My Possible Unpopular Opinion on This Offseason

[The Sebastian Express]

Did.. you just say Grant cannot play defense?

Let's just say his priorities are the same as they were in Detroit, which is on the offensive end
of the court. He's a combo forward who in Portland's system should be a SF which is why Josh
Hart when he was here was more or less a PF for somebody has to rebound and play defense.

This is wildly inaccurate imo. He is not a SF in today's league, he works well as a stretch four. No, he can't rebound well. But he's a good defender. Not when you put him on the wing against twos, like we did many times at the end of games. But he's a good defender.

[Norm2953]

He's going to want $30+ Million/year for what he does. I think the analogy of he's a 6-8 version of CJ is accurate but his priorities are on the offensive end and I do wonder after he gets paid, his interest in defense/rebound will wane further for they werent a priority of his in a contract season.

[Case2012]

Play him at the 3. He doesn't rebound, he doesn't pass and he's a black hole on offense. He's a wing and he belongs on the perimeter as a defender and shooter. We need someone that can create in the post and rebound at the 4. I would only keep him if he moved to the 3 or we got a wing that really gets after the ball... Like Hart but bigger.

Draymond is the player I suspect we'll sign when he turns down his player option but he's obviously a small ball center so I'm not sure how he would fit.

I also think we'll trade for Brown and if it takes Sharpe and the 5th pick I'm doing it. Butler would be a good second option.

An over 30 core of Dame, Green and Butler could win a ring imo. These guys are serious competitors and that's what you need to win.

[BlazersBroncos]

Draymond is the player I suspect we'll sign when he turns down his player option but he's obviously a small ball center so I'm not sure how he would fit.

We can only offer Dray the MLE. He will get (much) more.

[Soulyss]

Draymond is the player I suspect we'll sign when he turns down his player option but he's obviously a small ball center so I'm not sure how he would fit.

We can only offer Dray the MLE. He will get (much) more.

I will tell you my biggest fear is a sign & trade for Draymond... but I suspect the GP2 deal made us UNLIKELY trade partners in the off-season.

[DusterBuster]

Draymond is the player I suspect we'll sign when he turns down his player option but he's obviously a small ball center so I'm not sure how he would fit.

We can only offer Dray the MLE. He will get (much) more.

I will tell you my biggest fear is a sign & trade for Draymond... but I suspect the GP2 deal made us UNLIKELY trade partners in the off-season.

That's fine by me. I'm done with ex-Warrior players. I also fully expect Draymond will be trash the moment he doesn't wear a Warriors jersey anymore. I've always thought he's much more of a product of his surroundings and system than some truly amazing player. High level defender, certainly, but that's falling off with age and he doesn't do anything else on the court good enough once he starts losing his defensive abilities.

[tester551]

Play him at the 3. He doesn't rebound, he doesn't pass and he's a black hole on offense. He's a wing and he belongs on the perimeter as a defender and shooter. We need someone that can create in the post and rebound at the 4. I would only keep him if he moved to the 3 or we got a wing that really gets after the ball... Like Hart but bigger.

I agree with this part.
Disagree with the rest of it.

The bigger Hart that we need is Jared Vanderbilt...

[Case2012]

Draymond is the player I suspect we'll sign when he turns down his player option but he's obviously a small ball center so I'm not sure how he would fit.

We can only offer Dray the MLE. He will get (much) more.

Will he? What makes you think that? He's 33 and definitely past his prime. I think he can still contribute obviously but his numbers don't scream more than mle.

[Shem]

Did.. you just say Grant cannot play defense?

Who is that directed at? But in case that's me, he's great on the perimeter. Watching him guarding PG's, SG's, and SF's, on the perimeter, he's got it. That's why I think he should move to the SF position. Because he's weak on the post and if it's a 50/50 rebound, he's way likely not going to get it.

Grant also is a great perimeter scorer. He's tall SF. Moving Sharpe as the starting SG adds length. And trading Ant is a must IMO.

[ArthurVandelay]

The Raptors and Blazers would make great trade partners hypothetically both teams have what the other is lacking. The problem is from reports I have heard or read about they seem to HIGHLY overvalue their players and treat every single one they have of any note like they are already superstars in the vein of a KD.

So if that is the case let the fans suffer since I doubt any team is going to bend over backwards trying to get Siakim or OG when they want high end picks+great players like Simons or Sharpe+filler.

Now we have no idea exactly how this went down last off-season but I heard that the Blazers were really pursuing OG and nothing came of it so I assume the price was way too high. Keep in mind we never know exactly how these phone calls go and the asking price of player X, the only time we know the price is when the trade is agreed upon. We can hypothetically guess but I'm pretty sure they can't tell the press "Oh we called the Raptors and they wanted this for OG."

