Ayton, Grant, and Simons for anything?

[Blazinaway]

Id really like to see Scoot with a really good developmental coach

Ya'd think with all the assistant's we have one could be a development specialist, maybe we do and Scoot is just that bad?

[Tim Lehrbach]

Yeah, there's no point in moving Scoot right now. As of now, he's a bust and would return nothing worthwhile in trade. Might as well just let him play out his contract and hope for the best.

This is generally where I am. I do think there is a conversation to be had if we take a PG w/ our FRP in 2025.

A team with numerous FRP may be willing to move 1 for Scoot. In this scenario it would be pretty hard to pass up. Brooklyn is projected to have 2 FRP in that 25-30 range. If we take a stud like Dylan, Kasparas or even Fears (Who is skyrocketing up boards IMO - kid is a beast) then using Scoot to get a late FRP and snag a forward would be a decent play.

I am totally out on Scoot. If he turns it around, great. At this point I am not sure he can even rebuild his game to be a Kris Dunn level backup. I can see him getting a few vet min deals after his rookie deal and being out of the league by 24-25.

You're right: lottery luck could change the Scoot picture. I would still consider holding on to him until we see whether his replacement is any better, but a clean break on draft night makes a lot of sense.

[Dame Lizard]

100% agreement.

I see no FRP on the table for Simons, Ayton or Grant.

Ayton has an archetype that isnt in demand, is overpaid, doesnt space the floor, doesnt protect the rim and few teams would even have both matching salary and a starting C need if he was remotely coveted.

Simons is one of a gaggle of short, score only combo guards projected to be avaliable. He is having his worst season ever and is a generationally poor defender by all advanced metrics.

Grant is having a putrid season and was handed a contract that should, in retrospect, be a capital offense. 3 more years after this at 30M+. There is a good chance that if he continues this level of play by the summer of 2025 Jerami Grant will be considered the worst contract in the entire league. Let that set in and give me some examples of worse if you disagree.

We sat on our stocks too long and the .com bubble has burst. Its basically worst case scenario for the Blazers regarding the value of these guys. They are all having their worst seasons of their careers - more or less and the NBA trade market has dramatically changed due to the new CBA. Its a total cluster ****.

Maybe for this trade deadline, but not forever.

Other teams might trade for Blazers players for two reasons:

1) to help them win more games
2) expiring contracts to get under the salary aprons

If Cronin can't make a move this year, I will be very bummed, but next year,

....................25-26..........26-27
Ayton: $35,550,814......$0
Simons: $27,678,571......$0
Matice: $11,500,000......$0

That's going to look pretty appealing to salary capped teams.

Yeah that's true, if we hold onto them teams may be paying us for our expiring contracts in 2025-26 by the deadline.

Grant is just a clunker contract, not sure where we go from here on that one but I'm betting it'll take the 2026-27 season before he's movable unless we are taking a comparable contract (or worse) back. If a team is still offering us an escape clause on that deal and Cronin isn't jumping on it I'd be pretty upset. I think there's a very real possibility if we get to the other end of the rainbow on this rebuild we will still have jerami as a role player as the cost of offloading that contract may prove too costly to be worthwhile for a year or two

Completely agree.

If Grant is continuing to suck then we should just own the contract and leave him in the books. We have minimum salary thresholds to meet and it makes no sense for us to dispose of players by giving out draft compensation when we need to be rebuilding.

It's a shame that Joe could have likely got a 1st round pick for Grant a few months ago, but that's on him.

[BlazersBroncos]

Maybe for this trade deadline, but not forever.

Other teams might trade for Blazers players for two reasons:

1) to help them win more games
2) expiring contracts to get under the salary aprons

If Cronin can't make a move this year, I will be very bummed, but next year,

....................25-26..........26-27
Ayton: $35,550,814......$0
Simons: $27,678,571......$0
Matice: $11,500,000......$0

That's going to look pretty appealing to salary capped teams.

Yeah that's true, if we hold onto them teams may be paying us for our expiring contracts in 2025-26 by the deadline.

