It’s time to blow it up......

[d-train]

The real fear with retaining Trent is if some team gives him an Allen Crabbe offer.

I really worry that NYK offers him 20M AV type. He is a great fit there and they have tons to spend.

First, the Knicks don't have tons to spend. Every team has the same salary cap. Some teams gain an advantage if through internal development they get a star player who is grossly underpaid. Knicks have no such player. So, they can't afford to overpay supporting players that would cost them the opportunity to pursue a star player.

Blazers can afford to overpay supporting players if they want to and the player is an internally developed asset. Overpaying GTJ wouldn't cost us a star player through free agency or continued internal development. This is the nuance about the CBA that people don't understand.

I don't fear a billionaire spending their money on NBA players. It's less money they have to fund Democrat propaganda lies.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I don't fear a billionaire spending their money on NBA players. It's less money they have to fund Democrat propaganda lies.

Your facts are wrong, NBA owners overwhelmingly support Republican propaganda lies.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/24/21453818/nba-owners-political-donations-trump-gop

[BlazersBroncos]

O god please no guys this is like the last bastion of non political talk.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

O god please no guys this is like the last bastion of non political talk.

Fair enough, I'll try to restrain myself.

[JRoy]

Can’t we find something better to fight about?

[d-train]

I don't fear a billionaire spending their money on NBA players. It's less money they have to fund Democrat propaganda lies.

Your facts are wrong, NBA owners overwhelmingly support Republican propaganda lies.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/24/21453818/nba-owners-political-donations-trump-gop

I didn't know which party NBA owners contribute the most to, which is why I didn't say.

[Norm2953]

Please no more unnecessary political talk

[d-train]

Kings are shopping Bjelica. Hood for Bjelica saves us $3M on a probable 1 year rental. We get additional size this year but lose a potential trade chip this summer. Bjelica can pass, shoot, and rebound.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Kings are shopping Bjelica. Hood for Bjelica saves us $3M on a probable 1 year rental. We get additional size this year but lose a potential trade chip this summer. Bjelica can pass, shoot, and rebound.

Him and Holmes have both been underrated on that Kings team. They are the type of player that can play key roles for a good team but are pretty much wasted on a bad team.

[HoopsFanAZ]

If there’s a trade of CJ in a a package with other guys for an upgrade at SF or PF in their prime(s), then I can see a couple of Hood, RoCo, Jones, Simons, Collins ... some combo getting traded. And I’m not much of a Stotts fan.

However, that’s about the extent of blowing it up. Bring in an experienced PG backup ... or Pritchard. The (near or) all star SF or PF. Get healthy. As I look at other teams, there aren’t many I see as clearly better than what the Blazers can be if/when healthy and with one CJ Package trade.

CJ + Z Collins + Simons + Giles = Bogdanovic + J Collins + Snell + Dunn

[GEE]

I agree that a choice will likely need to be made between Dame, CJ & GTJ... one needs to go right? I also agree that Dame/GTJ > Dame/CJ. Going forward, having all three would be ultimate, but clearly too expensive right? So I assume moving CJ (and I love CJ) makes the most sense for several reasons, but I would be shocked if it happens mid-season. Ultimately we should keep all three if at all possible.

Next question is at the C... Are we happy with The Bosnian Beast and The Turkish Warrior? I am!

That leaves the wings/forwards, and we have several good ones on short deals. Do we want or need to upgrade here? I think a shakeup here is most likely and is where we will need to spend wisely. Olshey could basically take all players not named Dame, CJ, GTJ, Nurkic or Kanter, play around with those guys in trade talks and maybe make a consolidation trade or two. Not sure who I would want to deal because I really like all of our guys, but I think of these remaining guys, 3-4 solid players, with the five mentioned above, is all we really need in the playoffs.

When trading players, I may think of it differently than most of ya'll. I prefer to first ask, who is it that I want to add to this team that I think I could realistically get. Identify the player or target, then ask yourself what you'd be willing to give up to get said player. Not the other way around.

Ready to roll with what we got this year though. Possible big changes in the off-season, sure, but maybe we get the gods to shine on us for once, finally get healthy (including ZC hopefully), add to what we're currently doing, and ultimately win it all. This will flood the coffers of the Vulcans, and we can bring EVERYONE back... screw the taxes.

[Norm2953]

On most teams, the choice would be to keep the 22 year old GTJ. Simons is also beginning to play
well which shows how much consistent PT means everything for these young players for I wonder
how much entrenched these young players will get if CJ say misses another 2-3 weeks.

I do think the team will do what they can to keep Kanter who seems to be setting in the old Joel
Pryzbilla role as a solid backup center. Let's see what they do with their oft injured bigs for imagine
what if the team could pull off a LA trade with SA who remains the only long tenured Blazer big
who had a long, productive career.

I don't thing they could do much at the wings for after giving up two #1 picks to get Roco, they are
not to be moving him to get an Aaron Gordon. They will almost certainly have to play 3 guards and hope
they don't get creamed on the boards for GTJ is playing too well to sit but the team will lack size
up front if he has to play SF on a regular basis.

