RealGM

Dame will 31 and CJ 30. This teams needs to be blown up before Dame and CJ no longer has the value that they do now.

This team will not be contending anytime soon

This team when fully healthy wasnt contending either. Realistically there hasnt been a time since Rasheed Wallace had a Blazers jersey on that we were truly contending. Anyone who tricked themselves into thinking adding RoCo and DJJ to our rotation would push us into contention was drinking too much rose colored cool-aid.

That being said, blowing it up doesnt make sense either. We wont get equal compensation for either Dame or CJ, two really good players that actually want to be in this tiny market. We might need 10 drafts, probably more, to find another player of Dame's caliber. Hell, we might need 8+ to find someone of CJ's caliber.

We are in purgatory where tearing it down doesnt make sense and contention is a distant dream. Its been like this for years and it will stay like this. Best to just accept we are not getting a chip and enjoy any small playoff success we have.

Hell, with the super team trend in big markets even if we rebuilt the right way and had a contending team created internally we probably would get lapped by some trio of mercenary superstars who decide one offseason they all want to get cozy together in a city with a cost of living above 100K.

Lillard is going nowhere and as long as he is here, CJ will be here. Need the younger guys (Nurk, Trent Jr, Little, DJJ, Giles, Collins, and Simons) to continue to improve. This year is just weird, no training camp, new players, etc. Just use this year to improve and build towards next season. I don't expect much this year, but let's put some thought toward competing next season.

Can CJ and Dame get some talent in return in a trade? Maybe some length and athleticism? What would Miami or Philly send back for either Dame or CJ? Is Aaron Gordon available? What about Siakam or Simmons. This team with Olshey and Stouts is hard to watch.

Can CJ and Dame get some talent in return in a trade? Maybe some length and athleticism? What would Miami or Philly send back for either Dame or CJ? Is Aaron Gordon available? What about Siakam or Simmons. This team with Olshey and Stouts is hard to watch.

We definatley could get Simmons for Dame, and probably could get Siakam for CJ in a 3 team type deal with a bit of added incentive. The problem is that a duo of Simmons and Pascal isn't better than our current duo. Better on defense, much, much worse on offense. And neither is a leader, whereas both Dame and CJ are mature, accountable, leaders of men who also provide tons in the community.

There just isn't a path forward that makes this team better in the short or long term which involves moving Dame or CJ. Its just the way it is.

If Blazers decided to trade Lillard, we would get very close to nothing. Sixers would be less willing to trade Simmons for Lillard than they would trade him for Harden. Every team you offered Lillard to would start the discussion by taking at least their best player off the table. Less than a handful of teams could pay Lillard's salary and the massive luxury taxes they would owe. Blazers fans would be in shock over how little we would get by trading Lillard. The only way we would get anything would be by taking huge untradable contracts. Lillard would yield nothing, but we could get some likely bad draft picks by relieving teams of unwanted financial burdens.

If Blazers decided to trade Lillard, we would get very close to nothing. Sixers would be less willing to trade Simmons for Lillard than they would trade him for Harden. Every team you offered Lillard to would start the discussion by taking at least their best player off the table. Less than a handful of teams could pay Lillard's salary and the massive luxury taxes they would owe. Blazers fans would be in shock over how little we would get by trading Lillard. The only way we would get anything would be by taking huge untradable contracts. Lillard would yield nothing, but we could get some likely bad draft picks by relieving teams of unwanted financial burdens.

Come on, you can do better than this. Say we need to attach picks to move Lillard. This isnt even scratching the surface of the contrarianism that you are capable of.

d-train wrote:If Blazers decided to trade Lillard, we would get very close to nothing. Sixers would be less willing to trade Simmons for Lillard than they would trade him for Harden. Every team you offered Lillard to would start the discussion by taking at least their best player off the table. Less than a handful of teams could pay Lillard's salary and the massive luxury taxes they would owe. Blazers fans would be in shock over how little we would get by trading Lillard. The only way we would get anything would be by taking huge untradable contracts. Lillard would yield nothing, but we could get some likely bad draft picks by relieving teams of unwanted financial burdens.

I appreciate that you say this a year after Russell Westbrook on a worse contract, with a history of injuries got four first round picks.

