Portland's Off-Season Has Officially Arrived

[zzaj]

Man the 20's of this draft look like they could be quite strong at the wing positions, I would not trade away our draft pick without really considering these prospects:

Dzanan Musa
Shake Milton
Troy Brown
Jacob Evans
Gary Trent Jr
Keita Bates-Diop
Chandler Hutchison
Isaac Bonga
Melvin Fraizer

There are going to be a couple guys from this list for us to choose from.

Just say YES to Melvin Frazier to replace Turner and Jevon Carter to replace Napier!

[zzaj]

It's a shame Atlanta has so many draft picks this year, as a Turner+#24 for Bazemore would really benefit Stotts.

I'd rather see them go get Damarre Carroll out of Brooklyn with Turner and the pick (if possible).

I can't imagine the 24th pick in this year's draft being enough for any team to eat Turner's contract, but it'd certainly be nice.

a while back on the T&T board I proposed Harkless+Leonard+24 for Carroll. some liked it, some were convinced they're better off using their cap space on that big name all-star free agent that really wants to play with... Crabbe and Mozgov?

Unrelated...

But I had to click on the Meyers website listed on your sig. How absolutely IRONIC that he has "OTA" as a slogan shirt, standing for "On They Ass"...

I don't think I could have made up something better.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Man the 20's of this draft look like they could be quite strong at the wing positions, I would not trade away our draft pick without really considering these prospects:

Dzanan Musa
Shake Milton
Troy Brown
Jacob Evans
Gary Trent Jr
Keita Bates-Diop
Chandler Hutchison
Isaac Bonga
Melvin Fraizer

There are going to be a couple guys from this list for us to choose from.

Just say YES to Melvin Frazier to replace Turner and Jevon Carter to replace Napier!

That would be a solid draft IMO.

Stylistically I actually think Troy Brown is most similar to Turner, and Bonga could actually be an even better point-forward type but I do really like Fraizer and see some similarities to college Jimmy Butler.

[Norm2953]

I sometimes wonder if let's say the Rockets win a championship this year with a system that spaces the
floor with almost anyone who plays being able to make a 3 pointer, if there will be a market for
Meyers. It might not be much of a market but most of us would take a bag of peanuts to get off
his contract off of our books. It would seem to me that a Houston Rockets championship will lead
to a league wide search for more 3 point shooters

[Pattycakes]

I sometimes wonder if let's say the Rockets win a championship this year with a system that spaces the
floor with almost anyone who plays being able to make a 3 pointer, if there will be a market for
Meyers. It might not be much of a market but most of us would take a bag of peanuts to get off
his contract off of our books. It would seem to me that a Houston Rockets championship will lead
to a league wide search for more 3 point shooters

Safeway is always hiring?

[JasonStern]

Just remembered Sabonis was drafted by Portland at 24. Hopefully it turns out to be a lucky number - like pick #6.

[DusterBuster]

Just remembered Sabonis was drafted by Portland at 24. Hopefully it turns out to be a lucky number - like pick #6.

Batum was #25. Rudy Fernandez was #24. Ibaka, Lowry, Hardaway Jr and Reggie Jackson also former #24 picks.

Value can be had that far down in the draft, just harder to come by.

[Norm2953]

Last year's draft combine showcased guys picked where the Blazers will be picking. There will be
someone who will make Portland's team but likely not be the SF this team needs.

Imagine if we had passed on Swanigan and had Jordan Bell available as a mobile PF/C to play
against Anthony Davis. Bell was one of those guys who played well at last years combine.

[JasonStern]

Imagine if we had passed on Swanigan and had Jordan Bell

or Kuzma, Hart, or Brooks... 2017 was a deep draft. most likely deeper than this year's.

[Masterfully]

Imagine if we had passed on Swanigan and had Jordan Bell

or Kuzma, Hart, or Brooks... 2017 was a deep draft. most likely deeper than this year's.

Not sold on Bell or Brooks, but Kuzma would have been amazing.

[Darren]

LMA (for bad contract and pick), Batum (for bad contract and pick) and Matthews (waived after sign-and-trade) are about to be back.

