Ayton, Grant, and Simons for anything?

[PDXKnight]

^ Scoot looked a lot better those 2 games under bjorken. I think we need to see what he can do under the next coach next season and with ant gone before we can fully assess

[DusterBuster]

^ Scoot looked a lot better those 2 games under bjorken. I think we need to see what he can do under the next coach next season and with ant gone before we can fully assess

Exactly what I’ve been preaching. If the Blazers for some ungodly reason are going to keep Billups (please god no) and/or keep Simons, they should just move Scoot either via trade or waive him. At least give him a shot somewhere else to try and save his career.

[DusterBuster]

Quick reporting on Simons, I mean if the writing wasn't already on the wall....

Years of losing seem to be taking their toll on Trail Blazers shooting guard Anfernee Simons, who tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that he’s going through “the hardest mental battle I’ve had in my career.”

Quick notes that the 11-22 Blazers are in the midst of their fourth straight season where they’re placing more emphasis on maximizing their lottery odds than trying to compete. This is Simons’ seventh year in the NBA, so unlike most of Portland’s roster he remembers when making the playoffs was taken for granted.

“It’s been hard as hell,’’ he said. “I be having my bad days. I’m like anybody else. I call them my ‘human days,’ when I let things get to me a little bit. Obviously, it has had an effect on my game. That’s what I’m trying to get out of.’’

The grind of being overmatched most nights appears to be catching up with Simons, who’s suffering through his worst season since he became a starter four years ago. He’s shooting 41.5% from the field and 33.5% from three-point range — down significantly from last year and the second-worst percentages of his career in both categories.

Quick notes that Simons has often seemed to be “distracted and disconnected” on the court as though he has become numb to the constant losing. Coach Chauncey Billups stated that he began noticing the change last season.

One of the most frustrating things of these past 2 seasons has been that the team is plenty find emphasizing lottery odds, but seems to be doing zero effort with player development.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Nahhh. I could have been more clear, the Blazers are wasting a second developmental year for Scoot.

If you’re going to use a number 3 pick on a supposed generational player, you should move heaven and earth to make sure that player plays and - if necessary - plays through mistakes, maybe even a lot.

At least make it unquestionable that he’s a bust and it’s his fault.

Mostly, I was just making a joke. However, I think it's pretty darn close to being conclusive that Scoot is a bust. Even his good games resemble his bad ones. It's just, more shots fall either by Scoot or his receivers. He's not exhibiting anything special in the way of vision, quick decision-making, or having a scoring bag. What am I missing? Seems like 26 minutes per game are plenty to tell whether a guy can play or not. I really wanted this kid to be something. Still like him and hope he can turn it around. But he's terrible. More minutes won't tell us anything we don't know or fundamentally change who he is.

Let me be clear, I agree that Scoot is probably a bust... but I also don't believe it can be considered conclusive when you take a step back and look at how the Blazers have handled and "developed" Scoot since drafting him.

Immediately after drafting him, they resign a young player who plays his same position (moonlighting as a combo guard) to a 100mil deal. They only give Scoot what... 3 or 4 games starting with Simons to start his rookie year, Scoot gets hurt and never gets out of being a bench player from there on out (injuries to Simons aside).

On top of that, Scoots entire time here has been playing under a coach who; A) Doesn't want to develop players, B) Doesn't want to keep losing games at the expense of development, C) Has zero leash for mistakes, and D) Quite literally tried to backdoor media push his way out of Portland to coach the Suns over the summer. At this point, I think you have to openly wonder if Billups at this point just doesn't like Scoot (I think there's probably some real questions about his effort/dedication to self improvement) and is really only playing him begrudgingly.

Scoot has some wildly glaring holes in his games... holes you could fit a Volkswagen through. That said, none of us can say the Blazers for have put Scoot in a position to succeed - or even develop. They alienated the best player in franchise history because this guy was too good of a prospect to pass on, and in a year and a half have basically let him just rot away and lose any self confidence he had coming into the league by not opening a starting spot for him, not letting him play through mistakes, and play for a bad lame-duck coach - who doesn't even want to coach in Portland based on what happened this past summer - and who seemingly just doesn't like him.

So I wholeheartedly disagree that more minutes won't tell us anything like you suggested. It will. It would confirm once and for all that he is what we think he is, or that the team did completely mismanage his development from the day he was drafted... At least we can confidently say one or the other is the case. Right now, it's not that cut and dry as you're making it out to be when looking at the whole picture.

Scoot has had flashes, but more often than not has been flat out bad, no question or argument. But we also can't just overlook or turn a blind eye to the many many many missteps the Blazers as an organization have made to never once put him in a spot to see if he can succeed or develop.

I just for the life of me don't understand why the Blazers did what they did to this roster to get Scoot only to never once even try to develop him. Like, wtf are we doing here even?

Good post. Ultimately, I think both of these can be true: Scoot is a bust, and the Blazers are guilty of roster and development malpractice.

[Wizenheimer]

Spoiler:

Nahhh. I could have been more clear, the Blazers are wasting a second developmental year for Scoot.

If you’re going to use a number 3 pick on a supposed generational player, you should move heaven and earth to make sure that player plays and - if necessary - plays through mistakes, maybe even a lot.

At least make it unquestionable that he’s a bust and it’s his fault.

Mostly, I was just making a joke. However, I think it's pretty darn close to being conclusive that Scoot is a bust. Even his good games resemble his bad ones. It's just, more shots fall either by Scoot or his receivers. He's not exhibiting anything special in the way of vision, quick decision-making, or having a scoring bag. What am I missing? Seems like 26 minutes per game are plenty to tell whether a guy can play or not. I really wanted this kid to be something. Still like him and hope he can turn it around. But he's terrible. More minutes won't tell us anything we don't know or fundamentally change who he is.

Let me be clear, I agree that Scoot is probably a bust... but I also don't believe it can be considered conclusive when you take a step back and look at how the Blazers have handled and "developed" Scoot since drafting him.

Immediately after drafting him, they resign a young player who plays his same position (moonlighting as a combo guard) to a 100mil deal. They only give Scoot what... 3 or 4 games starting with Simons to start his rookie year, Scoot gets hurt and never gets out of being a bench player from there on out (injuries to Simons aside).

On top of that, Scoots entire time here has been playing under a coach who; A) Doesn't want to develop players, B) Doesn't want to keep losing games at the expense of development, C) Has zero leash for mistakes, and D) Quite literally tried to backdoor media push his way out of Portland to coach the Suns over the summer. At this point, I think you have to openly wonder if Billups at this point just doesn't like Scoot (I think there's probably some real questions about his effort/dedication to self improvement) and is really only playing him begrudgingly.

Scoot has some wildly glaring holes in his games... holes you could fit a Volkswagen through. That said, none of us can say the Blazers for have put Scoot in a position to succeed - or even develop. They alienated the best player in franchise history because this guy was too good of a prospect to pass on, and in a year and a half have basically let him just rot away and lose any self confidence he had coming into the league by not opening a starting spot for him, not letting him play through mistakes, and play for a bad lame-duck coach - who doesn't even want to coach in Portland based on what happened this past summer - and who seemingly just doesn't like him.

So I wholeheartedly disagree that more minutes won't tell us anything like you suggested. It will. It would confirm once and for all that he is what we think he is, or that the team did completely mismanage his development from the day he was drafted... At least we can confidently say one or the other is the case. Right now, it's not that cut and dry as you're making it out to be when looking at the whole picture.

Scoot has had flashes, but more often than not has been flat out bad, no question or argument. But we also can't just overlook or turn a blind eye to the many many many missteps the Blazers as an organization have made to never once put him in a spot to see if he can succeed or develop.

I just for the life of me don't understand why the Blazers did what they did to this roster to get Scoot only to never once even try to develop him. Like, wtf are we doing here even?