Dame has done a lot for this franchise, I’m hoping we help him get the franchise points record at least before we trade him.

BlazersBroncos wrote:

Can CJ and Dame get some talent in return in a trade? Maybe some length and athleticism? What would Miami or Philly send back for either Dame or CJ? Is Aaron Gordon available? What about Siakam or Simmons. This team with Olshey and Stouts is hard to watch.

We definatley could get Simmons for Dame, and probably could get Siakam for CJ in a 3 team type deal with a bit of added incentive. The problem is that a duo of Simmons and Pascal isn't better than our current duo. Better on defense, much, much worse on offense. And neither is a leader, whereas both Dame and CJ are mature, accountable, leaders of men who also provide tons in the community.

There just isn't a path forward that makes this team better in the short or long term which involves moving Dame or CJ. Its just the way it is.

What about Lillard for Sabonis

What about Lillard for Sabonis

That doesnt make us better. And Sabonis / Nurkic would be great defending traditional bigs but as a duo they are less switchable on defense than one would prefer.

wait people are ok with trading Dame?

donkeylips wrote:wait people are ok with trading Dame?

No

I do think the team will kick the chronically injured to the curb for they will no longer be able to carry guys
who keep getting hurt when the Dame/CJ extensions begin.

I think trying to get Simmons and Siakam would be a decent haul and definitely would help a rebuild.

Curious what Portland could get for a package of Nurkic-RoCo.

What about GTJ-Collins for Lauri or Hood-DJJ-Simons for AG?

Siakam-Ben-AG would be a nice athletic core.

There is no way this roster will be blown until this squad becomes fully dysfunctional inside the locker room.
Or they won't be good enough even to contend for a playoffs spot anymore.

Topofthekey wrote:

BlazersBroncos wrote:

Can CJ and Dame get some talent in return in a trade? Maybe some length and athleticism? What would Miami or Philly send back for either Dame or CJ? Is Aaron Gordon available? What about Siakam or Simmons. This team with Olshey and Stouts is hard to watch.

We definatley could get Simmons for Dame, and probably could get Siakam for CJ in a 3 team type deal with a bit of added incentive. The problem is that a duo of Simmons and Pascal isn't better than our current duo. Better on defense, much, much worse on offense. And neither is a leader, whereas both Dame and CJ are mature, accountable, leaders of men who also provide tons in the community.

There just isn't a path forward that makes this team better in the short or long term which involves moving Dame or CJ. Its just the way it is.

What about Lillard for Sabonis

That trade is awful for Portland imo. Not even close

BlazersBroncos wrote:

If Blazers decided to trade Lillard, we would get very close to nothing. Sixers would be less willing to trade Simmons for Lillard than they would trade him for Harden. Every team you offered Lillard to would start the discussion by taking at least their best player off the table. Less than a handful of teams could pay Lillard's salary and the massive luxury taxes they would owe. Blazers fans would be in shock over how little we would get by trading Lillard. The only way we would get anything would be by taking huge untradable contracts. Lillard would yield nothing, but we could get some likely bad draft picks by relieving teams of unwanted financial burdens.

Come on, you can do better than this. Say we need to attach picks to move Lillard. This isnt even scratching the surface of the contrarianism that you are capable of.

There is no contrarian opinion in my statement. The truth is our best players are worth less if we are willing to trade them. This truth applies to us and other teams as well, even if you don't like it. Rockets didn't get equal value for Harden or Westbrook. We would not get equal value for Lillard or CJ. Rockets faired much better trading RoCo. There are many reasons for this. RoCo is closer to average in value and pay, this makes a difference in potential trade opportunities. The closer you get to average in value and pay, the less chance of price being affected because of limited bidders. Also, astute bidders are going to take advantage of desperate seller.

Norm2953 wrote:I do think the team will kick the chronically injured to the curb for they will no longer be able to carry guys
who keep getting hurt when the Dame/CJ extensions begin.

When Lillard and CJ get paid $75-80M, there will be less money to pay other players. We will never have a crystal ball that predicts injuries. Blazers will continue to pay for potential, but there will be less money to pay for potential and proven players. Olshey himself probably can't tell you today what his priorities will be next summer. It's nice that he has already improved his options for potential and proven players to choose from.