Blazers winning big against the Jazz and having Scoot back was not on my list of expectations. I’m stoked it happened. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
The heart attack Blazers are back! This blazers team missed so many shots this game. But their defense and luck bailed them out at the end. Also toumani was so good for the blazers altering the game.
Blazers finally won a game!
I’m here praying to the Basketball gods that the injury is minor like what happened to Shaedon Sharpe last year.
All the Blazers had to do was hold on to the ball. Oh well, happy for Jabari.
As long as the Blazers aren’t bullied into taking a bad deal.
Spoelstra. Dame for Spo straight up.
Kinda funny how this whole drama was completely media generated. Lillard didnt ask for a trade, the Blazers wasnt shopping him. But a whole narrative was created to whip us all up in a frenzy.
DLo and Westbrook are the only 2 players that I see that most teams should avoid.
But also not sure Miami has enough of either.
That’s the key right there. Portland has Lillard locked up for 4 more years. There is no hurry for the Blazers to send him away for pennies on the dollar. The only trade I’m willing to entertain is if Spoelstra is included in the deal. Lillard goes to Miami, Spoelstra comes home.
I am hoping that Dame stays. There is just no scenario outside of LeBron/ PG/ Kawhi forcing their way to Portland, that we are even in championship contention in the near term. But in 2 years… I truly believe we will be in contention with our current trajectory.
I think the likely scenario is that he stays. The assets we would require from the other team for Dame’s talent would carve/ hollow out that team. It’s not like Dame is expiring, or becoming a free agent, we have him for 4 more years! He can threaten to pout, but his best chance at a championship is still with Portland.
I actually like the draft the Blazer have. Scoot is a great pick. Murray is a wing that can contribute now. And Rupert is a defensive steal, low risk second round steal.
Maybe we can convert a few guys. But this was great for the Blazers.
What Dame really needs is defense. There would be no weakness defensively for the blazers except for Lillard. The scoring would be balanced as Sharpe, Brown, Grant, and Nurk can all score. Brown doesnt have to be a primary scorer either. Dame and Sharpe can definitely take on most of the scoring load. The Blazers would definitely need to make other moves after this one, but this is the first step.
Of course this is just the framework of the deal, they will have to add players to make salary match, etc. I just think its a win-win-win for everyone.
lineup of Dame, Sharp, Brown, Grant, and Nurk is definitely an interesting 5
I think it an ideal lineup for Dame. Position 2 to 5 are all plus defenders, and each player is also not bad offensively.
With the rise of Shaedon Sharpe, I would rather have him at the 2. Lillard would then be flanked from Position 2 to 5 with defenders, who also isnt bad at offense. I love Simons, but understand that he is being under utilized when Dame is on the floor with him. If Portland actually wants to get better defensively, they cant have 2 minus defenders on the floor at the same time. That’s why Blazers defense was just awful last year, they kept exploiting Ant and Dame. Brown is what you hope a Brandon Miller can become, an All NBA talent. The benefit for Portland is Brown matches Lillard’s timeline.
If you are Brad Stevens, Beal and a first round pick is a good exit strategy for a player that just cant go Left. Boston will be stuck paying Brown and locking their team up for the foreseeable future. with the 23rd pick, Boston can draft someone that would be ready to contribute now like Kris Murray that can do 80% of what you need Brown to do on a rookie scale contract. Beal would be perfect next to Tatum.
For the wizards, This is everything you are waiting for, you just get to reload. You get a very dynamic guard that is a younger and taller clone of Dame Lillard, on a really cheap contract; and you also get to build around with either Scoot or Brandon Miller. Which is also co-incidentally a great pairing with Simons. You can still trade away other assets like Kuzma and Porzingis for other draft capital and your rebuild will go very fast.
I think the ideal trade for the blazers would be a three team trade.
Ant Simons + Portland’s #3 -> Washington
Beal + Portland’s #23 -> Boston
Brown -> Portland
Washington gets to rebuild quickly with a great player in Simons and with either Miller or Scoot.
Beal balances Boston’s roster.
Brown is the defensive wing that Portland is looking for.
It still baffles me that the 2011 Mavericks and the 2020 Laker team broke up their championship core trying to chase big names. Cheers to the Nuggets for keeping it together.
The rockets need a vet that can stabilize the team and show the young guys the ropes. Unfortunately i dont think Harden would be a good example.
I am grateful for them trading Toumani Camara to our team. I love his hustle and defense. Thanks Ishbia!