What are the Trailblazers doing?

[Village Idiot]

People asked the same thing when young Houston signed Van Vleet and Brooks - “what are they doing? Trying to be treadmill team? They should just keep developing their youth”

And then two years later they are the 3 seed in the West and now have added KD and are serious contenders.

Sometimes you bring in an old Jrue Holiday to help set the tone for your young team and give them a real winning chance night in and night out

Jrue Holiday and Chauncey Billups as the coach are good example for the young guards. I expect Portland to eventually move Jrue Holiday when the time is right for something to build on.

I really like Jrue Holiday in this mentor position.

I think Jrue is bait to lure Giannis and Scoot will be part of the package to get him. With Portlan d having control over the Bucks picks from 28-30, they can make an offer that is compelling both to Giannis and the Bucks and still have a winning team.

Assuming some further development from the young guys this season, Deni, Scoot, Clingan and the Bucks picks should be a really solid offer for Giannis.

[LockoutSeason]

They’re doing what they’re supposed to; selling off vets, stacking young talent, and bringing in Dame to sell tickets. That’s a true rebuild.

[slicedbread2]

In a short period of time they went from one of the most desolate franchises to a team on the rise with multiple high upside young players.

Not to mention James Posey/Tiago Splitter added to coaching and leadership added in Dame and Jrue Holiday. If peeps don’t see what Chauncey is building here, they don’t wanna see it.

They don't call Chauncey "Mr. Big Shot" for nothing. It's crazy how maligned he was when he started coaching. He honestly needed a few years to see what was/wasn't working and having the infrastructure set up to give young players a chance to succeed is very vital. I'm happy they cut ties with Ayton. It reminded me of the mistake Atlanta made in the mid-2000's when they allowed the bad habits of players like Antoine Walker to permeate onto the young guys like Josh Smith. That ended up being a trainwreck and by the time Smoove was done, Hawks fans would be moaning in agony every time he took a shot he had no business taking.

In the end, putting up with Ayton's BS was worth it because they managed to get out of Nurkic and Little's deal while snagging Camara in the Lillard trade. The fact that Camara made the 2nd team all defense squad is impressive. He's about to get paid as he's a 2nd round pick and can be made an RFA after this year.

[Norm2953]

It's been okay for the team managed to dump Simons, Ayton and built a team that will be solid
defensively.

Team has Deni, Camara and Grant as their forwards with two promising young centers in DC and Yang
and has Scoot, Sharpe and Jrue in the BC. Dame will be out next season. It's a functional team that is
short of shooting but should be in most games, for they will be very competitive on the defensive
end.

[Exp0sed]

Stop trying to make Ayton something he is not "bigman who went to the Finals"

He's played for 7 seasons now and the only good thing anyone can say is he "went to the Finals".

The only player since Howard to average at least 10 points and 10 boards a game in his first 7 seasons.

LOL, if he'd been 7th year Dwight Howard, POR would have kept him and built around him (i.e. not drafted two centers in the first round in two consecutive years).

You seem to have forgotten the other side of the ball. After 7 seasons, Dwight Howard had won DPOY 3 times. After 7 seasons, Deandre Ayton had thought about playing defense 3 times, but decided against it.

He is an empty stats guy who contributes nothing to winning. He has a poor, unprofessional attitude. It wasn't the "environment" in POR that ruined Deandre Ayton, he was ruined when he got here. Can't blame Phoenix either. They were a team full of solid vets, and that wasn't enough to motivate Ayton.

He was a negative locker room presence and bad influence on the young players - especially on a team that is trying to establish a defensive identity. Clingan had a much more positive impact on winning, as a rookie, than Ayton did as a 7th year player "who had been to the finals", and Clingan is going to get better. Ayton won't. He's already peaked as a empty stats guy who doesn't play winning basketball.

That said, he might not be a total disaster in LA. With Luka, LeBron and company, all the Lakers really need at center is a big body with a pulse. They don't need Ayton to do much other than be enough of a scoring threat that opposing centers can't constantly double off him to swarm Luka and LeBron and grab the uncontested rebounds that fall in his lap. Ayton can do both of those things, and that may be good enough given the rest of the Lakers roster.