There is no question Ujiri values his players. There is a reason though, it’s because they are good players and they are hard to find.

Siakam is an All-star/All-NBA talent. There aren’t many of those guys in the league. He isn’t a bonafide #1, but there are only a handful of those players in the NBA. But he is a two-way player which many #1 (like Lillard) are not. You’re not getting a player like Siakam without giving up something of value.

Simons (a really good offensive player, but undersized SG and very poor defender) and a lotto pick (very much an unknown, hit or miss) isn’t nearly worth a definite All-Star/All-NBA player like Siakam.

[BlazersBroncos]

Simons (a really good offensive player, but undersized SG and very poor defender) and a lotto pick (very much an unknown, hit or miss) isn’t nearly worth a definite All-Star/All-NBA player like Siakam.

Lotto pick is underselling it. Its a Top-5 pick.

I do think it takes some future picks on top of Simons and the Top-5 slot. If that doesnt get it done, we pivot.

[monopoman]

The Raptors and Blazers would make great trade partners hypothetically both teams have what the other is lacking. The problem is from reports I have heard or read about they seem to HIGHLY overvalue their players and treat every single one they have of any note like they are already superstars in the vein of a KD.

So if that is the case let the fans suffer since I doubt any team is going to bend over backwards trying to get Siakim or OG when they want high end picks+great players like Simons or Sharpe+filler.

Now we have no idea exactly how this went down last off-season but I heard that the Blazers were really pursuing OG and nothing came of it so I assume the price was way too high. Keep in mind we never know exactly how these phone calls go and the asking price of player X, the only time we know the price is when the trade is agreed upon. We can hypothetically guess but I'm pretty sure they can't tell the press "Oh we called the Raptors and they wanted this for OG."

There is no question Ujiri values his players. There is a reason though, it’s because they are good players and they are hard to find.

Siakam is an All-star/All-NBA talent. There aren’t many of those guys in the league. He isn’t a bonafide #1, but there are only a handful of those players in the NBA. But he is a two-way player which many #1 (like Lillard) are not. You’re not getting a player like Siakam without giving up something of value.

Simons (a really good offensive player, but undersized SG and very poor defender) and a lotto pick (very much an unknown, hit or miss) isn’t nearly worth a definite All-Star/All-NBA player like Siakam.

I was mostly speaking of overvaluing OG, who I think is a clear step below a Siakim. OG is more in the camp of a good starter but not someone I would claim is All-Star/All-NBA player. Also you are underrating Simons defense he is still a work in progress but he has made progress on that end.

I am much more into giving up a nice collection of assets for Siakim then I am for OG and last off-season the target from reports I heard was not Siakim but it was OG.

People just assume every Blazer sucks at D though because we never are good at D as a team, this is mostly due to scheming and the size of the players though. The Raptors have much larger players that helps the D quite a bit as a team.

[Goldbum]

I read somewhere that Portland turned down Siakam for CJ. Not saying it's real but that narrative was out there.

[ArthurVandelay]

The Raptors and Blazers would make great trade partners hypothetically both teams have what the other is lacking. The problem is from reports I have heard or read about they seem to HIGHLY overvalue their players and treat every single one they have of any note like they are already superstars in the vein of a KD.

So if that is the case let the fans suffer since I doubt any team is going to bend over backwards trying to get Siakim or OG when they want high end picks+great players like Simons or Sharpe+filler.

Now we have no idea exactly how this went down last off-season but I heard that the Blazers were really pursuing OG and nothing came of it so I assume the price was way too high. Keep in mind we never know exactly how these phone calls go and the asking price of player X, the only time we know the price is when the trade is agreed upon. We can hypothetically guess but I'm pretty sure they can't tell the press "Oh we called the Raptors and they wanted this for OG."

There is no question Ujiri values his players. There is a reason though, it’s because they are good players and they are hard to find.

Siakam is an All-star/All-NBA talent. There aren’t many of those guys in the league. He isn’t a bonafide #1, but there are only a handful of those players in the NBA. But he is a two-way player which many #1 (like Lillard) are not. You’re not getting a player like Siakam without giving up something of value.

Simons (a really good offensive player, but undersized SG and very poor defender) and a lotto pick (very much an unknown, hit or miss) isn’t nearly worth a definite All-Star/All-NBA player like Siakam.

I was mostly speaking of overvaluing OG, who I think is a clear step below a Siakim. OG is more in the camp of a good starter but not someone I would claim is All-Star/All-NBA player. Also you are underrating Simons defense he is still a work in progress but he has made progress on that end.

I am much more into giving up a nice collection of assets for Siakim then I am for OG and last off-season the target from reports I heard was not Siakim but it was OG.

