Offseason

[PDXKnight]

I have always really liked Snell so this works for me.

But we are still just treading to keep out heads above water and our butts in the playoffs. Short of big more, this team isnt going to see any Dame Time past the upcoming season. He is gone summer 2022.

may very well be the case

I swear, about the only way any of this makes any sense is if A) Olshey believes Dame is bluffing or B) Olshey secretly wants to trade Dame and is trying to force that demand

Unfortunately i think it’s the first one. Olshey seems like a glass half full kind except to a fault

[Blazer50]

How do Harrison Barnes or Kristaps Porzingis sound to the fanbase now? Please Neil - Let's try to make a big move.
Simmons > Siakam > Zeller > Snell = McLemore? Room for Improvement!

[Goldbum]

Is Bagley available? Jones Jr + CJ2.0 + a first? Maybe a first isn't worth the risk...

[Case2012]

I think Neil is doing this to spite the city. Jody and the Vulcans condone it because they want to move the team to Seattle. It's pretty obvious. They might as well, there's nothing to like about the franchise anymore except Dame, who will be gone soon anyways.

See, I just dont agree with this. If there were trade we missed out on, guys better than CJ or as good but better fits, then I would be dissapointed.

But really who did everyone expect us to sign in FA? What guys are looking to come to a middling playoff team, with no ring chances, in a small market, with a low tier #1 at best heading the squad? Who is taking the LAL discount to come play here? NO or not, that just doesnt happen for Portland.

We did well in FA given our limitations. I dont see much of a difference bt Reggie Bullock who got 10M AV and Tony Snell who we got for the VM. I dont see many better backup C's in the league, not on a rookie deal or making 8M+, than Zeller. I dont see many players of Powells caliber getting what can only be seen as a tremendous deal (A deal likely never to take up more than 15-16% of our cap space). NO did very in Free Agency. I truly dont know what everyone expected. I actually want to hear the players we should have signed instead?

But this isnt to say that the limitation we are working with are anything less than NOs fault. Nor to say that he should be allowed to run it back with the same squad. But we need to be realistic. We are not getting Pascal or Simmons for CJ, we are not getting starting caliber guys to take MLE level paycuts, we are not getting difference makers in FA. None of this was ever going to happen. Its a fantasy world to think otherwise. Ya, Batum is going to leave LAC, and all the other ring suitors, to come to Portland. Sure. We just are so overly optimistic because as fans we see this as the obvious team all these guys want to join. Well it isnt. Its just not. And given the city and the climate, it wont ever be.

I wasn’t completely serious.

However, it’s pathetic that Olshey hasn’t used alternative methods to improving the roster other than packaging CJ and picks for a star.

For example, it took about 10 seconds to think of a deal that would send CJ to OKC or NYC for cap space and picks in return, they would obviously take that deal. We could have signed Derozen with that cap space and still retained Powell. Not a guarantee we sign DDR but he is very close with Dame and it was certainly a possibility we could have worked out a sign and trade as well with Collins, Simons, little, and a pick or… whatever. If we strike out on DDR we go for 2 or 3 known but lesser quantities to improve by committee, like Rudy gay, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley.. or JJ reddick, Batum and Danny Green… our any combo of those guys. That’s still a better team IMO.

Hell, Kawhi has been listening to offers. Even If he isn’t available this year, if we convinced him Lillard is an upgrade to PG and he signed with us, that buys at least 2 more years with Dame. I’m just throwing out possibilities, which is more than what Olshey is willing to do.

My point is, Olshey just isn’t that creative… It’s his job to figure this stuff out and he just can’t apparently.

Anything you need to know about olshey's approach to free agency is explained below. He essentially justifies his inadequacies as a gm based on Pdx being rainy.

If olshey doesn't even like pnw, how is he supposed to pitch it to free agents? Ainge rightfully calls him out. Too bad he isn't our GM.

Read on Twitter

>

[Matt800]

I wonder who the blazers could trade DJJ and maybe picks for.

Theres Plumlee on DET, Nance JR on CLE, Mo Bamba on ORL, Bagley 3 on SAC, Boucher on TOR etc. Not sure what would be realistic but with Zeller being often injured, a backup big wouldn't be a bad idea.

[soobias]

nice off season so far

[Village Idiot]

I wonder who the blazers could trade DJJ and maybe picks for.

Theres Plumlee on DET, Nance JR on CLE, Mo Bamba on ORL, Bagley 3 on SAC, Boucher on TOR etc. Not sure what would be realistic but with Zeller being often injured, a backup big wouldn't be a bad idea.

