2023 NBA Draft (tonight's discussion on pg 58)

[BlazersBroncos]

I also think they look at a guy like Embiid as an example of a player who similarly dealt with a ton of injury problems his first 3-4 years in the league like Zion, but has since been able to really get past it. I'm sure there's enough of a belief in the front office that that may be Zion's path moreso than a Greg Oden path. And if you can get him bought in, healthy and less distracted by outside issues, he's the best player you can possibly get talent-wise for the pick.

Joel has his issues, but he also was motivated to, you know, play basketball. He never was injury prone due to gluttony.

Zion is Derrick Coleman, Shawn Kemp but more so. He doesnt want it. He wont change.

[The Sebastian Express]

I don't think trading for Zion is about putting butts in the seats or selling tickets (and that's a whole other conversation to talk about wether Jody is a 'bottom line owner' as she pays for upgrades to facilities, a g-league team and additional personnel). I think trading for Zion is about his ceiling.

His ceiling is insane. Yes, he obviously has major injury issues - which is why he would only ever be in these conversations if New Orleans entertained that idea. But when healthy, if they can fix his health issues, he is someone who elevates your team to high probability for contention. Effective, efficient scorer who is a brutal force on the offensive end and can handle the ball.

And still so young.

[Goldbum]

I would want Zion to pair with Scoot. I just think Scoot's interior passing is next level. I believe having Scoot will unlock some guys. Playing with Henderson will make Nas,Eubanks,Sharpe all look like the type of players we hope they could be. That's also why I like Whitmore as part of a Dame trade. A PG/SG/SF combo of Scoot/Sharpe and Whitmore/Ausar/Amen is physically unique with relentless for force and pressure at the rim. If we trade Dame though I want us to keep Ant...and we'd need him to snipe from the perimeter, spread the floor and help the Sharpe/Scoot duo with a guy who has already shown he can put up 21+ppg in high 3pt usage. Without that shooter the lane clogs a bit and Sharpe/Scoot/Nas/Thompson or Whitmore won't be able to blow-up close outs and disrespect gravity and the rim. Now if we could get Jabari Smith and Ayton on that team and could stomach the ups and downs as they develop. I think Ants trade value will be higher after he has a year without Dame, allowing him to hunt mismatches and reestablish his value.

PS I heard that ORL has called multiple times about Ant. Apparently some there believe an Ant/GTJ/Wagner/Paolo/WCJ lineup makes them a playoff team. IDK what the system would be , but that's a great mix of young guys who have shown to have really NBA skills. They could keep building while fighting for the playoffs. Portland would need to take Isaac back to leave the Magic enough room for Trent but I'd be okay with it.

[tester551]

PS I heard that ORL has called multiple times about Ant. Apparently some there believe an Ant/GTJ/Wagner/Paolo/WCJ lineup makes them a playoff team. IDK what the system would be , but that's a great mix of young guys who have shown to have really NBA skills. They could keep building while fighting for the playoffs. Portland would need to take Isaac back to leave the Magic enough room for Trent but I'd be okay with it.

Would it be Ant for JI + 11?

[Norm2953]

Moving Ant makes a lot of sense for the team after they pay Grant, really only has around
$45 million to pay for the rest of the team and likely would want to re-sign guys like
Thybulle, Watford and Eubanks instead of more CJ Eleby's on vet min deals.

[JasonStern]

This is a great example of the likely schism between the way WE think, and the way the FO thinks.

For us we see Zion as a massively injury prone player...a thing we're all tired of dealing with.

For them, they likely see a player who regardless of injury history will put butts in seats and sell season tickets whether he ends up playing or not.

That's the issue with having a bottom line owner.

I don't know if I 100% buy this, but you're right that I think the injury-prone thing is something the FO probably thinks they can fix. It's one of those situations where they think their culture and infrastructure is just better than what the Pelicans have in place. And for all we know, that may be true? Having him closer to Nike HQ might keep him more engaged with his brand to motivate him to keep in shape, as would being in a completely non-party city like Portland vs a place like NO which is one of the biggest party cities in the NBA aside from maybe Las Vegas. Then they also have the utmost respect for Dame as a culture setter, so I'm sure they'd think with all those factors, they can curb some of that injury-prone issue.

I also think they look at a guy like Embiid as an example of a player who similarly dealt with a ton of injury problems his first 3-4 years in the league like Zion, but has since been able to really get past it. I'm sure there's enough of a belief in the front office that that may be Zion's path moreso than a Greg Oden path. And if you can get him bought in, healthy and less distracted by outside issues, he's the best player you can possibly get talent-wise for the pick.