If I'm a choir you're preaching to it

this fence-straddling-two-track purgatory the Blazers can't seem to quit has them careening toward the worst outcomes this season at just about every level

Kevin Pritchard sure didn't waste any time keeping Aldridge locked into a bench role behind Zach Randolph. Granted, Aldridge, as a rookie, looked to have more upside than Scoot does. But Zach was a veteran like Simons: lots of offensive talent but terrible on defense. Simons makes no sense on a rebuilding team like Portland; none. In 4 of the last 5 games Simons has averaged over 38 minutes. Why? Portland has won 2 of those 5 games and each win was a stupid damaging win to their lottery chances. Why? Billups doesn't care about Portland's 2025 draft; he's likely desperate for any wins because he's auditioning for his next job

Cronin not only invested a 3rd pick in Scoot, he used him as the final lever to pry Dame out of town. And the team makes him a backup. Idiocy. Worse is he's a backup to Simons. Yes, Simons can sometimes carry a torch on offense. But while he's sometimes great on offense, he is ALWAYS a sieve on defense. His good offense has not been good enough to offset his terrible defense. He has a career winshare/48 of .051 when the NBA average is .100. And he has a career BPM of -1.4. Dame and CJ are bad at defense too, but their career BPM's are +4.6 and +1.4 respectively. Simons is a poor man's CJ....and Scoot is stuck behind him

further, the Blazers invested a 7th pick in an anachronistic drop-coverage C and he's stuck on the bench too. The empty calorie Ayton is averaging 31 minutes and Clingan is averaging less than 16 minutes; and apparently can't be healthy and stay that way, even on those limited minutes

which loops back around to your question: WTF is Portland doing? Whatever it is doesn't make sense right now and hasn't made sense over the last 2 seasons. IMO, Cronin got a grace period because he had to dismantle Olshey's idiot roster at a trade deadline. But that grace period ended in the summer of 2022. And since that point in time Cronin has made a bad decision and a questionable one for every good decision. And even his seemingly good decisions are significantly questionable...like the Dame and Avdija trades

a 7th pick for Sharpe? a 3rd pick for Scoot? a 7th pick for Clingan? Even if the Blazers somehow beat the odds and land a top-4 pick, is Cronin the best guy to decide who to use that pick on?

[Tim Lehrbach]

The only thing I'll continue to push back on in the above is the idea that the Blazers are not all-in on tanking. This roster is awful. There's no such thing as assembling the team with the worst record in the league by design. Even The Process-era Sixers only finished with the worst record in the league once in several "tries." The Blazers are the third-worst team in the league by SRS, net rating, and Expected W-L but have a few more wins than that, some of which is just luck or injury circumstances. It happens to every team at all rungs on the wins ladder. If the team's record was as poor as the team has actually performed, they would be tied for the best lottery odds right now, and they haven't even begun the now-annual tradition of shutting guys down for the spring.

The team is about as bad as can be expected, IMO. They are failing to manage the roster to maximize return on existing players in trade and give opportunities to young long-shots via two-ways and second round picks, but I don't see this as fence-straddling. We are in the midst of a long rebuild of a bottoming-out franchise.

[DusterBuster]

If I'm a choir you're preaching to it

this fence-straddling-two-track purgatory the Blazers can't seem to quit has them careening toward the worst outcomes this season at just about every level

Kevin Pritchard sure didn't waste any time keeping Aldridge locked into a bench role behind Zach Randolph. Granted, Aldridge, as a rookie, looked to have more upside than Scoot does. But Zach was a veteran like Simons: lots of offensive talent but terrible on defense. Simons makes no sense on a rebuilding team like Portland; none. In 4 of the last 5 games Simons has averaged over 38 minutes. Why? Portland has won 2 of those 5 games and each win was a stupid damaging win to their lottery chances. Why? Billups doesn't care about Portland's 2025 draft; he's likely desperate for any wins because he's auditioning for his next job

OMG, seriously! So much of my frustration with the current Blazers is just the complete and utter lack of any direction. Billups clearly does not want to lose more games, his future for any other HC jobs after here hangs on the balance. He wants to prove to any future HC positions that he tried his hardest to win games but the losses on his record were all due to the roster he was given in Portland. And I can't even blame him tbh. I get it, but then Cronin also giving him a roster with these pieces that are talented like Grant and Simons - so those will lead you to probably 10ish more wins than you otherwise would have if the Blazers had gone full-youth rebuild.

