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2020 free agent targets and draft picks

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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#521 » by Blazinaway » Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:17 pm

BlazersBroncos wrote:
when you say sign Hark for "MLE" do you mean "full MLE", if so that would be a ridiculous overpay IMO


I would hope for 3/15M w/ a TO on Y3. I would go up to 3/18M but its not my money.


I would not pay him more than 2-3 mil per
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#522 » by TheDraftGuy » Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:43 pm

Unless Patrick Williams is available, I am 100% sold on Theo Maledon for the Portland Trailblazers.

Going forward, he fulfills a role Mario and Evan Turner struggled with. That is, shooting, facilitating, reading lanes, and defending on ball while serving as a secondary ball handler.

Honestly, I actually see a lot of Terry Porter in his game. Probably won't excel but will be competent at mostly everything.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#523 » by BlazersBroncos » Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:42 pm

I would not pay him more than 2-3 mil per


Why? Its painfully clear we need switchable defensive forwards to help compliment this team. I think we also simply need talent across the board even if its only offensive talent, but regardless of that we also need switchable defensive forwards. Harkless posted a 1.7 DBPM his last two years in Portland and was on his way to a 2.4 DBPM in LA before the trade. He is a tremendous defender who never got his credit since we all focused on his offensive ineptitude. As a super low usage role player he came close to posting .100+ win-shares for 4 seasons in a row here. That is really, really good.

If we can upgrade other spots adding a borderline special defender who doesnt require usage is the best move we can hope for. And that type of guy is easily worth more than 2-3M. If Harkless is worth 2-3M, then Collins is worth 500K and Simons should be paying us to be on the team.

Unless Patrick Williams is available, I am 100% sold on Theo Maledon for the Portland Trailblazers.


NO would punch his grandmother before he adds a competent backup PG to this team. For that reason I doubt Theo is on our draft radar.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#524 » by Norm2953 » Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:27 pm

I tend to think Portland in the draft process Portland will focus on 1-2 players that can reasonably be
gotten for they have the assets to move up a few spots to get that targeted player.

I look at a team like Sacramento picking at 12 as a good trade partner for they likely can get the same
type of player at 16 and can pickup something from Portland for their trouble. This would be one of those
draft day trades where both teams would be picking for the other for the two teams have made a number
of deals over the past few years making for good relations.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#525 » by BlazersBroncos » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:58 am

I tend to think Portland in the draft process Portland will focus on 1-2 players that can reasonably be
gotten for they have the assets to move up a few spots to get that targeted player.

I look at a team like Sacramento picking at 12 as a good trade partner for they likely can get the same
type of player at 16 and can pickup something from Portland for their trouble. This would be one of those
draft day trades where both teams would be picking for the other for the two teams have made a number
of deals over the past few years making for good relations.


Depends on how you view our assets. A trade up would probably include future pick(s) or guys on rookie contracts. We dont really have anything else appealing. I tend to think the only young guy we have that is valued around the league are GTJ and ZC. I wouldnt be surprised if Simons is seen around the league having R2 value, maybe not even good R2 pick value. Little is such a blank slate that I have no idea how the league sees him.

So, would it be worth attaching ZC to 16 and moving up to 11 or 12? I would say certainly no if he was locked up cheap until 2021, but right now, as an impending 2020 FA and such an uncertainty, removing the potential of overpaying him may be worth using him as trade up bait. If you think a trade up using ZC + 16 can get you Vassell, Okoro or potentially even Patrick Williams, I think you pull the trigger.

I wouldnt be opposed to Haliburton either, his ability to play both guard spots and his really mature, consistent, well paced game makes him likely to have a quick NBA transition IMO. He has the full package outside once scary metric, he doesnt get to the rim / line. Otherwise, big, long, quick, good defensive metrics, great shooting splits, great raw defensive stats (S+B 3.2 last year), versatile, etc. Hard to not think what the team could look like with a 3-guard rotation of Dame / GTJ / Haliburton + whichever forward(s) we can get for CJ.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#526 » by DeBlazerRiddem » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:59 am

Looking at free agent options I bet Harkless gets at least the tax MLE and maybe even the full MLE. I think a guy like Andre Roberson might be gotten for 2-3 million to provide some bench defense.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#527 » by Norm2953 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:13 am

BlazersBroncos wrote:
I tend to think Portland in the draft process Portland will focus on 1-2 players that can reasonably be
gotten for they have the assets to move up a few spots to get that targeted player.