The bigger question here is if Zion is even available in those talks. That seems about as clear as mud.

Is Zion (in 2023) more marketable than Scoot? Legit question.

[DusterBuster]

This is a great example of the likely schism between the way WE think, and the way the FO thinks.

For us we see Zion as a massively injury prone player...a thing we're all tired of dealing with.

For them, they likely see a player who regardless of injury history will put butts in seats and sell season tickets whether he ends up playing or not.

That's the issue with having a bottom line owner.

I don't know if I 100% buy this, but you're right that I think the injury-prone thing is something the FO probably thinks they can fix. It's one of those situations where they think their culture and infrastructure is just better than what the Pelicans have in place. And for all we know, that may be true? Having him closer to Nike HQ might keep him more engaged with his brand to motivate him to keep in shape, as would being in a completely non-party city like Portland vs a place like NO which is one of the biggest party cities in the NBA aside from maybe Las Vegas. Then they also have the utmost respect for Dame as a culture setter, so I'm sure they'd think with all those factors, they can curb some of that injury-prone issue.

I also think they look at a guy like Embiid as an example of a player who similarly dealt with a ton of injury problems his first 3-4 years in the league like Zion, but has since been able to really get past it. I'm sure there's enough of a belief in the front office that that may be Zion's path moreso than a Greg Oden path. And if you can get him bought in, healthy and less distracted by outside issues, he's the best player you can possibly get talent-wise for the pick.

The bigger question here is if Zion is even available in those talks. That seems about as clear as mud.

Is Zion (in 2023) more marketable than Scoot? Legit question.

I mean, in 2023, I would say yes and it's probably not close since Scoot hasn't played a single game yet. No one knows who Scoot is on a national level unless you're pretty hardcore NBA fan. You can say arguably the same with Zion, but there's probably a little more name recognition.

The only other thing I'd save in Zion over Scoot, Zion is a more unique/rare talent than Scoot imo.

[zzaj]

This is a great example of the likely schism between the way WE think, and the way the FO thinks.

For us we see Zion as a massively injury prone player...a thing we're all tired of dealing with.

For them, they likely see a player who regardless of injury history will put butts in seats and sell season tickets whether he ends up playing or not.

That's the issue with having a bottom line owner.

I don't know if I 100% buy this, but you're right that I think the injury-prone thing is something the FO probably thinks they can fix. It's one of those situations where they think their culture and infrastructure is just better than what the Pelicans have in place. And for all we know, that may be true? Having him closer to Nike HQ might keep him more engaged with his brand to motivate him to keep in shape, as would being in a completely non-party city like Portland vs a place like NO which is one of the biggest party cities in the NBA aside from maybe Las Vegas. Then they also have the utmost respect for Dame as a culture setter, so I'm sure they'd think with all those factors, they can curb some of that injury-prone issue.

I also think they look at a guy like Embiid as an example of a player who similarly dealt with a ton of injury problems his first 3-4 years in the league like Zion, but has since been able to really get past it. I'm sure there's enough of a belief in the front office that that may be Zion's path moreso than a Greg Oden path. And if you can get him bought in, healthy and less distracted by outside issues, he's the best player you can possibly get talent-wise for the pick.

The bigger question here is if Zion is even available in those talks. That seems about as clear as mud.

If the Blazers were to make a trade for Zion while still keeping Lillard, ticket sales (and more importantly season ticket sales) would be through the roof. Oppositely, if this team goes all in on picks and young players and trades Lillard, those sales are going to plummet.

I have a hunch that part of Jody's holding off sale of the team is that she wants to maximize it's value prior to selling. That's also why I think the team will wait as long as they can to part ways with Lillard.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Call me a cynic but because the profits from the sale of the team go to charity there isn't really a personally motivating reason for Jody to try and sell the team early or to maximize its sale price. Why shouldn't she have fun tinkering around with the team, well actually its Bert who is likely having that fun, but what reason to sell any sooner than they are ready to be done with it?

[zzaj]

Call me a cynic but because the profits from the sale of the team go to charity there isn't really a personally motivating reason for Jody to try and sell the team early or to maximize its sale price. Why shouldn't she have fun tinkering around with the team, well actually its Bert who is likely having that fun, but what reason to sell any sooner than they are ready to be done with it?

