Discussing Other Teams' Moves Part 3

[FAH1223]

The latest from Portland:

The camp for Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge arranged a meeting with general manger Neil Olshey in a Las Vegas hotel lobby on Sunday to suggest several trade scenarios, a league source informed CSNNW.com.

According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation, the meeting was described as being productive with both sides focused on doing what's best for both parties.

Aldridge, 27, has two years and roughly $30 million remaining on his current contract and I'm told Olshey is in no rush to facilitate a deal at the urging of a player's camp, especially if the organization isn't getting equal value in return.

Trading Aldridge for a collection of draft picks will not be an option.

<snip>

Aldridge told CSNNW.com that he did not request a trade and we confirmed that as being fact. However, he's not opposed to one and he has no issue with returning if that be the case, a source close to All-Star revealed to CSNNW.com.

http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/ ... -scenarios

A bit more context in the video contained in the article.

Lamacrus Aldridge response:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/aldridge_12/status/357886546080305152[/tweet]

[pancakes3]

Man... if there was anyway we could have packaged for LMA? I would have been all about it. Nene+3rd+filler.

[Dat2U]

The latest from Portland:

Aldridge, 27, has two years and roughly $30 million remaining on his current contract and I'm told Olshey is in no rush to facilitate a deal at the urging of a player's camp, especially if the organization isn't getting equal value in return.

Trading Aldridge for a collection of draft picks will not be an option.

http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/ ... -scenarios

A bit more context in the video contained in the article.

Hmmm, so basically it sounds like Portland is not interested in expirings & a bunch of future picks. Maybe rebuilding isn't something their looking to do. So maybe a deal centered around Nene & Porter would work?

[deneem4]

I don't think Portland will move him. Their team has a good starting 5 and now a better bench than last year

It does look like the path the play-offs is a little easier. OKC, Spurs, Clippers, Memphis and Houston are pretty much a lock to return. Golden State looks pretty solid, but is relying on a couple bigs(Bogut, Lee) who don't have a good health history.

The Lakers and Nuggets look very vulnerable to drop out of the play-offs. Utah is tanking this season, Dallas is a bit of a wild-card.

Portland at this juncture is better than LAL, UTA, and DAL.

The Nuggets will still be in that seeds 5-7 range IMO... they have a lot of talent and Gallo will be back mid season.

But the west has gotten stronger
Clippers
Rockets
Thunder
Warriors
Spurs
Grizzlies
Nuggest
Timberwolves
Portland/pelicans/mavs/lakers

Aldridge knows this, he also kno he can dominate in the east especially with the bulls...his only competition is hibbert amd lopez

[LyricalRico]

The latest from Portland:

Aldridge, 27, has two years and roughly $30 million remaining on his current contract and I'm told Olshey is in no rush to facilitate a deal at the urging of a player's camp, especially if the organization isn't getting equal value in return.

Trading Aldridge for a collection of draft picks will not be an option.

http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/ ... -scenarios

A bit more context in the video contained in the article.

Hmmm, so basically it sounds like Portland is not interested in expirings & a bunch of future picks. Maybe rebuilding isn't something their looking to do. So maybe a deal centered around Nene & Porter would work?

I would guess they'd be more likely to go for Nene+Beal since they already have Batum. As much as I like Beal, it could work for us if we moved Webster to SG full time.

Okafor
Aldridge
Porter
Webster
Wall

Wow, that's actually eerily similar to his current situation in Portland. If it ever comes to him forcing his way out, he could be looking elsewhere.

[GhostsOfGil]

If we would have drafted Noel I could see Portland going for something like: Noel + Okafor + 2014 lotery protected 1st for Aldridge.

[verbal8]

If we would have drafted Noel I could see Portland going for something like: Noel + Okafor + 2014 lotery protected 1st for Aldridge.

It doesn't seem like that is the direction Portland wants to go.

My guess would be they will probably trade him for 2 very good pieces. Also with their insistence on trading for players who are good now, they probably are limited to teams in the East as trade partners.

My guess is Aldridge's preferences would probably be Chicago, Indiana and Miami.

Portland would push for Noah from Chicago, but might be willing to settle for Butler and Gibson and a pick.

Bosh for Aldridge would be great for Miami financially, not sure what incentive Miami would add for Portland.

If Granger is healthy, maybe him and Stephenson from Indiana.

[Kanyewest]

How come Portland has struggled so much as of late? They seem to have a lot of talent (Lillard, Batum, and Aldridge). Matthews was solid with the Jazz. Is their bench really that bad? From glancing at their roster, they don't seem to have a lot of outside shooting- maybe someone like Maynor can play better with the Wizards with better floor spacing.

[verbal8]

How come Portland has struggled so much as of late? They seem to have a lot of talent (Lillard, Batum, and Aldridge). Matthews was solid with the Jazz. Is their bench really that bad? From glancing at their roster, they don't seem to have a lot of outside shooting- maybe someone like Maynor can play better with the Wizards with better floor spacing.

Looking at their team stats, they were one of the worst teams at defending the 2 point shot and creating turnovers or getting blocks. They give up a lot of assissts which is probably a big factor in the high FG% they give up. A lot of the other stats look pretty average.

[verbal8]

An interesting destination for Aldridge might be Dallas. He would have to play primarily Center while Dirk was there, but he could be the face of the franchise after he retires and slide to PF. Big issue would be Dallas being able to put together an intriguing package to acquire him.

[Kanyewest]

How come Portland has struggled so much as of late? They seem to have a lot of talent (Lillard, Batum, and Aldridge). Matthews was solid with the Jazz. Is their bench really that bad? From glancing at their roster, they don't seem to have a lot of outside shooting- maybe someone like Maynor can play better with the Wizards with better floor spacing.