I look at a team like Sacramento picking at 12 as a good trade partner for they likely can get the same
type of player at 16 and can pickup something from Portland for their trouble. This would be one of those
draft day trades where both teams would be picking for the other for the two teams have made a number
of deals over the past few years making for good relations.


Depends on how you view our assets. A trade up would probably include future pick(s) or guys on rookie contracts. We dont really have anything else appealing. I tend to think the only young guy we have that is valued around the league are GTJ and ZC. I wouldnt be surprised if Simons is seen around the league having R2 value, maybe not even good R2 pick value. Little is such a blank slate that I have no idea how the league sees him.

So, would it be worth attaching ZC to 16 and moving up to 11 or 12? I would say certainly no if he was locked up cheap until 2021, but right now, as an impending 2020 FA and such an uncertainty, removing the potential of overpaying him may be worth using him as trade up bait. If you think a trade up using ZC + 16 can get you Vassell, Okoro or potentially even Patrick Williams, I think you pull the trigger.

I wouldnt be opposed to Haliburton either, his ability to play both guard spots and his really mature, consistent, well paced game makes him likely to have a quick NBA transition IMO. He has the full package outside once scary metric, he doesnt get to the rim / line. Otherwise, big, long, quick, good defensive metrics, great shooting splits, great raw defensive stats (S+B 3.2 last year), versatile, etc. Hard to not think what the team could look like with a 3-guard rotation of Dame / GTJ / Haliburton + whichever forward(s) we can get for CJ.


Portland does have the ability to absorb salary with their TPE but it will be interesting to see how the draft process goes
with the virus still impacting business for one would suspect lots of guys who normally would be brought in a group setting
for a workout are now going to be restricted to a zoom interview for most of the workouts will now be individual workouts.
Portland historically focuses on 1-2 players and if they like a player that falls in the late lottery, I could seem them offering
a lottery protected pick to get him if they really like him. This of course assumes there are guys they really value and if
nobody surfaces in the draft process, one can see them punting the pick away to another team that might value someone
more than Portland.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#528 » by Case2012 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 5:16 pm

Sign Rondo please.... An actual point guard to run the second unit and an exceptional defender to pair with Trent jr. I would even consider starting him at the point and moving Dame to the 2 and have him run off screens ala Curry in certain line ups.

Trade Cj and the 16th for Jrue holiday. Again, defense and playmaking.

Trade our picks and youth for future picks, or veterans or cap space to sign vets.

Dame/ Rondo
Jrue/ Trent jr
Ariza/ Hood
Harkless/ Melo
Nurkic/ Whiteside

Plenty of defense, plenty of scoring. Win now and stop eating up Dame's prime. That team can make some noise and it's a pretty reasonable and attainable plan. I have zero faith in olshey and he should have been fired after 2016 though, so a much more likely outcome is the one Jason described.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#529 » by BlazersBroncos » Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:26 pm

Dame/ Rondo
Jrue/ Trent jr
Ariza/ Hood
Harkless/ Melo
Nurkic/ Whiteside


I love the defense at guard and as I outlined a few post ago, would welcome Mo back with open arms, but that guard rotation is just too crowded. Dame and Jrue are at least 34mpg players in the regular season, even more in the playoffs. Rondo is a PG only, and wont sign here as a 12mpg type backup. We would need to find him 20mpg+, which means shifting Dame to SG for short stretches, which as you outlined is pretty appealing. Rondo's ability to really, really switch it on for the palyoffs is tremendously appealing. And despite his age, he shows no signs of slowing down.

