Blow it Up Trade Ideas

[BlazersBroncos]

I’m fully in the, hold Dame out as long as possible after the surgery and trade Nurkic and RoCo, camp. Treat it like an off year.

The only acceptable trade for Lillard would be a #1 pick and that’s never going to happen for various reasons.

EDIT: Olshey’s mismanagement cost this team at least 2 decades of basketball.

CJ needs to be moved before anything else. Everything starts with him being moved, whether its win-now, retool or rebuild. Any significant, non beat-around-the-bush changes start and end with CJ out of a Blazer uniform.

Another idea if we shut down Dame:

CJ for Love, 2023 CLE LP FRP, 2022 WAS SRP
Nurkic for Plumlee, 2023 LP FRP
Covington, Zeller for Sato, Hayes OR 2 SRP *** I dont think RoCo returns a FRP at this point, so flip him for another EC and a cost controlled underachiever. Goga is another option. Or take some SRPs ***

Shut down Dame, play Love sparingly, pray to the ping pong gods.

Enter 2022/23 with the big Love EC and 2023 CLE FRP, 2023 CHA FRP and all future PDX FRP's to offer for the first unhappy #2 (Or near #2) option that hits market.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Just for the record I am totally and completely opposed to any Dame trade that brings Simmons to Portland. Too good and expensive to rebuild with, and too much of a chance he would dog it or push for a trade if he came here and at the end of the day his next contract will be with LA.

I'm actually not opposed to that idea of Dame for Simmons - if Simmons would be willing to play here. I kinda think the idea of a tear it down rebuild is a bit overrated. We've seen a ton of teams hoard picks with drafts for big stars and then do next to nothing with those picks. Boston is on the verge of breaking up the Brown and Tatum duo because the blew it on all the other picks they got in all their trades - their roster is kinda filled with mediocre picks outside of those two guys. OKC has yet to do anything with their picks they got for Paul George.

So like, I'm not opposed to the idea of trading for a younger blue-chip player like Simmons who we already know is a good player rather than gambling on the what-if's of draft picks. My biggest complaint has been and always will be Simmons' baggage. His camp made it clear he didn't want to come to Portland if Dame isn't there... so like, I don't really see why that would change now unless they're a bit more desperate to get moved now than they were when those comments were made over the summer and they thought they had more leverage. Still, I'm concerned his "mental health" schtick would come with him from Philly to Portland without Dame here.

He's difficult to build around on the court, he difficult to build around off the court, and I have no faith in his long-term status and 100% believe his next contract will be in LA. I cant see any upside.

I agree we don't need to tear it completely down, the new lottery odds help with that and I think its important to maintain assets. Sign decent free agents, let them play up their value, then trade them for more assets. Shop the valuable players we do have looking for the best deal. The whole roster needs overhaul but that overhaul doesn't have to be overnight is all I'm really saying.

[DusterBuster]

Just for the record I am totally and completely opposed to any Dame trade that brings Simmons to Portland. Too good and expensive to rebuild with, and too much of a chance he would dog it or push for a trade if he came here and at the end of the day his next contract will be with LA.

I'm actually not opposed to that idea of Dame for Simmons - if Simmons would be willing to play here. I kinda think the idea of a tear it down rebuild is a bit overrated. We've seen a ton of teams hoard picks with drafts for big stars and then do next to nothing with those picks. Boston is on the verge of breaking up the Brown and Tatum duo because the blew it on all the other picks they got in all their trades - their roster is kinda filled with mediocre picks outside of those two guys. OKC has yet to do anything with their picks they got for Paul George.

So like, I'm not opposed to the idea of trading for a younger blue-chip player like Simmons who we already know is a good player rather than gambling on the what-if's of draft picks. My biggest complaint has been and always will be Simmons' baggage. His camp made it clear he didn't want to come to Portland if Dame isn't there... so like, I don't really see why that would change now unless they're a bit more desperate to get moved now than they were when those comments were made over the summer and they thought they had more leverage. Still, I'm concerned his "mental health" schtick would come with him from Philly to Portland without Dame here.

