DO YOU LIKE OUR BLAZERS ROSTER?

[BlazersBroncos]

This Sarr guy seems intriguing. A 7 footer that seems decently athletic and can shoot the 3? Something has to be wrong with him to be avaliable lol

[HoopsFanAZ]

Gee, well said. Reasonable, IMHO as one who also knows nothing.

[JasonStern]

I know the roster is set, but it's really a shame the Blazers won't bring RHJ back. Flawed player? Sure. But guy deserves a roster spot and can defensively bring what GP2 brings for a fraction of the price.

I think cutting Didi is simply getting under the tax because that's what the blazers do, especially under Jody. It's so confounding how we'll over pay our players but do anything to stay under the tax. Obviously we aren't contenders so I get it, but still it just shows the blazers aren't serious about fielding the best roster possible.

It's so much more financially than that. By being under the tax, the Blazers receive their share of the luxury tax other teams pay. Everyone thinks it is entirely repeater tax or even paying the tax. But there are million$ of reasons to avoid it every season.

The big problem with overpaying players is player retention. What's the plan next season when Jerami Grant expires? The season after when Josh Hart expires - presuming he even opts in?

Whiteside has a history of sulking, but he did seem to like playing with Dame. He also seemed resentful that Nurk "took" his starting role in the bubble and seemed checked out after that. It was a contract year for him and he'd been playing pretty well, by his standards (he was certainly putting up numbers - 16.3 ppg, 14.2 rpg and 3.1 bpg), until Nurk came back. He saw his salary drop from $27 million to $1.6 million as the best he could do was a vet minimum 1-year contract with SAC that offseason.

He did play well, with no reports of sulking, in Utah last season. He knew going in he would be backing up Gobert. I'm not sure he'd be thrilled to return to Portland to back up Nurk again. Hard to tell. He's pretty mercurial.

Whiteside and Kanter are perennial head cases that honestly had no problems in Portland and I'd gladly welcome back. Says something about the team's culture.

Success looks like a 2nd round exit, which is FINE as long as they improve again this coming off-season.

2nd round is generous. It's still Dame and the B-squad. 41-41 and getting swept in the first round of the playoffs is more realistic given the talent in the western conference this year.

Sharpe has to be the guy at SF … eventually and soon.

Sharpe is a combo guard. And no amount of complaining on forums is going to make him grow 6". But the guard situation is solid. Dame for the present. Simons and Sharpe for the future. And the Blazers did this with just half a season of tanking. And we didn't even tank to get Dame - just fleeced the Nets.

1. Grant getting $30 million for 3 years and a team option? That would be large for a #3 guy. However, I’m not concerned about what it costs the Blazers. It’s just about paying tax and one day becoming a tax repeater … until the cap goes up.

If Grant proves himself to be a $30M/year player, great. That's a problem you want to have. But if not, what was the cost? The 26-30th pick in the 2026 draft?

[HoopsFanAZ]

[...]

It's so much more financially than that. By being under the tax, the Blazers receive their share of the luxury tax other teams pay. Everyone thinks it is entirely repeater tax or even paying the tax. But there are million$ of reasons to avoid it every season.

The big problem with overpaying players is player retention. What's the plan next season when Jerami Grant expires? The season after when Josh Hart expires - presuming he even opts in?

[...]

Sharpe has to be the guy at SF … eventually and soon.

Sharpe is a combo guard. And no amount of complaining on forums is going to make him grow 6". But the guard situation is solid. Dame for the present. Simons and Sharpe for the future. And the Blazers did this with just half a season of tanking. And we didn't even tank to get Dame - just fleeced the Nets.

1. Grant getting $30 million for 3 years and a team option? That would be large for a #3 guy. However, I’m not concerned about what it costs the Blazers. It’s just about paying tax and one day becoming a tax repeater … until the cap goes up.

If Grant proves himself to be a $30M/year player, great. That's a problem you want to have. But if not, what was the cost? The 26-30th pick in the 2026 draft?

Reasonable takes. The Grant deal was pretty outstanding. Some fans might not like his game or what he will cost on the next contract, but the deal itself and what he brings is a nice improvement -- a good job set up well in advance (from what's rumored). If his play earns $30 million, it's an even bigger win -- absolutely.

As to Sharpe, yes, I too see him as a combo guard but not the PG part (if that's what you meant). He looks like a G/F, or more as SG/SF. His size is at the smaller end against the best SFs, but his wingspan is good to go, his athleticism tilts it in his favor, and he needs 1-2 years for a grown-man, NBA body. Little's wingspan, athleticism, and build help him cross the threshold as a SF, too.

I like what the Blazers have and was glad to hear and read Cronin and others talk about it as better but not done, yet.

[GEE]

I was just thinking about the TV DOLLAR$, and the potential effects on salaries say 2 years from now. If the next TV deal dwarfs the current one, as some have rumored, J.Grant and players alike may see $30/per easy, but looking more at Dame's finalized, retiring in Portland Extension... Cronin may prove to be frugal.

Does anyone know the latest estimates? Might the next one be several Xs more? My Magic 8ball says "yes".

[DaVoiceMaster]

Well I genuinely didn't know he had a player option so I wasn't being disingenuous.. but yeah, he'll definitely get a raise, so we might deal him rather than let him walk. I guess it depends on what happens with Simons.

As much as I'd love to see Ant in the 6th man role with Hart starting at the 2 to give us more size, defense and rebounding, I don't think it's going to happen. So, I think it comes down to how well Hart plays as a starting 3.

I think Lillard and Simon's start, which means they'll play 7-8 minutes together to start each half, the. They will finish the game together, as well which means another 5-6 minutes together. They'll play anywhere from 19-22 minutes together.

[mighty_duck]

And to top it off, those 19-22 minutes will be against the opposing team's best unit.
I worry that we will be overrun many nights with such a weak defense at the point of attack.

If we struggle, will Chauncey move Simons to a microwave 6th man position? That would solve both problems - cut the Lillard/Simons on court time to around 14 minutes, and do it mostly against the opposing B squad.

My prediction - Simons starting will somewhat work out early in the season, as opposing offenses take a few weeks to start humming. And then when it breaks down in the middle of the season, Chauncey will be under pressure from management not to "demote" Simons to the bench ("it was working, we're just in a slump now. He's our second best player, he has to start").

[Goldbum]

Don't shoot the messenger, but my buddy who works in the front office of a tanking team told me he's heard that PDX and the Nets have discussed a deal centered around Grant/Hart and GP2 for Simons could happen once GP2 can be traded. This is supposed to be based on Brooklyn keeping Irving and KD while pushing all their chips in. It's just been exploratory but if Portland falls flat that deal would happen before a Dame trade, but he also thinks Dame won't go without a massive haul. So all in all unlikely but interesting that they still have Ben on their list. Ant/Sharpe/Little/Simons doesn't look like a horrible future core when you attach whatever picks and players would come with Dame/Nurk trades. Also we have discussed a potential deal with Boston for Winslow for a 1st, that's seems silly to me but with Danilo getting hurt could make a ton of sense for both teams... No real news but it's the off-season and he doesn't work for the Blazers so it's just agent speak and third hand info...

[tester551]

Don't shoot the messenger, but my buddy who works in the front office of a tanking team told me he's heard that PDX and the Nets have discussed a deal centered around Grant/Hart and GP2 for Simons could happen once GP2 can be traded. This is supposed to be based on Brooklyn keeping Irving and KD while pushing all their chips in. It's just been exploratory but if Portland falls flat that deal would happen before a Dame trade, but he also thinks Dame won't go without a massive haul. So all in all unlikely but interesting that they still have Ben on their list. Ant/Sharpe/Little/Simons doesn't look like a horrible future core when you attach whatever picks and players would come with Dame/Nurk trades. Also we have discussed a potential deal with Boston for Winslow for a 1st, that's seems silly to me but with Danilo getting hurt could make a ton of sense for both teams... No real news but it's the off-season and he doesn't work for the Blazers so it's just agent speak and third hand info...

Is this getting too greedy with the inclusion of Day'Ron Sharpe? I like his potential & think he's undervalued.

Nets: Grant/Hart/Winslow -> $38.0M

Portland: Simmons/Sharpe -> $37.5M

Regarding the Boston rumor with Winslow - I think that would be great. They don't have much to give back (that I would be interested in) other than future picks. Trading him into an TPE would allow Portland to bring in 1 or 2 min vet players and still stay under the tax.


Honestly - for me, I don't want to give up Hart. I like him better than Simons. I'd give up Grant/Simons for Simmons.

[BlazersBroncos]

Moving anything of value for Ben Simmons is a no-go for me until we see him play, and even then I would be surprised if a FO that has leaned so heavily on hustle and character traded for a guy that would rather play vidya games than suit up for his team.

Is the on-court impact of Ben Simmons, even assuming he is playing with motivation, really more than the combined impact of Grant, Hart and GP2? I really dont think so.

You cant even play Ben late in the game due to his FT woes - you have to treat him like Jakob Poeltl basically, sub in and out for defensive / offensive possessions.

If we view this team as a Ben Simmons away from competition (And losing 3 top-7 rotation guys in the process), then IDK what to think of this FO.

If we make a splash I think it will be for a good player on a team straddling that line between true rebuild and retool - like TOR. I can see Pascal being made avaliable for a kings ransom if they are struggling midway through the season (I think it would take SS and a 3/3 picks / swap package to get him, and likely would pull the trigger on that too)

[Case2012]

I would gladly take Simmons but the ideal would be to pair him with Grant. We need size and a 3/4 of Simmons and Grant would be freaking awesome. Send them Simons, Sharpe and Hart, plus some picks instead (Obviously they would want more and other teams could beat that easily, so I know it’s a fantasy buttttt….).

Dame
GP
Grant
Simmons
Nurkic

That’s the best defense in the league.

[m0ng0]

That's nonsense, Simmons is a cancer. Seriously what does he do? There is no reason on god's green earth that we waste Simon's and a top 7 pick for him! Check your head man!

[GEE]

Grant, Hart & GP2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than Simmons. I in the past have been a lonely advocate for taking a chance by bringing Simmons to Portland, but as part of a much bigger trade involving Dame... and that would still, in my estimation, be the only way we would see Ben Simmons in Portland.

There's still IMO the very good chance that the Dame / Simons pairing looks bad, and Dame just for whatever reason WANTS to join Durrant and Kyrie in BKN. Then, Simmons would definitely be a Blazer. I also believe this would be one of the very few good options for Dame, IF, the Blazer's Brass have ZERO interest in trading Simons, which I believe could be true.

Hopefully though, we will see Chauncey & Scotty push all the right buttons in regards to the pairing of PGs, with the result being: Both Dame & ANT being Top-10 in Shooting as 50/40/90 guys, both with high Asst/TO numbers by simply feeding and feeding and feeding the Bosnian Beast. I can easily envision 3 All-Stars this next season. This should also be our "Bread & Butter", with a supporting cast that to me, is a Army of Wings in Grant, Winslow, Little, Hart & GP2. The two solid rookies will be trying to earn PT, as well as the other youngsters in Keon, GB3, Watford & Eubanks.

Point is... We're Good. No thanks to that garbage offer. Not looking to do BKN the favor of getting out of the mess they have built themselves. Simmons would be nice... but not at that price.

[ebott]

My prediction - Simons starting will somewhat work out early in the season, as opposing offenses take a few weeks to start humming. And then when it breaks down in the middle of the season, Chauncey will be under pressure from management not to "demote" Simons to the bench ("it was working, we're just in a slump now. He's our second best player, he has to start").

I agree. I would really like to see how a Dame GP 2 starting back court would look.

If we're starting games with Dame and Simons scoring 15 in the quarter but the other team's backcourt is scoring 20 I think Chauncey is gonna seriously consider starting GP 2 next to Dame to have someone that can really put the screws to the other team's best offensive guard. Like you said, that's not likely to happen as the front office is just as dedicated to Simons as NO was.

There's one scenario where I think my dreams could come true. If Simons goes down with a high ankle sprain or something else that's not too serious but means that he can't play for a few games and it happens to be during a particularly tough stretch of games and we totally crush it, Chauncey might be able to keep GP 2 in the starting lineup to preserve continuity.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Who starts is so political, and often not very meaningful unless the team starts blazing hot or ice cold.

I do hope they get GP2 a lot of minutes against the opposing teams best starting guard. No reason to have him going against bench units really.

[Sinobas]

Blazers should have gotten a big haul for Dame, and went with a Hart Simons background.

Instead we're going to be in mediocre land till Dame retires at as a massively over-paid more man's 38 year old Kobe.

[BlazersBroncos]

People keep saying we should have traded Dame this offseason but do we really think the return would have been substantial coming off a injury riddled season before any team sees if he is still the same Dame on the court?

When is the last time a star of Dame's caliber was traded coming off a season where said star played under 30 games and was injured going into the offseason (IE not the last 30 games + healthy into offseason, played the first 30).

It was just never in the cards.

[Dame Lizard]

People keep saying we should have traded Dame this offseason but do we really think the return would have been substantial coming off a injury riddled season before any team sees if he is still the same Dame on the court?

When is the last time a star of Dame's caliber was traded coming off a season where said star played under 30 games and was injured going into the offseason (IE not the last 30 games + healthy into offseason, played the first 30).

It was just never in the cards.

I'm ok with us not having traded Dame this offseason.

However, that extension was just plain stupidity though. We were bidding against ourselves.

[BlazersBroncos]

People keep saying we should have traded Dame this offseason but do we really think the return would have been substantial coming off a injury riddled season before any team sees if he is still the same Dame on the court?

When is the last time a star of Dame's caliber was traded coming off a season where said star played under 30 games and was injured going into the offseason (IE not the last 30 games + healthy into offseason, played the first 30).

It was just never in the cards.

I'm ok with us not having traded Dame this offseason.

However, that extension was just plain stupidity though. We were bidding against ourselves.

O ya, totally agree.

[mighty_duck]

I'm not a fan of Dame's extension either. But with the cap going up next year, it won't seem nearly as bad.
If he keeps producing, it may even be tradable assuming we go the full rebuild route.