So the issue is GTJ. assuming something like the below, your relegating him to a 10th mans type minutes of sliding him to SF:

PG - Damian Lillard (28) / Rajon Rondo (10)
SG - Jrue Holiday (32) / Damian Lillard (6) / Gary Trent JR (10)

Another option could be, what forward does Ariza, Collins, GTJ and picks return? It would have to be a hell of a player for me to pull the trigger, and looking at the league I cant really find anyone who is attainable and fits the bill.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#530 » by JasonStern » Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:45 pm

(In order of 2019-20 salary)

Lillard - Is the franchise. No explanation needed.

McCollum - Lost a lot of value with his extension. I'm not saying I don't understand why the Blazers did that. Nor am I even questioning the "Splash Brothers Lite" approach of a Lillard+McCollum back court. Just pointing out that he probably doesn't have the value a lot of fans think he has. And as such, the Blazers are probably best off keeping him. A dilution trade - CJ for lesser players - isn't smart. Consolidating or upgrading makes sense, but who would want to trade a better player for a 29-year old McCollum? The time to trade him was a few years back when Chicago was looking to move Jimmy Butler and McCollum was still young enough that you could trade him to a franchise looking to rebuild/reload.

Whiteside - Was solid as a fill-in center. Not spectacular. A lot of bad plays, especially on defense, offsetting the good. I'd be fine bringing him back on something like a 3Y/$20M contract. But it wouldn't be my #1 option. If the Blazers can instead land a "Kanter for TPE" type trade, they'd probably be better off going down that route.

Ariza - Is washed. He's probably serviceable next year, but pricey at $12M. I suspect his option doesn't get picked up in order to reduce salary obligations. Not sure when the Blazers have to pick up his option, but hopefully they have enough time to test the waters and see who is available. For example, if you can get Harkless for millions less money, wouldn't you rather do that?

Nurkić - Is on a value contract. That's understandable - as much as we all love him as fans, he hasn't proven an ability to remain healthy. So his $12M/season is really a pro-rated $24M/season contract. Not ideal, but not "trade him" bad. But it does mean you need a solid backup 5 or 4/5 for the times when he breaks his leg and is out for 9 months. But we've all seen how valuable he is on the court. Plus he's close friends with Dame. So if you can get a Gobert in trade for him, maybe something like that you consider. But otherwise, he's not really movable.

Hood - Is probably done. Hate to say it. Loved him as a player, but ACL tears are no joke. He might be a serviceable shooter, but he's not going to be the player he was - especially on defense. Thus he should be viewed as salary filler in a trade or an expiring contract. Anything else the Blazers get from him is great.

Collins - Hasn't lived up to his hype. I was a bit disappointed when he was drafted. In typical Jason fashion, I wanted to trade the picks for an established player to pair with Dame and CJ. And failing that, I would have rather taken two chances at #15 and #20 of landing a player versus trading up to #10. And even then at 10, I wanted Malik Monk - which is bad in hindsight considering Mitchell and Abedayo were available (although I have a feeling he has underperformed in Charlotte due to management - could be a good buy low candidate). But I understand what Blazers management was going for. Claims Zack will be the next Bill Laimbeer seemed far stretched at the time, and completely unrealistic now. But he fits that mold of a player that Olshey was hoping Meyers would become. I'm not as down on him as people like Wizenheimer. He's still just 22. Bigs take longer to develop. But I'm nowhere near as excited about him as a lot of fans are. He's proven himself an NBA player, but not necessarily a starter on a good team. He's also fairly injury prone. And his contract is about to expire. He's also the highest paid player still on a rookie contract, so he helps fill out trade requirements.

Anthony - Is washed, but is a blast to watch. Probably responsible for saving this season. Who doesn't love an inefficient, high usage scorer with virtually non-existent defense? Love to retain him on a 2-year team-option minimum or BAE contract. Give him the starting role as a token gesture, but play him backup minutes. Seems like he's earned that.

Simons - Probably isn't the savior people expected him to be last season. Shows promise. Not someone to give up on yet, but he is 21. The whole "didn't play college ball" excuse works for maybe one season, at which point he's spent an entire season being developed by a professional basketball team. If a trade for a starting caliber player was on the table, I wouldn't let Simons be the dealbreaker.

Little - Is a complete unknown. Given the lack of wing depth, it's concerning how little playing time he got last season. So clearly he's raw. Hopefully he's developing. Can't see him having much value in the league, so he might be the rookie I'd be least likely to trade as I just wouldn't expect much in return.