Ayton's past is his past and he's def shown to be extremely lackluster and unmotivated at times, perhaps with some lockeroom and off-court issues as well but tbh, he seemed ok in those regards in Portland

he was playing ok and his demeanor wad fine, he shared the ball with the younger guys when he was on the court and seemed to be a contributing member on the team and in the lockeroom. That's the eye test, furthermore there were no reports of any strife last season..

He just wasn't in their long term plans and about midway thru the season, they rightfully elected to give his mins and role to DC, in order to give him some burn,see what they got and develop him while doing doing a mini tank

Without the vets the young guys led by the Avdija and Camara tandem, led them to a competitive run and that was that as far as Ayton's season went but last year wasn't on him

He's no DH but at the modest salary the Lakers signed him to, he's at worst servicable and at best will actually be quite valuble

Lakers are expecting him to play the role if a 5th or 4th NBA starter and Ayton is well ahead of the curve of 5th starters and fits the Lakers needs and playstyle to boot

even after getting benched for a rookie, Ayton didn't pout etc., he understood and accepted the situation. Redick will put him in good spots and he's just entering his prime, getting to play alongside Luka

Think Harden and Capela or Luka and Gafford\Lively. Kind of a dream situation and he'll be playing for another big contract after this one

I wouldn't bet against greed haha

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[Big_Aristotle]

Accumulating assets and growing young talent until they have a star player/combination of players that warrants putting all the chips on the table and get really competitive. Smart management it is.

[Myth]

he was playing ok and his demeanor wad fine, he shared the ball with the younger guys when he was on the court and seemed to be a contributing member on the team and in the lockeroom. That's the eye test, furthermore there were no reports of any strife last season..

I guess that depends on what you consider strife. He seemed to get along with teammates, but higher ups seemed to think he was unprofessional.

even after getting benched for a rookie, Ayton didn't pout etc., he understood and accepted the situation.

Reports completely contradict this claim. You may have missed this report about issues the team had with him:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6463929/2025/06/30/deandre-ayton-portlant-trail-blazers-free-agency/

[knicksfan974]

"Ayton waived for nothing" it was just a casual league-ordered transaction to help the flagship Lakers.

No it wasnt. PDX took a swing on Ayton and it didnt work out. They wanted Yang for a few years and Ayton simply had no future in Portland. He gave a hell of a good amt back and it opened the full MLE - which was used on Dame.

There is no conspiracy. PDX bought out Ayton because he is a bad basketball player who puts up stats but makes no impact in the W / L column.

Donovan Clingan
On/Court per 100 Poss -0.2 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss +4.6 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

DeAndre Ayton
On/Court per 100 Poss -6.8 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss -5.1 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

Ayton is just a pure net negative on the floor.

Why Portland didn't try to at least get a pick for him? Too much to ask? Really his value around the league is zero? A 7-footer former top pick who is only 26yo? Zero value?

[DusterBuster]

"Ayton waived for nothing" it was just a casual league-ordered transaction to help the flagship Lakers.

No it wasnt. PDX took a swing on Ayton and it didnt work out. They wanted Yang for a few years and Ayton simply had no future in Portland. He gave a hell of a good amt back and it opened the full MLE - which was used on Dame.

There is no conspiracy. PDX bought out Ayton because he is a bad basketball player who puts up stats but makes no impact in the W / L column.

Donovan Clingan
On/Court per 100 Poss -0.2 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss +4.6 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

DeAndre Ayton
On/Court per 100 Poss -6.8 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss -5.1 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

Ayton is just a pure net negative on the floor.

Why Portland didn't try to at least get a pick for him? Too much to ask? Really his value around the league is zero? A 7-footer former top pick who is only 26yo? Zero value?

Multiple things were reported here, and essentially it's what you are asking...

*Ayton and his reps asked for a shortlist of teams they wanted to goto, basically only the Lakers and a handful of others winning teams, so this killed his trade value. Non-playoff teams that might have had interested we're going to move anything for a clear rental.
*The teams on his listed that wanted him we're going to give up anything of value for a player they can sign next summer.
*All teams that would have moved something for Ayton would have required the Blazers taking back at least 1 or 2 multiple year contracts in return for him - which they reportedly didn't want to do with an Ayton move - they only wanted expirings back in his case.

So yeah, there were no picks to get, and even if there was a second rounder or two somewhere, it the price tag wasn't what they were willing to do because of the long-term salary to get minimal impact assests.

