Hollinger: League wide speculation that POR will trade Simons + #3 for “elite forward”

[AkelaLoneWolf]

I don't think people are looking at it from a different perspective.

Who's to say Portland doesn't just trade Lillard this off season and does a proper rebuild with all those picks etc? They can say whatever they want but I wouldn't be surprised if that's something they are considering.

logically that makes more sense. they already have simons + sharpe + 3rd pick. trading lillard would give them more young prospects/picks. it would be a quicker rebuild.
sentimentality can make fools out of them though; we'll see.

[NinjaBro]

Sharpe is still available for OG. He didn't impact winning much at all in his rookie season. Not going to be much different in next season or 2 let alone winning in playoffs. Dame is talking about winning, not putting up stats.

I've been told by Blazers fans that Sharpe is a top 10 player in this league.

[mtcan]

Sharpe is still available for OG. He didn't impact winning much at all in his rookie season. Not going to be much different in next season or 2 let alone winning in playoffs. Dame is talking about winning, not putting up stats.

I've been told by Blazers fans that Sharpe is a top 10 player in this league.

He's as much of a top 10 player now as he was before he got drafted.

[AkelaLoneWolf]

Lillard has 4 years left on his deal, peaking at $63M in 26/27. Trading for Lillard would be extremely difficult to manage for any team. So far the evidence over past 2 seasons suggests they're not trading him.

projected nba cap in 2026 could be around 180M. meaning second apron would be well over 200M.
63M might not be overpay for a player of lillard's stature if he able to keep his numbers up 3 years from now

[PhilBlackson]

Sharpe is still available for OG. He didn't impact winning much at all in his rookie season. Not going to be much different in next season or 2 let alone winning in playoffs. Dame is talking about winning, not putting up stats.

I've been told by Blazers fans that Sharpe is a top 10 player in this league.

I'm sure they said they think he CAN be a top 10 player in the league, as in long term....much different.

Even as the biggest stan of Shaedon outside of Portland, even I wouldn't probably go quite that far as yet. Do I think he can reach a level similar to Mitchell, AntMan etc...I absolutely do and it's f*cking heartbreaking because I was saying it going into the draft, during & after basically been non stop about it, that we should've made the OG for Sharpe trade when we had the chance because we've blown a massive opportunity to have a potentially true homegrown box office star. You disagree, I don't care lol and will see you in a few years from now when everyone that doubts flip flops. But I will also say from the times I've peaked my own head in there you damn near troll them so you can't expect good convo when you go in there with a higher than thou attitude instead of looking for a real discussion.

[WuTang_CMB]

That athletic podcast with the portland reporter had good insight. Says its likely they trade it this year and Dame was upset they kept it last year. Said they would be looking in the ballpark of Siakam / Bridges

[VanWest82]

another issue, wouldn't it have to be simons AND nurkic? do they value nurk?

For Siakam, yes. The trade would have to be Simons + Nurkic +#3 for Siakam + Koloko. Maybe Nurkic gets routed to a third team. Portland needs a big to come back in the trade. They have no one else good who can set screens. The OG version of the trade where we include #13 and maybe Boucher or Otto is much cleaner.

[mtcan]

Sharpe is still available for OG. He didn't impact winning much at all in his rookie season. Not going to be much different in next season or 2 let alone winning in playoffs. Dame is talking about winning, not putting up stats.

I've been told by Blazers fans that Sharpe is a top 10 player in this league.

I'm sure they said they think he CAN be a top 10 player in the league, as in long term....much different.

Even as the biggest stan of Shaedon outside of Portland, even I wouldn't probably go quite that far as yet. Do I think he can reach a level similar to Mitchell, AntMan etc...I absolutely do and it's f*cking heartbreaking because I was saying it going into the draft, during & after basically been non stop about it, that we should've made the OG for Sharpe trade when we had the chance because we've blown a massive opportunity to have a potentially true homegrown box office star. You disagree, I don't care lol and will see you in a few years from now when everyone that doubts flip flops. But I will also say from the times I've peaked my own head in there you damn near troll them so you can't expect good convo when you go in there with a higher than thou attitude instead of looking for a real discussion.

I'm on the same Sharpe bandwagon. I wanted OG to be traded for the Portland pick or even New Orleans last year.

[Syd-TK3]

Sharpe is not getting traded let's just stop with that. A team will always try and hold onto a fall back option in case their contending approach fails. Same reason we never include scottie for any star trades

[WuTang_CMB]

Notes: Measured: 6'4.25” barefoot, 6'5.25” in shoes, 8'7.5” standing reach, 198 lbs, 6'11.5” wingspan at the 2022 NBA Draft Combine … Shadeon Sharp

[VanWest82]

The other issue with the Siakam version of the trade (besides Portland needing to include Nurkic for salary matching and having no one to replace him) is Siakam and Grant are very similar players and Grant is about to get Paid. If you're Portland, do you really want to tie up 120M/yr to three players, two of which aren't really star players?

[720]

No one trading for that big ass Dame contract they are stuck with him. Better get Siakam to at least have him a costar.

[mtcan]

Sharpe is not getting traded let's just stop with that. A team will always try and hold onto a fall back option in case their contending approach fails. Same reason we never include scottie for any star trades

We would never include Scottie because we're going younger and trying to build around him.