Swanigan - Is Swani-gone. Would much rather the Blazers retain Gabriel or try to bring back Labissière.

Hezonja - Is another example of Olshey bidding against himself. I will never understand why he got a player option on that contract. There was no competition to sign him. If he reinvented himself, he wouldn't take the second year. But if he sucked, you know he's taking that second year. The sad thing is he actually could be a below-average-but-not-horrific player. Just take away any ball handling - he is not the point forward he and the Blazers think he is - that stuff might work in Euro leagues, but not the NBA. Try harder on defense. Focus on making open jump shots should Dame dish you the ball. And suddenly we wouldn't be hating the guy. But anyone with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1 should not be a primary/secondary/any-ary ball handler. Could be useful as salary filler, but doubt any team in the league has any interest.

Trent - Is probably the greatest trade asset the Blazers have. And everyone is going to hate me for saying that. How could you trade Wesley Matthews 2.0? Well, he hasn't proven his ability to do this over a full season. In fact, his performance dropped off significantly as the bubble wore on. Meanwhile, he's at peak hype after the bubble, and he only has one year left on his contract. A Trent+#16 package has considerable more value than a Simons+#16 package, despite "well I like the better player" arguments. But if Trent underperforms next year, or if he overperforms and then gets paid, that "potential" value is gone. So this is probably the best time to move Trent if (big if) a trade makes sense.

Gabriel - Was an unknown before the bubble, but impressed me. Hope he can be retained on a minimum contract.

Adams - ???

Brown - Not a player in this league.

Hoard - Seems like a nice guy.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#531 » by DeBlazerRiddem » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:30 pm

Case2012 wrote:Sign Rondo please.... An actual point guard to run the second unit and an exceptional defender to pair with Trent jr. I would even consider starting him at the point and moving Dame to the 2 and have him run off screens ala Curry in certain line ups.


Yes. Olshey is allergic to this type of player but I swear all good teams have a veteran PG on the bench, just someone who knows how to run an offense and isn't some young gun looking for his own shot.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#532 » by Case2012 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:01 am

BlazersBroncos wrote:
Dame/ Rondo
Jrue/ Trent jr
Ariza/ Hood
Harkless/ Melo
Nurkic/ Whiteside


I love the defense at guard and as I outlined a few post ago, would welcome Mo back with open arms, but that guard rotation is just too crowded. Dame and Jrue are at least 34mpg players in the regular season, even more in the playoffs. Rondo is a PG only, and wont sign here as a 12mpg type backup. We would need to find him 20mpg+, which means shifting Dame to SG for short stretches, which as you outlined is pretty appealing. Rondo's ability to really, really switch it on for the palyoffs is tremendously appealing. And despite his age, he shows no signs of slowing down.

So the issue is GTJ. assuming something like the below, your relegating him to a 10th mans type minutes of sliding him to SF:

PG - Damian Lillard (28) / Rajon Rondo (10)
SG - Jrue Holiday (32) / Damian Lillard (6) / Gary Trent JR (10)

Another option could be, what forward does Ariza, Collins, GTJ and picks return? It would have to be a hell of a player for me to pull the trigger, and looking at the l eague I cant really find anyone who is attainable and the bill.


I'm not really worried about how the minutes shake out in the guard rotation. I'm much more interested in the versatility in the line ups. Jrue can also play the 3 apparently so he could grab some minutes there.

I just think adding those pieces gives us perimeter defense, paint and rim protection, multiple playmakers, and lots of shooting. A team can be just as successful with several high level role players supporting one superstar player as opposed 2 or 3 stars and a shallow overall roster.

Also totally open to seeing what ariza, Collins and picks can bring back as well, but I'm having a hard time thinking of someone realistic.

Could also swap out Kanter for Whiteside, and if Melo doesn't stay a Micheal Beasley or Marvin williams type would fit in perfect.


DeBlazerRiddem wrote:
Case2012 wrote:Sign Rondo please.... An actual point guard to run the second unit and an exceptional defender to pair with Trent jr. I would even consider starting him at the point and moving Dame to the 2 and have him run off screens ala Curry in certain line ups.


