Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Phalanx
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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buckmarkduck wrote:
For every 1 Grant I can point out 1000 2nd rounders who did nothing.
Okay, let's do it. We can start with that same draft, 2014. 30 second round picks. In addition to Grant, there was Joe Harris (pick 33), a current starter for the Nets, averaging 11.1 ppg over his career with an effective fg% over .600. Spencer Dinwiddie (pick 38) has averaged 13 ppg, 3 reb, 5 assists, and was a key player this year for the Mavericks western conference finals run. Another player on that team, Dwight Powell, was picked at 45. He comes off the bench for the Mavericks, and averages 7.7 ppg over his career. The next pick, 46, was Jordan Clarkson. He hit the ground running in his NBA career, being named all-rookie the year he was picked, and was voted sixth man of the year a year ago for Utah, averaging 18.4 ppg.

And then of course, there is the two-time reigning NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic. He was picked at #41 that year.

So that is six guys out of 30 that have been meaningful contributors for the last 8 seasons. There are actually more who played - Glenn Robinson III played up until last year, and the Greek Freak's brother was also picked in that draft and still plays for the Bucks. But even if you just go with those six out of 30, that's a 20% hit rate.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Seems the asking price for getting OG is being leaked/hinted at from several sources as the Raptors wanting Hart, Little, their 2022 #7 pick, and possibly even a future first-rounder.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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greenyellow wrote:Seems the asking price for getting OG is being leaked/hinted at from several sources as the Raptors wanting Hart, Little, their 2022 #7 pick, and possibly even a future first-rounder.
That asking price seems like the price for a disgruntled fringe all-star. I haven't followed OG, but if he's being out played by their rookie Barnes, who is good and might be an all star one day, then I'm glad we did agree to trade Hart, Little, our lottery and future 1st rounder for him. I guess OG contract makes him even more attractive?
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Yeah, glad they didn't do that deal, but it tells us who the tradeable assets are on the team. They picked up Hart for another year, and I look forward to seeing what he can do with the regular rotation players. I'm not sure how they are going to allocate playing time with all of those 6'5'' shooting guards, but I'm guessing Hart is going to be doing some platooning with Little at the 3 spot. The team is pretty close to set at this point (barring a trade), and if they can sign Simons and Nurkic, there will only be room under the luxury tax for one low-end free agent to get to 14 players. For the 15th, I would re-sign Eubanks at a vet minimum if possible; I thought he did a great job during the tank. That would result in the following team:

PG: Lillard
SG: Simons/Sharpe/ Keon Johnson/ Louzada
SF: Hart/ Little
PF: Grant/ Winslow/ Watford/ Jabari Walker
C: Nurkic/ Eubanks/ Brown

Hard to say where the free agent would go. There is no natural starting small forward in that line-up, but they are paying Hart $13 million, so I assume he will play, and Simons is presumably the starting SG. My guess is either back-up point guard (Simons could fill this role) or a back up who could defend at either post position. I prefer the latter, since Nurkic is likely to get injured over the course of the season, and there are shockingly few rotation-level guys over 6'6'' on the roster. It would be nice to have another ball handler, though. Lillard was injured last season too. Trading one of the scrub shooting guards for a PG would be nice, or maybe Keon can learn PG duties.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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They've still got Bledsoe's contract as potential trade bait, they've got a $6 million traded player exception from the RoCo trade, a $10.5 million mid-level exception, plus vet minimum potential. They've also got the Bird Rights to Joe Ingles so he may be brought back. I think we'll see some deals to upgrade the SF spot and depth at PF/C.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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greenyellow wrote:They've still got Bledsoe's contract as potential trade bait, they've got a $6 million traded player exception from the RoCo trade, a $10.5 million mid-level exception, plus vet minimum potential. They've also got the Bird Rights to Joe Ingles so he may be brought back. I think we'll see some deals to upgrade the SF spot and depth at PF/C.
I've seen people saying this, but it doesn't make sense to me. Cronin mentioned when he made the trades that he was after expiring contracts, so I really don't think he is bringing Ingles back. As for Bledsoe, I'm struggling to figure out why a team would want to take on his salary in a trade while only being able to send the guaranteed part of his contract back. How many teams have the cap space to even be able to do this? I think the Blazers eat the $3.9 million and move on.

I get that they have all these exceptions, etc but the larger point is that they are nearly to the luxury tax threshold by the time they sign Nurk and Ant. One more guy will get them there. So unless there is a trade, I think the one more guy is all we are getting. Ownership has consistently shown a desire to avoid paying the luxury tax, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to believe they will change that pattern, particularly with the team rumored to be being prepped for sale.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Reports coming out that the Blazers are going to extend Lillard for over $100 million over 2 years at age 35. So tack on two more years to the time it will take before the Blazers are a contender again.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Durant wants to be traded but his top choices are Phoenix and Miami. The Nets have said their entire roster is available but it doesn't sound like they want to trade Ben Simmons, who Portland was rumored to be after at one time.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Simons rumored to be getting 4 yrs/ $100 million. Could've had him for a fraction of that last fall. Cronin blew that one.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Phalanx wrote:Simons rumored to be getting 4 yrs/ $100 million. Could've had him for a fraction of that last fall. Cronin blew that one.
He's a bargain compared to CJ and what the Knicks just offered Jalen Brunson (4 years/$100+ milion.) Simons wasn't signing any qualifying extension since he was betting on himself improving and getting that bigger deal. Plus, that was still on Neil Olshey's watch, not Cronin's.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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greenyellow wrote:
Phalanx wrote:Simons rumored to be getting 4 yrs/ $100 million. Could've had him for a fraction of that last fall. Cronin blew that one.
He's a bargain compared to CJ and what the Knicks just offered Jalen Brunson (4 years/$100+ milion.) Simons wasn't signing any qualifying extension since he was betting on himself improving and getting that bigger deal. Plus, that was still on Neil Olshey's watch, not Cronin's.
I recall reading that it was management putting extension talks on hold last year - it might have been Olshey. Anyway, bad decision , if true. Hopefully Ant will improve the way he is being paid to improve.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Phalanx wrote:
greenyellow wrote:
Phalanx wrote:Simons rumored to be getting 4 yrs/ $100 million. Could've had him for a fraction of that last fall. Cronin blew that one.
He's a bargain compared to CJ and what the Knicks just offered Jalen Brunson (4 years/$100+ milion.) Simons wasn't signing any qualifying extension since he was betting on himself improving and getting that bigger deal. Plus, that was still on Neil Olshey's watch, not Cronin's.
I recall reading that it was management putting extension talks on hold last year - it might have been Olshey. Anyway, bad decision , if true. Hopefully Ant will improve the way he is being paid to improve.
The qualifying extension negotiations ended in late October 2021; Olshey wasn't fired until December 2021.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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Seems they may have overpaid a bit to keep him around.
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Re: Blazers/NBA 2021-2022 Thread

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