What is tracka lack in Hardwood Knocks Listener's going live on YouTube at the moment
really is a test run to see how this ends up working out, to
see whether we can do this in the future and do it well. Here
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So that's a bunch of fun you could you should consider doing that. Yeah,
the Jeremy Grant trade, I think that we need to talk about that
for sure. Sorry, I'm like totally distracted as I'm trying to get this
live stuff down any who the Blazers are getting Jeremy Grant, and it's not
costing them the number seven pick like many people speculated it might. It is
costing them the Milwaukee Bucks twenty twenty five pick, which is top four protected.
It's supposed to turn into two seconds. The seconds are not like,
there's no stipulation on what those seconds are just yet. I also don't know
if that's what Detroit is agreen to send Portland if the pick doesn't convey because
it lands on the top four, they're giving up that they're giving the Pistons
back. They're twenty twenty five second, and they're also giving the better twenty
twenty six second between Portland zone and New Orleans zone. They are also swapping
the forty six pick with the thirty six pick. So Detroit's going from forty
six to thirty six and this year's this year's draft. So looking at this
from the Pistons side, first, I think that you what you can say
is, oh, I'm surprised they didn't get as much as they were supposed
to. I think we went through this a little bit with the Christian Wood
trade, where the Rockets really only got the number twenty six pick and a
bunch of players who didn't factor into Dallas's rotation. That being said, this
might say more about the market for sellers at this point. I also don't
think you can approach this as, oh, the Pistons fucked up and they
accepted what was a worst package that was on the table. More likely than
anything, what this actually says is the market for Jeremy Grant was not particularly
robust. If you have a problem with the return, I think you can
need to argue that he needed to be flipped at the trade deadline. Maybe
they were supposed to get more for him than the Athletics. James Edwards said
that was not the case, that this was the best offer they had.
I kind of believe that just because Grant was coming off a spraining thumb injury
and wasn't exactly playing all that well around the trade deadline. Now, if
your argument is one hundred percent that the Pistons should have moved him last off
season, when he's coming off that career year, the perception surrounding him is
so great. Is he this fringe star? He showed all these ball skills.
I get that a little bit more. I just don't know that you
can view team building like that, Let's sign free agents that immediately flipped them
a year later. I think that's unrealistic, verging on two callous of of
you. When it comes to team building. You're not just supposed to become
these breeding farms for contenders or better teams. That being said, it is
a fair criticism. There's also a TBD element here as well. We don't
know what that first round pick is going to become. That's number one and
number two. We also need to see what the Pistons do with their new
found cap space. They were always going to have cap space. This gives
them the ability to get to like fifty five plus million without doing all that
much. It depends on how much they like Hamadudiallo. He is a team
option. They would have to renounce Marvin Bagley if they his free agent rights.
If they wanted to get to that fifty five million number, they would
have to wave Luca Garza, who has that non guaranteed deal. It's unclear
whether they want to do that, but it is on the table and now
they can be ultra aggressive when it comes to They also have a team option
on Frank Jackson if anyone cares about that. But this allows them to be
ultra aggressive in a way they couldn't before, in a sense that let's say
they want to go after a restricted free agent, just because those guys tend
to be younger, better fitting with the timeline of their number five pick,
Kid Cunningham, all that jazz, they can go out be aggressive with Miles
Bridges or DeAndre eight, DeAndre eight and then sot if all this cap space
left over to continue shopping. So when you offer a restricted free agent an
offer sheet, their team has I think it's up to seventy two hours to
match, maybe it's forty eight, but it's around there. And during that
time, your cass space is wrapped up in that player until his incumbent team
makes a decision. That is prohibitive because teams don't want to tie up cap
space and players they can't get when you have boatloads more to spend. However,
that gives you some more flexibility there. And so if you really want
DeAndre Ayton and you want to put the pressure on the Suns, you don't
want to deal with the hassle of a sign and trade, which it's a
little bit easier now because you have all this cap space, but you what's
the premium that you're paying to get DeAndre eight and out of Phoenix's probably going
to be more than that Milwaukee twenty twenty five pick. Maybe instead, knowing
that Phoenix really doesn't want to pay him MAXI money or near max money.