People just assume every Blazer sucks at D though because we never are good at D as a team, this is mostly due to scheming and the size of the players though. The Raptors have much larger players that helps the D quite a bit as a team.

Fair enough.

OG is a really good player but he’s not a guy who going to create a contender rather he is a guy who pushes a contender over the top.

I have been reading Blazers Edge, Reddit, and here to get Blazers fans perspective. Sticking strictly to Raptors spaces only leads to group think and confirmation bias. The most common opinion I’ve read from Blazers fans on Simons is his defense has improved but he’s still really bad when looking at guards across the lesgue. Playing with Lillard, having few perimeter defenders (although Grant and Thybulle is a step in the right direction), and no rim protection certainly isn’t helping Simons image though.

I agree Siakam should fetch a bigger haul. Everyone always talks about “second option on a championship team,” well Pascal has actually been there and done that. And he’s a better player now than 2019.

[DusterBuster]

There is no question Ujiri values his players. There is a reason though, it’s because they are good players and they are hard to find.

Siakam is an All-star/All-NBA talent. There aren’t many of those guys in the league. He isn’t a bonafide #1, but there are only a handful of those players in the NBA. But he is a two-way player which many #1 (like Lillard) are not. You’re not getting a player like Siakam without giving up something of value.

Simons (a really good offensive player, but undersized SG and very poor defender) and a lotto pick (very much an unknown, hit or miss) isn’t nearly worth a definite All-Star/All-NBA player like Siakam.

I was mostly speaking of overvaluing OG, who I think is a clear step below a Siakim. OG is more in the camp of a good starter but not someone I would claim is All-Star/All-NBA player. Also you are underrating Simons defense he is still a work in progress but he has made progress on that end.

I am much more into giving up a nice collection of assets for Siakim then I am for OG and last off-season the target from reports I heard was not Siakim but it was OG.

People just assume every Blazer sucks at D though because we never are good at D as a team, this is mostly due to scheming and the size of the players though. The Raptors have much larger players that helps the D quite a bit as a team.

Fair enough.

OG is a really good player but he’s not a guy who going to create a contender rather he is a guy who pushes a contender over the top.

I have been reading Blazers Edge, Reddit, and here to get Blazers fans perspective. Sticking strictly to Raptors spaces only leads to group think and confirmation bias. The most common opinion I’ve read from Blazers fans on Simons is his defense has improved but he’s still really bad when looking at guards across the lesgue. Playing with Lillard, having few perimeter defenders (although Grant and Thybulle is a step in the right direction), and no rim protection certainly isn’t helping Simons image though.

I agree Siakam should fetch a bigger haul. Everyone always talks about “second option on a championship team,” well Pascal has actually been there and done that. And he’s a better player now than 2019.

Yeah, most talk here is around OG. Your opinion is pretty much in lock step with what the Blazer fans opinions are. Nice player, but not a guy who's gonna take a team from lottery to contending. With that, none of us want to see the Blazers give up multiple first round picks for him (which reportedly was the asking price last year at the deadline and we all assume would be the price again this year).

Now Siakam is another story altogether.

[Skybox]

I really like Jarace Walker for POR at 5. I’d take him for ORL at #6, even with Banchero. He’s a big physical guy with, allegedly, elite defensive IQ…like a young Draymond. Apparently, he’s the vocal QB on defense, calling out switches, etc and also has upside offensively. He could contribute to winning immediately but also grow into a much bigger role in time.

ORL needs a “Jamal Murray-type” PG to play off Banchero and Franz (more so than a CP3). Is that Simons? I see the shooting and attacking closeouts (because of the shooting) but can he run PnR, initiate offense, pass? Hard to tell in Dame’s giant shadow. If he can, lots to discuss with ORL, imo…large range of trade value depending on what Simons would be on another team. I’d ultimately expect Franz and/or Paolo to possibly lead ORL in assists with Simons on board but have a much better overall offense (DEN 2.0?)

…am I way off on Ant?

[red_power]

Ant is basically a poor man Dame. He's a great shooter but quite streaky and overall a one dimensional player. But for a team that needs a guy who can handle the ball a bit and score some buckets, he would be a great fit for sure.
He's one of the Blazers best available assets so I presume the price tag for him is quite high anyway.

[Sinobas]

Which of those did you think would be unpopular? I think the majority of fans would agree with every one.

[Norm2953]

I really like Jarace Walker for POR at 5. I’d take him for ORL at #6, even with Banchero. He’s a big physical guy with, allegedly, elite defensive IQ…like a young Draymond. Apparently, he’s the vocal QB on defense, calling out switches, etc and also has upside offensively. He could contribute to winning immediately but also grow into a much bigger role in time.

