FREE AGENCY 2024

[dckingsfan]

According to Fran Leiva on FadeAway World, the proposed trade would see the Bulls would receive Deandre Ayton, Grant Williams, Josh Green and 2026 First-Round Pick (via Pelicans). The Hawks receive Brandon Ingram while the Pelicans receive LaVine, Vucevic and 2025 First-Round Pick (via Hawks). The Trail Blazers receive De’Andre Hunter, Larry Nance Jr. and 2027 First-Round Pick (via Bulls). The Hornets receive CJ McCollum.

So, POR trades Ayton and gets back Nance Jr (who cares\1yr left), Hunter (ok, young\underperforming\injuries) & a 27' CHI pick (protections?\Why not there own pick back?)

Uh, I see no problems here?

Wow, right!

That is such a horrible trade. Now, if they are actually trying to reduce salary - then it needs to be two expiring contracts. Better to just let the clock run out on Ayton.

And it isn't like Portland doesn't have enough SFs.

[tester551]

According to Fran Leiva on FadeAway World, the proposed trade would see the Bulls would receive Deandre Ayton, Grant Williams, Josh Green and 2026 First-Round Pick (via Pelicans). The Hawks receive Brandon Ingram while the Pelicans receive LaVine, Vucevic and 2025 First-Round Pick (via Hawks). The Trail Blazers receive De’Andre Hunter, Larry Nance Jr. and 2027 First-Round Pick (via Bulls). The Hornets receive CJ McCollum.

So, POR trades Ayton and gets back Nance Jr (who cares\1yr left), Hunter (ok, young\underperforming\injuries) & a 27' CHI pick (protections?\Why not here own pick back?)

Uh, I see no problems here?

Where is this coming from?

Hawks already had the chance to get BI - and they chose not to. I doubt this has much validity to it.

[BlazersBroncos]

Getting any sort of FRP for Ayton should be an immediate yes. Albeit I don’t like taking on the extra year on Hunters deal.

That being said, no way that trade has legs. It’s a mess all around.

[mighty_duck]

G - Fred VanVleet / Reed Sheppard / Aaron Holiday
G - Jalen Green / Amen Thompson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Dillon Brooks / Matisse Thybulle / Cam Whitmore
F - Jabari Smith JR / Tari Eason / Jae'sean Tate
C - Alpern Sengun / Robert Williams III / Jock Landale

Thats one of the best SG through C defensive second units I have ever seen.

Speaking of which, that's what our defensive second unit looks like!

SG Matisse
SF Camara
PF RWIII
C Klingon

Sure, we couldn't score much, but neither would the other team.

Add Ant to that group and tell him he could take 20 FGA in 20 minutes, and you may convince him to take a bench role.
This may be something...

[GEE]

G - Fred VanVleet / Reed Sheppard / Aaron Holiday
G - Jalen Green / Amen Thompson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Dillon Brooks / Matisse Thybulle / Cam Whitmore
F - Jabari Smith JR / Tari Eason / Jae'sean Tate
C - Alpern Sengun / Robert Williams III / Jock Landale

Thats one of the best SG through C defensive second units I have ever seen.

Speaking of which, that's what our defensive second unit looks like!

SG Matisse
SF Camara
PF RWIII
C Klingon

Sure, we couldn't score much, but neither would the other team.

Add Ant to that group and tell him he could take 20 FGA in 20 minutes, and you may convince him to take a bench role.
This may be something...

I have no idea why H-Town would want to do that trade but I'm one of those weird ones that wants to keep the guys we've managed to attain through alot of crazy manuevering by Cronin. Not really the point I'm here to make though...

You say "defensive second unit" and I look at that list liking the defensive strength. Then I think how Grant and Deni and Ayton and Sharpe and Reath, with the three ball handlers we also have in Simons, Scoot and Graham... That's a really likeable team in my veiw. What I think we should do is simply balance the best of the offense, with the best of our defense to balance out both units... and not put all our best offensive players in the starting lineup, much like you suggest by making Simons 6th man. I just would prefer to balance the starting and bench personel a little differently. But as always... TWT. Excited though! Camp should start really soon.

RIP CITY!!!

