Just now, HazletonEagle said:

they just said Leonard isnt coming back this season now. So, they probably just wanted to try to fill that talent gap a little. I dont think theyre gonna trade anyone away.

Not even sure I want him now because I am not sure if he is starting to break down or that it is just his injury but Dame is never winning.  And his contract the next few years looks terrible.  Portland is screwed.  They can't even do a proper tank with him on the team.

That's an awful trade for the Blazers.  Yikes.  

It takes the bad deal they made giving up a younger, cheaper Gary Trent for Powell and makes it even worse.  

dame to philly...coming soon!!!     

I don't follow college.  Are there a few studs coming out this year that Portland could be targeting?

The Blazers traded two first-round picks and Trevor Ariza for Robert Covington. The Blazers traded Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood for Norman Powell. And now all the Blazers have to show for those two trades is a Keon Johnson, J Winslow, a couple months of Eric Bledsoe. Yikes

[Marks] The trade will put Portland under the luxury tax. The Clippers tax bill increases from $93.9M to $112.9M (+$19M).

37 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

That's an awful trade for the Blazers.  Yikes.  

It takes the bad deal they made giving up a younger, cheaper Gary Trent for Powell and makes it even worse.  

I would disagree. They realized they made a bad trade for Trent. Instead of compounding it by keeping the contract, they at least realized it and got off that 5/90 for Powell. 

I like the move for the Blazers and a sure sign of blowing it up. CJ is next and could see the Pelicans as the destination. 

No point in fiddling for the 6th to 9th seed for next 3 years. 

14 minutes ago, Khani1 said:

The Blazers traded two first-round picks and Trevor Ariza for Robert Covington. The Blazers traded Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood for Norman Powell. And now all the Blazers have to show for those two trades is a Keon Johnson, J Winslow, a couple months of Eric Bledsoe. Yikes

Oh they tried to make Dame happy and backfired. Now blow it up and get young guys, draft picks, and cap space. 

21 minutes ago, Khani1 said:

I don't follow college.  Are there a few studs coming out this year that Portland could be targeting?

Chet, Paolo, and Jabari Smith 

All big that have high end potential. 

48 minutes ago, Khani1 said:

Not even sure I want him now because I am not sure if he is starting to break down or that it is just his injury but Dame is never winning.  And his contract the next few years looks terrible.  Portland is screwed.  They can't even do a proper tank with him on the team.

I was never too thrilled with a Dame trade. 

my thoughts on a dame trade would 100% depend on what the sixers would have to give up....ben + picks & a backup player or 2...sure. but at this stage, i really wouldn't want them to include maxey...and probably not thybulle either. 

I can see Dame going to the Knicks and CJ going to the Pelicans to totally blow it up. 

2 minutes ago, mr_hunt said:

my thoughts on a dame trade would 100% depend on what the sixers would have to give up....ben + picks & a backup player or 2...sure. but at this stage, i really wouldn't want them to include maxey...and probably not thybulle either. 

To me you throw your chips on the table for Beal. Beal is a better #2 than 1 and we don't have any internal struggle of where the ball goes on the last possession. 

Make it a 3 way with the Pacers for Sabonis to Wiz. Then Sixers make a decision if they want KCP or Levert. I would take KCP for his shooting and D. 

4 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

I would disagree. They realized they made a bad trade for Trent. Instead of compounding it by keeping the contract, they at least realized it and got off that 5/90 for Powell. 

I like the move for the Blazers and a sure sign of blowing it up. CJ is next and could see the Pelicans as the destination. 

No point in fiddling for the 6th to 9th seed for next 3 years. 

I get it but there is nothing of even marginal value that came back for Powell.  His contract isn't that onerous.  The original trade was a mistake but mostly because Trent was younger and immediately broke out when he wasn't on a team with so many redundant players. 