The whole situation just puts the Blazers in this no-mans land where they're bad... bad enough to be always be a top 8 pick range team every year... but never bad enough to be in the top 4 worst records... so then all they have is to rely on lottery luck to jump up. Everyone was so frustrated by the Olshey Dame teams largely being a playoff treadmill (50 wins but 1st round and out) talent team, but now they're a lottery treadmill team... which is arguably worse imo.

I gave Cronin a pass on last year, I think he did the best he could with the Dame trade and I think he assembled a decently talented roster given the remnants he had left over so that if he wanted to see if this could be a retool situation, sure, go for it. It became painfully clear that wasn't going to be the case last season, so why they didn't rip the bandaid off and largely sat on their hands all summer to do this again is just **** baffling. It looks as though the hand sitting is pretty to continue this season as well, at least until the summer.

All I ask from a GM is to be proactive and aggressive when necessary. Cronin seems to have none of those qualities and just wants to perpetually "let the cake bake" even if the cake is made with flour, sugar, motor oil, some dust from behind the couch and in an easy bake oven with a broken heating bulb.

Cronin not only invested a 3rd pick in Scoot, he used him as the final lever to pry Dame out of town. And the team makes him a backup. Idiocy. Worse is he's a backup to Simons. Yes, Simons can sometimes carry a torch on offense. But while he's sometimes great on offense, he is ALWAYS a sieve on defense. His good offense has not been good enough to offset his terrible defense. He has a career winshare/48 of .051 when the NBA average is .100. And he has a career BPM of -1.4. Dame and CJ are bad at defense too, but their career BPM's are +4.6 and +1.4 respectively. Simons is a poor man's CJ....and Scoot is stuck behind him

I think Simons can be good, I think - like Scoot - the Blazers have incorrectly used Simons ever since they wanted to try and force him into a starting role. They've always tried to make him be a replacement for something else vs play to his own strengths or mold the offense around his skills. Simons isn't Dame (or CJ for that matter), but Billups continues to coach this team as though Dame / CJ are still on the roster.

Simons really is best as a 3rd option starter. He would be phenomenal on a team like Orlando as third fiddle to Paolo and Franz. Trying to make him a second or even first option though is not where he shines and will not lead to winning basketball.

And again, to go back to my proactive comment, based on The Athletic article, Cronin is once again deferring to players on trades. He seems completely unwilling to make trades without the player first going to him and asking for a trade. It's **** madding. I understand being nice and player-first, but swing to far in that direction and you become basically a GM in name only.

further, the Blazers invested a 7th pick in an anachronistic drop-coverage C and he's stuck on the bench too. The empty calorie Ayton is averaging 31 minutes and Clingan is averaging less than 16 minutes; and apparently can't be healthy and stay that way, even on those limited minutes

which loops back around to your question: WTF is Portland doing? Whatever it is doesn't make sense right now and hasn't made sense over the last 2 seasons. IMO, Cronin got a grace period because he had to dismantle Olshey's idiot roster at a trade deadline. But that grace period ended in the summer of 2022. And since that point in time Cronin has made a bad decision and a questionable one for every good decision. And even his seemingly good decisions are significantly questionable...like the Dame and Avdija trades

a 7th pick for Sharpe? a 3rd pick for Scoot? a 7th pick for Clingan? Even if the Blazers somehow beat the odds and land a top-4 pick, is Cronin the best guy to decide who to use that pick on?

I'll disagree a bit here on the picks. I think - Scoot aside - the picks have been solid. Sharpe and Clingan I like, they're good pieces. Scoot is a player every team would have taken at 3. Avdija is a good move. I also think he did the best he could have with the Dame deal. Those are all things I don't have a problem with in a vacuum.