He's difficult to build around on the court, he difficult to build around off the court, and I have no faith in his long-term status and 100% believe his next contract will be in LA. I cant see any upside.

I agree we don't need to tear it completely down, the new lottery odds help with that and I think its important to maintain assets. Sign decent free agents, let them play up their value, then trade them for more assets. Shop the valuable players we do have looking for the best deal. The whole roster needs overhaul but that overhaul doesn't have to be overnight is all I'm really saying.

If I were building around him, I would just load up on shooters and build kinda like a hybrid of how the Magic did with Dwight or maybe a bit like the Nuggets have with Jokic having a good mix of shooting and athleticism for the guys around him.

So I actually kinda disagree that he's hard to build around from a talent POV, but I think he is hard to build around if you're picking in the lottery to find players to fit next to him. They didn't pair he and Embiid together because they were natural fits, the Sixers were just take BPA.

Your point/concern about his next contract being somewhere in California however is absolutely 120% valid.

But yeah, I don't think you need an overnight overhaul, but I don't think you need to go through 3yrs of lottery picks + 3yrs of player development to get back to being a good team either.

[Goldbum]

Not a blow it up move...but what about

Nurkic
4
Plumlee
Kai Jones
2nd round pick ?

[BlazersBroncos]

Not a blow it up move...but what about

Nurkic
4
Plumlee
Kai Jones
2nd round pick ?

I would much prefer a future protected FRP. Not big on Kai and would think a pick will be seen as more attractive in the future should we try for a needle moving deal.

[zzaj]

I’m fully in the, hold Dame out as long as possible after the surgery and trade Nurkic and RoCo, camp. Treat it like an off year.

The only acceptable trade for Lillard would be a #1 pick and that’s never going to happen for various reasons.

EDIT: Olshey’s mismanagement cost this team at least 2 decades of basketball.

Sure…
But I have a feeling CJ’s going to be the hardest to move. If you’re waiting for CJ to be gone as the first domino to fall…then you’re going to be waiting a long time.

CJ needs to be moved before anything else. Everything starts with him being moved, whether its win-now, retool or rebuild. Any significant, non beat-around-the-bush changes start and end with CJ out of a Blazer uniform.

Another idea if we shut down Dame:

CJ for Love, 2023 CLE LP FRP, 2022 WAS SRP
Nurkic for Plumlee, 2023 LP FRP
Covington, Zeller for Sato, Hayes OR 2 SRP *** I dont think RoCo returns a FRP at this point, so flip him for another EC and a cost controlled underachiever. Goga is another option. Or take some SRPs ***

Shut down Dame, play Love sparingly, pray to the ping pong gods.

Enter 2022/23 with the big Love EC and 2023 CLE FRP, 2023 CHA FRP and all future PDX FRP's to offer for the first unhappy #2 (Or near #2) option that hits market.

[PDXKnight]

I’m fully in the, hold Dame out as long as possible after the surgery and trade Nurkic and RoCo, camp. Treat it like an off year.

The only acceptable trade for Lillard would be a #1 pick and that’s never going to happen for various reasons.

EDIT: Olshey’s mismanagement cost this team at least 2 decades of basketball.

Sure…
But I have a feeling CJ’s going to be the hardest to move. If you’re waiting for CJ to be gone as the first domino to fall…then you’re going to be waiting a long time.

CJ needs to be moved before anything else. Everything starts with him being moved, whether its win-now, retool or rebuild. Any significant, non beat-around-the-bush changes start and end with CJ out of a Blazer uniform.

Another idea if we shut down Dame:

CJ for Love, 2023 CLE LP FRP, 2022 WAS SRP
Nurkic for Plumlee, 2023 LP FRP
Covington, Zeller for Sato, Hayes OR 2 SRP *** I dont think RoCo returns a FRP at this point, so flip him for another EC and a cost controlled underachiever. Goga is another option. Or take some SRPs ***

Shut down Dame, play Love sparingly, pray to the ping pong gods.

