Portland Trail Blazers 2017-18 Thread

[Duck24]

GM bro signed Seth Curry. Because they don’t have enough 6’4 guards who can’t play defense.

[oregontrack]

if nothing else, stauskas and curry both shot over 40% from 3 last year (curry in 2016-17, as he missed last year). bench shooting should be good.

[greenyellow]

except rondo will make almost double what randle was scheduled to make, so that particular 1-for-1 move doesn't help them in that regard.

lakers are actually on a bit of a shopping spree at the moment, with rondo, caldwell-pope, stephenson, and mcgee all coming to terms with the team after lebron made his decision. LA's capspace is closing up, fast. things can be done -- stretching luol deng, for instance -- but i get the feeling that the lakers are content to sign all these guys to be competitive this year, but then they all come off the books next year in order to make room for kawhi.

demarcus cousins would be taking a substantial paycut to join the leblakers. new orleans has his bird rights. not saying it can't/won't happen, but he'd be leaving a ton of money on the table and demarcus cousins has never struck me as the giving sort.

I could see Cousins take a 1-year deal at a reduced rate because he's coming off an Achilles' injury and won't be ready until January.

[greenyellow]

Have to think Curry is the main potential replacement for Napier. I'd say that if they sign no one else, Baldwin and/or Papagiannis won't get their contracts guaranteed later this month.

[greenyellow]

Cousins just signed with GS on a 1-year, $5.3 million MLE deal. They also now have his Bird Rights, which means they can sign him for big money, especially in the likelihood that Draymond Green leaves to sign his own big deal in the near future. They now have 5 players who'd likely be max level guys if they played elsewhere. Funny how LA with LeBron can only get guys on the tail end of their careers while GSW continues accumulating guys willing to sacrifice for the sake of winning titles.

[Duck24]

except rondo will make almost double what randle was scheduled to make, so that particular 1-for-1 move doesn't help them in that regard.

lakers are actually on a bit of a shopping spree at the moment, with rondo, caldwell-pope, stephenson, and mcgee all coming to terms with the team after lebron made his decision. LA's capspace is closing up, fast. things can be done -- stretching luol deng, for instance -- but i get the feeling that the lakers are content to sign all these guys to be competitive this year, but then they all come off the books next year in order to make room for kawhi.

demarcus cousins would be taking a substantial paycut to join the leblakers. new orleans has his bird rights. not saying it can't/won't happen, but he'd be leaving a ton of money on the table and demarcus cousins has never struck me as the giving sort.

I could see Cousins take a 1-year deal at a reduced rate because he's coming off an Achilles' injury and won't be ready until January.

Cousins to the Warriors. Good lord.

[greenyellow]

except rondo will make almost double what randle was scheduled to make, so that particular 1-for-1 move doesn't help them in that regard.

lakers are actually on a bit of a shopping spree at the moment, with rondo, caldwell-pope, stephenson, and mcgee all coming to terms with the team after lebron made his decision. LA's capspace is closing up, fast. things can be done -- stretching luol deng, for instance -- but i get the feeling that the lakers are content to sign all these guys to be competitive this year, but then they all come off the books next year in order to make room for kawhi.

demarcus cousins would be taking a substantial paycut to join the leblakers. new orleans has his bird rights. not saying it can't/won't happen, but he'd be leaving a ton of money on the table and demarcus cousins has never struck me as the giving sort.

I could see Cousins take a 1-year deal at a reduced rate because he's coming off an Achilles' injury and won't be ready until January.

Cousins to the Warriors. Good lord.

What did I tell you. He's likely going to get a ring while waiting to get a near-max deal.

[oregontrack]

the market kinda sucks right now, to be honest. i’ve seen more than one source say that nurk isn’t going to be able to do much better than what julius randle just got from new orleans. if that ends up being true, seems he’d be a lock to sign that QO.

just thinking aloud, but if he and his agent ARE willing to go multi-year right now, i’m not so sure it wouldn’t be worth it to ink him for 2-3 years given the tepid FA climate. that would mean dipping into the tax this upcoming season, but it’ll be much easier to shed contracts next offseason and nurk would already be taken care of. one year of luxury tax for several years of an emerging 24 year old big man?

derrick favors just inked a 2 yr/38 mil deal, more evidence that mid-level players just arent getting paid. and favors is more accomplished than nurk.

[greenyellow]

With Portland just accumulating guards at minimum or near-minimum deals, they're either content with staying below the luxury tax or are trying to make some type of big trade.

Edit: ESPN's Chris Hayes is saying that Portland and New Orleans were working out a sign-and-trade for Cousins but it fell through because he shares the same agent as Nurkic.

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[oregontrack]

well hopefully we didn't alienate nurkic in the process.

and i'd love to know the details on that. boogie won't be ready till january, and even then, an achilles is no joke. and would boogie have been willing to sign for more than a year? he took that small deal with golden state to win a ring while rehabbing, then he'll strike it rich elsewhere next offseason. it'd be a little odd if we torpedoed our future (such that it is) w/ nurk for half a season of a recovering boogie.

[pudgejeff]

well hopefully we didn't alienate nurkic in the process.

and i'd love to know the details on that. boogie won't be ready till january, and even then, an achilles is no joke. and would boogie have been willing to sign for more than a year? he took that small deal with golden state to win a ring while rehabbing, then he'll strike it rich elsewhere next offseason. it'd be a little odd if we torpedoed our future (such that it is) w/ nurk for half a season of a recovering boogie.

Sign and trade's have to be 3-year deals at a minimum

[Duck07]

I think the NBA should reject Cousins contract with GS or the Players Association should be having serious issues with this as that's clearly not open market value for him. Or they should let Portland play a few games in Maine each season and put them in the Eastern Conference.

[duckfan96]

Does golden state keep bell? Or will they send him somewhere where he’ll get some playing time? With Cousins and green how much pt will he get?

[greenyellow]

They'll keep him because they've got a lot of older FA post players who may or may not resign, Cousins likely won't be ready until January, and Bell fits in well with their system.

[Phalanx]

I think people are getting upset and giving in to feelings of despair for no reason. Cousins signed a one-year deal for a year that he is recovering from an injury. I seriously doubt he will be playing for them long term. As soon as they sign Durant, they are going to be in the luxury tax. The salary cap thing does work, it's just that not everyone is as stupid with it as Olshey. Give Golden State management credit, they put together a dynasty. It won't last forever, just like the Bulls didn't last.

Look at the bright side, maybe Jordan Bell will become available after next season. I still think he would be great on the Blazers.

Meanwhile, the Blazers still haven't signed Nurkic. I have a feeling the whole neat package involving signing the qualifying offer and getting under the tax isn't going to happen. It's not that I care how Allen spends his money. What I do care about is Allen getting spending fatigue during a time when the Blazers aren't even contenders. I have a feeling Neil has been in his ear since 2016 saying, 'Hey man, you owe me for all that money I saved you in 2015', and now he is spending his political capital on a crappy team.