I go back to again the lack of any urgency to be proactive. Whats here hasn't worked for the "retool" experiment coming out of the Dame trade. I'm OK with them trying it given what they got back for Dame, but they need to move on faster in moving from the failed retool to full-on youth rebuild.

Once that retool was a clear flop after last season, Cronin should have spent this summer post-draft truly clearing the deck. Once Billups pulled his **** in the media via Marc Stein to leverage his way to Phoenix, that should have been an immediately fireable offense. You don't want to be here, here's your walking papers. Letting him stay on and continue to coach here was baffling after all that nonsense, especially with the passive aggressive moves the Blazers FO made to try and force Billups to quit just to not pay him (firing all his staff, including his brother). If they wanted to be cheap, they could have let The Remix be the Blazers HC for all I care.

After that, there should have been a real push to move on from Grant and Simons in particular. Both should have been moved this summer and if it was for less than full value, so be it. Clear the **** deck on the roster so all the young players you've invested in in the draft or via trades can start, develop and play.

[Walton1one]

The only thing I'll continue to push back on in the above is the idea that the Blazers are not all-in on tanking. This roster is awful. There's no such thing as assembling the team with the worst record in the league by design. Even The Process-era Sixers only finished with the worst record in the league once in several "tries." The Blazers are the third-worst team in the league by SRS, net rating, and Expected W-L but have a few more wins than that, some of which is just luck or injury circumstances. It happens to every team at all rungs on the wins ladder. If the team's record was as poor as the team has actually performed, they would be tied for the best lottery odds right now, and they haven't even begun the now-annual tradition of shutting guys down for the spring.

The team is about as bad as can be expected, IMO. They are failing to manage the roster to maximize return on existing players in trade and give opportunities to young long-shots via two-ways and second round picks, but I don't see this as fence-straddling. We are in the midst of a long rebuild of a bottoming-out franchise.

Yes they are awful, but I don't think it is by design, I think is incompetence. The blame for that incompetence falls directly on the shoulders of Cronin.

You have a coach, who is battling to win so he can pad his resume for his next job, that they refuse to fire in order to save a little money (he is the cheapest salaried coach in the NBA @ $2mil and pro-rated they would owe him around $1mil)

You have left veterans on this team, that you know the coach is going to (over) utilize so he can try and win, which not only hurts your chances of bottoming out (higher draft pick odds) but also stunts the growth of your younger players, who need the GAME experience (minutes\reps\usage\shots) to see what you have in them

You have wasted assets, namely cap space (Simons\Grant, matching Thybulle, prioritizing acquiring Ayton & RW3 in trades) & draft picks (Avdija trade, (2) 1st's & (2) 2nd's - at least one of those a lottery 1st, and the other in 2029 when Avdija will be a FA and POR will need significant cap space in order to resign him) that offer nothing of value (Avdija aside).

I think the main issue here is Cronin, being a scout does not make you a good GM and so far he is living proof of that, and worse he has little\no accountability from the franchise's caretaker owner, Jody Allen. Who inexplicably refuses to sell the team 6? years after Paul's death and an NBA commissioner, Adam Silver too weak\disinterested (where is David Stern when you need him, RIP) to force the sale and (likely) NBA owners who are all too happy to let this franchise drift in the wind (one less team to worry about). And lastly, a local media that is too scared or incompetent to challenge the franchise on their wayward ways. Hate to say it, but where is John Canzano when you need him? I am sure Steve Patterson agrees.

So while it is great that the SRS shows that POR is a badly constructed team, something the majority of us agree upon, the fact that the W\L does not match that now (and probably won't at the end of the year) is directly on the leadership (Cronin) of this franchise. Who seems to be fine with it all, and why shouldn't he? Who is going to call him out\challenge him on his incompetence?