ORL needs a “Jamal Murray-type” PG to play off Banchero and Franz (more so than a CP3). Is that Simons? I see the shooting and attacking closeouts (because of the shooting) but can he run PnR, initiate offense, pass? Hard to tell in Dame’s giant shadow. If he can, lots to discuss with ORL, imo…large range of trade value depending on what Simons would be on another team. I’d ultimately expect Franz and/or Paolo to possibly lead ORL in assists with Simons on board but have a much better overall offense (DEN 2.0?)

…am I way off on Ant?

I really think in Orlando's scheme with smart high IQ players who can handle the ball and initiate offense, a guy like
Simons would be ideal for like last spring when Josh Hart and Justice Winslow were around for Portland, it could
simplify his role on the court to scoring points, often in bunches.

He can play some PG and seems to be coachable for Nurk was as effective as he's been in years when Simons was
his PG for the guy was unhappy as the fourth option in Portland's offense in 2023. Perhaps away from Dame's shadow,
he'll be more the player he was last spring and I think he'd be well worth Orlando's second lottery pick.

[Blazers77]

I really like the title of this thread. Because honestly I think so many fans are in so many places regarding what is "right" for the offseason.

I'll weigh in on yours and then do as some others have and share mine:

1. Sharpe should be a keeper in any scenario. Learn from history and keep this young talent
2. Simons - one of the most likely trade assets in any win-now scenario. He has real value across this league.
3. Grant - his status as an unrestricted free agent complicates our situation. He was brought in to be part of the Lillard core. I also believe he should be a 3 and not a 4. But then we'll need a 4 who is basically the same athlete but a rebounder and I have no idea who that might be


Here is mine:

We cannot realistically build a championship roster around Damian Lillard. Our actual core is Sharpe, Simons and #3 (my pick is Scoot Henderson

Building around Lillard is simply unrealistic. The man had a career year and we still went 33-49. The only other players near his age are Nurkic and Grant. The rest of the roster is significantly younger. We simply don't have the capital to transform this roster into a championship caliber roster. And historically teams in our situation have only improved to that level through the addition of a generational talent like Larry Bird, Tim Duncan or Magic Johnson.

So with this in mind here is my unpopular plan:
1. Trade Lillard for a massive haul : draft picks (minimum 5 1sts if the talent in return isn't there), expiring contracts, the best young quality player that fills a need for us. New York, Miami, Boston, are all great options and have some or all of the above pieces. All are quite possibly one piece away from a championship.
2. Trade Nurkic - get as much as you can in return, and if necessary get draft capital. He's not healthy enough to include in our plan, and he gets upset when the team isn't competitive.
3. Keep Little, Thybulle, Winslow and Reddish but be ready to move them at the trade deadline should they fail to develop, or have off-court or locker room issues or have disproportionate trade value in the eyes of another GM.
4. Break up with our "spare parts" strategy, we've taken a flier on every cast-off you can think of, with the hopes they'll turn into something. Move on from Knox, Keon Johnson, and the G-league all start team we called up at the end of the season, and instead draft our own guys as our "projects."
5. Keep good locker room guys who don't care if they start or come off of the bench. This is basically just Drew Eubanks.
6. Move on from Jerami Grant's salary to open up more options in the trade market. We're not a free agent destination so our options are basically to build draft capital and move it for better players using potential cap room, or to re-sign our own draft picks to contract extensions.

What would this potentially look like?
1. a Boston deal returning Jaylen Brown (26), Robert Williams III (26) and draft picks - another alternative here is Horford and Williams, but that would really require a massive haul of picks - Boston is a good option because they have friendly contracts to build around.
1. a New York deal returning Julius Randle (25), RJ Barrett(22) and draft picks - other options here as well.
2. Trade Nurk and cut the return players, just get below the overall contract exposure and get a return a draft pick (lots of deals to choose from here)
3. Keep all listed players
4. Identify one player you want and package as many guys as you can, or move each of the listed players for draft capital
5. Eubanks, and maybe another guy out of Knox, Johnson, Walker, or Watford

It is hard to project a lineup but I'll take a go at it. I'm making the big assumption that Brown is moveable, and that Scoot Henderson can learn to hit the NBA 3:

PG: Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson? / (draft or packaged return from option 4)
SG: Anfernee Simons /Shaedon Sharpe
SF: Jaylen Brown / Thybulle / Reddish
PF: Winslow / Little / (draft, or packaged return from option 4)
C: Robert Williams III / Eubanks


Obviously, there are a ton of moving parts, but from a general concept, this is the type of plan I believe the organization should consider. Is the above team better than this year? Probably not, but the core is pretty solid, and the balance sheet much cleaner. Plus a haul of draft picks gives the GM more options to build around. And a bit of competitive friction at SG might even force a future trade of one of those players, giving a better option at PF.