I think at this point, I don't know that they'd be scared off,
but it doesn't even seem like they want to pay him as like a twenty
two million dollar player. You give him that number, he signs the offer
sheet. You could put the pressure on them to match or not. Maybe
get in a situation where Robert Sarver, team governor of Phoenix, is so
fucking cheap that they don't even match it and they lose Aten for nothing,
which would be a disaster for the Suns. Could also do it with Miles
Bridges, Michigan native Miles I don't love his fit in Detroit. I think
there's he's definitely got more directionality to his drives. We've seen him shoot better
from three than he did last season, so there's that hope. He actually
shot an astronomically high clip on step back threes in twenty twenty one. You
can move him around defensively, even if he's a bit underwhelming there. Imagining
him in transition or finishing these monster lobs from Kake Gunningham would be fun,
but you can go after him as well. I think what this also does,
and we saw Brooklyn do this in the past, before they were this
version of Brooklyn, they were giving largess offer sheets to Otto Porter Junior,
Tyler, Tyler Johnson, and they were essentially inflating those players market and forcing
their rivals to pay more to keep their own players. You can absolutely,
one hundred percent go about a go that route this summer in free agency,
and maybe you're just drumming up Charlotte's payroll. We already know that Michael Jordan
is scared to enter the luxury attacks. There's talk that they're looking at Shop
Cord and they were just where they can afford to keep Miles Bridges. Just
an FYI, they don't need to afford to keep mos Bridges. They all
they have to do is pay him. It's as simple as that. So
I don't hate this deal for Detroit. I do think that they could have
done better at they trade him earlier. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a slightly
better off with the deadline. I don't think they left all this value on
the table, though it's clearly and there's the TBD, like just to wrap
this up for Detroit, where we have to see what the pick turns into,
what they do with this newfound cat flexibility. For the Blazers, though,
this is just a monster win because so many people were viewing their off
season through the lens of, oh, we're you're gonna try and rebuild around
Damian Lillard after trading McCullum, Larry Nance, Junior, Norman Powell, and
h CJ. McCollum. Sorry CJ mcllum, Larry Nance, you and Norm
Powell, Robert commingson. You give up all four of those guys without getting
a first round pick in this draft. Let's make it clear this draft that's
a big al Now that trade is also suddenly an extension of Jeremy Grant they
took him into that trade exception from the Sigi McCollum deal. You gave up
the Milwaukee Buck first, Milwaukee Bucks first in the process. I think that
makes the moves look a little better to only give up that as you're the
primary asset you gave up here. I know there were second round picks of
all, but the primary asset you gave up here was that Milwaukee selection,
and then the ability to have all this cap space the ladder was never really
a possibility. If you wanted to keep the huge trade exception you got from
the McCollum deal, you weren't gonna have cap space anyway. Also, I
think we tend to over romanticize the idea of cap space in smaller markets,
and then this summer, frankly, cap space is bordering on useless if you
have max money, which the Blazers would have struggled to get to and it
would have cost them Renouncing use of nerkis by the way, as well,
there's not going to do a whole lot because the free agency class is not
especially deep. This is getting a really good player who, yeah, you
now have to pay. He's eligible for a four year, one twelve million
dollars extension. I understand people won't think that he's worth this much. That's
fine. He's still a very good fit in Portland, and I think we're
sort of overstating how bad of a deal that could become a four year extension
including next season, So five years. That's going to take him through his
age thirty two season. That's not the end of the world. And I
think there's a real case to be made that even before factoring in what Jeremy
Grant does for your team, he could end up on his next deal being
a much more valuable trade asset than that Milwaukee Bucks pick. So that's huge
there. You still have some flexibility even after paying him, and then now
you just get to put him alongside Dame. He's the type of wing defender
that the Blazers have sorely lacked for a while now, of something they have
really two feisty guys on the perimeter and who can move around in Josh Hart
and Jeremy Grant. Grant might be able to steal you some small ball minutes
at the five. I think he might even be a little bit better suited
to do that than a Roco or Larry Nance Jr. At this point,
both of whom would have had an easier time doing that if they had someone
like Josh Hart and or Jeremy Grant in front of them in the first place.
That helps you. And then I think the big thing with Jeremy Grant
is he wants a bigger offensive role. He's clearly not the number one option
in Portland. He's not even number two because Anthony Simons will be back he's
restricted free agent. And then you have use of Nurkics, who I would
also expect to be back now. But this is someone who I think kind
of slots in is a third option on most nights, and you're not going
to see a situation where he's like the fifth or six guy, or they're
asking him to take on bystandard duty in the half court or expecting him only
to get his offense in transition. You can allocate some touches to him,
and so this gives him sort of the best of both worlds he was looking
for. You're on a better team, you get to play with Dame,
you should still have a prominent enough offensive role, and then you're going to
get paid because the Blazers, I know they didn't give up much, but
you're still not going to make this trade if you don't plan on paying Jeremy
Grant. And that's just that's a super important part of all this is you're
not acquiring him as a rental. You're trying to accelerate your timeline. Now,
what is a bigger pitch question for the Blazers. I think on the
court this is a no brainer. Is they still have moves that they need
to make. Let's assume Anthony Simon's and use of Nurkics. You're back now
looking at the basis for next season, having Nurkich, having Simon's, having
Dame Jeremy Grant, Josh Hart and the number seven pick. Is that materially
better than what you gave up to get here? You had Norman Powell,
CJ. McCollum, Robert Comington, Larry NaN's, Dame Anthony Simon's as well,
and use of Nurkics. So is this core that you've put together?
