Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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lukeyrid13
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by lukeyrid13 »

Lillard is still only 27 and doesn't play with elite speed or quickness. I think his game will age well, unlike someone like Derrick rose or Russell Westbrook who rely on rlite athleticism.

If we traded CJ for say Michael Porter or something along those lines, I think it would be fine.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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i often struggle with CJ’s trade potential because in theory anyone who trades for him will be inheriting the very situation we’re trying to get out of — with some exceptions, of course. someone above mentioned only trading CJ unless we can bring back a kawhi or davis, which i feel is a gross overvalue of CJ’s trade potential. to me he’s a very good scorer but a very flawed all-around off guard, which is going to likely bring back a talented but flawed return. kevin love seemed to fit the bill, and he helps at a position we’re woefully behind the curve at.

not that love is the answer, or the cavs are the only trade partner. trying to find a team under the cap and who could absorb more of his contract than we’d get in return is certainly an idea, though i don’t personally think management feels the same way about entering a rebuild and wasting lillard’s prime with a few lottery years.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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oregontrack wrote:i often struggle with CJ’s trade potential because in theory anyone who trades for him will be inheriting the very situation we’re trying to get out of — with some exceptions, of course. someone above mentioned only trading CJ unless we can bring back a kawhi or davis, which i feel is a gross overvalue of CJ’s trade potential. to me he’s a very good scorer but a very flawed all-around off guard, which is going to likely bring back a talented but flawed return. kevin love seemed to fit the bill, and he helps at a position we’re woefully behind the curve at.

not that love is the answer, or the cavs are the only trade partner. trying to find a team under the cap and who could absorb more of his contract than we’d get in return is certainly an idea, though i don’t personally think management feels the same way about entering a rebuild and wasting lillard’s prime with a few lottery years.
If the 76ers don't get LeBron or Kawhi, they might be an interesting possibility. They need an outside shooter like CJ and have a lot of assets that they could offer us.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by lukeyrid13 »

I have seen people float the idea of saric and fultz for CJ. Fultz clearly lost a ton of value, but we've seen there's a ceiling on this current squad so might as well go for broke with someone like that.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Phalanx »

pudgejeff wrote:
I feel like what you don't realize is players don't want to be in Portland. I remember awhile back you talked about needing to be like the Spurs and signing a guy like Aldridge at a below max good contract, you do realize he took that contract with them at a smaller offer than Portland offered him to sign away from Portland. That should speak to you more about what the reality of what Portland can do than anything else. It is what it is, and the powers that be understand that.
It's hard to know how to respond to this, since I never mentioned signing free agents as a means of fixing the team in my post. Yes, Aldridge took less money to go home. Does this mean no free agent ever will sign with the Blazers, unless they are wildly overpaid like Turner? I don't think so. Aminu and Davis both signed here. I agree that free agent signings are a disadvantage for Portland, at least while the Blazers are not a contender. That's why I was talking about trades and the draft as the solutions.

My thesis has always been that the way for the Blazers to win is through the draft and wise cap management. There will always be some players who slip through the cracks and don't get the big money because they were in line behind the big-name guys who got paid. Lots of teams are bad with the cap. The strategy for Portland has to be to come in and pick up the stars that nobody knew were stars, and then develop a game plan that uses those players to best advantage. Just like how Chip Kelly recruited and won at Oregon. In each case, the scholarship limit and the salary cap will always ensure that the Blazers will have a chance. If the Blazers are offering the same money as another team, Aldridge from San Antonio might not take it, but somebody else eventually will. It just takes patience.

Remember when Olshey took the team to the second round of the playoffs with a team filled with guys he got off the waiver wire and trades for 2nd round picks, and they had to trade with Cleveland to get OVER the salary floor? It can be done. I would love it if the Blazers could rewind to the end of that season, before all of those insane contracts were created. Letting Crabbe walk, not signing Turner, letting Leonard and Harkless test the market, maybe even McCollum...these things would have led to a better situation than we have now. Maybe the Blazers could have gotten in on that Mirotic trade, or who knows what other opportunities had to be passed over for salary reasons. It's depressing to think about.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Boom »

oregontrack wrote:i often struggle with CJ’s trade potential because in theory anyone who trades for him will be inheriting the very situation we’re trying to get out of — with some exceptions, of course. someone above mentioned only trading CJ unless we can bring back a kawhi or davis, which i feel is a gross overvalue of CJ’s trade potential. to me he’s a very good scorer but a very flawed all-around off guard, which is going to likely bring back a talented but flawed return. kevin love seemed to fit the bill, and he helps at a position we’re woefully behind the curve at.