Enter 2022/23 with the big Love EC and 2023 CLE FRP, 2023 CHA FRP and all future PDX FRP's to offer for the first unhappy #2 (Or near #2) option that hits market.

Any major blowup HAS to start with dame when his value is the highest imo. You don’t wait till the last minute to deal your best asset

[Roy The Natural]

Sure…
But I have a feeling CJ’s going to be the hardest to move. If you’re waiting for CJ to be gone as the first domino to fall…then you’re going to be waiting a long time.

CJ needs to be moved before anything else. Everything starts with him being moved, whether its win-now, retool or rebuild. Any significant, non beat-around-the-bush changes start and end with CJ out of a Blazer uniform.

Another idea if we shut down Dame:

CJ for Love, 2023 CLE LP FRP, 2022 WAS SRP
Nurkic for Plumlee, 2023 LP FRP
Covington, Zeller for Sato, Hayes OR 2 SRP *** I dont think RoCo returns a FRP at this point, so flip him for another EC and a cost controlled underachiever. Goga is another option. Or take some SRPs ***

Shut down Dame, play Love sparingly, pray to the ping pong gods.

Enter 2022/23 with the big Love EC and 2023 CLE FRP, 2023 CHA FRP and all future PDX FRP's to offer for the first unhappy #2 (Or near #2) option that hits market.

Any major blowup HAS to start with dame when his value is the highest imo. You don’t wait till the last minute to deal your best asset

Do you still think his value is that high? Or do you think other teams are actually watching Portland and have seen that he's consistently been a shell of his former self? Portland's likely best option is shutting him down and getting the surgery and praying for a good recovery and the basketball gods mercy in the form of a good bounce of the ping-pong balls.

[Village Idiot]

Trade 1: Portland - Philadelphia - Dallas

Portland trades:

Damian Lillard
Jusuf Nurkic
Robert Covington

Portland receives:

Ben Simmons
Kristaps Porzingis
Matisse Thybulle
2 unprotected 1sts from Philadelphia - first available
1 pick swap option with Philadelphia - first available
2022 1st from Dallas - top 10 protected

Portland gets blows it up getting some nice youngish assets and picks for its star and two other starters.

Philadelphia trades:

Ben Simmons
Tyrese Maxey
Matisse Thybulle
2 unprotected 1sts to Portland - first available
1 pick swap option to Portland - first available

Philadelphia receives:

Damian Lillard
CJ Elleby
Kelvin Blevins

The Sixers get their second superstar and a really good compliment to Embiid

Dallas trades:

Kristaps Porzingis
2022 1st to Portland - top 10 protected

Dallas receives:

Tyrese Maxey
Jusuf Nurkic
Robert Covington

Dallas gets a stud young guard in Maxey who can be the perfect compliment to Doncic. They also get some flexibility in Nurkic and RoCo, both of whom have ending contracts. Either they get cap space or they can resign them. Nurkic, with his amazing screen setting and strong passing skills, might be a really good pick and roll center for Doncic.

Trade 2: Portland - New Orleans - Sacramento

Portland trades:

CJ McCollum

Portland receives:

Davion Mitchell
Buddy Hield
2022 1st from LA Lakers via New Orleans

Mitchell, with his stellar defense at PG, is the draw here. Hield can provide off-ball shooting but not much else.

New Orleans trades:

Brandon Ingram
Garrett Temple
Tomas Satoransky
2022 1st from LA Lakers

New Orleans receives:

CJ McCollum
Harrison Barnes
2022 1st from Sacramento - top 5 protected in perpetuity

New Orleans gets two strong culture guys as they try to break the cycle of losing. They should both mesh really well with Zion once he comes back.

