Shams: the ****? Simons to Boston for Holiday… real

[DusterBuster]

Could the Blazers sign a better FA than Jrue on the open market?

When have the Blazers ever been able to sign FA's on the open market? So I would argue that no, they could not.

Fingers crossed this is kind of like an Andre Miller style move for Portland.

Somewhat (ex) Blazer related:

Read on Twitter

[dckingsfan]

But if you want development out of Scoot and nearly the perfect mentor for him, don't you WANT a player who's older and descending? That's going to make the eventual transition to Scoot starting much easier / smoother than a younger player in their say late 20's / early 30's that has 5-6 good years left in them.

Three different things if you will.

1) taking on an increasing contract for a declining player
2) does he make your team better
3) how he fits in and how he will mentor younger players

You try not to take in players that fit 1). You certainly don't do it if you are giving up the draft assets to said player.

I think he does do 2). Then, does he push you into the playoffs?

Yes to 3 but... he will be eating up the cap space for Scoot, so not so helpful.

IMO.

His contract will be ending / expiring by the time any extension for Scoot is kicking in... he also hasnt really proven he even deserves that yet.

Most all the contracts are still aligned so that Jrue (even if they keep him to the bitter end) will be gone by the time any of the younger guys need new deals. Tou and Shae are probably the bigger concerns salary wise than Scooter. But I suspect they'll afford Tou by letting some guys like RWill and Thybulle expire. Shae is a wildcard if the Blazers even want to extend him or may trade him.

So I'm not seeing the concern here from a salary aspect imo.

Blazers clearly want to make a playoff / playin push this year. I suspect all from a fan engagement, player development (you never want players to only learn losing) and future asset control perspective. Someone else brought this out, but there's probably a real push right now to get this exchange with Chicago extinguished and help finally unlock their assets.

Nope - well assuming Jrue opts in in the last year of the contract. But that misses the point - when you take on the contract - you should get the draft assets not the other way around. And don't do a 1) unless that is the case. I don't like the trade from that perspective. We should not have given up any draft assets.

I listed why I thought he is a good player and fit in my OP.

[Walton1one]

At this point, it's very clear that's not now and probably never was Joe Cronin's plan. He's deadset on trying to be good sooner than later and doing it with a mix of youth and vets

Yeah, the problem with that is that they are not a good team.

They were under .500 last year, and fans are drinking the same Kool-Aid that Cronin\Billups are if they they think that adding Jrue is going to suddenly mean this team is going to have a huge improvement next year, that is wishful thinking at best

They will be lucky to make the playin & odds are overwhelming that they won’t

I’m not convinced at all that Dallas is a better team than Portland considering what their current roster is.

This is a joke right?

Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg, Lively - Gafford - Washington - Thompson (even semi washed) - Irving (mid year) + Christie & Dinwiddie + some vet PG (looking to be Chris Paul) is way better than this POR roster

Two of those guys are all stars, top 75 players (both younger than Jrue BTW). Flagg is the #1 pick, but sure Deni, Toumani & Jrue are better, seriously? That is ridiculous.

A lot of excuse making and copium going on around here

[DusterBuster]

At this point, it's very clear that's not now and probably never was Joe Cronin's plan. He's deadset on trying to be good sooner than later and doing it with a mix of youth and vets

Yeah, the problem with that is that they are not a good team.

They were under .500 last year, and fans are drinking the same Kool-Aid that Cronin\Billups are if they they think that adding Jrue is going to suddenly mean this team is going to have a huge improvement next year, that is wishful thinking at best

They will be lucky to make the playin & odds are overwhelming that they won’t

Fully aware of the problems with... also don't believe my post was meant to be "kool-aid" drinking, but more just being blunt about what his plan is and has been. I've stated multiple times, it's not the path / direction I think is smart, but this many years in now, too much time has been wasted to go the strip-it-to-the-studs route like the Wizards did.

[Sinobas]

Swapping Jrue to the Clippers in exchange for Powell/Bogdan and picks makes sense for both teams.

The Clippers are old and in "win now" mode anyway. and I believe all the Blazers really wanted for Simons was expiring and picks.

[Goldbum]

This came out of left field for me. The team that was discussing Ant left the table, but this is something else.

[Walton1one]

At this point, it's very clear that's not now and probably never was Joe Cronin's plan. He's deadset on trying to be good sooner than later and doing it with a mix of youth and vets

Yeah, the problem with that is that they are not a good team.

They were under .500 last year, and fans are drinking the same Kool-Aid that Cronin\Billups are if they they think that adding Jrue is going to suddenly mean this team is going to have a huge improvement next year, that is wishful thinking at best

They will be lucky to make the playin & odds are overwhelming that they won’t

Fully aware of the problems with... also don't believe my post was meant to be "kool-aid" drinking, but more just being blunt about what his plan is and has been. I've stated multiple times, it's not the path / direction I think is smart, but this many years in now, too much time has been wasted to go the strip-it-to-the-studs route like the Wizards did.

Not attacking you hope you didn’t read it that way, more about this current ownership & mgmt and specifically Cronin\Billups whom I really can’t stand, they are the architects of this ridiculous situation

[BlazersBroncos]

Yeah, the problem with that is that they are not a good team.

