Woj: Blazers plan is to pursue high end talent “now”.

[DusterBuster]

Here’s Dame in his own words on it…

https://www.nba.com/blazers/forwardcenter/damian-lillard-cj-mccollum-trade-we-both-knew-point-would-be-coming-dont-make-it-no

Some great quotes in there

That last paragraph tho….

[Case2012]

Good read. Definitely in my feelings as a fan a little bit after reading that.

CJ is probably gonna drop 40 tomorrow night…

Also, yeah, that last sentence was a little ominous but kind of what i expected…

[Norm2953]

I find it unlikely any pursuit of high end talent is going to work which means Dame sooner or later will ask out.

[Case2012]

It’s definitely taking some mental gymnastics trying to figure out how giving up good assets to receive bad assets is going to make the team better… I get that we have flexibility on trades now, but how is having a bunch of g league guys and cap space going to convince teams to give up their best players? We have 2 lottery picks, but who will even be available?

Based on the Indy/Sac deal I feel like PDX could have easily done Norm, Ant, and Brown for Sabonis, Holiday and Lamb. That’s basically the same thing Sac offered Indy FFS. Follow up that deal with the CJ one and we’re still not winning any more games this season IMO but now you have a second All star.

So basically, Cronin is making all of his trades based on the salary cap because he’s supposedly an expert at it, instead of considering actual talent or skill… which is crazy considering we still have Andrew Nickleson and Varejou on the books.

[DusterBuster]

I find it unlikely any pursuit of high end talent is going to work which means Dame sooner or later will ask out.

Maybe you're right, but at least they can say they finally tried for once...

[BlazersBroncos]

Based on the Indy/Sac deal I feel like PDX could have easily done Norm, Ant, and Brown for Sabonis, Holiday and Lamb. That’s basically the same thing Sac offered Indy FFS. Follow up that deal with the CJ one and we’re still not winning any more games this season IMO but now you have a second All star.

Hali is locked up for cheap another few years and just a much better player than Ant. He is bigger, an actual PG, a better defender (Who can defend 1 and 2), a surprising 3PT shooter and a guy that can be useful with and without the ball. He is a far more valuable player than Ant.

[DusterBuster]

Read on Twitter

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[red_power]

Right now it seems like another stupid trade.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

Right now it seems like another stupid trade.

2nd round pick and cleared cap space (joe ingles has expiring contract)

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Hm, thought we were going to let NAW help us tank and see if there is anything there but an injured guy and a second round pick does the job just as well I suppose.

Looks like we took on salary in that trade though so I dunno, maybe we just like Hughes more than NAW?

[PDXKnight]

Right now it seems like another stupid trade.

Yeah i don’t get this. Cronin trying to do the cap space plan with a team where cap space is about useless. I’ve seen the blazers squander cap space and tpes more times than i can count

[PDXKnight]

On one hand we should probably deal dame. On the other hand i don’t want cronin to deal him as i’m deathly afraid we will get a lame offer like expirings + 2 firsts

[JasonStern]

We have 2 lottery picks, but who will even be available?

Do we? If Zion comes back - Zion, CJ, Ingram, Valančiūnas, Jones, Nance... Looks like a playoff roster to me.

[DusterBuster]

We have 2 lottery picks, but who will even be available?

Do we? If Zion comes back - Zion, CJ, Ingram, Valančiūnas, Jones, Nance... Looks like a playoff roster to me.

Agreed, but also don’t think Zion is coming back this year.

Still kinda a crapshoot if the Blazers get the pick.

[JasonStern]

Read on Twitter

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Well, that's another L for Portland. The 2nd is unlikely to amount to anything, and NAW was young, cheap, and proven to at least be NBA rotation material.

[Jsun947]

I think this is less about having cap space for free agents and more about flexibility for lop sided trades and reducing future luxury tax issues down the line when extensions kick in.

If we didn’t view Alexander Walker as a player we’d want to extend in 2 years flipping him now is the right call, especially when we want to tank.

[Case2012]

We have 2 lottery picks, but who will even be available?

Do we? If Zion comes back - Zion, CJ, Ingram, Valančiūnas, Jones, Nance... Looks like a playoff roster to me.

I doubt Zion comes back this year, but even then they look pretty competitive sooooo yeah, who knows…. probably 50/50 we get the pick.

[PDXKnight]

We have 2 lottery picks, but who will even be available?

Do we? If Zion comes back - Zion, CJ, Ingram, Valančiūnas, Jones, Nance... Looks like a playoff roster to me.

I doubt Zion comes back this year, but even then they look pretty competitive sooooo yeah, who knows…. probably 50/50 we get the pick.

I feel pretty confident we get the pick unless they pels win in the play in. I don’t see no getting a top 8 spot in the west. That being said i’m curious what the future first is should they defer?

[Case2012]

Do we? If Zion comes back - Zion, CJ, Ingram, Valančiūnas, Jones, Nance... Looks like a playoff roster to me.

I doubt Zion comes back this year, but even then they look pretty competitive sooooo yeah, who knows…. probably 50/50 we get the pick.

I feel pretty confident we get the pick unless they pels win in the play in. I don’t see no getting a top 8 spot in the west. That being said i’m curious what the future first is should they defer?

It’s Milwaukees 2025 top 4 protected….

[RTG HD]

So we already flip NAW for a second round pick? Why is this happening to us.