[DusterBuster]

I think the main issue here is Cronin, being a scout does not make you a good GM and so far he is living proof of that, and worse he has little\no accountability from the franchise's caretaker owner, Jody Allen. Who inexplicably refuses to sell the team 6? years after Paul's death and an NBA commissioner, Adam Silver to weak\disinterested (where is David Stern when you need him, RIP) to force the sale and (likely) NBA owners who are all too happy to let this franchise drift in the wind (one less team to worry about). And lastly, a local media that is too scared or incompetent to challenge the franchise on their wayward ways. Hate to say it, but where is John Canzano when you need him? I am sure Steve Patterson agrees.

Some interesting thoughts in this paragraph, particularly to the local media side of things. How the league and media landscape has changed since the early 00's has been a real detriment to holding anything accountable. Pre-social media as news and sports journalism being held in so high regard, the media could really push an intense spotlight on mismanagement.

With print media largely dead and most good beat writers now being paywalls that only the most fervent sports fans would ever pay for, those voices just don't carry any weight anymore. The NBA going through a bit of a transition period in terms of fandom too means just a lot more apathy from fans where teams just have a lot more runway to kind of let things play out vs feel any pressure to make moves.

I think a lot of what the Blazers are currently going through is just part of the rebuild experience. It's never fun, there's going to be swings and misses and it is a multi-year project. But without anyone to really hold a teams feet to the fire, the apathy can extend the process quite a bit.

The apathy also starts from the top, when you can sense it from an owner, it makes you as the fan wonder why you should be bothering as well. For all of Paul Allen's faults, you never sensed apathy. When something wasn't working, he made changes. That ethos almost always filtered down into franchise management as well. When a coach or GM weren't working out, they didn't let it for a season or two until the contracts expire, they made changes. It doesn't feel like ownership has any real drive to make changes, so why should the GM be making things go faster for changes? In turn, why should us fans care?

[zzaj]

It's interesting when you look at the Blazers from a business perspective...as I'm sure Jody Allen and Adam Silver do.

I'll be honest, I have no clue as to the ins-and-outs or bottom line numbers of owning an NBA franchise. It stands to reason that Jody would want to maximize the asset, meaning sell it for the most amount of money possible with the least amount of investment. Right now I believe Jody Allen makes money just sitting on the status-quo, so there is likely no real incentive for her to sell any time soon.

As for the status quo? The Blazers still do okay on attendance with little to no competition in Portland for the sports entertainment dollar. I'm sure that merchandise sales are waaay down post-Lillard, but again, in a one-horse town casual fans and young fans probably buy a Simons or Ayton jersey often enough.

From Silver's perspective? His job is to expand the NBA's reach and profitability for owners. He probably knows that most Seattle-based casual fans aren't jumping on a Blazer bandwagon soon...and less casual NBA fans are likely holding out for the return of the Sonics. I would imagine he sees the sale of the Blazers as a very low priority in the grand scheme of running the association.

Would a highly successful Blazer team be great for the NBA? Probably not as much as a highly successful CA or NY or Texas-based team.

I guess my point is, I think the gulf between the serious fan experience vs. the owner/commissioner experience in terms of expectations is actually quite large. I don't particularly fault Jody Allen for the Blazers' current state. I think that the idea that she's being 'stingy' or has tight purse strings is largely unfounded. I think the vast majority of the Blazer current issues fall squarely on the shoulders of Olshey and Cronin.

[DusterBuster]

It's interesting when you look at the Blazers from a business perspective...as I'm sure Jody Allen and Adam Silver do.

I'll be honest, I have no clue as to the ins-and-outs or bottom line numbers of owning an NBA franchise. It stands to reason that Jody would want to maximize the asset, meaning sell it for the most amount of money possible with the least amount of investment. Right now I believe Jody Allen makes money just sitting on the status-quo, so there is likely no real incentive for her to sell any time soon.

As for the status quo? The Blazers still do okay on attendance with little to no competition in Portland for the sports entertainment dollar. I'm sure that merchandise sales are waaay down post-Lillard, but again, in a one-horse town casual fans and young fans probably buy a Simons or Ayton jersey often enough.

From Silver's perspective? His job is to expand the NBA's reach and profitability for owners. He probably knows that most Seattle-based casual fans aren't jumping on a Blazer bandwagon soon...and less casual NBA fans are likely holding out for the return of the Sonics. I would imagine he sees the sale of the Blazers as a very low priority in the grand scheme of running the association.

Would a highly successful Blazer team be great for the NBA? Probably not as much as a highly successful CA or NY or Texas-based team.

I guess my point is, I think the gulf between the serious fan experience vs. the owner/commissioner experience in terms of expectations is actually quite large. I don't particularly fault Jody Allen for the Blazers' current state. I think that the idea that she's being 'stingy' or has tight purse strings is largely unfounded. I think the vast majority of the Blazer current issues fall squarely on the shoulders of Olshey and Cronin.

From a business perspective, it feels like the NBA is on the cusp of a real bubble in terms of franchises worth. Salaries and TV deals are through the roof crazy expensive right now, so financially the league seems to be at a peak at a time when actual viewership and league interest is starting to dip. That downward trendline of actual league interest would seem like it's going to be a drag on franchises' worth in a sale in the upcoming seasons.

Like you, I don't know the bottom-line financials either, but it sure seems like this would be the peak to sell off at if I was an owner who only cared about cashing out at the top worth of my investment.

[Walton1one]

So according to Chris Haynes, MEM and a couple of other (non named) teams have been told NOT to trade for Jimmy Butler, lol what a crap show going on b\t MIA\Butler.

Between Butler - MIA & Beal'd ridiculous comments, this a 3-ring circus (and why a team should NEVER give a player a no trade clause)

“If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards,”

This could be potentially good news for POR though, if our GM was industrious and reaching out to MEM about Jerami Grant

[DusterBuster]

So according to Chris Haynes, MEM and a couple of other (non named) teams have been told NOT to trade for Jimmy Butler, lol what a crap show going on b\t MIA\Butler.

This could be potentially good news for POR though, if our GM was industrious and reaching out to MEM about Jerami Grant

Hilarious that Mr. “I’ll play anywhere” Jimmy Butler now says he’ll play anywhere… but Denver, Sacramento, or Memphis.

Love seeing the Heat go through the Dame experience themselves with Jimmy. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving fanbase.

[Walton1one]

I know right?

Come on MIA, after all Jimmy Butler has done for you, Pat Riley owes it to him to trade him where he wants to go

Am I doing this right?

[zzaj]

The Blazers should offer Simons and a couple of second round picks for Butler just to rub it in

And then we should PLAGUE the Miami board telling them that every offer that they think they are getting is not as good as the Blazer offer, and they are idiots if they think otherwise.

[zzaj]

It's interesting when you look at the Blazers from a business perspective...as I'm sure Jody Allen and Adam Silver do.

I'll be honest, I have no clue as to the ins-and-outs or bottom line numbers of owning an NBA franchise. It stands to reason that Jody would want to maximize the asset, meaning sell it for the most amount of money possible with the least amount of investment. Right now I believe Jody Allen makes money just sitting on the status-quo, so there is likely no real incentive for her to sell any time soon.

As for the status quo? The Blazers still do okay on attendance with little to no competition in Portland for the sports entertainment dollar. I'm sure that merchandise sales are waaay down post-Lillard, but again, in a one-horse town casual fans and young fans probably buy a Simons or Ayton jersey often enough.

From Silver's perspective? His job is to expand the NBA's reach and profitability for owners. He probably knows that most Seattle-based casual fans aren't jumping on a Blazer bandwagon soon...and less casual NBA fans are likely holding out for the return of the Sonics. I would imagine he sees the sale of the Blazers as a very low priority in the grand scheme of running the association.

Would a highly successful Blazer team be great for the NBA? Probably not as much as a highly successful CA or NY or Texas-based team.

I guess my point is, I think the gulf between the serious fan experience vs. the owner/commissioner experience in terms of expectations is actually quite large. I don't particularly fault Jody Allen for the Blazers' current state. I think that the idea that she's being 'stingy' or has tight purse strings is largely unfounded. I think the vast majority of the Blazer current issues fall squarely on the shoulders of Olshey and Cronin.

From a business perspective, it feels like the NBA is on the cusp of a real bubble in terms of franchises worth. Salaries and TV deals are through the roof crazy expensive right now, so financially the league seems to be at a peak at a time when actual viewership and league interest is starting to dip. That downward trendline of actual league interest would seem like it's going to be a drag on franchises' worth in a sale in the upcoming seasons.

Like you, I don't know the bottom-line financials either, but it sure seems like this would be the peak to sell off at if I was an owner who only cared about cashing out at the top worth of my investment.

You could be really correct on this--I've also heard that once the deal really kicks in with Disney/NBCuniversal/Amazon, that owners are supposed to see a huge influx of money...so who knows.

[Walton1one]

From the trade board:

Pincus reporting that Lakers are not wanting to discuss trading Rui or Knecht according to other team execs.

I wonder if this kills a Grant to LAL deal?

Still could work a deal revolving around Vincent\Vanderbilt

Vincent\Vanderbilt\Christie\Wood
for
Grant & Reath (or Walker or Banton)

but I don't see any way that POR would do that trade w\o a 1st coming back to offset absorbing Vanderbilt (4yrs). Something like a 2029 lottery protected 1st that turns into multiple 2nd's if it does not convey?

Christie satisfies young player

Wood would be waived and POR would still have to trade\waive another player to fit players under the roster limit.

Would Cronin do this w\o the 1st but instead for the (2) 25' 2nd's (LAL & LAC)? Maybe he could get a 1st round pick swap? Doubtful

[DusterBuster]

From the trade board:

Pincus reporting that Lakers are not wanting to discuss trading Rui or Knecht according to other team execs.

I wonder if this kills a Grant to LAL deal?

Still could work a deal revolving around Vincent\Vanderbilt

Vincent\Vanderbilt\Christie\Wood
for
Grant & Reath (or Walker or Banton)

but I don't see any way that POR would do that trade w\o a 1st coming back to offset absorbing Vanderbilt (4yrs). Something like a 2029 lottery protected 1st that turns into multiple 2nd's if it does not convey?

Christie satisfies young player

Wood would be waived and POR would still have to trade\waive another player to fit players under the roster limit.

Would Cronin do this w\o the 1st but instead for the (2) 25' 2nd's (LAL & LAC)? Maybe he could get a 1st round pick swap? Doubtful

I think the Grant to Lakers ship has sailed completely. Seems like the Lakers have moved on from that interest.

[BlazersBroncos]

I strongly think LA isn’t taking long money as they want to be a FA player when LBJ expires after next season. I expect them to try to move off guys like Christie and Vandy before the 26 trade deadline if anything.

Realistically Grant isn’t making LAL a serious contender. They know that and will just play it out with James making a ton of money in sales and reset with a old AD + FA looking for LA lifestyle in 2026 IMO.

[DusterBuster]

I strongly think LA isn’t taking long money as they want to be a FA player when LBJ expires after next season. I expect them to try to move off guys like Christie and Vandy before the 26 trade deadline if anything.

Realistically Grant isn’t making LAL a serious contender. They know that and will just play it out with James making a ton of money in sales and reset with a old AD + FA looking for LA lifestyle in 2026 IMO.

I think they hoped Finney-Smith could scratch that Grant itch... early returns would seem to suggest that's not gonna do it but probably now not as important for them at this point. I think they'd have more interest in someone like Simons to replace what they lost in Russell from a scoring perspective than get another frontcourt player.

I think Grant's years on his contract probably kill his trade value for this season. Considering the salary floor the Blazers need to hit, moving off his contract isn't a huge deal, but man would I much rather see Deni starting at the 4 than Jerami.

I would love to see Grant to Sacramento for Huerter and Lyles. If they're still trying win in Sacramento, that would be a phenomenal deal for them and could have a major impact to get them into play-in territory.