Sacramento trades:

Harrison Barnes
Buddy Hield
Davion Mitchell
2022 1st to New Orleans - top 5 protected in perpetuity

Sacramento receives:

Brandon Ingram
Tomas Satoransky
Garrett Temple

Sacramento upgrades one of its forward spots and gets a go-to guy in Ingram

Roster:note that the focus for the remainder of the season should be draft positioning and development of younger players but while trying to foster a culture prioritizing defense

PG: Mitchell, Simons, Smith Jr
SG: Powell, Hield, McLemore
SF: Thybulle, Little, Snell, Watford
PF: Porzingis, Nance, Brown
C: Simmons, Zeller

Picks:
2022:
- own first lottery protected, else to Chicago- lottery protected to 2028 at which time it becomes 2 seconds
- Philadelphia 1st unprotected
- Dallas 1st - top 10 protected

Lakers pick:
2022 - 1-10 to Portland; 11-30 to MEM (via NOP)

2023 - Own or Portland (via NOP swap for LAL)

2024 - To Portland unless Portland defers and instead receives LAL's 2025 1st round pick

2025 - To Portland if Portland defers LAL's 2024 1st round pick

[PDXKnight]

Any major blowup HAS to start with dame when his value is the highest imo. You don’t wait till the last minute to deal your best asset

Do you still think his value is that high? Or do you think other teams are actually watching Portland and have seen that he's consistently been a shell of his former self? Portland's likely best option is shutting him down and getting the surgery and praying for a good recovery and the basketball gods mercy in the form of a good bounce of the ping-pong balls.

I think his value is still high yes. I’ve seen crazier things than a star having a down year and teams still giving significant value in return. I think his injury excuses him to some extent so long as it isn’t something that will nag him forever

I, for one, am down with sitting him but i also say if we can get a great package i’d do it. Our hands aren’t forced to deal him so that should do a number in trade talks especially if we can get him to sign an extension

[BlazersBroncos]

Posted this on T&T. If we want to retool around Dame, this is how I would go about it:

TRADE 1

Portland Trades
CJ McCollum
Jusuf Nurkic

Portland Receives
Kevin Love
Mason Plumlee
2023 CLE LP FRP
2024 CHA LP FRP

Cleveland Trades
Kevin Love
2023 CLE LP FRP
2022 HOU SRP

Cleveland Receives
CJ McCollum

Charlotte Trades
Mason Plumlee
2024 CHA LP FRP

Charlotte Receives
Jusuf Nurkic
2022 HOU SRP

WHY FOR PORTLAND
They go for the tank, move the EC of Nurkic and shave a year of CJ while getting 2 future picks.

WHY FOR CLE
They are playing tremendous ball and Love has been good but they could use a closer and IMO making a win-now move for a hometown closer would be great for Mobley's development.

WHY FOR CHA
They get the final piece for a long term starting 5 in Nurkic while swapping a future FRP for a high 2022 SRP.

TRADE 2

Portland Trades
Robert Covington
CJ Elleby

Phoenix Trades
Dario Saric
Jalen Smith
2023 PHX SRP
2024 PHX SRP
2025 PHX SRP

WHY FOR PORTLAND
They move the EC of RoCo to take on Saric while kicking the tires on Jalen and getting 3 SRPs

WHY FOR PHOENIX
They shed a year of Dario and get another big 3/D F to throw at the jumbo stars in the West.

Basically the goal for PDX is 2 fold here. 1) Tank this season to secure a high lotto pick in the 2022 draft and cross their fingers to strike gold and 2) acquire future FRP's to ideally attach with the huge EC of Love and make a move for a disgruntled star during the 2022 offseason at earliest or during the 22/23 season.

Also, all the players they acquire expire summer 2023 adding potentially another dimension of adding talent via TPE or using cap space (Which never happens in PDX).

Ideally, it ends up like this:

Luck out in lotto and get Chet/Paolo/Smith (Not that far fetched, we are drafting 7th currently), move Love and 4-5 FRP for an All Star SF (Tatum, Brown, George, Ingram...?)....