Yes. Olshey is allergic to this type of player but I swear all good teams have a veteran PG on the bench, just someone who knows how to run an offense and isn't some young gun looking for his own shot.


Agreed. The few times send we've found reliable back up pg they've always been score first. That is unless we want to bring Steve Blake back for the 174345 time. Rondo fits what this team needs perfectly, so of course we'll probably never even call his agent.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#533 » by BlazersBroncos » Fri Oct 16, 2020 4:43 pm

I'm not really worried about how the minutes shake out in the guard rotation. I'm much more interested in the versatility in the line ups. Jrue can also play the 3 apparently so he could grab some minutes there.


I mean, you have to at least be a bit worried on how the minutes shake out. Dame and Holiday are going to need at least 32-34mpg each, Rondo isnt the type of guy you want unhappy so he is going to pencil in at 20-22mpg so that leaves GTJ as a guy who goes from young 3/D rotation guy to his rookie role of 10-12mpg or you bite the bullet and play him at SF a ton.

I think GTJ needs to be seen as a swing next season and if resigned for the future as a whole. He is 6'6 w/ a 6'9 wingspan, you compliment him with a long defender like Ariza / Harkless and that may be the best we can hope for out of the SF position. He is a free agent the summer of 2021, if this team sees him as a pure SG resigning him will be a fools errand, you cant pay CJ 30M+ and his backup 8-10M+.

We need to trade him, trade CJ or use him at SF. Given our affinity to CJ, I think we need to give GTJ 12-15mpg at SF from this point forward.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#534 » by Norm2953 » Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:52 am

It will be interesting how Portland views this draft but let's say Portland has a player they really like
and offers up GTJ +16 to get up into the mid lottery to get said player. It'd be interesting who that
player would be...
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#535 » by d-train » Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:30 am

JasonStern wrote:McCollum - Lost a lot of value with his extension. I'm not saying I don't understand why the Blazers did that. Nor am I even questioning the "Splash Brothers Lite" approach of a Lillard+McCollum back court. Just pointing out that he probably doesn't have the value a lot of fans think he has. And as such, the Blazers are probably best off keeping him. A dilution trade - CJ for lesser players - isn't smart. Consolidating or upgrading makes sense, but who would want to trade a better player for a 29-year old McCollum? The time to trade him was a few years back when Chicago was looking to move Jimmy Butler and McCollum was still young enough that you could trade him to a franchise looking to rebuild/reload.

Ariza - Is washed. He's probably serviceable next year, but pricey at $12M. I suspect his option doesn't get picked up in order to reduce salary obligations. Not sure when the Blazers have to pick up his option, but hopefully they have enough time to test the waters and see who is available. For example, if you can get Harkless for millions less money, wouldn't you rather do that?

Hood - Is probably done. Hate to say it. Loved him as a player, but ACL tears are no joke. He might be a serviceable shooter, but he's not going to be the player he was - especially on defense. Thus he should be viewed as salary filler in a trade or an expiring contract. Anything else the Blazers get from him is great.

Collins - Hasn't lived up to his hype. I was a bit disappointed when he was drafted. In typical Jason fashion, I wanted to trade the picks for an established player to pair with Dame and CJ. And failing that, I would have rather taken two chances at #15 and #20 of landing a player versus trading up to #10. And even then at 10, I wanted Malik Monk - which is bad in hindsight considering Mitchell and Abedayo were available (although I have a feeling he has underperformed in Charlotte due to management - could be a good buy low candidate). But I understand what Blazers management was going for. Claims Zack will be the next Bill Laimbeer seemed far stretched at the time, and completely unrealistic now. But he fits that mold of a player that Olshey was hoping Meyers would become. I'm not as down on him as people like Wizenheimer. He's still just 22. Bigs take longer to develop. But I'm nowhere near as excited about him as a lot of fans are. He's proven himself an NBA player, but not necessarily a starter on a good team. He's also fairly injury prone. And his contract is about to expire. He's also the highest paid player still on a rookie contract, so he helps fill out trade requirements.