[zzaj]

G - Fred VanVleet / Reed Sheppard / Aaron Holiday
G - Jalen Green / Amen Thompson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Dillon Brooks / Matisse Thybulle / Cam Whitmore
F - Jabari Smith JR / Tari Eason / Jae'sean Tate
C - Alpern Sengun / Robert Williams III / Jock Landale

Thats one of the best SG through C defensive second units I have ever seen.

Speaking of which, that's what our defensive second unit looks like!

SG Matisse
SF Camara
PF RWIII
C Klingon

Sure, we couldn't score much, but neither would the other team.

Add Ant to that group and tell him he could take 20 FGA in 20 minutes, and you may convince him to take a bench role.
This may be something...

I like the way you think with Ant off the bench...but it ain't happening.

Chauncey is a 8-9 player rotation coach when players are healthy. He'll rotate guys so that the bench isn't in all at once.

Ant
Scoot
Sharpe
Deni
Grant
Ayton
Camara
Timelord/Clingan
Matisse

I think RW will initially play over Clingan if he's healthy, which he likely will be for a few games. I think Matisse gets the nod over the rest of the bench.

[dckingsfan]

G - Fred VanVleet / Reed Sheppard / Aaron Holiday
G - Jalen Green / Amen Thompson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Dillon Brooks / Matisse Thybulle / Cam Whitmore
F - Jabari Smith JR / Tari Eason / Jae'sean Tate
C - Alpern Sengun / Robert Williams III / Jock Landale

Thats one of the best SG through C defensive second units I have ever seen.

Speaking of which, that's what our defensive second unit looks like!

SG Matisse
SF Camara
PF RWIII
C Klingon

Sure, we couldn't score much, but neither would the other team.

Add Ant to that group and tell him he could take 20 FGA in 20 minutes, and you may convince him to take a bench role.
This may be something...

I like the way you think with Ant off the bench...but it ain't happening.

Chauncey is a 8-9 player rotation coach when players are healthy. He'll rotate guys so that the bench isn't in all at once.

Ant
Scoot
Sharpe
Deni
Grant
Ayton
Camara
Timelord/Clingan
Matisse

I think RW will initially play over Clingan if he's healthy, which he likely will be for a few games. I think Matisse gets the nod over the rest of the bench.

Code: Select all

Jerami Grant        1830
Deandre Ayton       1784
Scoot Henderson     1765
Toumani Camara      1739
Jabari Walker       1700
Anfernee Simons     1582
Matisse Thybulle    1487
Kris Murray         1348
Duop Reath          1214
Malcolm Brogdon     1121
Shaedon Sharpe      1059

Interesting that there were 11 players that played over 1000 minutes. Brogdon is gone. Guessing RW's body won't hold up.

I don't know enough about Billups as a coach. But it seems like the same "type" of minutes will hold with Deni replacing Brogdon?

[Walton1one]

I would suspect that a lot of those minutes are a result of injuries (Ant\Grant\Sharpe\Williams) and the inevitable "tank".

Barring trades, I have a hard time seeing Reath\Walker\Murray getting many minutes. I agree, knowing Chauncy, there will be an 8-9 man rotation, meaning Thybulle\Clingan in the 9/10 roles and the rest (Reath\Walker\Murray\Banton) sitting on the bench until a trade\injuries\tank season.

PG Simons - Scoot
SG Sharpe - Thybulle
SF Avdija - Camara
PF Grant - Williams
C Ayton - Clingan

[dckingsfan]

I would suspect that a lot of those minutes are a result of injuries (Ant\Grant\Sharpe\Williams) and the inevitable "tank".

Barring trades, I have a hard time seeing Reath\Walker\Murray getting many minutes. I agree, knowing Chauncy, there will be an 8-9 man rotation, meaning Thybulle\Clingan in the 9/10 roles and the rest 9Reath\Wa;lker\Murray\banton) sitting on the bench until a trade\injuries\tank season.

PG Simons - Scoot
SG Sharpe - Thybulle
SF Avdija - Camara
PF Grant - Williams
C Ayton - Clingan

So, that is a 10-man rotation. I assume the italics mean limited minutes. But you could still see a 10-man rotation. Especially given Williams being oft-injured?