[DusterBuster]

LMA (for bad contract and pick), Batum (for bad contract and pick) and Matthews (waived after sign-and-trade) are about to be back.

Fine by me. Get the band back together

[Pattycakes]

LMA (for bad contract and pick), Batum (for bad contract and pick) and Matthews (waived after sign-and-trade) are about to be back.

Funny thing, is that would actually be amazing. We're getting all three of them about 3 years past the point I want them, but in slightly reduced roles, imagine the leadership/experience/production those guys could offer in addition to the team we have.

I would go ape****

[red_power]

LMA (for bad contract and pick), Batum (for bad contract and pick) and Matthews (waived after sign-and-trade) are about to be back.

Fine by me. Get the band back together

It would be a worst reunion since backstreet boys' came back together I afraid

[JasonStern]

what about something around Gallinari for Turner+incentive (Swanigan?). contracts are fairly similar, but 20 games a season of Gallinari is probably better than 82 of Turner.

[Joshumitsu]

Either Hutchinson and Musa will help this team. Be realistic and don't expect a potential All-Star to cure the Blazer's woes. Instead, expect someone akin to Danny Green to bolster the team.

I also like Troy Brown and compare him somewhat to Shaun Livingston.

Other than that, I don't really see much else in the 20s.

[BlazersBroncos]

Another pipe dream scenario.

Nawlins' wants to move on from Cousins after how well AD played in his absence. They lack a consistent second shot creator and CJ seems like an ideal fit as his defensive mediocracy can be covered on that team. We S&T CJ for Cousins. NO runs a lot of 3 guard sets (Rondo/Holiday/Moore), and this to me indicates they could run Rondo/CJ/Holiday at times. The minutes would be there. Ideally he could be their super-6th man and get 20+ off the bench. PDX decides to run old-school with twin towers in Cousins and Nurkic.

Then we trade Evan Turner and Swanigan to CHA for Batum. He needs a change of scenery and that team may go into mini-rebuild (Although Jordan seems adament to NEVER rebuild, lol). They save a year off Batum's contract and get a young bench scoring big prospect.

Finally, we call up Orlando and offer Al-Fariq Aminu, Myers Leonard, #24 and 2 R2 picks for Evan Fournier. They get a versatile big in Aminu that can form a tremendous defensive rotation at SF/PF w/ Issac and Gordon (Assuming he resigns) and add a R1 to get younger. Evan doesnt seem like a long-term fit and they may target a SG at #5.

Resign Nurkic and Napier, sign Wes once he is cut and hope Collins can take up the primary backup PF/C role. This is a pipe dream so screw it, sign Ed too. Its not my money.

Ending roster:

PG - Damian Lillard / Shabazz Napier
SG - Evan Fournier / Wes Matthews
SF - Nicolas Batum / Mo Harkless
PF - DeMarcus Cousins / Zach Collins
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Ed Davis

None of this will happen, but that roster looks pretty.

[GreenRiddler]

LMA (for bad contract and pick), Batum (for bad contract and pick) and Matthews (waived after sign-and-trade) are about to be back.

Why on Earth would the Spurs do that? LMA has been great for them. I can see Batum and Wes but LMA wouldn't happen. I can actually really see Batum he is exactly the kind of SF we need if we could trade Turner and a pick for him I'd do it. His 3 point shooting would go up under Stotts.

[Village Idiot]

It's really hard to get exciting about this off-season. For me the most frustrating thing about this off-season is how few options we seem to have. Trading CJ probably needs to happen, but won't. Unless the return is a high quality two way wing like Leonard or PG we're not going to get better. Our draft pick is highly unlikely to yield a quality player. It all comes back to the 2016 off-season and all of the idiotic decisions Olshey and Allen made.

[DusterBuster]

I sometimes wonder if let's say the Rockets win a championship this year with a system that spaces the
floor with almost anyone who plays being able to make a 3 pointer, if there will be a market for
Meyers. It might not be much of a market but most of us would take a bag of peanuts to get off
his contract off of our books. It would seem to me that a Houston Rockets championship will lead
to a league wide search for more 3 point shooters

Safeway is always hiring?

WinCo is where the real money's at apparently.

Fun fact, WinCo apparently stands for Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon.