Dame requests a trade.

[zzaj]

https://www.blazersedge.com/2022/9/14/23353617/damian-lillard-mikal-bridges-og-anunoby-jarred-vanderbilt-portland-trail-blazers-dave-pasch-podcast

Everyone forget Dame really wanted to play with OG? I see him as one of the reasons Dame would agree to go there in the first place. Additionally, I think when folks realize Barnes is a great prospect but not a shooter, he'll be more available then everyone is letting on.

Calling my shot, it's going to be Barnes, 1 future 1st, Boucher, young, ayton

Gtj, Nurk, 2nd to phx

That's certainly lean on picks, but I would think a lineup of:

Scoot/Ant
Sharpe/Ant/Thybulle
Barnes/Murray/Thybulle
Grant/Boucher
Ayton/Brown/Reath

...is a pretty great jumpstart to a rebuild. I know I'd be pretty hyped, personally if that is the roster on opening day.

Of course a roster like that needs A LOT of buy-in to what Chauncey is going to be preaching. Ayton and Barnes will be wanting to prove something, while Scoot and Sharpe need the ball in their hands to be most effective. Meanwhile, Grant as the Vet statesman would likely feel like he has to play to his contract...and that's not saying anything about Ant's need for touches. I could certainly see a shots crunch with that roster...

Would be excited for that roster but think Boucher slides down a spot. And Grant is more of a SF than Barnes IMO.

G - Scoot Henderson / Anfernee Simons
G - Shadeon Sharpe
F - Jerami Grant / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Scottie Barnes / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - DeAndre Ayton / Chris Boucher / Jabari Walker JR

Still not convinced TOR moves Barnes tho. Think PHX moving off Ayton for a wing and Nurkic is more grounded in reality than Barnes being moved. Masai sees Barnes as a All NBA talent IMO.

Sure, yeah…don’t really disagree…

Shooting/Spacing would likely be a major issue with this roster too. I don’t know that this would be a sustainable core long-term.

[m0ng0]

Honestly I see OG as a better fit, assuming an extension is guaranteed

[tester551]

Toronto's entrance into Dame trade talks might yet motivate the Heat to finally offer what they
could offer to complete a trade.

I do think if push comes to shove, Portland would prefer to honor Dame's trade request but Miami
has never offered up the totality of what they could offer. Let's say some version of Ayton, Lowry,
Jovic/JJJ + picks/swaps is finally on the table. Would Portland out of spite decide to take a
Raptors trade built around likely OG?

Not out of spite.

OG + Dick (& fillers) are a better fit & choice for Portland long term than anything Miami would offer

[ebott]

Toronto's entrance into Dame trade talks might yet motivate the Heat to finally offer what they
could offer to complete a trade.

I do think if push comes to shove, Portland would prefer to honor Dame's trade request but Miami
has never offered up the totality of what they could offer. Let's say some version of Ayton, Lowry,
Jovic/JJJ + picks/swaps is finally on the table. Would Portland out of spite decide to take a
Raptors trade built around likely OG?

Not out of spite.

OG + Dick (& fillers) are a better fit & choice for Portland long term than anything Miami would offer

To dig into that a little deeper, the target for when Portland might be good again is roughly 3 to 4 years. So when thinking about what we might get back in a Dame trade I think about what the state of those assets will be at that point. OG and Dick have a pretty solid chance of being a useful part of the team at that point.

NOTHING in Miami's offer is likely to contribute to winning at that point.

[monopoman]

Honestly I see OG as a better fit, assuming an extension is guaranteed

I highly doubt OG gives us that he might tell the Blazers he could see himself on this team long term, but I bet he wants to explore free agency no matter what.

A big aspect of this will end up being how well Scoot looks when OG is here, if Scoot shows the potential to be a superstar right off the bat that might make OG more willing to stick around.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Honestly the more I hear how "Raptors' interest in trading for Damian Lillard is considered genuine," and "Raptors considered current frontrunners to trade for Damian Lillard" the more I think it is largely bluster.

I hope very much that I am wrong, because a serious package from Toronto is probably Portland's best shot at getting back a real difference maker from a Lillard trade, but I don't think Masai is going to be bidding against himself any more than Pat Riley will be. I would probably guess that Masai is trying to figure out how to just slightly underbid Riley, simply in order to drive up the price as high as possible so his rival is less of a threat with his collection of assets when the next superstar player becomes available. But hey if he walks away with a half-priced Lillard then he wont complain too much either.

Those are two really tough rival GM's to be trying to play off each other. Cronin is probably punching above his weight and the other two know it. There is a chance he comes out on top and for our sakes I hope to hell he is offering something around Barnes but there is also a chance no OG or Barnes is even on the table and Toronto is matching Herro with Trent Jr, Jovic or Jaquez with Dick and doesn't have any better picks to offer us and really just wants to be a spoiler candidate to have Miami add something else. It's a temporary alliance of convenience but that doesn't mean its all going to easy street ahead for us.

Because that's really not even touching that Masai would be putting himself in a situation to figure out exactly how determined Lillard is to get to Miami. His contract should ensure he plays and partakes in all teams activities but there is a chance Lillard could make things uncomfortable and unproductive without violating his contract. I hate to say it but as a rival GM the Blazers have to prove that Lillard will be a good solider and continue to help his team win, even if he doesn't end up in Miami, before I am making any serious offer. Maybe Masai or another GM has bigger cojones and has no problem facing down the potential of a defiant player but again they just aren't going to also give up the farm unless they are as foolish as they are cocky.

Again, I very much hope that I am wrong. But I am just having trouble taking off on this Lillard-to-Toronto train because, for whatever reason, something is not computing to me about it.

[monopoman]

Honestly the more I hear how "Raptors' interest in trading for Damian Lillard is considered genuine," and "Raptors considered current frontrunners to trade for Damian Lillard" the more I think it is largely bluster.

I hope very much that I am wrong, because a serious package from Toronto is probably Portland's best shot at getting back a real difference maker from a Lillard trade, but I don't think Masai is going to be bidding against himself any more than Pat Riley will be. I would probably guess that Masai is trying to figure out how to just slightly underbid Riley, simply in order to drive up the price as high as possible so his rival is less of a threat with his collection of assets when the next superstar player becomes available. But hey if he walks away with a half-priced Lillard then he wont complain too much either.

Those are two really tough rival GM's to be trying to play off each other. Cronin is probably punching above his weight and the other two know it. There is a chance he comes out on top and for our sakes I hope to hell he is offering something around Barnes but there is also a chance no OG or Barnes is even on the table and Toronto is matching Herro with Trent Jr, Jovic or Jaquez with Dick and doesn't have any better picks to offer us and really just wants to be a spoiler candidate to have Miami add something else. It's a temporary alliance of convenience but that doesn't mean its all going to easy street ahead for us.

Because that's really not even touching that Masai would be putting himself in a situation to figure out exactly how determined Lillard is to get to Miami. His contract should ensure he plays and partakes in all teams activities but there is a chance Lillard could make things uncomfortable and unproductive without violating his contract. I hate to say it but as a rival GM the Blazers have to prove that Lillard will be a good solider and continue to help his team win, even if he doesn't end up in Miami, before I am making any serious offer. Maybe Masai or another GM has bigger cojones and has no problem facing down the potential of a defiant player but again they just aren't going to also give up the farm unless they are as foolish as they are cocky.

Again, I very much hope that I am wrong. But I am just having trouble taking off on this Lillard-to-Toronto train because, for whatever reason, something is not computing to me about it.

Well they might be concerned that OG might bolt in free agency so if they do trade for Dame they really aren't giving up much if they think OG is gone either way.

I mean at that point we are talking like Gradey, maybe a 1st round pick and 2 marginal players as salary filler? That is not some huge pile of assets if they think OG has even a 50 or 60% chance of leaving. ****, for a guy that put up the stat line last year that is basically a basement price and again this assume that they think OG will not re-sign.

There also is talk that they really want Giannis and they think it might be easier to pull it off with Dame on the roster. Dame+Giannis would be a great duo and they are good friends so that would make Dame more likely to be happy there if they go all out for Giannis.

Now I'm not saying they can pull this off without a hitch but I could see Masai going for a bold move like this, especially when they made a similar risky trade for Kawhi.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Honestly the more I hear how "Raptors' interest in trading for Damian Lillard is considered genuine," and "Raptors considered current frontrunners to trade for Damian Lillard" the more I think it is largely bluster.