Grant is just a clunker contract, not sure where we go from here on that one but I'm betting it'll take the 2026-27 season before he's movable unless we are taking a comparable contract (or worse) back. If a team is still offering us an escape clause on that deal and Cronin isn't jumping on it I'd be pretty upset. I think there's a very real possibility if we get to the other end of the rainbow on this rebuild we will still have jerami as a role player as the cost of offloading that contract may prove too costly to be worthwhile for a year or two

Completely agree.

If Grant is continuing to suck then we should just own the contract and leave him in the books. We have minimum salary thresholds to meet and it makes no sense for us to dispose of players by giving out draft compensation when we need to be rebuilding.

It's a shame that Joe could have likely got a 1st round pick for Grant a few months ago, but that's on him.

Ya it would be an abysmal move if we used assets to move off Grant. If we are stuck with him, we are stuck with him. Ride it out.

[Walton1one]

So I thought I saw a video showing NBA coaches ranked by salary, and I think Billups was #30 @ $2mil, which just makes Jody\Vulcan look even worse, letting him ride out the last year to save themselves a little money. What a bunch of total cheapskates, this, along with selling 2nd round picks for cash is just embarrassing & inexcusable. I think this team is stuck in purgatory until Jody\Bert are gone, and it cannot be soon enough.

[BlazersBroncos]

So I thought I saw a video showing NBA coaches ranked by salary, and I think Billups was #30 @ $2mil, which just makes Jody\Vulcan look even worse, letting him ride out the last year to save themselves a little money. What a bunch of total cheapskates, this, along with selling 2nd round picks for cash is just embarrassing & inexcusable. I think this team is stuck in purgatory until Jody\Bert are gone, and it cannot be soon enough.

I mean, Chauncey sucks as a coach and it helping us lose games so in terms of draft position its a sneaky smart move to keep him around.

Unfortunately I dont think that is why he is still here. I think they dont want to pay 2 coaches and may even still think Billups has the chance to develop into a remotely competent coach.

[dckingsfan]

So I thought I saw a video showing NBA coaches ranked by salary, and I think Billups was #30 @ $2mil, which just makes Jody\Vulcan look even worse, letting him ride out the last year to save themselves a little money. What a bunch of total cheapskates, this, along with selling 2nd round picks for cash is just embarrassing & inexcusable. I think this team is stuck in purgatory until Jody\Bert are gone, and it cannot be soon enough.

I mean, Chauncey sucks as a coach and it helping us lose games so in terms of draft position its a sneaky smart move to keep him around.

Unfortunately I dont think that is why he is still here. I think they dont want to pay 2 coaches and may even still think Billups has the chance to develop into a remotely competent coach.

Yeah, a double-edged sword. We want Chauncey here as the tank commander. The longer he is here the worse the ingrained bad habits.

Walton hit it... the decay is all throughout the organization, owners, FO and coaching staff. Gonna be a loooooong rebuild.

[Walton1one]

2nd trade by BRK

DFS & Milton to LAL for (3) 2nd’s, Dlo & Lewis

Meanwhile our worthless GM is content to sit on his hands and do nothing

[Walton1one]

Wonder if POR should reach out to MEM about Grant?

Grant & (1) of Banton\Walker\Reath

For

Clarke\Smart & lotto protected 25’ 1st?

Smart has 2yrs left\Clarke 3yrs left

MEM 25’ 1st currently 27th pick

[Walton1one]

Apparently MEM offered their 25’ 1st top 15 protect + kennard (expiring) & konchar (3yrs left) for DFS?

Shocked BRK turned that down

If I was POR I would be on the phone offering Grant for that 1st + whatever contracts they wanted to send back

So it looks like, BRK valued the full expiring contract of DLO, instead of one expiring in Kennard + 3yrs of salary of konchar. Also, there was mention of MEM asking for 2nd coming back from BRK.

They also have 4? 25’ 1st’s already?

I think they valued the cap space & future draft capital over another late 25’ 1st

BRK is loading up on draft capital and cap space, I would not be surprised if they passed POR next year or the year after

[Walton1one]

Here is a deal not involving Smart:

Clarke (3yr), Konchar (3yr), Kennard (1yr) + 25’ 1st

For

Grant\Walker\Banton

POR unloads Reath to another team for a 2nd round pick before deal (or includes him in deal)

Clarke is 11th in MPG
Kennard is 10th
Konchar is 14th

Maybe, POR could get a future 2nd thrown in the deal, but frankly I would be fine w\o

Get it done Cronin

[BlazersBroncos]

Dorian Finney-Smith
24/25 14.9M
25.26 15.4M

Jerami Grant
24/25 29.8M
25/26 32M
26/27 34M
27/28 36.4M

DFS makes as much in the 2 full years of his contract as Grant does in a single season. He cost about 90M less over the course of each deal, he isnt locked into a stupid long deal either.

I think a team would be MORE likely to be interested in moving a protected FRP for DFS than Grant based on the cost and length of their respective deals.

A team being interested in DFS doesnt mean they would be interested in Grant. The cost and length is a HUGE factor here. MEM making a move for Grant means they would have 125M locked into 4 players - and additionally JJJ is due an extension after the 25/26 season - adding Grant's deal would make it quite hard to pay the monster deal JJJ likely will be rightfully looking for.

Grant is playing like **** and even at his best 30M for a 4th option that doesnt rebound and has not been a great defender since OKC/DEN is a huge cost.

[Walton1one]

You are talking about MEM taking on an additional $15mil more over the next 2yrs, before Grant's final year where he would be an expiring $36mil deal. Konchar\Clarke's salaries are approx $18.7mil

MEM was willing to take on additional money ($6mil) for DFS by adding Kennard (expiring) in the deal. I don't think this deal is as farfetched as people may make it seem. Nor do I think Grant's value has plummeted in the span of 30 games into this season.

In fact, I actually think Grant's defense has been improved this year, defensive rating of 119.8, which places him #21 among forwards, Camara for example is #19 @ 118.1 (DFS is 116.4). Grant's 3pt% is creeping up as well, currently @ 38.2% on the highest attempts (6.4/g) in his career. So, I think the talk of his value cratering is not accurate.

[zzaj]

Dorian Finney-Smith
24/25 14.9M
25.26 15.4M

Jerami Grant
24/25 29.8M
25/26 32M
26/27 34M
27/28 36.4M

DFS makes as much in the 2 full years of his contract as Grant does in a single season. He cost about 90M less over the course of each deal, he isnt locked into a stupid long deal either.

I think a team would be MORE likely to be interested in moving a protected FRP for DFS than Grant based on the cost and length of their respective deals.

A team being interested in DFS doesnt mean they would be interested in Grant. The cost and length is a HUGE factor here. MEM making a move for Grant means they would have 125M locked into 4 players - and additionally JJJ is due an extension after the 25/26 season - adding Grant's deal would make it quite hard to pay the monster deal JJJ likely will be rightfully looking for.

Grant is playing like **** and even at his best 30M for a 4th option that doesnt rebound and has not been a great defender since OKC/DEN is a huge cost.

Too late...

[Village Idiot]

Hollinger wrote this on The Athletic yesterday

Thus, the question: How does L.A. fix what still ails it? This deal removes the largest expiring contract the Lakers could use in any future trade. Anything they do now would have to rely on aggregating multiple contracts that go beyond this season and, most likely, would carry negative value to receiving teams: Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Those three and Jalen Hood-Schifino’s expiring $3.9 million deal can combine to make $43.6 million in outbound salary and could take back roughly the same amount while keeping L.A. under the collective bargaining agreement’s second apron (remember, the Lakers would have to backfill empty roster spots in a four-for-one or three-for-one trade). That amount is enough to match the salaries of most of the star players they’d be considering. Zach LaVine, for instance, makes $43 million; Anfernee Simons makes $25.9 million; LaMelo Ball (sure, let’s go there) makes $35.1 million; and De’Aaron Fox (what the heck, let’s go there, too) makes $34.5 million.

Yes, please. Especially if we can get a first for him

[BlazersBroncos]

I would do Simons + Reath for Rui + Vincent + 2025 LAL SRP + 2025 LAC SRP.

I dont see a big value gap between Simons and Rui personally. If we could squeeze 2 2025 SRP out of the deal, and ideally use them to trade up into the late 1st on draft night, that would be a winning trade for me.

If Jarred is involved my opinions would change. I see him as quite negative and loath the length of that contract.

[Walton1one]

Not that I trust Cronin to be this astute, but in a deal with LAL for Simons (if they were interested), I would think players like Thybulle\RW3\Reath, even Banton\Murray\Rupert could be dangled\added into a deal in order to maximize the return.

For instance, let's say you offer Simons to the LAL and they offer you a Rui\Vanderbilt & a 25' 2nd in return.

What if Thybulle or TL was added to the deal, does that move the needle enough to pry a 1st? possibly?

[Blazinaway]

Not that I trust Cronin to be this astute, but in a deal with LAL for Simons (if they were interested), I would think players like Thybulle\RW3\Reath, even Banton\Murray\Rupert could be dangled\added into a deal in order to maximize the return.

For instance, let's say you offer Simons to the LAL and they offer you a Rui\Vanderbilt & a 25' 2nd in return.

What if Thybulle or TL was added to the deal, does that move the needle enough to pry a 1st? possibly?

Gotta ask about Thybulle? is he still "really" injured or are they doing the usual of keepin guys on the injured list to play the young guys more and lose games? Cause I can't believe he is not healed yet

[zzaj]

Not that I trust Cronin to be this astute, but in a deal with LAL for Simons (if they were interested), I would think players like Thybulle\RW3\Reath, even Banton\Murray\Rupert could be dangled\added into a deal in order to maximize the return.

For instance, let's say you offer Simons to the LAL and they offer you a Rui\Vanderbilt & a 25' 2nd in return.

What if Thybulle or TL was added to the deal, does that move the needle enough to pry a 1st? possibly?

Gotta ask about Thybulle? is he still "really" injured or are they doing the usual of keepin guys on the injured list to play the young guys more and lose games? Cause I can't believe he is not healed yet

He had a setback a couple of weeks ago, apparently. If they were playing charades this early in the season it likely would be with a player that would actually contribute to the W column.

[Walton1one]

Cronin full interview before PHI game

[url]

Watch on YouTube

[/url]

Some comments of note:

Thought that team has taken consistent steps, focus is on high steps, what they are capable of

Need to improve consistency, raise the floor, be competitive on a nightly basis

Likes the progress of Scoot's shooting?

Happy with where Sharpe is at, game has taken the next step, particularly in ball screens\pick & roll. He is a leader in efficiency & pts per 36min in the clutch?

What skillsets do we need to add, what personalities, how do they complement the core base (me: what IS the core base?)

Camara, seeing his offensive game unlock more.

Happy with the talent leap they have taken from LY, A lot more talented now (me: really? record does not indicate that at all). Hoping to be much more talented 12 months from now

Anfernee one of the best clutch players in the league (me: that is straight up ridiculous)

Trade deadline:
- Mentality is pro-active (me: we will see)
- Like to be aggressive
- Aware of how important trades are for roster construction for this team
- We always approach trade deadline\offseason as actively as we can\turn over every rock, see what deals make sense for us (me: there is the sentence to focus on, what makes sense to you Joe? Is it even reasonable?)
- No immediacy (me: yikes), if it makes sense we will look at it, if it doesn't, we won't (me: can't wait to hear him explain yet again why no\little moves were made)
- We feel like we can be patient (me: Concerning, that sounds like someone not inclined to make moves, which has been the concern of many)
- Player development is the most important thing we do. Used Rupert\Murray as examples, couldn't crack rotation LY, now are flirting with the rotation (me: Really? Seems like they are firmly NOT in the rotation)