[monopoman]

I will be pretty livid if we lose GTJ to free agency, even if he gets a $20 million offer I hope the Blazers match. By the time Dame is entering his twilight years GTJ will be entering his prime years.

[BlazersBroncos]

I am not sure why we cant get away with Dame, CJ and GTJ. We clearly have no intention of ever getting a traditional backup PG, so assuming that CJ gets all the time there you can slot GTJ for 28mpg as the backup SG and throw him another 4mpg or so at SF.

We are not getting a blue chip forward for CJ, so unless your willing to downgrade from him to someone like Tobias or Gordon, both of whom are not making this team better than simply keeping CJ, I think you just stay the course. At least until the Nurkic / RoCo deals come due.

Pay him this offseason and decide on the fate of the team in 2022 when our cheap deals will get expensive. I have always thought that we should run a big payroll 21/2022 to keep some continuity for once and do a real soul search summer 2022 to decide the next step.

[wco81]

Blazers have a real good shot at finishing in the top 4 in the WC. They've kept winning with a couple of key injuries, though a lot of it has been Dame's last-minute heroics.

Can they raise their ceiling like the Jazz seemingly have done this year?

Lakers could be vulnerable with AD's injury.

So it's hard to conceive of the Blazers making a major move during this season. Maybe a relatively minor move to shore up depth for the playoffs.

Don't see them trading CJ during the season, especially the way he was playing before getting injured.

Will there be deals during the season which might not be available in the offseason? Maybe, but they're on a good run right now.

Blazers have games coming up vs. Suns, Nuggets and Lakers out of the 6 remaining games which have been scheduled. Those should show where they stand relative to other potential playoffs opponents.

[d-train]

Blazers have games coming up vs. Suns, Nuggets and Lakers out of the 6 remaining games which have been scheduled. Those should show where they stand relative to other potential playoffs opponents.

These games are without CJ and Nurk. Hopefully, we see continued improvement in team defense spearheaded by RoCo and DJJ. Our defense is still being killed by penetration.

[dunlop212]

I wonder if Simons has any trade value. His game is dreadful except for his 3pt pct, which is OK because nobody guards him. To some extent that excuses his awful assist numbers, since his 4 teammates are being guarded by 5 players. Could they trade him for a G that plays some defense and can also hit wide open 3s?

I am guessing that his PT will plunge when CJ comes back, so he is probably at peak value.

[monopoman]

I wonder if Simons has any trade value. His game is dreadful except for his 3pt pct, which is OK because nobody guards him. To some extent that excuses his awful assist numbers, since his 4 teammates are being guarded by 5 players. Could they trade him for a G that plays some defense and can also hit wide open 3s?

I am guessing that his PT will plunge when CJ comes back, so he is probably at peak value.

I doubt any team is really interested in him, at best you are looking at a second round pick or something. He has shown flashes of being a consistent 3 point shooter but he is very streaky, and as you say he hasn't' shown much else. He records games with very high 3 point shooting like 66% then follows it up with a 25% game.

If he was a solid defender I think there would be more teams willing to give up real value for him.

[d-train]

I wonder if Simons has any trade value. His game is dreadful except for his 3pt pct, which is OK because nobody guards him. To some extent that excuses his awful assist numbers, since his 4 teammates are being guarded by 5 players. Could they trade him for a G that plays some defense and can also hit wide open 3s?

I am guessing that his PT will plunge when CJ comes back, so he is probably at peak value.

I doubt any team is really interested in him, at best you are looking at a second round pick or something. He has shown flashes of being a consistent 3 point shooter but he is very streaky, and as you say he hasn't' shown much else. He records games with very high 3 point shooting like 66% then follows it up with a 25% game.

If he was a solid defender I think there would be more teams willing to give up real value for him.

IMO, the difference between GTJ and Simons is paper-thin.

Edit: I should say difference in value. They are very different players.

[GEE]

Here's a Blow-Up idea that nobody will like:

1) Fire Stotts yesterday!!!

2) Trade Dame to Toronto for Lowry(exp) and 2021 FRP. Get better return for a locked in player if possible, but in this scenario, I take the savings to tweak my roster.

3) Sell on GTJ. Offer him to Boston for Payton Pritchard and hope Ainge bites.

4) I will assume that Lowry wants one final big-money retirement contract, so I will let him walk if I can't reroute him for an asset or two.

5) Fire ALL Medical and Training staff, but encourage them to re-apply. Pick and choose the few you may want to keep, but mostly... FIRE THEM ALL!!!

6) Massively upgrade your coaching and training staffs, and STOP BLAMMING THE PLAYERS for the piss-poor staff you currently have.

2021 PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

CJ / Pritchard / cj
Hood / Simons / ???
ROCO / Jones Jr. / Little
Collins / Melo / Giles
Nurkic / Kanter / ???