Anthony - Is washed, but is a blast to watch. Probably responsible for saving this season. Who doesn't love an inefficient, high usage scorer with virtually non-existent defense? Love to retain him on a 2-year team-option minimum or BAE contract. Give him the starting role as a token gesture, but play him backup minutes. Seems like he's earned that.

Little - Is a complete unknown. Given the lack of wing depth, it's concerning how little playing time he got last season. So clearly he's raw. Hopefully he's developing. Can't see him having much value in the league, so he might be the rookie I'd be least likely to trade as I just wouldn't expect much in return.

Hezonja - Is another example of Olshey bidding against himself. I will never understand why he got a player option on that contract. There was no competition to sign him. If he reinvented himself, he wouldn't take the second year. But if he sucked, you know he's taking that second year. The sad thing is he actually could be a below-average-but-not-horrific player. Just take away any ball handling - he is not the point forward he and the Blazers think he is - that stuff might work in Euro leagues, but not the NBA. Try harder on defense. Focus on making open jump shots should Dame dish you the ball. And suddenly we wouldn't be hating the guy. But anyone with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1 should not be a primary/secondary/any-ary ball handler. Could be useful as salary filler, but doubt any team in the league has any interest.

Trent - Is probably the greatest trade asset the Blazers have. And everyone is going to hate me for saying that. How could you trade Wesley Matthews 2.0? Well, he hasn't proven his ability to do this over a full season. In fact, his performance dropped off significantly as the bubble wore on. Meanwhile, he's at peak hype after the bubble, and he only has one year left on his contract. A Trent+#16 package has considerable more value than a Simons+#16 package, despite "well I like the better player" arguments. But if Trent underperforms next year, or if he overperforms and then gets paid, that "potential" value is gone. So this is probably the best time to move Trent if (big if) a trade makes sense.

The market value of Lillard or CJ is irrelevant. Blazers aren't going to trade either player. However, if Blazers did want to trade them, CJ has the most value because of his reasonable contract. CJ could have got more money in free agency. Lillard couldn't get as much in free agency as he got from Blazers. Lillard has proved his value as a first option and CJ has proven his value as a second, first, or third option. IMO, Lillard could be an excellent 2nd option, but maybe not as good a second option as CJ has proven to be. Lillard is a great threat when he has the ball and a green light to do what he wants, but that's not the same as being a complementary player that defers to a primary option. And, who can pay $50M/year for a second option player?

Ariza doesn't look washed up to me. He won't be back as a Blazer and I don't want him back. His trade value is to a team that wants to cut salary because his trade value is $13M and is only guaranteed $1.8M.

Hood isn't going anywhere next season. He has a $6M option he is sure to take.

Collins has proven he can be a frontline defensive star in a NBA that doesn't value bigman low post scorers or big men whose specialty is defending bigman low post scorers. Zach's value is as a team defender who can defend the perimeter and recover to protect the rim. He is 7' with the mobility to switch onto anyone. I wouldn't want him defending Shaq, Moses Malone, or even Duckworth, but there is currently no big physical low post scoring in the NBA.

Melo is a very useful player and I hope he is back next season. His defense is fine and his offense is off the charts great as long as he uses his skills to complement Lillard, CJ, and Nurkic. He is also a valuable scorer if used to maximize the time Lillard and CJ can play together.

Little played very well when given a chance. His potential is as a role player. He could be a great role player if he works hard enough. He has as much potential as Trent has.

Hezonja is not going to take his option IMO. His contract is VM and he is a decent player, so it's not bad if he does take his option. I don't believe Hezonja looks at the current Blazers team as the same great option for him as he did last season before the addition of Melo and development of Trent. Melo, Hood, and Trent are ahead of Hezonja, and this is before Blazers go shopping with their
TPE and MLE.

