RealGM

How would you rank the importance of the following players to Portland - next season, and for the long term?

Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Jerami Grant, Matisse Thybulle, Robert Williams

Clingan, Sharpe and Avdija are foundational pieces.

Henderson is a bubble piece

Thybulle could be a long term roleplayer

Ayton, Grant and Simons all must go.

RW3 would be great if he were not perpetually injured.

Most important assets moving forward:
Sharpe
Scoot/Deni are the same unless we see more of scoot to determine what he is
Klingon
-Kamara should be here as well. Won’t be an all star but he’s a good piece moving forward

I like him but i wouldn’t balk at a good offer:
Thybulle

Somewhere in the middle but moveable for the right deal.
Ayton

Definitely Moveable for the right deal but would like a little positive value back at least
Jerami
Ant
Robert williams (if not injury prone he’d probably be in the first group)

Core: Scoot, Sharpe, Clingan, Avdija

Potential long term pieces: Camara

Fits timeline, wait & see: Rupert, Murray, Walker

Fits now, possibly deal\replace later: Ayton, Reath, Banton

Trade for assets, sooner rather than later : Grant, Thybulle, Simons, Williams

Walton1one wrote:Core: Scoot, Sharpe, Clingan, Avdija

Potential long term pieces: Camara

Fits timeline, wait & see: Rupert, Murray, Walker

Fits now, possibly deal\replace later: Ayton, Reath, Banton

Trade for assets, sooner rather than later : Grant, Thybulle, Simons, Williams

Ya - this is it.

Walton1one wrote:Core: Scoot, Sharpe, Clingan, Avdija

Potential long term pieces: Camara

Fits timeline, wait & see: Rupert, Murray, Walker

Fits now, possibly deal\replace later: Ayton, Reath, Banton

Trade for assets, sooner rather than later : Grant, Thybulle, Simons, Williams

I think that's mostly accurate but remember TL was supposed to have been an important piece to
last years roster. If he proves he's as healthy as he's going to be, he could become an important
trade piece at the trade deadline.

I possibly would move Simons in with the fit now, replace now group for he's still Portland's best
returning guard.

I think Portland will really miss Brogdon's steady play. Unless Scoot is better in his soph season,
Portland could start next season even worse than they started this season.

I think the issue with TimeLord, isn’t his age, so much as his injury history, so he makes more sense on a playoff team, where he can play limited/spot minutes during the year to keep him healthy, and then during the playoff see an expanded role. Since that doesn’t really fit Portland for several years, I think it would be wiser to deal him for an asset, the hope is a first round pick, Sooner rather than later.

Before the draft, one of the mock drafts had Portland trading Williams to OKC for a future first round pick, I think it was a 2025, and OKC has 5!!! Picks in that draft, they are never going to use all those, so to trade one of them for a good back up forward\Williams would seem to make sense to me

Walton1one wrote:I think the issue with TimeLord, isn’t his age, so much as his injury history, so he makes more sense on a playoff team, where he can play limited/spot minutes during the year to keep him healthy, and then during the playoff see an expanded role. Since that doesn’t really fit Portland for several years, I think it would be wiser to deal him for an asset, the hope is a first round pick, Sooner rather than later.

Before the draft, one of the mock drafts had Portland trading Williams to OKC for a future first round pick, I think it was a 2025, and OKC has 5!!! Picks in that draft, they are never going to use all those, so to trade one of them for a good back up forward\Williams would seem to make sense to me

He's got to prove he's healthy as he's going to be before he gets moved for any real asset. That trade is at the
trade deadline.

https://fanspo.com/nba/teams/oklahoma-city-thunder/21/draft-picks

Most of those Thunder picks are protected and not likely to convey

I can't really count Clingan as a "core" until I see how good he is or isn't next season. I am hopeful for Shae but it's "prove it" time, Scoot needs to "prove it" even more than Shae

Blazinaway wrote:I can't really count Clingan as a "core" until I see how good he is or isn't next season. I am hopeful for Shae but it's "prove it" time, Scoot needs to "prove it" even more than Shae

One could say that about every Blazer but assuming his role is similar to what it was at UConn,
he's going to be a core player assuming he stays healthy.

He will be asked to rebound, play defense, rebound and protect his own basket

I have a feeling our view of the hierarchy is different than the organization's view of the heirarchy, which makes sense since we have no vested interest in the team.

I've posted it elsewhere, but I view:

Scoot
Sharpe
Deni
2025 FRP
Clingan

...as the future of the franchise. I'm including 2025 in there because it's imperative that the Blazers hit on that pick. As long as that pick has some connective ability but can also score and defend, the Blazers should be in a decent spot moving forward.

This assumes that Scoot follows a Kemba-ish type track for his career (would be great if more than that), Sharpe plays like he did in Nov/Dec of last year moving forward and continues to put in work on defense, Deni continues being a high level connecting piece, and perhaps most importantly...Clingan's "winning" culture rubs off on his teammates. IMO, the ability to win is actually a skill and is often overlooked.

Blazinaway wrote:I can't really count Clingan as a "core" until I see how good he is or isn't next season. I am hopeful for Shae but it's "prove it" time, Scoot needs to "prove it" even more than Shae

That's the thing about this team. We don't have anyone that's a proven commodity yet. All of those guys are unproven commodities. I think most of us are hoping that we get Cooper Flagg next year amd the rest of the team gels around him and we start to see hope for this team to develop into a good team. But it could also be that only our 25 pick ends up being good and then we're drafting the surrounding cast for another 4 years after that and our next competitive year is 2031.

Simon's, Sharpe, Deni, Scoot, Ayton. This assumes Grant and Thy are gone. Klingon, Walker, Camara, Banton... I'm sure I'm forgetting players but whatever. Simon's is our best player by a mile.

Scoot and Sharpe are the prime core players.
Deni and Camara are possible core players. Yes, I am a Camara fan boy. We shall see if Deni wasn't just a good player on a bad team.
Clingan is a wait and see. I honestly don't know if his skill set will transfer to the modern NBA as a "good" starting center.
Everyone else is an asset.

Walton1one wrote:Core: Scoot, Sharpe, Clingan, Avdija

Potential long term pieces: Camara

Fits timeline, wait & see: Rupert, Murray, Walker

Fits now, possibly deal\replace later: Ayton, Reath, Banton

Trade for assets, sooner rather than later : Grant, Thybulle, Simons, Williams

This is it. I still don’t think anyone in the franchise is considering dealing DA, but it’s besides the point I get his age and maturity concern.

ebott wrote:

Blazinaway wrote:I can't really count Clingan as a "core" until I see how good he is or isn't next season. I am hopeful for Shae but it's "prove it" time, Scoot needs to "prove it" even more than Shae

That's the thing about this team. We don't have anyone that's a proven commodity yet. All of those guys are unproven commodities. I think most of us are hoping that we get Cooper Flagg next year amd the rest of the team gels around him and we start to see hope for this team to develop into a good team. But it could also be that only our 25 pick ends up being good and then we're drafting the surrounding cast for another 4 years after that and our next competitive year is 2031.

That seems a bit intensive on the “what could go wrong?” train.

Can’t say you’re wrong, but if all of Scoot, Deni/Shae, DA and Donovan flame out.. maybe we should get into another sport as a franchise.