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

[Goldbum]

If we can get #11 I think SAS would love to get Wemby's team mate. So maybe use Ant for 11 and 11+ for Keldon Johnson?

[Jsun947]

It wouldn’t shock me at all if we end up trading Simons for Ayton, whether that’s a 2 team or 3 team deal is a different question.

It also wouldn’t shock me if we do that independently of trading or keeping #3.


If Phoenix actually wants to get Harden or free agents in general, they can waive/stretch Paul, then do a 3 way trade where Shamet & Simons go out for the #13 or #11 pick or something without taking back salary, they could end up about $35,000,000 under the cap.

[Norm2953]

I could see Simons + Nurk for Ayton

[Jsun947]

I could see Simons + Nurk for Ayton

I don’t know if they have any interest in Nurk but from the Blazers perspective I could see them doing that as well.

I’m not an Ayton fan in any way, shape, or form fwiw

[dunlop212]

Miller's release point on his shot looks a bit low. Also, I am wondering if being a defendant and a civil homicide suit won't be mentally wearing.

[dunlop212]

Miller's release point on his shot looks a bit low. Also, I am wondering if being a defendant and a civil homicide suit won't be mentally wearing.

meant to say "defendant in a wrongful death suit"

[Village Idiot]

Here is my dream scenario.

Portland trades:

#3 - Scoot Henderson
Simons
Nurkic
Watford

Portland receives:

#6 - Jarace Walker
Porzingis
WCJ

This gets us a switchable center in WCJ, the unicorn coming off a career year and we trade down to draft Jarace Walker whom I feel is the ultimate glue guy. Can defend all five positions, great connector, decent shooter. Was a point forward in HS. Has a solid dribble drive game although you'd like to see him finish stronger.

PG: Lillard, FA (CP3)
SG. Sharpe, Thybulle
SF: Grant, Little, Reddish
PF: Porzingis, Walker, Walker
C: WCJ, FA (Drummond), Eubanks

To me that looks like a team that can compete for a championship.


Orlando trades:

#6
#11
WCJ

Orlando receives:

#3
Nurkic

The Magic get their PG as they build a really solid, young team

Washington trades:

Porzingis

Washington receives:

#11
Simons
Watford

The Wizards risk losing Porzingis if he opts out and becomes an un-restricted free-agent. Here they get a really solid return in Simons and the 11.

[Goldbum]

I saw a Bulls website proposal of
Caruso + Patrick Williams + Derek Jones+ Portlands pick back
4
Ant
Feels maybe too good for Portland, but I've been hearing that Ant has a ton more value than most Blazer fans believe. I was even told "If you want to trade Simons you should be rooting for Denver. Some teams view Simons as very similar to Murray."
Not my words, he works in an NBA front office so take it how you want.

I would expand that and rerout Caruso+Jones to Pheonix with Nurkic
4
Ayton

Now I am still high on Patrick William's fit next to Grant and a starting line-up of

Dame
Sharpe
Williams
Grant
Ayton

With
Scoot
Matisse
#23 + TPE
MLE
2nds paired with young players for legit role players.

Maybe Keon + 3 seconds for Isiah Stewart?
Top of the bench:
Scoot
Stewart
Matisse
Watford
Mayes
Nas

Side note: Scoots playmaking could unlock
Nas/Sharpe/Williams we haven't had a real drive and drop interior passer in close to a decade (Dame is great passing above the break, on pick and rolls and to the corners but is only okay at creating interior lanes).

[The Sebastian Express]

If you get the chance to put Caruso in the backcourt as the third guard, you take it imo. It'd be like Payton - but without all the drama around it and able to play him more minutes.

But interesting to hear this from the front office guys.

[Village Idiot]

I've been hearing that Ant has a ton more value than most Blazer fans believe. I was even told "If you want to trade Simons you should be rooting for Denver. Some teams view Simons as very similar to Murray."
Not my words, he works in an NBA front office so take it how you want.

That's been my opinion for a while. I think here on Realgm his value is diminished due to his poor fit next to Lillard and our constant trying to trade him to other teams. I feel his value is actually pretty strong. I can totally see Orlando trading the 6 and Issac for Ant, for example.