G - Damian Lillard / Anfernee Simons / Dennis Smith Jr
G - Norman Powell / Anfernee Simons / Ben McLemore
F - All Star SF / Nassir Little / Greg Brown
F - Chet Holmgren / Larry Nance Jr / Greg Brown
C - Mason Plumlee / Dario Saric / Jalen Smith

A man can dream

[Goldbum]

If we do trade Dame I wouldn't want the 1st round picks to start rolling in until 2025.
Get an extra second for 22, 23,and 24 then 2 firsts and a pick swap starting 2025.
Give Dame's new team some cheap assets while they make their run and build with the picks when they fall off.
I'm coming around on possibly keeping Nurkic, but the forward spots need fixed in a major way. If Dame + CJ +Roco could turn into Simons + Ingram + Maxey I would be truly excited. Most don't love Ingram and I get it, but a rotation of:

Ant/Maxey/DSJ
Powell/Maxey/McLemore
Ingram/Nas
Simons/Nance
Nurkic/Zeller

If Dame/CJ/Roco could become
Ingram/Simons/Maxey we would have scoring, toughness, and shooting. Enough to compete now and be better in the future.
Portland would go from short skilled isolation reliant to capable of finishing top 5 on both sides of the ball.
Apologies for the stream of consciousness rambling post, but change needs to occur sooner rather than later.

[monopoman]

If we do trade Dame I wouldn't want the 1st round picks to start rolling in until 2025.
Get an extra second for 22, 23,and 24 then 2 firsts and a pick swap starting 2025.
Give Dame's new team some cheap assets while they make their run and build with the picks when they fall off.
I'm coming around on possibly keeping Nurkic, but the forward spots need fixed in a major way. If Dame + CJ +Roco could turn into Simons + Ingram + Maxey I would be truly excited. Most don't love Ingram and I get it, but a rotation of:

Ant/Maxey/DSJ
Powell/Maxey/McLemore
Ingram/Nas
Simons/Nance
Nurkic/Zeller

If Dame/CJ/Roco could become
Ingram/Simons/Maxey we would have scoring, toughness, and shooting. Enough to compete now and be better in the future.
Portland would go from short skilled isolation reliant to capable of finishing top 5 on both sides of the ball.
Apologies for the stream of consciousness rambling post, but change needs to occur sooner rather than later.

Nurk has said he has no interest in being a Blazer if Dame is traded or leaves. I don't think he would act like a douche and be a constant problem off the court while under contract, but he sure as heck wouldn't sign a new deal.

[MagicBagley18]

Brown/richardson/nesmith 3 1sts 2 swaps....if a rebuild package is more preferable we use brown to get you the draft ammunition/ young player u want

[BlazersBroncos]

If we do trade Dame I wouldn't want the 1st round picks to start rolling in until 2025.
Get an extra second for 22, 23,and 24 then 2 firsts and a pick swap starting 2025.
Give Dame's new team some cheap assets while they make their run and build with the picks when they fall off.
I'm coming around on possibly keeping Nurkic, but the forward spots need fixed in a major way. If Dame + CJ +Roco could turn into Simons + Ingram + Maxey I would be truly excited. Most don't love Ingram and I get it, but a rotation of:

Ant/Maxey/DSJ
Powell/Maxey/McLemore
Ingram/Nas
Simons/Nance
Nurkic/Zeller

If Dame/CJ/Roco could become
Ingram/Simons/Maxey we would have scoring, toughness, and shooting. Enough to compete now and be better in the future.
Portland would go from short skilled isolation reliant to capable of finishing top 5 on both sides of the ball.
Apologies for the stream of consciousness rambling post, but change needs to occur sooner rather than later.

I really dont see a way that Dame, CJ and RoCo bring back Simmons, Ingram and Maxey.

Mostly because I dont think there is a chance in hell NO moves Ingram for CJ and RoCo.

I also dont think that roster goes anywhere. I dont think Simmons and Ingram have enough leadership qualities to be a deep playoff duo. They are followers, not alphas IMO.

[wco81]

All these blow-it-up scenarios are around trades for other good players.

What about tanking? No it's far from a sure thing because the draft lottery odds have changed a lot.

It's a long path too, may take 3 or 4 years of at least top 7 lottery picks.

The trade ideas all seemed destined to keep the team as a playoffs team. Maybe to improve their playoff prospects compared to last year.

Would be great if trades worked out that way.

