2023 NBA Draft (tonight's discussion on pg 58)

[tester551]

There is a star player who’s been reportedly unhappy for years on his team, and has missed a lot of games due to injury, but also seems to have missed as many if not more due to just not wanting to play basketball for them. His value is probably pretty depressed. He’s also spent a fair amount of time in Portland.

….. What about Zion? ….???

Why is Zion unhappy in NO?
Would any of that change for him being in Portland?

Unless you can answer those 2 questions, its best to stay away (unless the price is insanely cheap-> ie Simons straight up)

[Jsun947]

There is a star player who’s been reportedly unhappy for years on his team, and has missed a lot of games due to injury, but also seems to have missed as many if not more due to just not wanting to play basketball for them. His value is probably pretty depressed. He’s also spent a fair amount of time in Portland.

….. What about Zion? ….???

Why is Zion unhappy in NO?
Would any of that change for him being in Portland?

Unless you can answer those 2 questions, its best to stay away (unless the price is insanely cheap-> ie Simons straight up)

No idea and if he has spoken with Dame and wants to be here…

[zzaj]

Honestly, not at all interested in Isaac, Zion, or any other player that plays cheerleader more than NBA player.

I'm sure going to be pissed when the Blazers end up landing the 6th-8th pick. Setting myself up for that failure of the NBA gods already...

[JRoy]

Honestly, not at all interested in Isaac, Zion, or any other player that plays cheerleader more than NBA player.

I'm sure going to be pissed when the Blazers end up landing the 6th-8th pick. Setting myself up for that failure of the NBA gods already...

Be ready that pick to be traded for Tobias Harris or DDR.

[Norm2953]

The thing is though, the lowest the Blazers could drop is to 8 and that might be enough to
draft Hendricks, who should be a fine player.

It then comes back to what the goal should be. If the goal is to build a treadmill team that loses
every season in the first round, then go ahead and trade for a 33 year old player. Come 2025 or
2026, the older players would be done and you'd be facing the rebuild after kicking the can down
the road.

[Norm2953]

Honestly, not at all interested in Isaac, Zion, or any other player that plays cheerleader more than NBA player.

I'm sure going to be pissed when the Blazers end up landing the 6th-8th pick. Setting myself up for that failure of the NBA gods already...

All of us are tired of seeing those guys sitting behind the bench in street clothes. Portland does have a 58% of dropping
a few spots but might still get there guys at 6-7. Walker/Hendricks should be able to help Portland at some point in the
23-24 season after they get their feet wet.

[JasonStern]

The only reason to trade for DeRozan is because he's real life friends with Dame. Plus, he can probably be had for what the Blazers have while still having some talent left.

[zzaj]

The only reason to trade for DeRozan is because he's real life friends with Dame. Plus, he can probably be had for what the Blazers have while still having some talent left.

DeRozan and Sharpe are pretty similar. A guard/SF rotation of:

Lillard/Mays
Sharpe/Thybulle
Derozan/Little

could be pretty good...and it'd have to be, because the entire front court would be almost non-existent. Maybe they draft a Walker or Hendricks (I think Hendricks would fit better with Lillard/Derozan) and sign a Christian Wood and a defensive big. I don't think it makes sense to bring Grant back if you have DeRozan, given Grant's preferred position is SF.

[zzaj]

The thing is though, the lowest the Blazers could drop is to 8 and that might be enough to
draft Hendricks, who should be a fine player.

It then comes back to what the goal should be. If the goal is to build a treadmill team that loses
every season in the first round, then go ahead and trade for a 33 year old player. Come 2025 or
2026, the older players would be done and you'd be facing the rebuild after kicking the can down
the road.

Well, thing is...if Sharpe and Hendricks (or whatever pick player) really take off next year and the year after:

Lillard
Sharpe/Thybulle
DeRozan
Hendricks
C

Could end up being better than a 1st round exit.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Basketball Reference isn't the end-all, authoritative site necessarily on player positions, but they do list the position of a player in a given year. I'm sure advanced metrics can provide how many minutes and how effectively a player was at a given position. But a simplistic answer to Grant's position is he played SF his rookie year and his 1st year in Detroit. Other than that, he's listed as a PF.

Grant has a serious quickness advantage over PFs while having length and height with SFs. His competitive advantage is probably with PFs. He can play defense (you are what you can defend) against MOST PFs and SFs and guard some centers, SGs and PGs ... at least for a bit. His rebounding numbers are BAD as a forward, though players who don't get as tough a cover should he helping out.

Dame, Sharpe, Grant. Some bench players.

DeRozan? Jimmy Butler? OG? Siakam? Bridges? [I'll add in Draymond Green but that's a non-Simons trade, most likely.]
Any of those guys as an upgrade over this year? Yes. Simons AND picks. Bigger Salary? Simons + Nurkics + picks. Or add-in Nas.
Yes, please. Get the best possible. Keep Dame, Sharpe, Grant. That's it.

[DusterBuster]

DeRozen or LaVine would be big gets for the Blazers if they only move the lottery pick and Simons + filler. I think those two are pretty unfairly ish upon.

I should say the lottery pick, if it falls under 5.

[Jsun947]

DeRozen or LaVine would be big gets for the Blazers if they only move the lottery pick and Simons + filler. I think those two are pretty unfairly ish upon.

I should say the lottery pick, if it falls under 5.

If we’re trying to be competitive I’m not trading more than Simons and smaller assets for Derozan. Our lottery pick would be out of the question in that deal.

[DusterBuster]

DeRozen or LaVine would be big gets for the Blazers if they only move the lottery pick and Simons + filler. I think those two are pretty unfairly ish upon.

I should say the lottery pick, if it falls under 5.

If we’re trying to be competitive I’m not trading more than Simons and smaller assets for Derozan. Our lottery pick would be out of the question in that deal.

If it falls under 5, I’ll consider it. I also think DeRozan is pretty underrated.

[HoopsFanAZ]

DeRozen or LaVine would be big gets for the Blazers if they only move the lottery pick and Simons + filler. I think those two are pretty unfairly ish upon.
I should say the lottery pick, if it falls under 5.

If we’re trying to be competitive I’m not trading more than Simons and smaller assets for Derozan. Our lottery pick would be out of the question in that deal.

I’m not going to disagree with you on DeRozan and Simons. I think it’s fairly even straight up — youth matters. Add Nas for filler and get the future pick back. But I’m a Blazers fan who wouldn’t mind a deal to win now.

[elias808]

We play to win championships. No one remembers who came in second place.

The current iteration of this team is wildly flawed and needs to be blown up.

Trade Dame. Trade Nurk. Trade Ant. Recover assets and try again.

[m0ng0]

We play to win championships. No one remembers who came in second place.

The current iteration of this team is wildly flawed and needs to be blown up.

Trade Dame. Trade Nurk. Trade Ant. Recover assets and try again.

If you are going to blow it up I think you keep Ant, also I would try and get something for Grant or let him walk I suppose. If it's a rebuild he ain't gonna resign anyways.

[Jsun947]

We play to win championships. No one remembers who came in second place.

The current iteration of this team is wildly flawed and needs to be blown up.

Trade Dame. Trade Nurk. Trade Ant. Recover assets and try again.

If you are going to blow it up I think you keep Ant, also I would try and get something for Grant or let him walk I suppose. If it's a rebuild he ain't gonna resign anyways.

If we blew it up I’d try to either S&T Grant if he wants to go to a team without cap space, or come to an agreement where he can sign a contract that we can trade next season. There’s a lot of teams that could use Grant.

I’m not sure there is a trade destination for Nurk where we get a asset back.

[Norm2953]

The thing is though, the lowest the Blazers could drop is to 8 and that might be enough to
draft Hendricks, who should be a fine player.

It then comes back to what the goal should be. If the goal is to build a treadmill team that loses
every season in the first round, then go ahead and trade for a 33 year old player. Come 2025 or
2026, the older players would be done and you'd be facing the rebuild after kicking the can down
the road.

Well, thing is...if Sharpe and Hendricks (or whatever pick player) really take off next year and the year after:

Lillard
Sharpe/Thybulle
DeRozan
Hendricks
C

Could end up being better than a 1st round exit.

I fully expect both Sharpe and the pick to be up and down.

NBA teams this summer will have time to study film on players like Sharpe much like they did with Simons
this season. It will be up to Sharpe to adjust how the teams are playing him.

Hopefully, the Blazers will overhaul their coaching staff and add an X's and O's guy to help Chauncey (if he
returns). Team needs to help these young players adjust how teams play them.

I think the team could get to .500 without any desperation moves for there is talent on the team. Team needs
to get stronger and tougher on both ends of the court. If they could find a vet who does what a healthy
Winslow does on the court, it would really help for these young players need a stabilizing mentor on the
court.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I kind of like the idea of DDR. I thin Vucevic is a FA this summer. Would the Bulls have any interest in Nurkic, Little, and #5 for DDR? That still leaves Simons for another trade, maybe with Orlando.

[BlazersBroncos]

I kind of like the idea of DDR. I thin Vucevic is a FA this summer. Would the Bulls have any interest in Nurkic, Little, and #5 for DDR? That still leaves Simons for another trade, maybe with Orlando.

I would think about Simons and Nurk for DDR, but for sure I’m not including 5.

DDR may be the most bang for your buck big name(ish) guy available. I think we can get him without paying #5, and may lean towards that type of move over Pascal and Butler who would cost at least 5 and numerous future picks.