Damian Lillard Trade Request Part 3

[Kurtz]

I think the Suns interest in Nurkic is just pure off-season rumors. Why the hell would they be interested in swapping Ayton for Nurk.. Nurk @ 16.8m, 18.1m and 19.3m is an albatross of a contract.

Ayton for Nurkic and GTJ is a vacuum is a horrendous trade from their perspective. They'd end up paying more for those two guys on GTJ's next deal and his impact would be minimized next to Beal, Booker and Durant.

I think this would interest them because of all the salary they tied to their top 4. It’s them and a bunch of minimum guys really. If they can substitute one of them in Ayton, who’s way overpaid and not good, for two good NBA starters, the Suns will find more sicccess, certainly.

1) GTJ isn't a guaranteed starter and most certainly wouldn't be on this Suns team
2) Nurkic isn't starter quality either. He is injury prone and isn't someone known for his lateral quickness or his rim protection as a deterrent.

You're right about Nurk being a very limited player at this point, imo if the Suns are moving Ayton, Precious would be a great fit for them. Getting GTJ, Precious and Nurk for Ayton would actually solve a lot of their depth/versatility issues.

[goinrogue]

Ideally:
Dame, Schroder
GTJ, Dick
Barnes, McDaniels/OPJ
Siakam, Precious
Jak, Koloko

OG the center piece going back.
Leaves Boucher, Flynn, Thad and picks as our juice.

In: Dame

PDX: Ayton + OG + Thad + Pick(s)
Suns: Nurkic, Flynn, and Boucher

Or cut out Pheonix and let PDX shop the spare parts for picks.

Ideally we keep OG over GTJ. But probably not realistic.

Probably not and if it were, I would guess that Gradey would definitely be going out.

I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you think we can get him for an expiring OG and crap (Flynn, Thad, an ok Boucher). We would have to give up dick or try and sell them on Precious’ upside and potential.

[WaltFrazier]

Honestly, there are worse things than having a GM who tries to hit a home run every 5-6 years.

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

[phanman]

I think this would interest them because of all the salary they tied to their top 4. It’s them and a bunch of minimum guys really. If they can substitute one of them in Ayton, who’s way overpaid and not good, for two good NBA starters, the Suns will find more sicccess, certainly.

1) GTJ isn't a guaranteed starter and most certainly wouldn't be on this Suns team
2) Nurkic isn't starter quality either. He is injury prone and isn't someone known for his lateral quickness or his rim protection as a deterrent.

You're right about Nurk being a very limited player at this point, imo if the Suns are moving Ayton, Precious would be a great fit for them. Getting GTJ, Precious and Nurk for Ayton would actually solve a lot of their depth/versatility issues.

From my perspective, the Suns are better off with status quo. GTJ is luxury they just don't need/can't afford to have. Especially when they have Gordon on a vet min capable of filling that 6th man combo guard role and already can be penciled in as the 5th guy to close games. He is better defender than Trent and most importantly a whole lot cheaper.

I guess I just value Ayton more than most. I'd rather have him over that package and just rely him + Bol Bol, Eubanks and Metu to be enough up front. Realistically, KD is the starting PF anyways. I think the Suns did an incredible job of building out that roster with their vet min choices.

[HiJiNX]

Please god

[douggood]

Honestly, there are worse things than having a GM who tries to hit a home run every 5-6 years.

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

that was a 1 year window, here we have 4 years, realistically maybe just the first 2 years to build a depth.

build it and they will come vs, have them come and then build it.

[WWSRD]

Portland has guards. They need young wings they can build around that don't need the ball to be effective. They also need a center.

OG and Dick make a lot of sense in that regard. Herro does not.

If they can re-route salary and a pick to get Ayton, they go into next year with 2 nice young starting guards. A high level starting 3/4. A solid 5. Young gunners off the bench. Extra 1st round picks.

[mademan]

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

that was a 1 year window, here we have 4 years, realistically maybe just the first 2 years to build a depth.

build it and they will come vs, have them come and then build it.

dude's 33. You dont have 4 years. You trade for a guy like this and you hope to get 1 healthy high level playoffs.

Not everyone ages like Lebron. Most people have a sharp decline in their mid 30's

[Tofubeque]

Ideally:
Dame, Schroder
GTJ, Dick
Barnes, McDaniels/OPJ
Siakam, Precious
Jak, Koloko

OG the center piece going back.
Leaves Boucher, Flynn, Thad and picks as our juice.

In: Dame

PDX: Ayton + OG + Thad + Pick(s)
Suns: Nurkic, Flynn, and Boucher

Or cut out Pheonix and let PDX shop the spare parts for picks.

If we have to trade OG, this is the version I like best. Not a fan of all these proposals that send back 2 of our best 3 shooters. Someone besides Lillard has to hit a 3

[YogurtProducer]

So OG vs GTJ/Dick.

I love OG and he's so much more impactful, but I almost feel like we need the depth and the contract control of Dick.

I agree. GTJ can be re-signed to a decent deal and even without acquiring Dame signing OG to a 30+M deal seems to not be ideal anyways.