I hope very much that I am wrong, because a serious package from Toronto is probably Portland's best shot at getting back a real difference maker from a Lillard trade, but I don't think Masai is going to be bidding against himself any more than Pat Riley will be. I would probably guess that Masai is trying to figure out how to just slightly underbid Riley, simply in order to drive up the price as high as possible so his rival is less of a threat with his collection of assets when the next superstar player becomes available. But hey if he walks away with a half-priced Lillard then he wont complain too much either.

Those are two really tough rival GM's to be trying to play off each other. Cronin is probably punching above his weight and the other two know it. There is a chance he comes out on top and for our sakes I hope to hell he is offering something around Barnes but there is also a chance no OG or Barnes is even on the table and Toronto is matching Herro with Trent Jr, Jovic or Jaquez with Dick and doesn't have any better picks to offer us and really just wants to be a spoiler candidate to have Miami add something else. It's a temporary alliance of convenience but that doesn't mean its all going to easy street ahead for us.

Because that's really not even touching that Masai would be putting himself in a situation to figure out exactly how determined Lillard is to get to Miami. His contract should ensure he plays and partakes in all teams activities but there is a chance Lillard could make things uncomfortable and unproductive without violating his contract. I hate to say it but as a rival GM the Blazers have to prove that Lillard will be a good solider and continue to help his team win, even if he doesn't end up in Miami, before I am making any serious offer. Maybe Masai or another GM has bigger cojones and has no problem facing down the potential of a defiant player but again they just aren't going to also give up the farm unless they are as foolish as they are cocky.

Again, I very much hope that I am wrong. But I am just having trouble taking off on this Lillard-to-Toronto train because, for whatever reason, something is not computing to me about it.

Well they might be concerned that OG might bolt in free agency so if they do trade for Dame they really aren't giving up much if they think OG is gone either way.

I mean at that point we are talking like Gradey, maybe a 1st round pick and 2 marginal players as salary filler? That is not some huge pile of assets if they think OG has even a 50 or 60% chance of leaving. ****, for a guy that put up the stat line last year that is basically a basement price and again this assume that they think OG will not re-sign.

There also is talk that they really want Giannis and they think it might be easier to pull it off with Dame on the roster. Dame+Giannis would be a great duo and they are good friends so that would make Dame more likely to be happy there if they go all out for Giannis.

Now I'm not saying they can pull this off without a hitch but I could see Masai going for a bold move like this, especially when they made a similar risky trade for Kawhi.

Yeah you might be totally right, honestly it might come down to money, with Toronto not able to take on much salary OG might be necessary for a reasonable trade but if it wasn't so late one could come up with some crazy 4 for 1 type ideas.

However I just think they would be trying to keep OG and Barnes for that second type of move you describe, also Lillard has mentioned OG as a player he wanted the Blazers to try and get.

I think of it more of an opportunity to either get a half priced star or mess with a rival, so I am tempering all expectations with regards to Toronto. And the cynic in me looks at the media and see's more and more intentional manipulation out there these days.

[Norm2953]

Is this going to get done by Portland's media day which is Monday, October 2?

I personally don't buy Toronto's interest either but if it finally motivates the Heat into finally
offering what they can offer everyone wins. I'd still take Herro, JJJ, Jovic, Lowry + all the
picks/swaps they are legally able to offer with perhaps an option on December 15 to swap
Moses Brown for Orlando Robinson. Presumably Herro gets re-routed for more assets.

[Sinobas]

The Raptors only played .500 ball last year, and their starting PG is Dennis Schroder.

I can totally see them being interested in upgrading to Dame and giving up either Barnes or OG.

[Sinobas]

FWIW. Makes sense though, as we scoffed at the idea of trading Sharpe for Paul George.


Kurt Helin
@basketballtalk
Let me just say what I have heard Barnes is not available. Portland fans love the idea of landing him but I've been told by multiple people it's not that he was taken off the table, he was never in the same room as the table.

[red_power]

Honestly the more I hear how "Raptors' interest in trading for Damian Lillard is considered genuine," and "Raptors considered current frontrunners to trade for Damian Lillard" the more I think it is largely bluster.

I think it actually means Raptors agree to put a marginally acceptable offer on the table. But obviously, there is no way they see Dame more than a "high-risk high-reward" buy-low opportunity.

