Blazers 0ffseason - CJ moves?

[Blazer50]

Blazers Edge had a poll on which Free Agents should the Blazer try to retain. The Lillard / McCollum back court is amazing, but the defensive argument is valid.

What 1) CJ deal would improve the roster and create the cap space needed to retain the Blazer FA’s; and
2) What offers would you make to retain the Blazer Free Agents you target?

- Total Salary after deals should be $135,000,000 or Less
- You can sign Bird Right - RFA after signings - but needs to be realistic - No Aminu for $3M offers
- CJ deals have to work with Other teams salary cap/TPE

[GEE]

PDX trades: CJ & Leonard, CASH, plus 2019 & 2021 FRPs

LAL trades: Lebron


Lakers get to reset from the Lebron disaster, add good players and picks, repair their locker room, keep their coach, and continue to build by drafting well. They could be a really scary team in 2 years time, and avoid the risk of being the laughing stock of the NBA, again next year.

Portland obviously does this because it would get them Lebron. Lebron agrees, to save some face and possibly win another ring or two in P-TOWN, home of his sugar daddy.

[Blazinaway]

I think we should try to target a solid player maybe making 8-12 mil and trade CJ for capspace and that player, given next yr with no Nurk for at least a good with it IMO being obvious we play almost as well with Seth and Hood who likely can be had for half CJ's price this offseason, AND we have Anfernee and Trent

[DaVoiceMaster]

I'd definitely look for cap space and a pick.

[zzaj]

The Blazers are going to have to do something with this year's draft pick. They simply don't have the money wiggle room to devote that kind of contract to a developing rookie...especially one in a weak draft.

It would be great if the Blazers could trade CJ + '19 FRP for a good player that is still on a rookie scale contract...but I don't see any options for that. Are there even any teams that have the capspace to absorb a swap like that?

As for FAs...I'm of the opinion that the best possibility for FA signing comes from the Blazers own backyard. Guys like Kanter, Hood, and Curry have all seen what it's like to be in a losing situation. They've also had teams give up on them and the Blazers give them a chance. You couple that with already knowing Portland and the general dislike of NBA players to move around, and I think that the Blazers stand a good chance at retaining each one of them if they so choose.

Aminu and Layman? I could see Aminu wanting to stay, even on a lesser contract. His role and personality seems pretty ensconced in the team. Layman I could see going elsewhere for a chance to spread his wings a little bit...I suppose the Blazers have to try and keep him if he agrees to come cheap.

If I'm the Blazers GM I try to figure out how to keep the status quo and retain:

Lillard/Curry
Hood/???
Mo/Aminu
Aminu/Zach
Kanter/Leonard

With that ??? being the player coming in for the CJ + '19 swap...

The above isn't very sexy, but no matter what they do the Blazers are almost certainly going to be worse next year--you don't lose a player of Nurkic's caliber and recover easily.

[zzaj]

PDX trades: CJ & Leonard, CASH, plus 2019 & 2021 FRPs

LAL trades: Lebron


Lakers get to reset from the Lebron disaster, add good players and picks, repair their locker room, keep their coach, and continue to build by drafting well. They could be a really scary team in 2 years time, and avoid the risk of being the laughing stock of the NBA, again next year.

Portland obviously does this because it would get them Lebron. Lebron agrees, to save some face and possibly win another ring or two in P-TOWN, home of his sugar daddy.

Lebron to Portland sorta makes sense on paper...but Lebron didn't move to LA for basketball reasons. He moved there because it's the media capital of the world. IMO, he's looking past his basketball legacy and thinking about post basketball career choices. IMO, the chances of him agreeing to come to Portland are very low for that reason alone.

It would be really interesting to see how a Lillard/Lebron tandem would operate. Lillard has been the unquestioned leader and face of the franchise for at least the past 4 years. Lebron is obviously one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Both thrive with the ball in their hands. Whose team is it?

The tax situation would be ungodly. With Lebron on his 38M+/yr contract and Lillard up for a super max, things could get crazy real quick. I honestly don't know if having an aging Lebron with that contract on the roster of a team looking for new ownership would be seen as a plus or a minus.

But if I'm the GM and an opportunity arises for the Blazers to get Lebron I do it. It's one of those things that's franchise altering in every way.

[Village Idiot]

Anthony Davis is still the guy I'd target with CJ and other pieces. Instead of the normal CJ, Collins, Simons and a couple of picks here's a 3-way for novelty.

