Someone from the GB posted rumors from a Bleacher Report Insider... here are the Blazer bits...
* Dame: If Lillard were to be ruled out for the remainder of the year, rival executives are hoping it would force Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers to lower their asking price on Ben Simmons.
And without Lillard, the Blazers' lottery-protected first-round pick likely won't convey to the top-seeded Bulls, dampening that asset for Chicago should it look to trade the pick and further push into Eastern Conference contention. Lottery-protected through 2028, that pick has one of the more curious valuations of any draft asset on the board considering Lillard's uncertain future.
* Ben Simmons: Philadelphia's market for Simmons remains static. And for those teams hopeful Lillard's surgery will impact the Sixers' trade strategy, Philadelphia officials maintain their major stakeholders—from ownership and Morey's front office to Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid—are aligned in waiting for someone on par with Lillard, James Harden, Bradley Beal or Jaylen Brown to become available either before this deadline or later this summer.
* Trail Blazers: Portland and Indiana seemed to be natural trade partners. The Blazers had been frequently mentioned as a strong Myles Turner destination, while Detroit's Jerami Grant also emerged as a potential Portland target. But if Lillard is indefinitely sidelined, that would seem to further increase the likelihood of Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington heading elsewhere.
Anfernee Simons' recent explosion also has league executives chattering about the future of CJ McCollum in Portland, and to a lesser extent that of Norman Powell. Simons is headed for a lucrative restricted free agency this summer, and Portland is already trying to evade paying the luxury tax.
Assessing the interest for McCollum is somewhat difficult given his recent collapsed lung and a decline in production at the age of 30. But former GM Neil Olshey's regime valued McCollum quite highly, and there's a sense among some rival executives that McCollum would have a sizable market at a lower evaluation than Olshey may have held.
* Norman Powell: Roughly a dozen teams pursued Powell ahead of last season's deadline, when Portland acquired him from Toronto. The 28-year-old's five-year, $90 million contract is considered relatively valuable among several league personnel polled by B/R.
There's some belief that Powell would be open to a new destination. Negotiations over his five-year deal to re-sign in Portland this summer hit several snags and Powell certainly eyed other destinations, such as New Orleans. The Pelicans do happen to be searching for significant upgrades in their quest to rebound into the play-in tournament although McCollum would seem to make more sense as a target for New Orleans.
* Pacers: Myles Turner appears the likeliest Indiana player to be traded before the deadline, with a list of suitors that includes Dallas, Minnesota, New York, Sacramento, Charlotte and Portland. Toronto was also mentioned by several league personnel as a team to keep an eye on for Turner's services. The Pacers' asking price is said to include multiple first-round picks.
Caris LeVert has known suitors in Cleveland and New York, but so far Indiana has requested multiple first-round picks for the 27-year-old guard as well. The Pacers have also placed calls assessing the value of Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and Torrey Craig.
* Lakers: Rob Pelinka's front office has only Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn as non-minimum players with tangible trade value, and that combination won't be nearly enough to land Grant or Turner. But the Lakers have called rival teams to assess the trade value of DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore. (OK, this ones not Blazer related, just LOL @ the last sentence)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952421-latest-nba-trade-intel-how-will-dame-lillard-surgery-impact-ben-simmons-marketThe TL:DR;
*Lillard injury could have impact on a Simmons trade. (I'm skeptical on this one since it seemed clear from weeks/months ago that was going nowhere and Morey would have to be delusional to have still thought otherwise by now)
*There could be a decent market for CJ at a lower pricepoint than what Olshey had set. (Duh)
*Powell contract is fairly valuable and he wouldn't be upset at a trade. Almost signed with the Pelicans, but they could be a fit for CJ as well. (The CJ bit seemed like a bit of editorializing by the writer, less backed by rumors/sources)
*Pacers and Turner seem to be a strong fit for a trade with the Blazers in some fashion, but they want multiple 1sts for Turner.(If they want multiple 1sts for Turner, that could be a hindrance to any deal with the Blazers... guess we'll have to wait and see)
As for the Pelicans, I'm not seeing much on their roster I would trade CJ or Powell for tbh. It's a spectacularly mediocre roster past Zion and Ingram. Valanciunas is having a good year, but don't know how many more of those he'll have in the tank... plus they will want to just give up spare parts so they can get better for a play-in / playoffs run, not just swap players or cut salary. Don't see any deal between those two teams.
Seems Pacers and Blazers have most definitely had multiple conversations - probably moreso after Olshey got fired and KP's buddy Joe took over. Seems like a safe bet they've talked a good amount, even just as friends and colleagues, but with some trade talk sprinkled in. So doesn't take a leap of faith to believe there's some truth to those discussions.
One note that wasn't entirely Blazer-related...
* Ricky Rubio: The Cavaliers don't project to be very aggressive in the coming weeks, but they will explore avenues to move Ricky Rubio and a protected first-rounder in an effort to net backcourt reinforcements, such as Eric Gordon.
Gordon was mentioned here, but could this be a CJ fit? It's his home-town team... would a deal of something like...
CJ
RoCo
for
Rubio
Love
1st Rounder
make sense for both clubs? I haven't followed the Cavs closely this year, I know they're doing well, so don't know who they consider important or not right now... Maybe Love is playing a bigger role for them than I think (his PER is great this season for whatever that's worth). Otherwise, just CJ for Rubio, Osman, and a 1st would work under the checker too. Blazers would shave off 18mil of CJ's deal.