[DusterBuster]

Honestly the more I hear how "Raptors' interest in trading for Damian Lillard is considered genuine," and "Raptors considered current frontrunners to trade for Damian Lillard" the more I think it is largely bluster.

I think it actually means Raptors agree to put a marginally acceptable offer on the table. But obviously, there is no way they see Dame more than a "high-risk high-reward" buy-low opportunity.

I go back to what David Griffin said during Summer League. When trading a star player that’s forcing their way to a single team, what you need is a second team to register at least some level of interest. With AD, the Celtics were that team that drove up the Lakers asking price.

I suspect the Raptors are the Blazers Celtics in this scenario.

The Lakers flinched in that deal, also because they had an aging LeBron. I’m not as confident Riley will flinch. As good as Jimmy is, he’s no LeBron. He doesn’t have that kind of sway imo, even with only having a few good years left.

[DusterBuster]

Additionally with my last post, the Blazers and Raptors FOs have a pretty solid working relationship. While no deal has happened since the Trent deal, they do tend to talk a lot with relatively open lines of communication. Cronin likely helped shape the Trent deal (most trades are usually crafted by assistant GMs, which he was then).

[BlazersBroncos]

I think I would rather spin OG to a team like NYK for filler and 3 FRP than keep him around to be paid 30M.

We likely could get the protected DET and WAS FRP from NYK - to me these equal about 1 LP FRP. If we could get a future UNP NYK FRP as the real prize that would be ideal. Evan as the salary ballast.

But I think the FO wants to field a team that will get some butts in seats and a OG will do that while a few future FRP wont. And I think thats a mistake. We cant be in a spot where we have to pay Grant and OG.

[tester551]

I think I would rather spin OG to a team like NYK for filler and 3 FRP than keep him around to be paid 30M.

We likely could get the protected DET and WAS FRP from NYK - to me these equal about 1 LP FRP. If we could get a future UNP NYK FRP as the real prize that would be ideal. Evan as the salary ballast.

But I think the FO wants to field a team that will get some butts in seats and a OG will do that while a few future FRP wont. And I think thats a mistake. We cant be in a spot where we have to pay Grant and OG.

Why not pay OG $30M & trade Grant for a better fit?

Id MUCH rather have OG vs Grant

[zzaj]

I tend to agree that when rumors get this loud, they usually tend to be DOA...which leads me to think that TOR isn't really in play anymore. Who knows...

Usually, in these situations a trade comes out of nowhere and is a variation on all the speculation. My hunch is that it'll end up being a rare 4 team deal...

[Butter]

I tend to agree that when rumors get this loud, they usually tend to be DOA...which leads me to think that TOR isn't really in play anymore. Who knows...

Usually, in these situations a trade comes out of nowhere and is a variation on all the speculation. My hunch is that it'll end up being a rare 4 team deal...

I just want it to be over...but the Blazers win the trade.

[zzaj]

I tend to agree that when rumors get this loud, they usually tend to be DOA...which leads me to think that TOR isn't really in play anymore. Who knows...

Usually, in these situations a trade comes out of nowhere and is a variation on all the speculation. My hunch is that it'll end up being a rare 4 team deal...

I just want it to be over...but the Blazers win the trade.

Yeah, me too...with the Blazers getting 12 UFRPs in the next 5 years.

[BlazersBroncos]

I think I would rather spin OG to a team like NYK for filler and 3 FRP than keep him around to be paid 30M.

We likely could get the protected DET and WAS FRP from NYK - to me these equal about 1 LP FRP. If we could get a future UNP NYK FRP as the real prize that would be ideal. Evan as the salary ballast.

But I think the FO wants to field a team that will get some butts in seats and a OG will do that while a few future FRP wont. And I think thats a mistake. We cant be in a spot where we have to pay Grant and OG.

Why not pay OG $30M & trade Grant for a better fit?

Id MUCH rather have OG vs Grant

I am not sure Grant returns much - think even a protected FRP would be a tall order with his contract length and size.

Lets assume we could flip Grant for THJ (Filler) and a LP DAL FRP. Or, we could turn OG into 3 FRP and Fournier. I easily keep Grant and move OG in that case. And I think thats close to where the value sits for both guys.