If Portland blows it up...

[PDXKnight]

i’ve seen NY mentioned in dame rumors and while i know it’s probably unrealistic it made me think what kind of offer we could get for Dame

Supposing we blow this team up and NY offers an solid offer like rj barret + salary filler plus a multitude of firsts do we listen or do we stick with loyalty to the end and keep Dame in portland? Or further is there any other team who could beat this offer realistically?

[Norm2953]

It all depends on whether Dame wants to be traded but lets say he tells Portland he would not mind
a trade and the Knicks, happy to be finally a playoff team just decides to go for it next season.

They offer up a combination of RJ Barrett, Toppin and the usual combination of picks and pick swaps
for Dame. This type of trade gets Portland under the cap for the forseeable future and we'll get to
see if CJ if given the keys to the PG job can be the man. The Knicks unlike the Blazers could easily
fill in around Dame and Julius Randle with lower priced free agents.

[Wizenheimer]

if Portland traded Dame and kept CJ I'd quit caring about the team. And a lot of other people would quit caring too because a team with CJ as it's best player and number one option is going nowhere a hell of a lot faster than the current team. Trading Dame now is a stupid 'we-give-up' idea on just about every level. That's especially true considering the collection of picks the Blazers would get would almost certainly be in the last 3rd of the first round. What a great trade: three picks in the 23-30 range over 5 years and two or three more role players to add to the collection for probably the best player in franchise history.

here is an alternative idea: Portland fires their current GM and hires one who would actually try to build a contender around Dame instead of building a monument to his own stubborn ego. Blazers should go all in on Dame, instead of all in on CJ and Dame. That decision locked Portland onto a treadmill it can't get off until the architect of the mess is fired

[Norm2953]

The key is whether Dame goes up to ownership and asks out.

If he wants out for whatever reason, the Knicks likely would be first in line for they have the cap space
to absorb all of Dame's contract extension with over $60 million in cap space. Literally anyone on the
Knicks roster but Julius Randle is available in any deal and like in all the recent deals, Portland would
get an armload of future picks and pick swaps.

Interesting to think about but only happens if Dame wants out for Dame's opportunities to win would be
greatly enhanced in NY as opposed to Portland given they would have no problems attracting free agents.

[Norm2953]

It would be fascinating to see if Philly does offer up Ben Simmons + to trump any Knicks offer for Dame.

That would an interesting 2 man team (Dame/Emblid) designed to take on the Nets in the east while
Portland would have Simmons, Roco and hopefully a healthy Nurkic up front with CJ and Powell.

[d-train]

If Blazers break up this team, Olshey's job security would be even better. There are 30 NBA teams looking for a great GM. Blazers are lucky to have one. Even Stotts would likely still have his job.

Breaking up the team starts with dumping Lillard, otherwise we aren't breaking up the team. Currently we are 100% committed to building around Lillard. CJ, Nurk, Powell, and RoCo are all just pieces that fit with Lillard.

Two conditions have to be true before breaking up the team is the right choice. First, building a team led by Lillard has to have no chance to succeed. Second, it has to be more likely we can acquire a player capable of being our center piece if we don't have Lillard.

In conclusion, this is a stupid "if" question. Neither of the above prerequisite conditions are true.

[d-train]

Here's a less dumb question. Was it smart or a mistake to give Lillard his big supermax extension 2 years early? I was against it. My reasoning was we can wait until his contract is due to give him a supermax, if he is worth it.

Two years later, I would say it was worth it, not because of performance. Last year was horrible, and this year has been a continuing struggle. This means, not only was it a good choice, it was a no-brainer. All the conditions that would prove me right happened, but in retrospect I can say I was wrong.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I still think this team has another year or two to make some changes. They need to open the checkbook though. If all of these other teams can do so, surely the Blazers can do so. GO ALL IN!!!