[HoopsFanAZ]

1. The Ayton buy-out removed a player who did not fit the culture Billups is building. DA is a good guy from all reports, but less than positive behavior has trickled out, and he wanted out with the draft of Clingan. No stretching of his contract -- just a one-year hit.
2. Trading for Jrue, again, is a clear upgrade over Simons both for the defensive upgrade and fit to the culture. Other teams may come calling for a 2-time champion, but it looks like he's staying at least for a year.
3. With Dame back and Jerami (his guy from the Olympics), there are 3 grown-ups who have 3 year contracts and a p-opt in the 3rd year. Those salaries are not lodestones to the team salary when the young guys get paid. If all 3 are gone or retired in the summer of 2028, the team salary should make sense.
4. Veterans -- Dame, Jrue, Grant, Time Lord, Reath, Thybulle -- none of whom is expected to play BIG starter minutes. EC's with 2 back-ups have them gone after the season (if not before). The Veterans are ages 28-35.
Younger Dudes -- Scoot, Sharpe, Rupert, Murray, Camara, Avdija, Clingan, Yang -- ages 20-25.
5. The two best players moving forward are forwards -- Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija -- both 25 (with the exception of Dame and his upcoming year as an "assistant coach"). Portland finally has 2 good forwards who play at both ends!
6. Two young, massive human beings in Clingan and Yang -- iron sharpens iron. Neither one has to be a star. They both have skills. A nice pair.

7. Scoot and Shaedon have a "prove it" season in 2025-26. Both have shown growth, but both must play D and develop. If not, they don't get the big bucks.

This is not the 2-track team Dame was on before. It's a younger, taller, longer, defense-first team. All their Younger Dudes are in development -- Even Deni who they have to see just how much he can take on. This is the kind of team Dame wanted built around him 2-4 years ago. I'm not even concerned about their near the bottom of the league 3-point shooting ... it's coming around.

In other words, this team will be a pain to play and easy to cheer for. Any logjams at guard will be resolved in a year by what the players do and do not do. When Dame returns -- giddy-up. The forwards are set. The centers will be developing and should be fan favorites.

The Blazers have draft picks (minus the conditional pick owed to Chicago) and a team salary that's getting in order. It's a work in progress that makes far more sense than what was done under Neil Olshey.

[DavidSterned]

"Ayton waived for nothing" it was just a casual league-ordered transaction to help the flagship Lakers.

No it wasnt. PDX took a swing on Ayton and it didnt work out. They wanted Yang for a few years and Ayton simply had no future in Portland. He gave a hell of a good amt back and it opened the full MLE - which was used on Dame.

There is no conspiracy. PDX bought out Ayton because he is a bad basketball player who puts up stats but makes no impact in the W / L column.

Donovan Clingan
On/Court per 100 Poss -0.2 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss +4.6 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

DeAndre Ayton
On/Court per 100 Poss -6.8 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss -5.1 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

Ayton is just a pure net negative on the floor.

Why Portland didn't try to at least get a pick for him? Too much to ask? Really his value around the league is zero? A 7-footer former top pick who is only 26yo? Zero value?

Outgoing salary requirements are a thing. No one is sending out anything of value for Ayton without attaching significant outgoing salary weight anyways.

If Cronin could have dumped Ayton straight up for a 2nd rounder or a heavily protected 1st, then he would have. But alas there's that pesky CBA thing.

[ShootersShoot]

"Ayton waived for nothing" it was just a casual league-ordered transaction to help the flagship Lakers.

No it wasnt. PDX took a swing on Ayton and it didnt work out. They wanted Yang for a few years and Ayton simply had no future in Portland. He gave a hell of a good amt back and it opened the full MLE - which was used on Dame.

There is no conspiracy. PDX bought out Ayton because he is a bad basketball player who puts up stats but makes no impact in the W / L column.

Donovan Clingan
On/Court per 100 Poss -0.2 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss +4.6 (1/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

DeAndre Ayton
On/Court per 100 Poss -6.8 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)
On/Off per 100 Poss -5.1 (10/10 in PDX players w/ more than 1K minutes played)

Ayton is just a pure net negative on the floor.

Why Portland didn't try to at least get a pick for him? Too much to ask? Really his value around the league is zero? A 7-footer former top pick who is only 26yo? Zero value?

Yes, ayton at $35.5mill had no value.