[The Sebastian Express]

Hat-tip to fatlever over on the Charlotte board for this link:

https://deanondraft.substack.com/p/how-athletic-is-scoot-henderson?sd=pf

I have to admit this is mildly concerning, especially the section on 'Why Did Scoot Struggle to Self Create at the Rim?' which includes several clips of Scoot just having some real difficulty finishing in a way of not so much missing shots but.. not having a lot of touch even around the riim.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Something else to consider - Portland received 5 second round picks in the Payton trade.. It might be worth using one of those combined with the 43rd pick to move up to the late first round. I would target one of the Indiana picks at 26 or 29.

[mighty_duck]

Hat-tip to fatlever over on the Charlotte board for this link:

https://deanondraft.substack.com/p/how-athletic-is-scoot-henderson?sd=pf

I have to admit this is mildly concerning, especially the section on 'Why Did Scoot Struggle to Self Create at the Rim?' which includes several clips of Scoot just having some real difficulty finishing in a way of not so much missing shots but.. not having a lot of touch even around the riim.

Interesting analysis. It needs to be taken with a grain of salt though.
The sample size is pretty small (he uses 7 of 18 missed dunk attempts as a meaningful measure).
Compiling "graceless" misses at the rim is also not a great measure - you could do the same for Curry, Luka or Harden, and make them look like busts.

[JasonStern]

Read on Twitter

[Pattycakes]

Dyson, Murphy, their 1st rounder and a future 1st isn’t a bad consolidation prize. I wouldn’t want Ingram or Zion tbh which feels a little weird to say lol

[mighty_duck]

Dyson, Murphy, their 1st rounder and a future 1st isn’t a bad consolidation prize. I wouldn’t want Ingram or Zion tbh which feels a little weird to say lol

Murphy looks promising - a 23 year old, 6"9 SF who shoots 60/40/90 (albeit on very low usage) and defends with a 7"0 wingspan. That's a guy who is both win now and a building block for the future.
If that future 1st is the Laker's unprotected pick, this trade is a no-brainer.

[JasonStern]

Dyson, Murphy, their 1st rounder and a future 1st isn’t a bad consolidation prize. I wouldn’t want Ingram or Zion tbh which feels a little weird to say lol

I don't really get it. I mean, Ingram might help sell Dame. But #3 > Ingram. So if they add picks, you're back to doing the dual timeline thing. Like I wouldn't be overly mad if it was something like Ingram+Jones+pick. But I wouldn't be excited.

No interest in Zion. An injury prone big man heading to Portland? What could go wrong?

[zzaj]

This is a great example of the likely schism between the way WE think, and the way the FO thinks.

For us we see Zion as a massively injury prone player...a thing we're all tired of dealing with.

For them, they likely see a player who regardless of injury history will put butts in seats and sell season tickets whether he ends up playing or not.

That's the issue with having a bottom line owner.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

if brandom ingram is available (plus one of their young talented players), then you have to think about trading the 3rd pick (that doesnt necessarily mean make the deal, just think seriously about it, hes one of the guys that fit on this team, at least offensively)

hes a wing and legit all-star, so he would be a good fit offensively, but on the other hand, hes not know for his defense and he has health issues, so one can see why this would be a risky move (not zion risk, but still a risk)

[DusterBuster]

This is a great example of the likely schism between the way WE think, and the way the FO thinks.

For us we see Zion as a massively injury prone player...a thing we're all tired of dealing with.

For them, they likely see a player who regardless of injury history will put butts in seats and sell season tickets whether he ends up playing or not.

That's the issue with having a bottom line owner.

I don't know if I 100% buy this, but you're right that I think the injury-prone thing is something the FO probably thinks they can fix. It's one of those situations where they think their culture and infrastructure is just better than what the Pelicans have in place. And for all we know, that may be true? Having him closer to Nike HQ might keep him more engaged with his brand to motivate him to keep in shape, as would being in a completely non-party city like Portland vs a place like NO which is one of the biggest party cities in the NBA aside from maybe Las Vegas. Then they also have the utmost respect for Dame as a culture setter, so I'm sure they'd think with all those factors, they can curb some of that injury-prone issue.

I also think they look at a guy like Embiid as an example of a player who similarly dealt with a ton of injury problems his first 3-4 years in the league like Zion, but has since been able to really get past it. I'm sure there's enough of a belief in the front office that that may be Zion's path moreso than a Greg Oden path. And if you can get him bought in, healthy and less distracted by outside issues, he's the best player you can possibly get talent-wise for the pick.

The bigger question here is if Zion is even available in those talks. That seems about as clear as mud.