Portland - 2016 Offseason

[Norm2953]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

A couple of factors. Probably biggest of which was PR. That summer the Blazers lost their star in Alridge who'd be with the team for 6 or so years and they were gonna be losing every other FA on the team. They also wanted to show a commitment to the new face of the franchise. When you get an elite level talent like Lillard, you don't dick around with him. They knew they wanted him, they knew he wanted to be there.... why risk pissing him off by screwing around with his FA? If he's committed to the team, it'd be pretty crappy for the team not to be committed to him.

As for Varejao.... cause they didn't want him. And thank god. I'll gladly take that cap hit to not have that flopper wearing a Blazer jersey.

I do think Dame in this market would be getting the supermax and there would be no shortage of teams
willing to offer him the max on day 1 of FA. Cap space is not an issue with Portland.

[zzaj]

I like the idea of Portland signing Parsons but his injuries scare me.

The Blazers did one better and tried to draft Parsons last night. His name is Jake Layman. Both 6'9 210lb white guys. Their college stats, physical tools, and careers were strikingly similar. Parsons is a better passer and rebounder while Jake is a better shooter (particularly at the line) but over all very close.

I liken him more to Ariza than Parsons.

First he's Chandler Parsons, and now he's one of the most elite defenders in the NBA?

People. He. Is. Not. That. Good.

I think a realistic hope for him would be to contribute about as much as Harkless...and that's probably a stretch.

[Dame Lizard]

Nobody is talking about quality zzaj, they're talking about playing styles. I don't see any Ariza in him though.

Masterfully said it well in the other thread- we'll be lucky if Layman turns out to be as good as Babbitt.

That's exactly what I don't like with the draft pick. Payton may never have a good jump shot, but at least we'll know if he gets playing time in the NBA, he'll be a lockdown defender.

[DusterBuster]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

A couple of factors. Probably biggest of which was PR. That summer the Blazers lost their star in Alridge who'd be with the team for 6 or so years and they were gonna be losing every other FA on the team. They also wanted to show a commitment to the new face of the franchise. When you get an elite level talent like Lillard, you don't dick around with him. They knew they wanted him, they knew he wanted to be there.... why risk pissing him off by screwing around with his FA? If he's committed to the team, it'd be pretty crappy for the team not to be committed to him.

As for Varejao.... cause they didn't want him. And thank god. I'll gladly take that cap hit to not have that flopper wearing a Blazer jersey.

I do think Dame in this market would be getting the supermax and there would be no shortage of teams
willing to offer him the max on day 1 of FA. Cap space is not an issue with Portland.

I don't really get your point. Agreed, cap space wouldn't be an issue in regards to Portland keeping Lillard had they signed him now or later. That was kinda my point. There was no real purpose in waiting.

The only thing waiting to sign him once he was a FA would have done is cause animosity between him and the franchise. Just look at Lillard and Team USA, Lillard is big on respect and loyalty. Blazers showed Lillard respect and loyalty by committing to him early just like he was willing to commit to the team at that time. If he was willing to commit to the team and the team said "Nah, lets wait until your a FA and you set the market", it would have pissed him off and he probably would have used the media to try and strong-arm his way out, thus creating an uneasy relationship between himself and the franchise going forward.

There was simply no good reason for either side to wait it out and not sign the contract when they did.

[red_power]

Max money are undisputable, but real problem that Dame would have singed 3 year contract with option after second year with any other team.

[Wizenheimer]

I think the Lillard situation was probably a case that Dame wanted an agreement and when he let the Blazer front office know he wanted to sign for the max 5 years, the Blazers wanted to get the agreement locked down. As mentioned, it could be for only 3 years if there was any pushing by either side

at the same time, Lillard wanting the 5 year deal and his willingness to split the difference on the super-max could indicate that he has a high level of confidence and comfort in the franchise and the city. If the front office would have said to him that they agree to give him the max terms he wanted but if they waited till this summer to formalize, Portland would have and extra 14 million in cap-space, I'd imagine Dame would have considered that and very well may have agreed. Having 47 million in cap-space would be impressive, in a vacuum, but it may have been difficult to use it all in this particular summer.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I don't think it would have been disrespectful to LIllard if we explained that he was going to get his 5-year super max extension no matter what but that we want to put a winner around him and we need ever ounce of capspace to get it done. Saying "you go out and set the market" would have been disrespectful, but explaining that Paul Allen is going to go in deep and spend a bunch of money to win with Dame would have been the opposite of disrespectful.

[Jsun947]

Updated salaries on main page with 94,000,000 expected to be the cap.

Cap Space With Cap Holds $24,713,910 (Harkless, Crabbe, Leonard)
Cap Space Without Cap Holds $42,363,761

If we make a small trade it would be possible to get 2 max slots for the 0-6 year range (For example Parsons + Whiteside)

[GreenRiddler]

Parsons is listening to offers I just don't know how healthy he is, and I doubt he teams will know until he plays a full season.

If he was healthy he would be that perfect wing to get, he is a really good 3rd option on a team that was desperate for one.

[sabi]

Reports that Whiteside's first meeting is w the Blazers

https://twitter.com/blazer_gang/status/746856866395758592

[DusterBuster]

Reports that Whiteside's first meeting is w the Blazers

https://twitter.com/blazer_gang/status/746856866395758592

I saw that, but not sure how reliable that source is.