Portland is going veteran to win now. Sharpe as a sophomore won't get you the elite defence and scoring that a win-now vet like Pascal or OG or both would give you. Portland is trying to add all-stars and elite defenders around Dame. If he wanted OG in exchange for the pick that got them Sharpe...it should still be on the table especially after OG led the league in steals and made an all-defence team.

And if it makes them feel better...Raptors can always allow the Blazers to speak with OG and Pascal's representation and gauge interest in extending or resigning.

[LoveMyRaps]

No one trading for that big ass Dame contract they are stuck with him. Better get Siakam to at least have him a costar.

At this point, I just don't see any other co-star the Blazers could pair him with.
Siakam seems like the only guy.

[Thaddy]

I'm not interested in Simons + 3rd. Henderson looks overrated his stats are very bad compared to his teammates Cissoko. I don't see anything special in an undersized guard with significant shooting struggles.

Harris + 6 + 11 for OG.

6th Hendricks. 11th Dick, and 13th Wallace. REF: nbadraftroom.com draft projections.

Poeltl - Koloko
Hendricks - Boucher
Siakam - Dick - OPJ
Barnes - GTJ - Harris
FVV - Wallace

That team is better than what we put out this year. Hendricks, Dick, and Wallace all have high floors and look like they could be immediate contributors.

2 lotto picks for an expiring OG?

New extension rules? In terms of strength compared to 3rd + Simons. I have Harris much worse/older, and 3rd is one of the premier players this class.

[Ell Curry]

The other issue with the Siakam version of the trade (besides Portland needing to include Nurkic for salary matching and having no one to replace him) is Siakam and Grant are very similar players and Grant is about to get Paid. If you're Portland, do you really want to tie up 120M/yr to three players, two of which aren't really star players?

Yeah, from Portland's perspective, something like this might work better:

Portland - OG
Toronto - #3,
Team X - Nurkic

Maybe like this?

Portland - OG, #10
Toronto - #3, Tim Hardaway Jr, #23
Dallas - Nurkic, #13

Dallas gets a passable starting center for a small price of Hardaway JR and moving down 3 picks and still has #13 to trade for another meh frontcourt starter along with Bertans deal or whatever.

Portland has Lillard-Simons-Sharpe-Thybulle-Grant-OG playing all the 1-5 minutes and figures out center later via trade like we did with the Gasol move (Little, someone signed for the MLE and a future protected 1st is normally enough to get a meh center), or just by dangling a starting spot in free agency to a Christian Wood or Naz Reid and them betting on themselves. If it's a 1-2 year deal it's tradeable for a proper centre. Or they just use #10 as a base to go after a cheap starting 5 like Sengun since Sengun doesn't really fit with Harden.

[TakeYourHeart]

The other issue with the Siakam version of the trade (besides Portland needing to include Nurkic for salary matching and having no one to replace him) is Siakam and Grant are very similar players and Grant is about to get Paid. If you're Portland, do you really want to tie up 120M/yr to three players, two of which aren't really star players?

I don't think Grant is very similar to Pascal. He shot 40% from 3 on 6 attempts per game last season. The fit would be great with Grant at SF and Pascal at PF. I also don't think they need to include Nurk, Simons+Little gets it done

PG: Dame
SG: Sharpe
SF: Grant
PF: Pascal
C: Nurk

That's an amazing lineup

[NinjaBro]

But I will also say from the times I've peaked my own head in there you damn near troll them so you can't expect good convo when you go in there with a higher than thou attitude instead of looking for a real discussion.

It's impossible to have a good convo with them in good faith. This was an actual post from one of their regulars in the Blazers forum in the last 24 hrs. I have removed the poster's name to save him from eternal embarrassment.

Can't combine sign and trades with current year's draft picks.
Furthermore because of Kawhi's health I would not give up a lot of value for him. Anfernee Simons and salary filler would be the most I would do on the off chance he can stay healthy for a good part of the season and playoffs. Even that I see as a gamble

You read that correctly. Anfernee Simons and salary filler is the most he wants to do for KAWHI FREAKING LEONARD!

[2019nbachamps]

Portland is out of their mind if they trade the pick to appease Dame. Dame knew they’d be rebuilding when he resigned and he’s constantly stated over the last year winning a title isn’t the end all and be all. If he wanted to compete he shouldn’t have resigned.

Despite his massive deal I’m sure there are teams out there that would be interested in trading for him. Miami could package Lowry, a young player (eg Herro) and a boat load of FRPs for him. The Nets have assets. The Rockets have cap room and assets.

[bballsparkin]

I don't think people are looking at it from a different perspective.

Who's to say Portland doesn't just trade Lillard this off season and does a proper rebuild with all those picks etc? They can say whatever they want but I wouldn't be surprised if that's something they are considering.

logically that makes more sense. they already have simons + sharpe + 3rd pick. trading lillard would give them more young prospects/picks. it would be a quicker rebuild.
sentimentality can make fools out of them though; we'll see.

Yeah, the truth is that franchise owners often don't think logically. I know this for fact as a Vancouver Canucks fan. We shall see.