Thad Young just got traded to the Spurs for DRR. They don't need him. DJJ and Simons for Thad and a couple of 2nds? Thad starts at PF moving Roco to SF.

[PDXKnight]

why didn’t we offer drummond a mle deal??

[PDXKnight]

I wonder who the blazers could trade DJJ and maybe picks for.

Theres Plumlee on DET, Nance JR on CLE, Mo Bamba on ORL, Bagley 3 on SAC, Boucher on TOR etc. Not sure what would be realistic but with Zeller being often injured, a backup big wouldn't be a bad idea.

Thad Young just got traded to the Spurs for DRR. They don't need him. DJJ and Simons for Thad and a couple of 2nds? Thad starts at PF moving Roco to SF.

I’m not ready to give up on simmons yet

[BlazersBroncos]

why didn’t we offer drummond a mle deal??

Because he is absolute trash?

I wonder who the blazers could trade DJJ and maybe picks for.

Theres Plumlee on DET, Nance JR on CLE, Mo Bamba on ORL, Bagley 3 on SAC, Boucher on TOR etc. Not sure what would be realistic but with Zeller being often injured, a backup big wouldn't be a bad idea.

Thad Young just got traded to the Spurs for DRR. They don't need him. DJJ and Simons for Thad and a couple of 2nds? Thad starts at PF moving Roco to SF.

I’m not ready to give up on simmons yet

Simons is about the only guy we have that could be added to DJJ's corpse to bring back a quality rotation guy, outside FRP's (Which IMO we should keep as I am far from convinced Dame is here next year).

DJJ + Simons for Thad
Lauri for MLE (2nd year PO)

21/22 Playoff Rotation
G - Damian Lillard (34) / CJ McCollum (14)
G - Norman Powell (32) / CJ McCollum (16)
F - Robert Covington (32) / Tony Snell (16)
F - Thad Young (24) / Lauri Markkanen (24)
C - Jusuf Nurkic (28) / Cody Zeller (20)

[Village Idiot]

why didn’t we offer drummond a mle deal??

Because he is absolute trash?

Thad Young just got traded to the Spurs for DRR. They don't need him. DJJ and Simons for Thad and a couple of 2nds? Thad starts at PF moving Roco to SF.

I’m not ready to give up on simmons yet

Simons is about the only guy we have that could be added to DJJ's corpse to bring back a quality rotation guy, outside FRP's (Which IMO we should keep as I am far from convinced Dame is here next year).

DJJ + Simons for Thad
Lauri for MLE (2nd year PO)

21/22 Playoff Rotation
G - Damian Lillard (34) / CJ McCollum (14)
G - Norman Powell (32) / CJ McCollum (16)
F - Robert Covington (32) / Tony Snell (16)
F - Thad Young (24) / Lauri Markkanen (24)
C - Jusuf Nurkic (28) / Cody Zeller (20)

I can't imagine Markkanen signing for the taxpayer MLE since his qualifying offer of $9 million is for more

Let's aim higher:

Portland trades:

CJ, DJJ, 2022 1st top 10 protected to Chicago, first available pick swap to Philadelphia (unprotected)

Portland receives:

Ben Simmons

Chicago trades:

Lauri Markannen

Chicago receives:

DJJ, 2022 1st top 10 protected from Portland

Philadelphia trades:

Ben Simmons

Philadelphia receives:

CJ, Lauri, option for first available pick swap from Portland - unprotected

[Blazer50]

sign and trade CJ for Markkennen and Troy Brown (may have to come in TPE created by S&T (about $18 like Powell for Lauri)

[BlazersBroncos]

I dont think PHI will take CJ and a pick for Simmons. I think thats just really wishful thinking.

And, ya, Lauir has a 9M OQ but IMO he wants out of CHI and if another team isnt throwing a decent deal at him he may be open to a MLE job for a year on a playoff team to revamp his value. But, this is wishful thinking as well.

I think end of the day we are going to run it back, make incremental but nowhere near as needed improvements and lose Dame in 2022.

[whatchaknow]

I dont think PHI will take CJ and a pick for Simmons. I think thats just really wishful thinking.

And, ya, Lauir has a 9M OQ but IMO he wants out of CHI and if another team isnt throwing a decent deal at him he may be open to a MLE job for a year on a playoff team to revamp his value. But, this is wishful thinking as well.

