BlazersBroncos wrote:zzaj wrote:BlazersBroncos wrote:I see little chance anyone on the roster outside Grant is moved prior to the season. I just dont see a market for Simons or Ayton - and I also am not convinced the FO even has either on the block.
I agree with your valuations...but I disagree that there's even a slim chance Grant is moved prior to the season--for no other reason than there is nobody on the roster that Grant is keeping "development" time from. Or at least nobody that the Blazers probably view as the future starting PF for the team. Camara is probably closest to fitting that bill, and IIRC played the majority of his minutes at the 4 last year...but he plays like a natural SF, and likely his best role will be coming off the bench behind Deni.
I think it's much more likely that nobody gets traded before the start of the season (as you say), and Grant and Simons get traded at the deadline.
Ya I can see that. I was thinking specifically LAL regarding Grant. I see no other teams really in play prior to the season starting.
If LAL is down for a deal where the meat of the trade is basically Grant for Rui and a pick - I take that and run. Rui is younger, decent and the FO can spin him as a 'young player with potential' to justify what really is a trade of Grant for a FRP. I think that face saving is something the current managment would hold as valuable. They want people to keep coming to games and burning a 20ppg guy like Grant just for ballast and a FRP will be hard to spin. I think Rui gives them someone to lean on to help justify a lose-now move of trading Grant.
But realistically, I dont see LAL making the move. And the whispers that Cronin is asking for 2 FRP for Grant basically make any Grant deal unworkable as no team in their right mind would do such a trade.
I don't really see any incentive for Cronin to trade Grant to the Lakers for Rui and a first rounder, unless that first rounder is post-Lebron.
Rui is likely not a future starter in the NBA and likely has less trade value than Grant. It's helpful for Deni and Scoot to have a 40% 3pt shooter to pass to--especially for a team that was last in 3pt% in the NBA last year--Grant by all accounts wants to be in Portland, there is nobody he's blocking in terms of development, and he's not going to contribute very much to the W column. The Blazers are under the apron, so his money doesn't really affect the team that way. I also think the "must fit the age timeline" narrative is largely overblown...
I think it's fine for Cronin to wait to trade Grant until it's obvious who his successor is going to be (hopefully via draft next year). Does that lessen Grant's value? Probably a little bit, but if the reality of the return is a single first rounder then Grant will fetch that pretty much any time...no need to do it exactly right now.
Trading Grant to the Lakers would also be Cronin helping a WC team...and I'm not sure that "help" would ever be reciprocated during Cronin's tenure as GM.
Simons is another story altogether. While it would be very impactful to lose his 3pt shooting and on-ball self creation, he's also going to be sending one of Scoot or Sharpe to the bench, which IS a pretty big issue if you're trying to evaluate if Scoot or Sharpe are 100% starting cornerstones going forward. He's also hinted at wanted to "win" at this stage of his career...getting ANY value for him now, before he pulls a Lillard is probably the smart move.
