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Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 7:11 pm
by squintsdd
lukeyrid13 wrote:Simmons can: pass, rebound, play all-league defense, help Lillard play off ball.

The Blazers don't need more scoring, they need a well rounded player like Simmons.
He can pass when the ball is in his hands, but as a guy who won't be a first, second, or even third scoring option, he won't have the ball enough for that to matter.

He doesn't make sense on this Portland roster. He's known for a lousy work ethic, he can't shoot, he can't be used in late game situations because he's terrible at the free throw line, and he's more overpaid than McCollum

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:18 am
by StevensTechU
squintsdd wrote:
lukeyrid13 wrote:Simmons can: pass, rebound, play all-league defense, help Lillard play off ball.

The Blazers don't need more scoring, they need a well rounded player like Simmons.
He can pass when the ball is in his hands, but as a guy who won't be a first, second, or even third scoring option, he won't have the ball enough for that to matter.

He doesn't make sense on this Portland roster. He's known for a lousy work ethic, he can't shoot, he can't be used in late game situations because he's terrible at the free throw line, and he's more overpaid than McCollum
One of my good friends is from Philly and when the discussions were happening about Simmons-for-Harden, he was a hard no. Even my Celtics buddy thought it was a bad trade for Philly. My have the times have changed.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 11:22 am
by nogerO
Another year, another first round bow out. Meh... All pro sports are dead to me. Take a knee.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:07 pm
by squintsdd
StevensTechU wrote:
squintsdd wrote:
lukeyrid13 wrote:Simmons can: pass, rebound, play all-league defense, help Lillard play off ball.

The Blazers don't need more scoring, they need a well rounded player like Simmons.
He can pass when the ball is in his hands, but as a guy who won't be a first, second, or even third scoring option, he won't have the ball enough for that to matter.

He doesn't make sense on this Portland roster. He's known for a lousy work ethic, he can't shoot, he can't be used in late game situations because he's terrible at the free throw line, and he's more overpaid than McCollum
One of my good friends is from Philly and when the discussions were happening about Simmons-for-Harden, he was a hard no. Even my Celtics buddy thought it was a bad trade for Philly. My have the times have changed.
Right? Two years ago I would've been all for a Simmons for McCollum trade. Everyone saw the potential he had and figured with some work in the off-season Simmons would develop a decent jumper, but from what I understand, Simmons got paid and didn't care to put in the work

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:12 pm
by pezsez1
Only reason I'd trade him for CJ is that we already know CJ isn't working. Might as well try something different. Otherwise, not really a Simmons fan.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:02 pm
by Boom
Blazers dodged a bullet and resigned Powell to a pretty nice deal. Gives them flexibility to move CJ now.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:51 pm
by Phalanx
This signing was fairly predictable as Olshey could only pay this kind of money to a player he had Bird rights with, so Powell was holding all the cards. $90 million over five years is not exactly a great deal (Toronto had him at $10.5 million per year), but it will look better if one or both of the two max contracts get traded. Basically, the Blazers gave Powell everything they had up to the luxury tax. So Olshey shoots his wad on day one again and will now be forced to fill out the team with minimum contracts if he can't do an uneven trade for Damian or CJ. Meanwhile, it looks like Trent just signed with Toronto for $54 million over three years, so one more million per year than Powell. Should be interesting to see who ends up getting the most out of that trade.

Since Lillard was whining about no support while Powell was already on the team, one has to think that spending everything to retain him will be one more reason for Lillard to want out. I really wish they would just take the best offer and trade Lillard, but of course, they won't.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:31 pm
by Phalanx
I don't know if this is being done by accident or not, but it strikes me that Olshey can actually use his horrible cap situation as leverage in negotiations going forward. I have no doubt that Powell's agent was doing math and squeezing every last pre-luxury tax dollar he could out of the Blazers, but now that they are all gone, Olshey can truthfully say he has no ability to go higher than a vet -minimum deal. I wondered why he didn't do whatever trade he is going to do before the draft, and this may be the reason - to see what falls to him on the cheap after the free-agency rush before he might make a trade that could possibly improve the luxury tax problem.

Actually, he likely could care less about the tax, and I am just looking for hopeful signs of intelligence that aren't there.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:27 am
by Duck07
Phalanx wrote:I don't know if this is being done by accident or not, but it strikes me that Olshey can actually use his horrible cap situation as leverage in negotiations going forward. I have no doubt that Powell's agent was doing math and squeezing every last pre-luxury tax dollar he could out of the Blazers, but now that they are all gone, Olshey can truthfully say he has no ability to go higher than a vet -minimum deal. I wondered why he didn't do whatever trade he is going to do before the draft, and this may be the reason - to see what falls to him on the cheap after the free-agency rush before he might make a trade that could possibly improve the luxury tax problem.

Actually, he likely could care less about the tax, and I am just looking for hopeful signs of intelligence that aren't there.
Neil has set the team up for an underwhelming trade deadline deal involving CJ, which means that they are essentially "running it back" with the same group only to make changes a couple weeks before the season ends expecting the new group to "gel" in time for the playoffs.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:04 pm
by alxtw
Phalanx wrote:This signing was fairly predictable as Olshey could only pay this kind of money to a player he had Bird rights with, so Powell was holding all the cards. $90 million over five years is not exactly a great deal (Toronto had him at $10.5 million per year), but it will look better if one or both of the two max contracts get traded. Basically, the Blazers gave Powell everything they had up to the luxury tax. So Olshey shoots his wad on day one again and will now be forced to fill out the team with minimum contracts if he can't do an uneven trade for Damian or CJ. Meanwhile, it looks like Trent just signed with Toronto for $54 million over three years, so one more million per year than Powell. Should be interesting to see who ends up getting the most out of that trade.

Since Lillard was whining about no support while Powell was already on the team, one has to think that spending everything to retain him will be one more reason for Lillard to want out. I really wish they would just take the best offer and trade Lillard, but of course, they won't.
I feel like portland should be trying to sign or trade for battle tested dogs, like pj tucker, jae crowder, who thrive in the post-season. The post-season games are a different animal from regular season games. The pressure, increase competition, high intensity and many other factors are magnified in post season games and it seems the only player on the roster that elevates his game in the post season is dame. Almost everyone else seems to have regressed from the regular season and didn't have that fight and hunger in their eyes.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:17 pm
by buckmarkduck
Trading for Draymond Green seems like the most Portland thing to do. Get a guy who is past his prime, but hey at least he is Dames buddy.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:27 pm
by lukeyrid13
buckmarkduck wrote:Trading for Draymond Green seems like the most Portland thing to do. Get a guy who is past his prime, but hey at least he is Dames buddy.
?

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:20 pm
by buckmarkduck

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:18 pm
by Phalanx
Sounds like Olshey is not shopping CJ and wants to hold on to him. Probably he turned down scores of trades for amazing players from teams that were lining up to pay CJ $100 million over the next three years. It's a good thing all the guys on the Blazers are on such favorable contracts, otherwise I might get worried that they are about to suck this year.

Re: Portland Trail Blazers 2020/21 Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:12 pm
by StevensTechU
Blazers send a first round pick and Derrick Jones Jr in exchange for Larry Nance Jr, a highly mediocre power forward, as part of a three way trade with Cleveland and Chicago. Cleveland gets highly skilled but oft injured Lauri Makkanen, who the Blazers should've have traded for heads up if they were not idiots.