not that love is the answer, or the cavs are the only trade partner. trying to find a team under the cap and who could absorb more of his contract than we’d get in return is certainly an idea, though i don’t personally think management feels the same way about entering a rebuild and wasting lillard’s prime with a few lottery years.
Trading C.J. for Love would make this team worse.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Boom »

lukeyrid13 wrote:I have seen people float the idea of saric and fultz for CJ. Fultz clearly lost a ton of value, but we've seen there's a ceiling on this current squad so might as well go for broke with someone like that.
Saric would be great. I think Philly only does that if they have no hope for Fultz.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by oregontrack »

Boom wrote:
oregontrack wrote:i often struggle with CJ’s trade potential because in theory anyone who trades for him will be inheriting the very situation we’re trying to get out of — with some exceptions, of course. someone above mentioned only trading CJ unless we can bring back a kawhi or davis, which i feel is a gross overvalue of CJ’s trade potential. to me he’s a very good scorer but a very flawed all-around off guard, which is going to likely bring back a talented but flawed return. kevin love seemed to fit the bill, and he helps at a position we’re woefully behind the curve at.

not that love is the answer, or the cavs are the only trade partner. trying to find a team under the cap and who could absorb more of his contract than we’d get in return is certainly an idea, though i don’t personally think management feels the same way about entering a rebuild and wasting lillard’s prime with a few lottery years.
Trading C.J. for Love would make this team worse.
you might be right. though to play devil’s advocate:

1. worse than what? victims of a first round playoff sweep?

2. worse even if nurkic is valued out of our price range?
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Boom »

oregontrack wrote: you might be right. though to play devil’s advocate:

1. worse than what? victims of a first round playoff sweep?
Kevin Love doesn't help against Anthony Davis.

oregontrack wrote:2. worse even if nurkic is valued out of our price range?
Absolutely. Replacing Nurk and CJ with Kevin Love would push them out of the playoffs.


Love is a good player, but he's even more flawed than CJ.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by oregontrack »

if the goal is slow anthony davis i daresay we were out of options before we even begun the offseason.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

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oregontrack wrote:if the goal is slow anthony davis i daresay we were out of options before we even begun the offseason.
Correct. So how does trading CJ for Kevin Love make this team better?
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by oregontrack »

it seems pretty clear you value CJ over love, so i'm not entirely sure there's an argument to be made that would sway your opinion. i could see a scenario where love brings 20 & 10 production and forms a nice inside/outside tandem with lillard and the team plays with a bit more balance, but it's hard to prove a hypothetical that doesn't exist.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Boom »

oregontrack wrote:it seems pretty clear you value CJ over love, so i'm not entirely sure there's an argument to be made that would sway your opinion. i could see a scenario where love brings 20 & 10 production and forms a nice inside/outside tandem with lillard and the team plays with a bit more balance, but it's hard to prove a hypothetical that doesn't exist.
I wouldn’t consider either player good defensively. Both are pluses on offense. I don’t think Love can create his own offense like CJ does though. Love is also aging and only plays about 60 games per season.

I don’t understand the “Balance” issue. Isn’t pretty obvious that modern offenses are perimeter driven? Blazers desperately need better wing players. To be fair though I do think Love is more of a perimeter player at this point. I just don’t think it makes sense to trade CJ for him unless your getting that Nets pick and maybe dumping Even Turner or Myers Leonard some how.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Phalanx »

Blazer fans get excited after speculation surfaces that LeBron could take his talents to Jantzen Beach. Of course, that isn't going to happen unless some team takes a contract or two back in trade. I propose doing a sign-and-trade with Cleveland, McCollum and Harkless for James.

Lillard/Baldwin
Turner/Connaughton
LBJ/ Layman/ Draft Pick (Troy Brown would fit well here)
Aminu/Leonard/ Swanigan
Davis/Collins

Salaries are almost identical with the player option LeBron has in his contract now. Cleveland's blow from losing LeBron is softened by getting a young, exciting shooting guard to replace an aging J.R. Smith, who slides over to small forward. Harkless can replace Jeff Green, whose contract is expiring. Blazers will be turning away free agents who want to sign for reduced pay just to play with Lillard and LeBron. LeBron finally has a teammate who can cancel out his nemesis, Steph Curry. Everybody wins. Olshey might even convince Paul Allen to go into the luxury tax for Nurkic if this trade happens.
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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

Post by Duck07 »

I suppose its time to start the next seasons thread with the Draft on Thursday night. I'm really starting to come around to the notion of trading CJ to Memphis for Chandler Parsons and #4 and taking Mo Bamba and letting Nurk walk.
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