Looking at their team stats, they were one of the worst teams at defending the 2 point shot and creating turnovers or getting blocks. They give up a lot of assissts which is probably a big factor in the high FG% they give up. A lot of the other stats look pretty average.

So it looks like defense is a concern. I wonder how much can be put on Aldridge or others (Lillard was often said to be one of the worst defenders this season).

[FAH1223]

How come Portland has struggled so much as of late? They seem to have a lot of talent (Lillard, Batum, and Aldridge). Matthews was solid with the Jazz. Is their bench really that bad? From glancing at their roster, they don't seem to have a lot of outside shooting- maybe someone like Maynor can play better with the Wizards with better floor spacing.

Looking at their team stats, they were one of the worst teams at defending the 2 point shot and creating turnovers or getting blocks. They give up a lot of assissts which is probably a big factor in the high FG% they give up. A lot of the other stats look pretty average.

Its their lack of Centers which hurt them. JJ Hickson playing the 5 or even Aldridge at the 5 isn't a recipe for success.

Their bench also sucked last year. They were in the playoff chase with LAL, DAL, HOU and UTA and the starters just ran out of gas.

They added Dorell Wright, Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum which should make their bench better. Lopez at the 5 will help them defensively but they would need to pair him with a rebounder when Aldridge isn't there...

[LyricalRico]

They added Dorell Wright, Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum which should make their bench better. Lopez at the 5 will help them defensively but they would need to pair him with a rebounder when Aldridge isn't there...

My guess is they're hoping TRob will be that rebounder who spells LMA.

[stevemcqueen1]

I actually really like what Portland's done this offseason. I thought they got Robinson for a song and he's got a good chance to turn his career around there IMO. Aldridge is excellent offensively at the 5, but terrible defensively and that's an issue. So I like the Lopez pick up. Meyers Leonard is still a long ways away.

And I thought CJ McCollum was just the BPA at their pick and made sense for that reason. They've got two really big time scoring guards now. They can probably keep McCollum on the bench or move him in time for an asset somewhere else.

Portland does a really nice job drafting and developing young talent.

I didn't know this until recently, but Portland has a pretty big disadvantage when it comes to signing FAs because Oregon state income tax is the highest of any state with an NBA team.

They're also one of the farthest flung NBA markets so traveling gets pretty monstrous for them. Sacramento and Golden State are the only teams within, say, a 9 hour drive or a two hour flight. And the city is a small, West Coast market so you will have some marketability issues there.

So I think Portland has to be good with the draft and their low key trades in order to pick up talent.

[verbal8]

I actually really like what Portland's done this offseason. I thought they got Robinson for a song and he's got a good chance to turn his career around there IMO. Aldridge is excellent offensively at the 5, but terrible defensively and that's an issue. So I like the Lopez pick up. Meyers Leonard is still a long ways away.

I agree they may have had one of the most underrated off-seasons.

So I think Portland has to be good with the draft and their low key trades in order to pick up talent.

Ever since they cleaned up the "Jailblazers" they have been a pretty well run organization. If they had better luck with the health of their top talent(Oden and Roy), they probably would be in the conversation with San Antonio and OKC as one of the best.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The latest from Portland:



http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/ ... -scenarios

A bit more context in the video contained in the article.

Hmmm, so basically it sounds like Portland is not interested in expirings & a bunch of future picks. Maybe rebuilding isn't something their looking to do. So maybe a deal centered around Nene & Porter would work?

I would guess they'd be more likely to go for Nene+Beal since they already have Batum. As much as I like Beal, it could work for us if we moved Webster to SG full time.

Okafor
Aldridge
Porter
Webster
Wall

Wow, that's actually eerily similar to his current situation in Portland. If it ever comes to him forcing his way out, he could be looking elsewhere.

I wouldn't include Beal in a trade for Aldridge, even one that takes Nene off the books. Bradley Beal is 20 and he already hits threes with great accuracy. Beal is a great complement to John Wall. He's the outside threat to go with Wall driving to the basket. At their ages, they can dominate together for the next 8-10 years. They are friends and teammates who have a good bond.

I think the long term investment in Beal is worth more than trying to win now with LaMarcus Aldridge.

[hands11]

They added Dorell Wright, Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum which should make their bench better. Lopez at the 5 will help them defensively but they would need to pair him with a rebounder when Aldridge isn't there...

My guess is they're hoping TRob will be that rebounder who spells LMA.

Should be a nice opportunity for him there. My magic eight ball says... things look promising.

I think this could be a good year for TRob.

[Dat2U]

How come Portland has struggled so much as of late? They seem to have a lot of talent (Lillard, Batum, and Aldridge). Matthews was solid with the Jazz. Is their bench really that bad? From glancing at their roster, they don't seem to have a lot of outside shooting- maybe someone like Maynor can play better with the Wizards with better floor spacing.

Looking at their team stats, they were one of the worst teams at defending the 2 point shot and creating turnovers or getting blocks. They give up a lot of assissts which is probably a big factor in the high FG% they give up. A lot of the other stats look pretty average.

So it looks like defense is a concern. I wonder how much can be put on Aldridge or others (Lillard was often said to be one of the worst defenders this season).

J.J. Hickson playing C was one of their biggest problems. His awareness was poor. His rotations are awful. Sort of like McGee playing C without the shot blocking ability.

[MikeTheKid]

Why does nobody want Brandon "I Chuck" Jennings???

[deneem4]

The bulls starting 5 is the best in the league 2nd to maybe the nets...

Rose
Butler
Deng
Boozer
Noah

When rose is your weakest defender, and noah is your weakest offensive piece, you have a great lineup. ..and yes boozer is a good defender...his #s prove that...