[PDXKnight]

if Portland traded Dame and kept CJ I'd quit caring about the team. And a lot of other people would quit caring too because a team with CJ as it's best player and number one option is going nowhere a hell of a lot faster than the current team. Trading Dame now is a stupid 'we-give-up' idea on just about every level. That's especially true considering the collection of picks the Blazers would get would almost certainly be in the last 3rd of the first round. What a great trade: three picks in the 23-30 range over 5 years and two or three more role players to add to the collection for probably the best player in franchise history.

here is an alternative idea: Portland fires their current GM and hires one who would actually try to build a contender around Dame instead of building a monument to his own stubborn ego. Blazers should go all in on Dame, instead of all in on CJ and Dame. That decision locked Portland onto a treadmill it can't get off until the architect of the mess is fired

Yeah if we traded Dame i’d hope we move on from cj too assuming we could get a fair offer. But I think any major rebuild would have to begin with dealing our best asset first

[PDXKnight]

I still think this team has another year or two to make some changes. They need to open the checkbook though. If all of these other teams can do so, surely the Blazers can do so. GO ALL IN!!!

If there’s good all in options available i think this is a good number 1 option indeed. But adding big names players isn’t always that simple unless it just falls in our laps

[DaVoiceMaster]

I still think this team has another year or two to make some changes. They need to open the checkbook though. If all of these other teams can do so, surely the Blazers can do so. GO ALL IN!!!

If there’s good all in options available i think this is a good number 1 option indeed. But adding big names players isn’t always that simple unless it just falls in our laps

Neil Olshey gets paid millions of dollars each year to make this team better. You add assets each year and make something happen with those assets. He has had plenty of time to create something. Time to cash in the past 9 years or it's time for him to cash out!!!

[d-train]

I still think this team has another year or two to make some changes. They need to open the checkbook though. If all of these other teams can do so, surely the Blazers can do so. GO ALL IN!!!

Opening the checkbook is 1 option, but not the only good one. It's possible that Powell, DJJ, and Kanter all leave. Then, how do we open the checkbook. There would be nothing to spend on. We would be a below tax team again. However, we would have a full non-tax MLE and the full BAE. In this worse case scenario, I still believe we can make another run at being a contender.

[DaVoiceMaster]

There are S&T options, as well.

[d-train]

There are S&T options, as well.

I have to look it up, but I'm not sure we can do a big S&T. I believe we would be hard capped at the apron and this could be a problem.

[DaVoiceMaster]

There are S&T options, as well.

I have to look it up, but I'm not sure we can do a big S&T. I believe we would be hard capped at the apron and this could be a problem.

Well that doesnt help!

[d-train]

There are S&T options, as well.

I have to look it up, but I'm not sure we can do a big S&T. I believe we would be hard capped at the apron and this could be a problem.

Well that doesnt help!

Everything pivots on whether we re-sign Powell. If we resign Powell, we will be well into luxury taxes and probably over the apron. If Collins accepts his QO, we have less than $27M under apron to sign 6 players. Powell's money comes out of this $27M. So, any 1 player that costs $18+M, puts us over the apron. IOW, we can't re-sign Powell and do anything that hardcaps us.

If we don't re-sign Powell, we could be below the tax again.

[JasonStern]

Stop. The Blazers aren't moving Dame. And if Dame did ask to get moved, which goes against everything he's said his entire career, it wouldn't be to go to a team with the exact same record as us. "Hey Melo! You played for the Knicks for years. Should I demand a trade away from a place I'm loved to deal with that pressure?"

[Norm2953]

I find it fascinating the very same Chris Haynes who wrote the Lillard story has now written about how
Kevin Love wants to go to Portland. The idea of Dame putting Blazers management on notice is a valid
one for I've been following the NBA since the 70's and these players can turn on a dime in their attitude
(just like management did with Steve Blake). Love's contract has two years to go on it and I could see
Portland making a run on him for the maximum level try before they have to blow up the team. Likely
Love would go back to the 17 ppg scorer he was last season.

Let's say Portland lets Powell walk in the off season but gets a big TPE when they convert it into a S/T. That
TPE might be enough to get Love.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I would prefer to retain Powell over Love every time, even more now that Love is totally cooked.

[d-train]

The idea of Dame putting Blazers management on notice is a valid one ...

Let's say Portland lets Powell walk in the off season but gets a big TPE when they convert it into a S/T. That
TPE might be enough to get Love.

What does Lillard say in this imaginary notice to Blazers management? Perhaps, it would be a thank you notice for making him one of the highest paid players the NBA. Most of the NBA's best players that annually make their team a contender, get paid less than Lillard.

I would rather say Blazers don't let Powell walk. I'll play along. What team, with cap room, does Powell sign with? And, how does the Blazers use the TPE without bumping into the hardcap? A TPE would be worthless to Blazers if they got it by S&T, unless the exception was used the next season after the hard cap was lifted.