I am ignorant when it comes to Billups.

[Walton1one]

I am not sure what the "typical" rotation for Billups tends to be, but it was mentioned that it is usually 8-9 man rotation.

Based on a projected depth chart above, that means:

Guard rotation - Simons starts at PG, Scoot is the b\u, Simons sees some minutes on the floor with Scoot (why? just why?), Sharpe some time with both, then any leftover\emergency minutes for Thybulle.

Forward rotation - Avdija, Grant start, I am guessing that POR will play Williams some at b\u PF, in order to get Clingan on the floor in some capacity, and then you likely have Thybulle play some b\u SF minutes (a mistake, but this is Chauncey), and then Camara getting any leftover\emergency minutes, maybe even a few minutes at Sharpe at SF, playing with Simons\Scoot (another bad idea).

Center rotation - Ayton starts, Williams as the main backup (provided health) and then Clingan spot\emergency minutes, however I expect to see some combinations of Williams\Clingan on the floor together and some early experimentation with Ayton\Clingan together (another bad idea). If they prioritize getting Clingan minutes and Williams remains healthy, then it would make some sense (not optimal pairing IMO) to have Williams on the floor with Clingan, however it would be in a limited capacity

[Norm2953]

Let's wait until the games begin before any projected depth chart can be made up.

I'm interested in seeing year 2 of Scoot for he's the only natural PG on the roster. The presence of
Deni as a secondary ball handler cannot be underestimated and hopefully can build upon his 2023/4
season where averaged 14.7/6.1. Portland's front court group with Deni, Grant and Camara could be
decent and with the return of TL and drafting of Clingan, could make center a real strength.

This will be a key year for SS. The presence of Deni might allow Portland to go very young with SS and
Scoot

[zzaj]

I would suspect that a lot of those minutes are a result of injuries (Ant\Grant\Sharpe\Williams) and the inevitable "tank".

Barring trades, I have a hard time seeing Reath\Walker\Murray getting many minutes. I agree, knowing Chauncy, there will be an 8-9 man rotation, meaning Thybulle\Clingan in the 9/10 roles and the rest 9Reath\Wa;lker\Murray\banton) sitting on the bench until a trade\injuries\tank season.

PG Simons - Scoot
SG Sharpe - Thybulle
SF Avdija - Camara
PF Grant - Williams
C Ayton - Clingan

So, that is a 10-man rotation. I assume the italics mean limited minutes. But you could still see a 10-man rotation. Especially given Williams being oft-injured?

I am ignorant when it comes to Billups.

Chauncey's rotations when Lillard was still with the team tended toward 8-9...and yeah, last year in particular looked a little wonky because of injuries and pure tank.

Basically, the players mentioned above I would expect will be the rotation...Rwill will likely get mins before Clingan, because he's a better player and potentially to showcase that he's healthy.

[zzaj]

Let's wait until the games begin before any projected depth chart can be made up.

I'm interested in seeing year 2 of Scoot for he's the only natural PG on the roster. The presence of
Deni as a secondary ball handler cannot be underestimated and hopefully can build upon his 2023/4
season where averaged 14.7/6.1. Portland's front court group with Deni, Grant and Camara could be
decent and with the return of TL and drafting of Clingan, could make center a real strength.

This will be a key year for SS. The presence of Deni might allow Portland to go very young with SS and
Scoot

I've said it before, but with a trio of Scoot/Sharpe/Deni...PACE should be goal number 1. At least 2 of those players have shown that they are much better in an uptempo game.

[dckingsfan]

I would suspect that a lot of those minutes are a result of injuries (Ant\Grant\Sharpe\Williams) and the inevitable "tank".

Barring trades, I have a hard time seeing Reath\Walker\Murray getting many minutes. I agree, knowing Chauncy, there will be an 8-9 man rotation, meaning Thybulle\Clingan in the 9/10 roles and the rest 9Reath\Wa;lker\Murray\banton) sitting on the bench until a trade\injuries\tank season.