I think end of the day we are going to run it back, make incremental but nowhere near as needed improvements and lose Dame in 2022.

The thing Philly isn’t seeing in this potential deal is that Cj is a better fit and those blazers picks could be massive if it all blows up. I would be hesitant to include picks but knowing dealing lillard could at least replenish the supply of picks I’d probably do it. I know they don’t wanna give up a young kid who has already shown he’s an all star caliber player but at some point you just have to realize he doesn’t wanna be there. At some point we will have to come to terms with that on lillard unless something drastic happens. At least dame has always wanted to be here, Ben doesn’t seem to be enjoying Philly in the least bit. I doubt olshey is even putting McCollum on the table in trade talks if I had to guess. I don’t know why he won’t but seems like that’s been a constant for the last few years and I’d imagine we are all but done for the offseason. Unless same does what any reasonable superstar in his position would do and eventually forces neils hand

[Dzon Dilindzer]

sign and trade CJ for Markkennen and Troy Brown (may have to come in TPE created by S&T (about $18 like Powell for Lauri)

do you know who would make that trade

chicago bulls & you, literally no-one else

[BlazersBroncos]

I dont think PHI will take CJ and a pick for Simmons. I think thats just really wishful thinking.

And, ya, Lauir has a 9M OQ but IMO he wants out of CHI and if another team isnt throwing a decent deal at him he may be open to a MLE job for a year on a playoff team to revamp his value. But, this is wishful thinking as well.

I think end of the day we are going to run it back, make incremental but nowhere near as needed improvements and lose Dame in 2022.

The thing Philly isn’t seeing in this potential deal is that Cj is a better fit and those blazers picks could be massive if it all blows up. I would be hesitant to include picks but knowing dealing lillard could at least replenish the supply of picks I’d probably do it. I know they don’t wanna give up a young kid who has already shown he’s an all star caliber player but at some point you just have to realize he doesn’t wanna be there. At some point we will have to come to terms with that on lillard unless something drastic happens. At least dame has always wanted to be here, Ben doesn’t seem to be enjoying Philly in the least bit. I doubt olshey is even putting McCollum on the table in trade talks if I had to guess. I don’t know why he won’t but seems like that’s been a constant for the last few years and I’d imagine we are all but done for the offseason. Unless same does what any reasonable superstar in his position would do and eventually forces neils hand

I think we might be able to get a Simmons deal don if we do CJ + 3-4 FRPs. Even then, I dont think PHI would pull the trigger until all other options have been explored. They are asking for the sun, moons and stars right now. Its going to take months for that price to drop. And even then, does Ben make us a clear WCF team? Because if he doesnt there is still a chance Dame bolts and we are left with Ben Simmons and Norman Powell as our cornerstones, with no future picks to speak of either.

Even if we manage to pull a CJ for Ben trade, we will need to cross our fingers tightly that Simons develops into more than a Steve Kerr with unused athleticism because losing the scoring of CJ and Melo while replacing them with Simmons, Mclemore, Snell and Zeller isnt easy to swallow either. Worth the upgrade on the other side of the ball, but worrisome for sure IMO.

[PDXKnight]

I dont think PHI will take CJ and a pick for Simmons. I think thats just really wishful thinking.

And, ya, Lauir has a 9M OQ but IMO he wants out of CHI and if another team isnt throwing a decent deal at him he may be open to a MLE job for a year on a playoff team to revamp his value. But, this is wishful thinking as well.

I think end of the day we are going to run it back, make incremental but nowhere near as needed improvements and lose Dame in 2022.

The thing Philly isn’t seeing in this potential deal is that Cj is a better fit and those blazers picks could be massive if it all blows up. I would be hesitant to include picks but knowing dealing lillard could at least replenish the supply of picks I’d probably do it. I know they don’t wanna give up a young kid who has already shown he’s an all star caliber player but at some point you just have to realize he doesn’t wanna be there. At some point we will have to come to terms with that on lillard unless something drastic happens. At least dame has always wanted to be here, Ben doesn’t seem to be enjoying Philly in the least bit. I doubt olshey is even putting McCollum on the table in trade talks if I had to guess. I don’t know why he won’t but seems like that’s been a constant for the last few years and I’d imagine we are all but done for the offseason. Unless same does what any reasonable superstar in his position would do and eventually forces neils hand

I think we might be able to get a Simmons deal don if we do CJ + 3-4 FRPs. Even then, I dont think PHI would pull the trigger until all other options have been explored. They are asking for the sun, moons and stars right now. Its going to take months for that price to drop. And even then, does Ben make us a clear WCF team? Because if he doesnt there is still a chance Dame bolts and we are left with Ben Simmons and Norman Powell as our cornerstones, with no future picks to speak of either.

