some cheap talent with two picks.

Not sure what I will do with #58, probably a draft and stash... we'll see.

[SkeletorMelo]

I didn't think I would deal CJ... but it has happened. Interested in your thoughts on this deal:

Nuggets-Trailblazers:

To Nuggets
CJ McCollum
Meyers Leonard
Caleb Swanigan

To Blazers:
Paul Millsap
Malik Beasley
#14
#58

Milsap is a little older (33) than our core, but still a very good player and a nice spacing fit at the PF. It gives Portland a strong PF-C Rotation where Colins, Milsap, and Nurkic can play relatively interchangeably. This moves Aminu back the SF for the most part.

Malik Beasley was the #19 pick in last years draft and I really liked him last year.

We also dump Meyers contract, and pick up a late lotto pick giving us #14 & #24 which I can either combine to move up targeting one of the mid lotto wing or stand pat and get us some cheap talent with two picks.

Not sure what I will do with #58, probably a draft and stash... we'll see.

Millsap makes us way better than CJ does. This team has a record developing guys like beasley. Might be an upgrade over CJ by himself before long.A lotto pick is just gravy to me. Course, I'd like to turn that pick into a veteran if we're running Millsap out there.

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[Soulyss]

1st round picks are done (for the Blazers anyhow):

#14 - Lonnie Walker IV - SG - Miami
#24 - Troy Brown - SF - Oregon

[Wizenheimer]

1st round picks are done (for the Blazers anyhow):

#14 - Lonnie Walker IV - SG - Miami
#24 - Troy Brown - SF - Oregon

how did Portland get #14?

[Soulyss]

1st round picks are done (for the Blazers anyhow):

#14 - Lonnie Walker IV - SG - Miami
#24 - Troy Brown - SF - Oregon

how did Portland get #14?

I felt like this is about as good of value as you are going to get for CJ. Milsap who is a good fit alongside either Nurk or Collins, Lotto Pick, #19 from last year whom I liked, and of course... No more Meyers.

To Nuggets
CJ McCollum
Meyers Leonard
Caleb Swanigan

To Blazers:
Paul Millsap
Malik Beasley
#14
#58

[PDX MM]

Millsap is on the wrong side of 30 and a guy who only played 38 games this past season. That isn't a very good deal imo but does it at least save us some money?

[zzaj]

...Malik Beasley was the #19 pick in last years draft and I really liked him last year...

Curious what you saw in Beasley. Every time I watched him he seemed like a third stringer on a good team and a regular backup on a bad team. Denver fans seemed to tout his defense, but in the games I saw he didn't look very special in that regard. Offensively he looked pretty rough as well...

reminded me a bit of an Alonzo Gee level player.

[Masterfully]

Millsap peaked at age 30. He’s washed up. And he has 2 years left on his contract. So it doesn’t make sense even as a salary dump.

I’d be happy to see what you could get for CJ but if this is it then I’d rather keep CJ.

[Downtown]

Honestly if you take away Jokic, who won't be traded, there's not a lot on Denver that I would trade McCollum for. I love Jamaal Murray's game and intensity but Denver has decided he's their point guard instead of shooting guard and they'll want to keep him. Gary Harris is okay but definitely not in McCollums class. I think Trey Lyles could help a lot with bench production and rebounding but he's not a main piece. I do think Milsap could have a bounce back year from injuries but it's a very expensive risk. Hernangomez is an interesting player but he hasn't made a breakthrough and earned significant minutes so I don't think he's a difference maker. And Denver can't absorb any of CJ's contract since they have to re-sign Jokic as well.

I think we got our slice of the pie from Denver with Nurkic and their first round pick last year.

[monopoman]

Yeah, I would take Millsap if he was say 3 years younger, the only real thing of value we are getting here is the two picks and potentially Beasley working out for us. It seems like a pretty small pittance in exchange for CJ all things considered, we also have to give up Swanigan who I think with time could become an Ed Davis type but cheaper.

[Norm2953]

The big problem I would have with the Denver trade would be the GSW and Houston Rockets are still going
to unbeatable in the near future which makes trading for a 33 year old Millsap pointless.