If he is averaging 18MM/yr, that is in the neighborhood of a number number of SF/SG that are equivalent or inferior players, many of which are even older.  Maybe everyone has a higher opinion on Keon Johnson and a lower opinion of Powell than I do.  

3 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

I get it but there is nothing of even marginal value that came back for Powell.  His contract isn't that onerous.  The original trade was a mistake but mostly because Trent was younger and immediately broke out when he wasn't on a team with so many redundant players. 

If he is averaging 18MM/yr, that is in the neighborhood of a number number of SF/SG that are equivalent or inferior players, many of which are even older.  Maybe everyone has a higher opinion on Keon Johnson and a lower opinion of Powell than I do.  

Its a cap dump. They got under the luxury tax this year, and those 3 guys are all expiring contracts next year that they can offload for more picks. Its the first move of their blow up and rebuild. Its not a trade with the intentions of receiving immediate basketball impact.

2 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Its a cap dump. They got under the luxury tax this year, and those 3 guys are all expiring contracts next year that they can offload for more picks. Its the first move of their blow up and rebuild. Its not a trade with the intentions of receiving immediate basketball impact.

Isn't Covington an expiring contract too?

3 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

I get it but there is nothing of even marginal value that came back for Powell.  His contract isn't that onerous.  The original trade was a mistake but mostly because Trent was younger and immediately broke out when he wasn't on a team with so many redundant players. 

If he is averaging 18MM/yr, that is in the neighborhood of a number number of SF/SG that are equivalent or inferior players, many of which are even older.  Maybe everyone has a higher opinion on Keon Johnson and a lower opinion of Powell than I do.  

I don't have a high opinion on Powell an undersized guard who doesn't do much beside shoot. He can shoot the 3, but he will be hunted on D. 

Just now, Shepard Wong said:

Isn't Covington an expiring contract too?

He is an an absolute shell of himself. 

Blazers also have to pay this year Anfernee Simons who has showed a ton and is only 22. 

Does 538 allow you to track those metrics year to year for individual players?  I'd be curious to see if it reflects Powell's defensive deficiencies being exacerbated on the a Blazers roster where everyone is a scorer/shooter with defensive deficiencies.  

I took a quick look on basketball ref and see his defensive box plus/minus is negative for last year and then got even deeper in the negative this season but for the entire rest of his career, it has been slightly positive. 

So by that metric, he went from an average defensive NBA player to a true liability.  Defensive metrics aren't particularly reliable but this looks to me that some contextual change occurred that drove the numbers down.  It could be the quality of defensive players around him or it could also be that his play time went up and he started getting exposed defensively.  Also, the number of games started went way up last season so it could be that once he was playing more time against NBA starters, he got exposed by superior players. 

I'll be curious to see how he plays in LA.

1 minute ago, Shepard Wong said:

Does 538 allow you to track those metrics year to year for individual players?  I'd be curious to see if it reflects Powell's defensive deficiencies being exacerbated on the a Blazers roster where everyone is a scorer/shooter with defensive deficiencies.  

I took a quick look on basketball ref and see his defensive box plus/minus is negative for last year and then got even deeper in the negative this season but for the entire rest of his career, it has been slightly positive. 

So by that metric, he went from an average defensive NBA player to a true liability.  Defensive metrics aren't particularly reliable but this looks to me that some contextual change occurred that drove the numbers down.  It could be the quality of defensive players around him or it could also be that his play time went up and he started getting exposed defensively.  Also, the number of games started went way up last season so it could be that once he was playing more time against NBA starters, he got exposed by superior players. 

I'll be curious to see how he plays in LA.

Balmer also doesn't care about the Luxury Tax so it was a way to get a 6th man for nothing. 

 

Its nice to hear they are doing something. This seems like the Lowry situation last year. Hes too old, and will cost too much to get too excited about. In the end Daryl will probably pursue it till the last second before the deadline. It doesnt get done, and we dont get anything else done either.

From the article:

 

Daryl will insist on Harden AND Durant for Ben. So Im not expecting it to happen.