Even if we manage to pull a CJ for Ben trade, we will need to cross our fingers tightly that Simons develops into more than a Steve Kerr with unused athleticism because losing the scoring of CJ and Melo while replacing them with Simmons, Mclemore, Snell and Zeller isnt easy to swallow either. Worth the upgrade on the other side of the ball, but worrisome for sure IMO.

Well we know simmons is a lock down defender and a play maker. He needs a shot badly or to be surrounded by 3-4 shooters and we have plenty of shooters. I think he’d be a good fit here

Now if we could get, say, george for cj + cov + 1 first i think that’s a better option that trading away a multitude of firsts for simmons but who knows what george’s asking price would be

[Norm2953]

It's going to take the rest of the summer and close to the opening of training camp before Portland's
trade for Simmons happens.

This just seems like one of those baseball trade deadline type of trade but Portland with the signing of
Powell did put themselves in position to wait out Philly as long as Dame does not ask out. Philly is banking
on Dame asking out and perhaps the trade would come together quickly. Let's see which team blinks.

[BlazersBroncos]

The thing Philly isn’t seeing in this potential deal is that Cj is a better fit and those blazers picks could be massive if it all blows up. I would be hesitant to include picks but knowing dealing lillard could at least replenish the supply of picks I’d probably do it. I know they don’t wanna give up a young kid who has already shown he’s an all star caliber player but at some point you just have to realize he doesn’t wanna be there. At some point we will have to come to terms with that on lillard unless something drastic happens. At least dame has always wanted to be here, Ben doesn’t seem to be enjoying Philly in the least bit. I doubt olshey is even putting McCollum on the table in trade talks if I had to guess. I don’t know why he won’t but seems like that’s been a constant for the last few years and I’d imagine we are all but done for the offseason. Unless same does what any reasonable superstar in his position would do and eventually forces neils hand

I think we might be able to get a Simmons deal don if we do CJ + 3-4 FRPs. Even then, I dont think PHI would pull the trigger until all other options have been explored. They are asking for the sun, moons and stars right now. Its going to take months for that price to drop. And even then, does Ben make us a clear WCF team? Because if he doesnt there is still a chance Dame bolts and we are left with Ben Simmons and Norman Powell as our cornerstones, with no future picks to speak of either.

Even if we manage to pull a CJ for Ben trade, we will need to cross our fingers tightly that Simons develops into more than a Steve Kerr with unused athleticism because losing the scoring of CJ and Melo while replacing them with Simmons, Mclemore, Snell and Zeller isnt easy to swallow either. Worth the upgrade on the other side of the ball, but worrisome for sure IMO.

Well we know simmons is a lock down defender and a play maker. He needs a shot badly or to be surrounded by 3-4 shooters and we have plenty of shooters. I think he’d be a good fit here

Now if we could get, say, george for cj + cov + 1 first i think that’s a better option that trading away a multitude of firsts for simmons but who knows what george’s asking price would be

If Simmons were to develop a shot, at this point in his career, it would be one of the most astonishing basketball anomalies in the history of the sport. You trade for him knowing that the player he is right now is almost certainly going to be the player he is in 3-4 years. He may improve incrementally, but I cant think of a single other example of a player that literally not shoot at all coming into the league, played 4 years in the league w/o developing any semblance of a shot (+ his injury rookie year, where he ostensibly could have done literally nothing but practice on shooting if he wanted), and suddenly became a passable shooter.

I am not saying I wouldnt trade for him, but you make the move understanding that this kid just cant shoot, hasnt developed much if at all from his first minute in the league (Arguably hasnt really developed since LSU), and is what he is; a All NBA defender with arguably generational defensive versatility, who can make plays in transition and is borderline useless in the half court.

I would do the deal to improve the defense and see what we can do as a better transition team w/ Ben running the show, but it also leaves us with Dame, and only Dame, as a reliable shot creator. Powell is meh at best there and after that, we have nothing now that Melo is gone (Warts and all, he could make buckets when 'on'). We would need to supplement and Ben move w/ DJJ and something (Little?) for a veteran who can create a bucket IMO.

[Pattycakes]

Enes was almost our mvp for at least some % of last season, that’s a L... at least he’ll be back again after this upcoming season