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This deal operates under some hypotheticals:

1. Darius Miles retires after the season due to medical issues.
2. Portland is awarded the 13th overall pick in the lottery.
3. Milwaukee is awarded the 7th overall pick in the lottery.

Portland receives:

No. 7 overall (O.J. Mayo)
Desmond Mason
Dan Gadzuric

Milwaukee receives:

No. 13 overall
No. 35 overall (From NYK)
Raef LaFrentz
Sergio Rodriguez

Portland then uses Memphis' 2nd-rounder on Lester Hudson (PG, Tenn-Martin) and Phoenix's 2nd-rounder on Joe Ingles (SF, Australia).

2008/09 lineup:

C: Oden/Przybilla/Gadzuric
PF: Aldridge/Frye/McRoberts
SF: Webster/Outlaw/Jones
SG: Roy/Fernandez/Mason
PG: Mayo/Blake/Hudson/Jack

Obviously, one more move would have to be made and the most logical one is to shop Jarrett Jack for some future first-rounder. Or we could just cut McRoberts, but I want to see him and Oden play together.

Thoughts?

Gadzilla & Przybilla... That'd be a nice scrabble combo!

I like the trade, although I'm not 100% sure about Mayo's ability to blend in with the rest of the Blazers.

I dont get why this hypothesis matters:

1. Darius Miles retires after the season due to medical issues.

Actually, if Miles retires then we could have more capsapce, so it makes giving away Raef for Gadzuric worse for us. Mayo for capspace? maybe.

Telfaire wrote:Actually, if Miles retires then we could have more capsapce, so it makes giving away Raef for Gadzuric worse for us. Mayo for capspace? maybe.

It's a trade-off. Milwaukee's biggest problem is that they have three ugly contracts (Bobby Simmons, Dan Gadzuric, Charlie Bell) and no takers. We are essentially giving them a lot of financial relief as well as a good young PG prospect. Milwaukee might ask for our 2009 first-rounder, which we could work around. Gadzuric, meanwhile, has a pretty long contract but he never makes more than $7.5 million at most; D-Mase is also an expiring deal. Basically, we're trading for the right to shed roughly $24 million in salary (Desmond Mason and Steve Francis) by the 2009 offseason, which could be enough for us to offer a second-tier free agent.

The real prize, as mentioned, is Mayo. I think Mayo and Brandon Roy are similar players and I think they could both feed off one another. If my hypothesis could be proven correct, they would instantly become one of the most dangerous backcourts in the NBA. Mayo also has an edge which all of our PGs except Sergio lack, and he is not afraid to put the ball in his hands. Plus, I think he's smarter than people give him credit for and I'm optimistic that Nate could reign him in sufficiently.

I think portland would have to 'sweeten' the deal to interest the Bucks. Maybe have to substitute a future 1st round pick for the 2nd, and add a player. I'm still not sure the Bucks would do it, but maybe.

For Portland Mason woud be a nice addition, especially if by chance Rudy doesn't come over. And moving up 6 places in the draft is very appealing. I'm just not sure how intent KP is on maximum cap-space in 2009, and adding Gadzuric would definitely affect that.

Assuming he's 'soft' on cap space, how about this alternative:

Lafrentz, Jack, Mcroberts, #13, 2010 1st round, 3 million cash

for

Gadzuric, Mason, Sessions, #7


obviously this would be a final offer for portland as far as picks. If Milwaukie was willing to settle for the 2nd round pick...great. But they do get two 1sts for one, salary relief, and cash.

Portland gets the higher pick, a slashing physical G/F (something they lack really) and a young PG they were reportedly interested in this summer. Portland also gets about a 3 million trade exception in this deal which might come in handy. It also keeps sergio around to possibly leverage Rudy over next season.

well, i like this trades, it gives the blazers plenty of depth.

The second round pick will probably be worth more than the second round as the blazers are going to be getting the 26th pick in draft

I absolutely love this deal, but I am slowly starting to think Mayo is bone by #7. Still, it almost ensures we can get one of Mayo, Gordon and Bayless(Although I think the two latter players are relativley inferior to Mayo).

I also love the drafting of Hudson in the 2nd. Kid is a diamond in the rough.

Still, I would be disappointed if we didnt upgrade our SF position. Maby a Webster+Jack for S&T Josh Childress deal to follow this one up. We still need a talent consolidation after this deal. Their is no way we can be 3 deep with quality players at every position, someone would start bitching.

Wizenheimer wrote:I think portland would have to 'sweeten' the deal to interest the Bucks. Maybe have to substitute a future 1st round pick for the 2nd, and add a player. I'm still not sure the Bucks would do it, but maybe.

For Portland Mason woud be a nice addition, especially if by chance Rudy doesn't come over. And moving up 6 places in the draft is very appealing. I'm just not sure how intent KP is on maximum cap-space in 2009, and adding Gadzuric would definitely affect that.