That’s a tough one. OG also misses a good chunk of games every season. He’s just so much better than Trent and gradey that I would take him.

For a team lacking depth and shooting, I think GTJ/Dick (assuming we can re-sign GTJ) for a combined 25M might be better than OG going to the open market and us getting surprised with a 40-45M max coming from another team like Houston.

[douggood]

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

that was a 1 year window, here we have 4 years, realistically maybe just the first 2 years to build a depth.

build it and they will come vs, have them come and then build it.

dude's 33. You dont have 4 years. You trade for a guy like this and you hope to get 1 healthy high level playoffs.

Not everyone ages like Lebron. Most people have a sharp decline in their mid 30's

lillard is younger than kd and steph
has had much less mileage as well in the years he has played, not many playoff games, started league a a older rookie.

[Tor_Raps]

Honestly, there are worse things than having a GM who tries to hit a home run every 5-6 years.

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

I'd agree that we're not at that level but also don't think we're that far away if we get Dame. The main reason is that the current nba has parity and there is not 1 team that I'd be afraid to play like we were back in 2018 with the Curry/Durant Warriors and the few other stacked teams.

We'd obviously need to do a follow up Marc Gasol like trade to really solidify our team but give me that path over whatever the hell we're doing currently.

[YogurtProducer]

Honestly, there are worse things than having a GM who tries to hit a home run every 5-6 years.

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

That 11 deep roster was also a complete anomaly in all aspects and probably is not something any team can replicate.

That was arguably the greatest 5-6 year stretch of a GM hitting picks and trades that while is a skill, also requires a **** ton of luck.

[mademan]

that was a 1 year window, here we have 4 years, realistically maybe just the first 2 years to build a depth.

build it and they will come vs, have them come and then build it.

dude's 33. You dont have 4 years. You trade for a guy like this and you hope to get 1 healthy high level playoffs.

Not everyone ages like Lebron. Most people have a sharp decline in their mid 30's

lillard is younger than kd and steph
has had much less mileage as well.

sure. and KD and Steph have been oft injured over the past 2 years. And while they may also be exceptions, you really willing to bet a chit ton that Dame is another exception? The vast majority of guys fall off at around this age

[YogurtProducer]

You can only hit a Home Run if you're doing a good job in between those 5-6 years lol

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

I'd agree that we're not at that level but also don't think we're that far away if we get Dame. The main reason is that the current nba has parity and there is not 1 team that I'd be afraid to play like we were back in 2018 with the Curry/Durant Warriors and the few other stacked teams.

We'd obviously need to do a follow up Marc Gasol like trade to really solidify our team but give me that path over whatever the hell we're doing currently.

If you can retain most of your picks it still allows you to bail on the Dame experiment in 12 months and go get the Miami type offers of firsts and late round picks to kind of ease the pain of losing a guy like OG.

[greekman]

have to have at least some commitment from lillard to the raptors. don't need a player who from day one is going to be angry.

[douggood]

dude's 33. You dont have 4 years. You trade for a guy like this and you hope to get 1 healthy high level playoffs.

Not everyone ages like Lebron. Most people have a sharp decline in their mid 30's

lillard is younger than kd and steph
has had much less mileage as well.

sure. and KD and Steph have been oft injured over the past 2 years. And while they may also be exceptions, you really willing to bet a chit ton that Dame is another exception? The vast majority of guys fall off at around this age

safe to assume you will get 2 great seasons, 1 good season, 4th season who knows, he might not even be here by then.

[Tor_Raps]

And we are so far away now from having the 11 deep roster that made the Kawhi trade possible and still be a great team

I'd agree that we're not at that level but also don't think we're that far away if we get Dame. The main reason is that the current nba has parity and there is not 1 team that I'd be afraid to play like we were back in 2018 with the Curry/Durant Warriors and the few other stacked teams.

We'd obviously need to do a follow up Marc Gasol like trade to really solidify our team but give me that path over whatever the hell we're doing currently.

If you can retain most of your picks it still allows you to bail on the Dame experiment in 12 months and go get the Miami type offers of firsts and late round picks to kind of ease the pain of losing a guy like OG.

Exactly, there's a chance we can lose one of Trent/OG/Siakam anyways due to us not being able to pay all of them.

[WWSRD]

Getting Lillard with 4 years of control is incredibly fortunate. People in here trying to understate his impact on basketball are way off.

He's one of the best best scoring PGs in NBA History. He's one of the best scorers in NBA History. He's going to be an elite shooter his entire life.

[mademan]

lillard is younger than kd and steph
has had much less mileage as well.

sure. and KD and Steph have been oft injured over the past 2 years. And while they may also be exceptions, you really willing to bet a chit ton that Dame is another exception? The vast majority of guys fall off at around this age

safe to assume you will get 2 great seasons, 1 good season, 4th season who knows, he might not even be here by then.

lol. "safe to assume". We'd be going all in on a team that will end up being one of the 5 or 6 best in the East with an aging star we hope ages well. These trades almost never work out

Im in it if the price is cheap enough, but i still dont like the resulting team enough to be enthusiastic about it.