But it's like a get rich scheme and the trades may at best just produce a treadmill team.

Suggests the fan base has no appetite for a team being in the lottery for some number of years.

It's certainly not a guaranteed way to a winner. Look at all the lottery misses the Pistons have had. Maybe Cade will turn out okay but their pick from last year doesn't look good at all.

Or all the high lotto picks Orlando have had. Or Sacto

Meanwhile, Cavs picked Sexton, Garland, Okoro and Mobley. I think all top 5 picks? And only Garland and Mobley are big hits. Sexton has had good years but the team wasn't winning with him being leading scorer. Okoro may be a role player at best unless he can improve his shooting by a lot.

Atlanta isn't playing that well but they hit with Trae, maybe Hunter, maybe Reddish. Definitely hit with Collins and Huerter, who were both drafted near the 20th.

Phoenix had a couple of top 10 busts with Bender and Chriss but they hit it with Ayton, Bridges and even Cam Johnson around #11.

Portland hasn't had a non playoffs year in awhile. They won only 33 games in Lillard's rookie year. But they've been in the playoffs every year since. So it was a quick rebuild because Dame had almost immediate impact.

So it's understandable the team and the fan base doesn't want to go rebuild. But it's also possible that all those years of making the playoffs meant not having a chance to draft high-ceiling players, a few of them might have become all stars. CJ is on that level but probably nobody else since Dame?

[Norm2953]

One would have to think about tanking for a top 5 pick but with Portland's history with bigs and the
top 2 picks being Banchero and Holmgren, I'd be concerned Duke's history of producing quality NBA
level bigs and Holmgren being 195 lbs.

Right now, Tankathon has Portland picking seventh, picking Patrick Baldwin who is a 6-10 PF/SF.

[BlazersBroncos]

One would have to think about tanking for a top 5 pick but with Portland's history with bigs and the
top 2 picks being Banchero and Holmgren, I'd be concerned Duke's history of producing quality NBA
level bigs and Holmgren being 195 lbs.

Right now, Tankathon has Portland picking seventh, picking Patrick Baldwin who is a 6-10 PF/SF.

Historically having bad luck is a pretty foolish reason to not want a top draft pick.

[GEE]

Again, I'm not for a "Blow up" because I feel that this roster is quite fixable, but the biggest mess Olshey created was when he signed Powell to 5years, when we already had the long and ongoing issue of the Dame/CJ pairing. You add the rise of ANT (and MAC), and it seems obvious to me that one of Dame, CJ, Powell or ANT... must go.

What we obviously need is help in the paint, because with the tempo Chauncey wants to play, Nurkic, Nance and ROCO could really use one more solid player to help in the painted area.

I'm not real confident our Interim GM can pull off a "Blockbuster", but if he could get us a legit 4/5 not named Zeller, I think we would be much better off. Snell also gets no love from me, but with our four guards I mentioned above (5 w/ MAC), they all have varying values. If we can somehow get Simmons for less than Dame, I'd be thrilled, but I have no reason to think Morey won't be willing to perish before waivering on his demands. So who could that 4/5 be?

Something like Wendall Carter Jr. and Terrence Ross (or better) would great IMO, if we aren't moving Dame. We just need to trade one or two of those remaining 4 small guards, for a return similar to this. Zeller and Snell being required to see minutes is telling. If we can remove that need, we will be much better overall. If we continue to see it, we're sunk.

One really smart trade can right this ship. No need to scream "FIRE" and start jumping overboard.

[GEE]

In a side note... just a thought:

Dame hasn't, and won't request a trade especially to a team like Philly and ya'll should now why... because if paired with Embiid, Who's the ALPHA? Here's a clue, it's not Dame. So of course he doesn't WANT to be traded there.

CJ was on WOJ's pod months ago, and said something along the lines of, when thinking about CHANGE (to a different team & City) one may begin to realize that this type of move isn't as easy to do once you get past the surface, and begin to realize how much is required to do such a thing. It was a "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" type of statement, and I felt that was a very coded response for what Dame was going through at that time.