Assuming he's 'soft' on cap space, how about this alternative:

Lafrentz, Jack, Mcroberts, #13, 2010 1st round, 3 million cash

for

Gadzuric, Mason, Sessions, #7


obviously this would be a final offer for portland as far as picks. If Milwaukie was willing to settle for the 2nd round pick...great. But they do get two 1sts for one, salary relief, and cash.

Portland gets the higher pick, a slashing physical G/F (something they lack really) and a young PG they were reportedly interested in this summer. Portland also gets about a 3 million trade exception in this deal which might come in handy. It also keeps sergio around to possibly leverage Rudy over next season.

I totally agree that the Blazers would need to upgrade their offer, significantly. I realize that the Bucks get some salary savings, but their owner is reportedly not happy about the talent/performance of this team. I can see some major changes being made to the Bucks, but I think they'd try to get more talent for the the 7th pick.

I proposed a similar trade a week ago but with Simmons instead of Mason (who has an ending contract) and Jack instead of Sergio. Bucks fans were receptive.

I'm pretty sure it would have to be Gadzuric and Simmons for them to do it.

i really think mayo will be gone by then, in my opinion he is the third best player in this draft

Mayo will be gone but

Gallinari, Gordon, Randolph could be interesting options

i think we can get randolph and would be a good pick in my opinion at 13

I'd like to point out that, if memory serves me correctly, Desmond Mason really wanted to play for the Blazers and plays in Portland during the off-season. If that's true I would love to get him, with his contract expiring I think he would love to then re-sign for a reasonable amount for us (if we wanted him back). That really to me is some great icing on the cake in a Milwaukee deal.

As far as trading for 7. I think it's worth it if Mayo is still on the board, but USC is really playing well right now and I'm not sure he's going to fall that far. He could very easily go to the Clips at 6, but then again KP might just throw them a second or McBob for that swap. I also wonder if Nate would be able to coach a team with Mayo at the point. He turns the ball over a lot, and while that has a lot to do with teammates at USC I don't think it will make Nate happy at all. Personally I'd rather have Mayo than Nate, but that's another story.

I think a deal with the Bucks is very possible, depending on whether KP is willing to move Raef for an ugly contract like Simmons or Gadzuric, but that doesn't seem like enough in itself. The gap between an OJ Mayo and a Kevin Love or Darrell Arthur is pretty big. I think they might ask us for a player like Jack or Webster. Then again any team that doesn't want/need a combo guard will probably want out of the top ten meaning there is potential for a pretty big market to trade up and find the best value for our team.

I personally wonder whether they would be willing to do a deal in which we don't take on a huge salary. Probably not, but if we can consolidate, move up, and keep the cap plan... that sounds like a KP draft to me...

riehldeal wrote:Mayo will be gone but

Gallinari, Gordon, Randolph could be interesting options

The more I think about it the more I am realizing that Mayo has a very legit chance of dropping that far. If you look at the likely 6 teams above Milwaukee few really need what he has to offer because right now he is more SG than PG. He's a good player, but the question is whether he's that much better than Bayless, Gordon, Westbrook, and whatever any team is willing to offer to trade between say Bayless and Mayo.

In my opinion all those players are in a pack right below Rose with nobody making clear space from the others, we're a long ways away from draft night (which is probably good for Mayo), but he's definitely not a lock to go to Seattle over Bayless at number three or four. And after that pick it's questionable whether anyone takes him over a Lopez or Jordan.

riehldeal wrote:Mayo will be gone but

Gallinari, Gordon, Randolph could be interesting options

That's fine, I'd rather have Gordon anyways, imo.
He's got a much better attitude (not too cocky, like Mayo), great work ethic, and reminds me a little of D-Wade.

If we can't trade up to get Gordon, Jordan, or Bayless, then I'd rather just keep our pick or package it along in a trade for a young vet

can you trade 2 picks in the same draft? like getting the 7 and then getting a higher one for that 7?

BlackMamba wrote:can you trade 2 picks in the same draft? like getting the 7 and then getting a higher one for that 7?

Yup, so if the Blazers moved up to 7, they could package other players to move up. The couldn't use any of the players that they received from the Bucks. However, if they got Gadzuric and Mason, they could package Joel and Webster or Outlaw with the #7 to move up further. As long as they didn't kill their depth.

I would rather wait and see what presents itself with Raef's contract and/or the cap space in 2009. We also giving up alot for Mayo and I am not sold on him. He has been better since college, but still remember the baggage that he carried in high school. His play on the court has not been overly inpressive either.

The good thing about trading to picks 6-8 is a good player will drop to that spot. The question is will it be one of the guards or one of the big men. If it's one of the centers, we don't really need to trade up. If it's any of the guards, we could snatch up a very good player by not giving up much.

I don't see the blazers trading for a better pick, though. It seems that teams often want too much for their picks. I know I would.