Charlotte trades:

#12 pick
Nicolas Batum
Tony Parker

Charlotte receives:

Evan Turner
Myers Leonard

Charlotte exchanges Batum's $27 million in 2020-21 salary for the ending contracts of Turner and Leonard. It costs them a late lottery pick in a mediocre draft

New Orleans trades:

Anthony Davis

New Orleans receives:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
#12 pick
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option with Portland
2021 1st from Portland unprotected

Portland trades:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
Evan Turner
Myers Leonard
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option to New Orleans
2021 1st to New Orleans unprotected

Portland receives:

Anthony Davis
Nic Batum
Tony Parker

[Wizenheimer]

sticking with the thread topic, it's probably pretty clear that CJ won't be traded as long as Olshey is GM, no matter how much sense it makes. The substantial rumors are that Olshey held CJ untouchable when Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Kawhi were available. That doesn't seem like something that would change

the other side of it is that in the last couple of seasons, Portland is 10-2 without CJ. Yeah, the sample size is tiny, but it is worth noting. More then that, is that with CJ sitting, Portland's ball and player movement was a lot better. Eyeball test. With CJ this season, Portland ranked 25th in the NBA in assists/game at 22.8. Without him, Portland averaged 25.4 assists which would rank 13th. And, considering that Nurkic was missing for 6 of those games, it's likely Portland could have averaged close to 27 assists if Nurk would have been around. Hood and Curry did just fine in the interim and they did so without stopping the ball as much as CJ does

to an objective GM, I think CJ would be likely trade bait. But I'd also question if CJ has near the trade value arounf the league as his Portland fans believe

But I just don't see many solutions to solving Portland's payroll situation while trading CJ and staying at the level they are. Even if the Blazers traded CJ for a cheaper player, a 15M TPE, and a pick, for instance, the pick would drop Portland's TPE margin to 12M or so. That would leave the Blazers 16-18M below the tax line which would mean they'd only have the full-MLE to use. And if they re-sign Aminu and Layman, they probably can't use the full MLE because of the risk of being hard-capped. If that's the case, would any of Hood, Curry, & Kanter be willing to sign for the 5.5M tax-MLE? And how much over the tax line will Seattle allow Olshey to go, if they allow it at all?

another question is how much would Hood, Curry, and Kanter want to stay in Portland? The non-Bird max for Hood is 4.1M and for Curry it's 3.4M. Those numbers look lower than what they could get in the free agent market, but there are going to be a lot of free agents available this summer

maybe the best solution is for Olshey to stop treating late 1st round picks like gold and pony up at least one to dump one of Turner and/or Meyers. Atlanta will have the space at the draft; would they take on Meyers for the 25th pick? Or take on Turner for the 25th pick and a protected future 1st?

[Khazim]

Anthony Davis is still the guy I'd target with CJ and other pieces. Instead of the normal CJ, Collins, Simons and a couple of picks here's a 3-way for novelty.

Charlotte trades:

#12 pick
Nicolas Batum
Tony Parker

Charlotte receives:

Evan Turner
Myers Leonard

Charlotte exchanges Batum's $27 million in 2020-21 salary for the ending contracts of Turner and Leonard. It costs them a late lottery pick in a mediocre draft

New Orleans trades:

Anthony Davis

New Orleans receives:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
#12 pick
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option with Portland
2021 1st from Portland unprotected

Portland trades:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
Evan Turner
Myers Leonard
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option to New Orleans
2021 1st to New Orleans unprotected

Portland receives:

Anthony Davis
Nic Batum
Tony Parker

I know "Anthony Davis" and all, but ugh... That kills a lot of chemistry and future potential. Possibly still worth it, but I'd be queasy for awhile...

[monopoman]

Anthony Davis is still the guy I'd target with CJ and other pieces. Instead of the normal CJ, Collins, Simons and a couple of picks here's a 3-way for novelty.

Charlotte trades:

#12 pick
Nicolas Batum
Tony Parker

Charlotte receives:

Evan Turner
Myers Leonard

Charlotte exchanges Batum's $27 million in 2020-21 salary for the ending contracts of Turner and Leonard. It costs them a late lottery pick in a mediocre draft

New Orleans trades:

Anthony Davis

New Orleans receives:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
#12 pick
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option with Portland
2021 1st from Portland unprotected

Portland trades:

CJ McCollum
Zach Collins
Anfernee Simons
Evan Turner
Myers Leonard
#25 pick
2020 pick swap option to New Orleans
2021 1st to New Orleans unprotected

Portland receives:

Anthony Davis
Nic Batum
Tony Parker

Seems like too much to pay to get AD unless he is definitely considering signing here long term, I would happily take this deal if AD says Portland has a good chance of retaining him. If this is for the rental of AD this deal is horrible and would set us back for years.