I didn't realize that was a stipulation! Do the profits for the team (non-sale) also go to charity?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Call me a cynic but because the profits from the sale of the team go to charity there isn't really a personally motivating reason for Jody to try and sell the team early or to maximize its sale price. Why shouldn't she have fun tinkering around with the team, well actually its Bert who is likely having that fun, but what reason to sell any sooner than they are ready to be done with it?

I didn't realize that was a stipulation! Do the profits for the team (non-sale) also go to charity?

I don't know. I was looking for it and found this, but it's Canzano so take with a giant grain of salt. There is also a lot of clearly biased stuff put out there by Knight trashing Jody so I got tired of wading through the muck.

Canzano added one reason for Allen’s lack of urgency could be that she may be getting paid a hefty “management fee” for holding on to the franchise. The team’s vice chair, Bert Kolde, will reportedly earn a commission on the sale of the team. But Jody Allen won’t — but per state law, is allowed to collect a management fee that typically ranges from 3-5 percent of the value of the estate.

How much could Jody be pocketing by sitting on the Trail Blazers — valued at $3 billion?

“Jody Allen could reasonably be collecting 100 to 150 Million dollars per year on the Blazers value alone, as the manager of the estate,” Canzano said. “We’re talking about $60 Million if she takes 2 percent. We’re talking about $90 Million if she takes 3 percent. $150 Million if she takes 5 percent.

[The Sebastian Express]

Well I mean the tv contracts are going to bump up the value of every franchise again. There's a big difference between two billion for a franchise to say three to four billion for a franchise. That's an extra billion or two for charities.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Well I mean the tv contracts are going to bump up the value of every franchise again. There's a big difference between two billion for a franchise to say three to four billion for a franchise. That's an extra billion or two for charities.

Yeah the longer she waits the more the asset appreciates and the more money goes to charity, wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the main justifications for not selling right away.

I don't think she is hurting for money at all, that's not really my point. More that it is something to do, it affords opportunities and privileges and benefits and probably is kind of fun to get to tinker with and since there is nothing personally to be gained by an early sale (and various things to be gained by holding onto it, both for her and for charity) that she can rebuff offers all day without feeling concern for losing an opportunity to cash out the way another owner might. She is probably going to out-live Knight anyways and who knows what his estate would do with the team then, maybe sell it to the highest bidder even if the buyer wants move the team, so she may also see herself as the best steward of the team to keep it in Portland for the near future.

[The Sebastian Express]

Read on Twitter

Good to see this. I also hope we're able to get in workouts, beyond the obvious of Miller, of Walker and Anthony Black.

[Norm2953]

I understand Miller is going to workout after Whitmore in Portland

Should be an interesting week for Miller is going to workout in Charlotte after Scoot just had a
tremendous workout with the Hornets. Scoot is really turning heads and as long as Portland
doesn't mess things up, they can't lose with their top 3 pick.

[DusterBuster]

I understand Miller is going to workout after Whitmore in Portland

Should be an interesting week for Miller is going to workout in Charlotte after Scoot just had a
tremendous workout with the Hornets. Scoot is really turning heads and as long as Portland
doesn't mess things up, they can't lose with their top 3 pick.

Yep, the only way the Blazer can lose with that pick is if they squander it trading for a sub-All Star player like an OG.

[Norm2953]

Watch on YouTube

[zzaj]

Watch on YouTube

Nice to see, thanks Norm. Also good to see that he's recovered from Mono.

Most interestingly, you'll notice on all of his misses, poor ball rotation. Gotta 'flick' young'un!!

[m0ng0]

Make the pick and let the chips fall where they may...

[Norm2953]

I think Charlotte see and Portland will see Miller has a bit of flat shot instead of the classic higher
arching shot. This might limit him closer to Brandon Ingram as opposed to Paul George.

It then will come down to whether they take Miller off what they see as opposed to Scoot who
has had two tremendous workouts in Portland and Charlotte.

With Scoot, he's got to be the PG and Charlotte will have to decide if he can co-exist with the 22
year old Lamelo Ball. If he can't co-exist, they will have to trade one of them or draft Miller.

Portland has the same options but they don't get to make the choice. It would be a mistake to pass
on Scoot just because of his fit with Dame, for he's likely the second best player on the board and
would be the first pick in some drafts, ahead of Fultz in 2017, Ayton (2018 and even in 2021 with
Cade Cunningham.