PG Simons - Scoot
SG Sharpe - Thybulle
SF Avdija - Camara
PF Grant - Williams
C Ayton - Clingan

So, that is a 10-man rotation. I assume the italics mean limited minutes. But you could still see a 10-man rotation. Especially given Williams being oft-injured?

I am ignorant when it comes to Billups.

Chauncey's rotations when Lillard was still with the team tended toward 8-9...and yeah, last year in particular looked a little wonky because of injuries and pure tank.

Basically, the players mentioned above I would expect will be the rotation...Rwill will likely get mins before Clingan, because he's a better player and potentially to showcase that he's healthy.

Again, I am ignorant on Billups - so there is that.

But... given the youth of the team, it would make sense to have a 10-man rotation (IMO). All that while they try to audition players for a trade before the trade deadline?

[Walton1one]

Does Avidja help Scoot more or Simons? Some believe the Avdija move is about Simons more so than Scoot, as Avdija can act like a point forward, which was when he was at his best in WAS, and Simons could be off-ball (PG in name only). Though I remain skeptical that Simons would be able to do that effectively, he is too ball dominant IMO.

[Norm2953]

Let's wait until the games begin before any projected depth chart can be made up.

I'm interested in seeing year 2 of Scoot for he's the only natural PG on the roster. The presence of
Deni as a secondary ball handler cannot be underestimated and hopefully can build upon his 2023/4
season where averaged 14.7/6.1. Portland's front court group with Deni, Grant and Camara could be
decent and with the return of TL and drafting of Clingan, could make center a real strength.

This will be a key year for SS. The presence of Deni might allow Portland to go very young with SS and
Scoot

I've said it before, but with a trio of Scoot/Sharpe/Deni...PACE should be goal number 1. At least 2 of those players have shown that they are much better in an uptempo game.

on an up tempo team, one would think TL/Clingan would be the defensive center for somebody has to
rebound and play defense

Team would still be lacking a mobile big, for that's not Jerami Grant's game.

[Norm2953]

Does Avidja help Scoot more or Simons? Some believe the Avdija move is about Simons more so than Scoot, as Avdija can act like a point forward, which was when he was at his best in WAS, and Simons could be off-ball (PG in name only). Though I remain skeptical that Simons would be able to do that effectively, he is too ball dominant IMO.

Simons would need guys like Josh Hart/Justice Winslow around to flourish as a PG.

Deni as a secondary ball handler will help in a Batum like role to a young PG like Scoot much like Nic
helped Dame. There is no Wesley Matthews around who can shoot from distance while playing solid
defense but this will be the season where Portland finds out if SS is going to reach the next level or
will be tease

I think Portland could surprise if SS progresses to be a 20 ppg scorer and Scoot in his second season really
builds on how he finished last season. Big IF in tough western conference but there is a lot of age with
both teams in LA and in Phoenix and Portland is much improved up front with the return of TL and a solid
#1 pick in Clingan

[Wizenheimer]

Does Avidja help Scoot more or Simons? Some believe the Avdija move is about Simons more so than Scoot, as Avdija can act like a point forward, which was when he was at his best in WAS, and Simons could be off-ball (PG in name only). Though I remain skeptical that Simons would be able to do that effectively, he is too ball dominant IMO.

maybe...he is ball-dominant and is prone to hoop-lock. He's good in catch & shoot though and decent in spot-up. Fairly quick release too

but his defense is just atrocious.

[PDXKnight]

Does Avidja help Scoot more or Simons? Some believe the Avdija move is about Simons more so than Scoot, as Avdija can act like a point forward, which was when he was at his best in WAS, and Simons could be off-ball (PG in name only). Though I remain skeptical that Simons would be able to do that effectively, he is too ball dominant IMO.

No way was that move about simons after there was no mention of ant in cronins discussions about the future

[m0ng0]

Does Avidja help Scoot more or Simons? Some believe the Avdija move is about Simons more so than Scoot, as Avdija can act like a point forward, which was when he was at his best in WAS, and Simons could be off-ball (PG in name only). Though I remain skeptical that Simons would be able to do that effectively, he is too ball dominant IMO.

No way was that move about simons after there was no mention of ant in cronins discussions about the future

Still clinging to that? Well dont stop believing