Trent will be challenged to maintain the role he had with Ariza, Hood, and Collins out. Ariza won't be back, but Blazers will replace him by trade, TPE, or MLE. Additionally, Simons will challenge Trent and could again surpass hm.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#536 » by d-train » Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:50 am

Derrick Favors should be high on Blazers shopping list as a target for the MLE. He can play C or PF, is tremendously strong, and is very skilled. His strength would make him a unique option not currently available to Stotts. Millsap would also be good, but he is old and always injured.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#537 » by HoopsFanAZ » Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:36 am

Basketball Insiders has the date for Ariza’s guarantee as October 18. Is it guaranteed or has that date moved back by mutual agreement?
It seems highly unlikely Ariza would agree, at this point, to a $10 million plus pay cut to be traded and cut. He'd find a home, but hard to see him getting full MLE. If he's kept, he's useful as a back-up or as trade filler (with his expiring contract) in a package for a longer contract.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#538 » by DeBlazerRiddem » Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:19 pm

d-train wrote:Ariza doesn't look washed up to me. He won't be back as a Blazer and I don't want him back. His trade value is to a team that wants to cut salary because his trade value is $13M and is only guaranteed $1.8M.


Just a minor note, they fixed this loophole and players can only be traded for the amount that they are guaranteed. So to trade him as a $12.8 million expiring would in effect guarantee the whole contract.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#539 » by GEE » Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:08 am

I like D-Trains analysis. Pretty spot on IMO. If we let Ariza walk, we luck out with Mario bolting for some euro-cash, and we're able to resign Melo for 2-3 more yrs, then we have this:

Dame / Simons
CJ / GTJ
Melo / Hood / Little
Collins
Nurkic

This doesn't look like much, but I think it's a very solid foundation. Teams generally need 8 strong players, with a bench for insurance. I think Dame(34), CJ(34) and GTJ(28) should be rotating all of the guard minutes. I hope we keep Gabriel, draft Jalen Smith, and adding a Favors would also be nice, but I think I'd rather keep THE HORSE. That would give us this:

Dame / Simons
CJ / GTJ
Melo / Hood / Little
Collins / Gabriel
Nurkic / Whiteside / Smith

We should still have plenty assets remaining including our 2nd round pick to fill spots 13 & 14. Overall, I think the talent is there to make alot of noise next season without making major changes. I pray Hood will recover, because if he does we have the talent to be contenders for the next 3 years.
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Re: 2020 free agent targets and draft picks 

Post#540 » by Case2012 » Wed Oct 21, 2020 4:30 am

I could really care less about draft picks and youth right now.

If I'm the GM. I'm trading Collins, little, Simons, and this year's picks for cap space and future picks. Ideally I'd like to package these along with CJ to grab a butler or George, but we all know Neil isn't trading cj. Jrue Holiday would be my first and most realistic target but again, Neil doesn't have the swagger for that.

My free agent list starts with Rondo. Hall of fame pg. Top perimeter defender. Reliable 3. One of the best assist men of all time imo. Can run the second unit or play in a3 guard line up off ball.
Next Melo. Not very efficient but he's shown he can be clutch and demands respect from the other team. Hopefully he agrees to come off the bench as a sixth man. He could also help attract free agents since he's had such positive things to say about portland
Then Ibaka. I have him starting next to ariza and nurkic. Not sure how much he has left but he can be a defensive stretch 4. Good on switches and provides some rim protection.
Lastly Whiteside, Kanter or Favors. I'd be happy with any of those, but Rondo throwing lobs to Whiteside all season would be really fun and something we haven't seen in Portland for a long time. Plus he's very efficient and had the second highest per last season.
Throw in some older vet minimum deals that don't expect time but could contribute if needed.

Dame/ Rondo
Cj/ Trent/ Jamal crawford?
Ariza/ Hood/ Demarre Carroll?
Ibaka/ Melo/ Skal?
Nurkic/ Whiteside/ Noah?

I don't see why that isn't achievable as a GM. Having a superstar like Dame should make it easier to attract free agents and the ones I listed aren't exactly A list. The motive behind this route is to win now, but do it based on depth and ball movement as opposed to getting a second star and running nothing but iso all game. Not sure stotts is the man for the job but this would be by far the best roster he's had since Lamarcus left.

Plenty of scoring, 3 point shooting, perimeter defense, rim protection and play making. Well rounded and deep. Not sure how realistic it is based on salary but I think a lot of those free agents could be had relatively cheap.
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