They were under .500 last year, and fans are drinking the same Kool-Aid that Cronin\Billups are if they they think that adding Jrue is going to suddenly mean this team is going to have a huge improvement next year, that is wishful thinking at best

They will be lucky to make the playin & odds are overwhelming that they won’t

Fully aware of the problems with... also don't believe my post was meant to be "kool-aid" drinking, but more just being blunt about what his plan is and has been. I've stated multiple times, it's not the path / direction I think is smart, but this many years in now, too much time has been wasted to go the strip-it-to-the-studs route like the Wizards did.

Not attacking you hope you didn’t read it that way, more about this current ownership & mgmt and specifically Cronin\Billups whom I really can’t stand, they are the architects of this ridiculous situation

Its very likely that ownership has at least if not more of a finger on the scale than Cronin / Billups. They dont want to field a loser. They want to build a team that will compete for a playoff spot, generate buzz and therefore maximize profit.

As someone pointed out earlier, I would bet money that the sale amount for a competitive team coming off or fighting for a playoff spot is notably higher than a team that is cashing entire years in a rebuild with the hope of that 15% chance landing them a blue chip in the draft.

(I think the smoothed ping pong odds have drastically changed how ownership and management approach tanking and that the NBA die hards like us are late to the game in understanding this adjustment - no ownership wants to end up in a Utah like situation where your full tanking for multiple years only to slide back in the draft consistently).

[PDXKnight]

This came out of left field for me. The team that was discussing Ant left the table, but this is something else.

Right? We could've bought ant out if we wanted not sure why we chased this contract.

And yes second round picks are whatever but the fact that we gave them up feels like a middle finger in all of this.

[DusterBuster]

This came out of left field for me. The team that was discussing Ant left the table, but this is something else.

Possible to reveal what the deal was that was being discussed?

[mighty_duck]

Could the Blazers sign a better FA than Jrue on the open market?

When have the Blazers ever been able to sign FA's on the open market? So I would argue that no, they could not.

Fingers crossed this is kind of like an Andre Miller style move for Portland.

Here's another comparison point.
OKC getting Chris Paul a few years ago, when they had just lost PG13, and weren't ready to compete.
He was a great mentor for a budding SGA, and helped that team mold its identity. We need that veteran leadership, and none of the current veterans really provide it.

If Jrue can add some defensive accountability for Scoot and Sharpe, he may be worth the investment.
Our defensive lineups will give other teams fits, and may make the team worth watching.

Not a fan of the value of this trade, but I'm more excited about next season than I was yesterday morning.

[DusterBuster]

Could the Blazers sign a better FA than Jrue on the open market?

When have the Blazers ever been able to sign FA's on the open market? So I would argue that no, they could not.

Fingers crossed this is kind of like an Andre Miller style move for Portland.

Here's another comparison point.
OKC getting Chris Paul a few years ago, when they had just lost PG13, and weren't ready to compete.
He was a great mentor for a budding SGA, and helped that team mold its identity. We need that veteran leadership, and none of the current veterans really provide it.

If Jrue can add some defensive accountability for Scoot and Sharpe, he may be worth the investment.
Our defensive lineups will give other teams fits, and may make the team worth watching.

Not a fan of the value of this trade, but I'm more excited about next season than I was yesterday morning.

Honestly, the CP3 to OKC comp is probably the best one I've heard so far. Near 1:1 example of what I think Cronin's motivation was here.

As fans, we just want no expensive contracts and loads of picks... but there's other aspects to team building that I think largely get overlooked by fans, which is the mental and educational piece.

[JRoy]

This came out of left field for me. The team that was discussing Ant left the table, but this is something else.

Appreciate your insight.

You called Deni and no one else saw that coming.

[tblazrdude]

threw this together; 8% raises 4 year version of an ant extension vs. holiday deal during that time.

[Dame Lizard]

threw this together; 8% raises 4 year version of an ant extension vs. holiday deal during that time.

While it seems likely that we would have tried to extend any, that just proves the incompetence of our front office.

An easy option was for us to let Ant expire, or trade him at the January 2026 deadline as an expiring contract who can provide strong scoring spark.

I'm ok with this trade, other than the fact that we should have extracted draft capital from Boston in this trade, not give it up, but more so worried about what we may see tomorrow.

I shudder to think about us being in the hunt for Markkanen. Ainge would absolutely fleece Cronin.

[Pattycakes]

I’ll trust the guy doing an amazing gm job. Love Jrue and think he has a resurgent year while Ant goes on to convince some sucker he’s worth resigning.

[tester551]

This came out of left field for me. The team that was discussing Ant left the table, but this is something else.

You mentioned that we'd be surprised at the value of Simons... Is this Holiday trade on par with the value that you were hearing?

[kdawg32086]

I like the trade a lot. I like both of the potential options with Jrue: 1) keep him to mentor/play with Scoot and Shaedon or 2) flip him to another team for something better than Ant would've fetched.

Here's another way to look at the trade:
https://3stepsbasket.com/player/anfernee-simons/vs/jrue-holiday?season=nba25

[PDXKnight]

^ hes and expensive mentor. Im saying with the money theres no way he doesn't start over Scoot which is nuts to me we traded for him in that case. It just creates a longer term logjam

[Case2012]

Instead of getting a pick and drafting a defensive player they decided to get older and add 100 million to the books.

These people are not smart. Whatever common sense and conventional wisdom in the collective basket ball world there is, they ignore it. It's crazy.

Another asset wasted. Unless they flip him but wt*******.