If one needs to trade CJ, let it be for future picks that hopefully will be in the higher lottery.

[Blazinaway]

The big problem I would have with the Denver trade would be the GSW and Houston Rockets are still going
to unbeatable in the near future which makes trading for a 33 year old Millsap pointless.

If one needs to trade CJ, let it be for future picks that hopefully will be in the higher lottery.

Yeah, a 33 yr old Milsap makes no sense IMO given that we are giving up CJ, we'd be no closer and likely further away from being relevant

[Norm2953]

I tend to think a team like Cleveland if they have any hope to keep Lebron needs a big move
for someone to play the Kyrie Irving role. We'd need to take back a big contract but the pick
from the Nets (#8) would be the target.

[Downtown]

I tend to think a team like Cleveland if they have any hope to keep Lebron needs a big move
for someone to play the Kyrie Irving role. We'd need to take back a big contract but the pick
from the Nets (#8) would be the target.

I was hoping at the trade deadline there was some sort of deal there( admittedly I wanted Turner involved instead of McCollum) when Cleveland unloaded Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert but that's the only big contracts the Cavs had to move. Now I don't see how any McCollum deal would work out salary wise.

And I don't see them trading the #8 pick and Tristan Thompson for CJ.

[Norm2953]

Imagine though Lebron carrying the Cavs to a championship over the GSW.

LIkely they would need to do something big to have any hope to keep Lebron. Cleveland
and Portland's front office have completed several trades and while their first choice
will be Dame, they have nobody to offer to get Dame. I wonder if they would offer
George Hill + 8 for CJ. Playing on the court with Lebron would get CJ all kinds of
open looks while Portland could roll the dice on perhaps Michael Porter if he's there
at 8.

[DusterBuster]

Imagine though Lebron carrying the Cavs to a championship over the GSW.

LIkely they would need to do something big to have any hope to keep Lebron. Cleveland
and Portland's front office have completed several trades and while their first choice
will be Dame, they have nobody to offer to get Dame. I wonder if they would offer
George Hill + 8 for CJ. Playing on the court with Lebron would get CJ all kinds of
open looks while Portland could roll the dice on perhaps Michael Porter if he's there
at 8.

LeBron has strongly lobbied for the Cavs to trade that pick. If he gives them some sort of sign that he's definitely going to resign, than I think they'd happily trade the pick. LeBron will never do that though, he'll tell them what he wants them to do with the pick, than he could just as easily decide to leave later that month. That's essentially what he did his last year in Miami and why they picked Shabazz because it was known he really liked Napier in the tourney that year. They picked him and then he bolted back to Cleveland a few weeks later.

Cleveland isn't going to do that. Now granted, picking #24 is much different than picking #8. Maybe the Cavs could see CJ as a building block regardless of what LeBron does. When they didn't have LeBron last time, no amount of #1 overall picks got them out of the lottery until James came back, its possible maybe they don't want to bottom out that badly again and would even be happy with fighting for a playoff spot with the likes of Miami, Washington and Indy in the East. CJ could keep them competitive even if LeBron leaves.

That said, my price for CJ from the Cavs is still the #8 and Love. I'm not taking Hill, Thompson or any other of their mediocre contracted assets.

[ETGoHome]

Imagine though Lebron carrying the Cavs to a championship over the GSW.

LIkely they would need to do something big to have any hope to keep Lebron. Cleveland
and Portland's front office have completed several trades and while their first choice
will be Dame, they have nobody to offer to get Dame. I wonder if they would offer
George Hill + 8 for CJ. Playing on the court with Lebron would get CJ all kinds of
open looks while Portland could roll the dice on perhaps Michael Porter if he's there
at 8.

If Lebron stays, and I think it might be more likely that he opts in next year than some think because of very few other options, a trade for CJ makes a lot of sense for them. If I'm Portland, I'm also wanting to dump a bad contract. My thought would be to do CJ + Leonard for Hill + Smith + #8.

Hill and Smith both only have one more year fully guaranteed on their contracts. Essentially Portland would be clearing about $30 million from their books after next season. That, with the ability to probably get a good player at number #8 (Porter or one of the Bridges) would make the trade worth it IMO.