[mactrapper10]

Reports that Whiteside's first meeting is w the Blazers

https://twitter.com/blazer_gang/status/746856866395758592

I saw that, but not sure how reliable that source is.

Yeah, who knows with that one. I have never heard of Blazer Gang before that tweet, so I can't say how reliable it is. Seems like they might just be jumping out on somewhat common knowledge and trying to get some attention. I kinda doubt Portland could get the first meeting, but if so, good on them. By the way, how does any of this get leaked out about possible meeting times for any free agent? Wouldn't that be tampering to try and arrange that ahead of time? I know it must go on, but it still seems weird hearing reports about so and so meeting with Team X at 12:01 am.

[DusterBuster]

Reports that Whiteside's first meeting is w the Blazers

https://twitter.com/blazer_gang/status/746856866395758592

I saw that, but not sure how reliable that source is.

Yeah, who knows with that one. I have never heard of Blazer Gang before that tweet, so I can't say how reliable it is. Seems like they might just be jumping out on somewhat common knowledge and trying to get some attention. I kinda doubt Portland could get the first meeting, but if so, good on them. By the way, how does any of this get leaked out about possible meeting times for any free agent? Wouldn't that be tampering to try and arrange that ahead of time? I know it must go on, but it still seems weird hearing reports about so and so meeting with Team X at 12:01 am.

Usually gets leaked by people close to the player. Teams can't start discussing contracts or talk directly to players, but I believe they can start to talk to agents to schedule meetings.

[Norm2953]

Assuming we're talking about a max contract, all teams including Miami will only be able to
offer the same contract to him. His decision would then come down to where he wants to
live and basketball related matters such as coaching, stability of organization, players, etc.

It might help us we've made the second round of the playoffs in two of the past three seasons
and have a young upcoming team. I see he was a second round pick of the Kings but never
seems to have gotten a shot until he got to the Heat.

[mactrapper10]

Assuming we're talking about a max contract, all teams including Miami will only be able to
offer the same contract to him. His decision would then come down to where he wants to
live and basketball related matters such as coaching, stability of organization, players, etc.

It might help us we've made the second round of the playoffs in two of the past three seasons
and have a young upcoming team. I see he was a second round pick of the Kings but never
seems to have gotten a shot until he got to the Heat.

Maybe he likes Lillard and CJ as teammates. I know they follow each other on twitter, so who knows. When considering a new job, who you will be working with, if pay is equal or close, becomes pretty important.

[Run PDX]

One thing that really should be mentioned...
Hassan Whiteside, CJ McCollum, and Noah Vonleh are all represented by Jeff Schwartz (who also represents Harrison Barnes).

If Whiteside likes the idea of playing with Lillard and McCollum, and is willing to play and live in Portland, it wouldn't surprise me if Schwartz encourages him to meet with Olshey first - even if he wants to check on other deals before signing a contract - because it could be seen as a favorable thing to do for a team who will be negotiating with McCollum next year.
AND, it would be good for Whiteside to start free agency with a max offer on the table from a team on the rise...

[Fitz303]

One thing that really should be mentioned...
Hassan Whiteside, CJ McCollum, and Noah Vonleh are all represented by Jeff Schwartz (who also represents Harrison Barnes).

If Whiteside likes the idea of playing with Lillard and McCollum, and is willing to play and live in Portland, it wouldn't surprise me if Schwartz encourages him to meet with Olshey first - even if he wants to check on other deals before signing a contract - because it could be seen as a favorable thing to do for a team who will be negotiating with McCollum next year.
AND, it would be good for Whiteside to start free agency with a max offer on the table from a team on the rise...

Where are you getting this info? All I've seen is that Whitesides agent is Sean Kennedy, and McCollums agent is Sam Goldfeder

[Wizenheimer]

One thing that really should be mentioned...
Hassan Whiteside, CJ McCollum, and Noah Vonleh are all represented by Jeff Schwartz (who also represents Harrison Barnes).

If Whiteside likes the idea of playing with Lillard and McCollum, and is willing to play and live in Portland, it wouldn't surprise me if Schwartz encourages him to meet with Olshey first - even if he wants to check on other deals before signing a contract - because it could be seen as a favorable thing to do for a team who will be negotiating with McCollum next year.
AND, it would be good for Whiteside to start free agency with a max offer on the table from a team on the rise...

Where are you getting this info? All I've seen is that Whitesides agent is Sean Kennedy, and McCollums agent is Sam Goldfeder

probably from HoopsHype. They say Schwartz, but he owns Excel Sports Management, or is at least the major partner. Both Kennedy and Goldfeder work for Excel Sports Management and are the primary agents for Whiteside & CJ respectively. Schwartz is primary for Vonleh

Draft Express breaks players/agents/agency down in detail, but the website is slow

players having the same primary agent may at times, be good for a GM. I don't think that advantage, if there, would stretch to players in the same agency. Too many different motivations and conflicts of interest.

[mactrapper10]

CJ working out with Durant today: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHHz94nDGbC/

[Ripcity4life]

I will say its strange how quite the Blazer rumors in terms of who they like in Free agency are and i mean rumors that come from more reliable sources like Woj and such.

I think like last year the Blazers strike fast maybe not like 1st deal of the period but within 24 to 48 hours have someone to a verbal deal. Let's just hope whoever that someone is they do not pull a Jordan and back out.