Is it one flat out better and two doesn't have a higher ceiling? And
next year's Western Conference, my argument would be it feels a little bit more
lateral and what we saw from Anthony Simon's is just an off the dribble creator
last year. Since they give you such an inherently high ceiling on offense anyway,
any growth on the defensive end could technically make your team better. I
think what we still need to watch for is what happens with that number seven
selection. Do they go in on a guy as Keegan Murray available, as
Benedict Mathron available. I think Mathin would be the I want to say,
the ideal selection there for them, just because you look at his motion shooting
with the defensive versatility he's going to give you. They're not just going to
have that be readily available in anyone. He's going to give you more than
that, maybe even than Keegan Murray. But you could also then look at
flipping that pick. What you still have is the Eric Bletso non guaranteed contract.
You could waive him for four million dollars and just get him off your
books, or if you're if this next team, if you're acquiring someone with
multiple years left on his deal, just guaranteeing Eric Blexo's salary. It's sort
of this huge expiring contract. There's actually value in doing that, and so
you have that smother miniature trade exceptions for anybody who cares about that. But
you have that salary anchor plus the number seven pick. There are things that
you can do. I don't know what they're going to be. When you
look at some of the ideal gets for this roster, they're probably not going
to be available. I never not that I never bought the Blazer's interest in
zach Lavine. I just never really understood it. You have Sigmond, you
have Lillard. I don't think you need zach Levine, even though he's clearly
better than Simons. You need probably more wing defenders, or I would argue
an upgrade at center just because use of Narkis can still be schemed off the
floor. He's an underrated passer. I think he's probably too confident in himself
offensively at points if you're trying to defend and drop coverage like he is just
rock solid there. So you can absolutely still use him and have a good
defensive bass if you're willing to play that way. But do you try consider
getting in the Rudy Gobert sweepstakes at this point with them? Again? I
can't say that again series going off on, maybe because I'm talking too quickly,
but do you try and get into the Rudy Gobert sweepstakes? It's I
guess a little bit harder now just because you have Damian Lillard, you have
Jeremy Grant salary, Like, those guys aren't going to be moved as part
of this. Are you willing to give up Josh Harden in that deal,
you would really have to step ladder your way there because of how much Rudy
Gobert makes and then just how much other non matching salary you don't have.
That could be what's lightly restrictive to the Blazer's trade options. Now, the
number seven pick can be traded as I think the cap hold on that's about
five point eight million, so when they sign their contract, that's the number
they could be moved at. That helps you add salary to a deal to
take back a player. If you're going nineteen point four for Eric Bletsoe plus
the five point eight for the number seven pick, I mean, all of
a sudden, you can take back a player making almost thirty million dollars.
So it's not outside the realm of possibility that they could get to a Rudy
Gobert number. If it's a sort of a stack traded, I think it
would probably be four for one at the minimum. You have to ask yourself,
though, and are you willing to give up number seven for Rudy Gobert?
If you were on Damian Lillard's timeline, I would argue that you're almost
obligated to look at it. Through that Lens Dame is thirty two. I
think he turns or is thirty one going on thirty two this July. It
would need to double check that making a ton of money, are you going
to consider extending him this summer? He's eligible for a two year extension that's
worth more than one hundred million dollars if that's the timeline you're on. Like
Joe Cronin has said on multiple occasions, at this point and immediately after the
trade deadline, by the way, that was the plan was for the Blazers
to go ahead and rebuild a Round Dame. And I don't even know if
they use the word rebuild. They probably said something fancy like retool if I
remember, like restructure, whatever the hell it was. So that's the type
of swing that I think you can still make. It's just is the market
conducive to that, because the things that I will argue are I'm not giving
up number seven for John Collins, nor do I think he's offensively a great
fit, and maybe having Jeremy Grant and Josh Hart if you wanted to play
Collins at the five that allows you to do so. I still don't love
that for the Blazers. Someone like Pascal Siakam would be a gem, but
we know the Raptors aren't going to to trade him. And I think that's
what people forget. We've gone through this with the Celtics when people say that
they need a point guard I think is the most popular one, or the
Lakers just need to trade Russ for so and so for who. The market
right now is just not conducive to making these huge swings, and so the
Blazers are in this situation where I think they can be okay keeping the number
seven pick, depending on who they get there. But I don't think whoever
they draft is going to help that timeline they claim they're operating on. Now.
Maybe they bought themselves some leeway because you're able to get Jeremy Grant and
now you're sort of, you know, straddling the two timelines at once.
I just ultimately am not going to consider that enough. And is there another
move they can make without giving up the number seven pick? Like I said,
they do have those trade exceptions. They don't have a lot of intriguing
youngsters on this team. I don't know, given his murky availability history,
what miss your little is gonna get you Keian Johnson has some real, real
pop to his game. I'm interested to see what he turns into, but
he's at best someone you would call a complete mystery box. Does the Eric
Bledsoe contract if you're willing to use it as that anchor, does it get
you someone who's maybe on a less desirable contract but still helps you out a
ton? And what if I'm not necessarily endorsing this move, but if it's
not costing you equ or what if you're actually gaining it? Because the report
was they're going to give up one of their two first round picks to get
office salary, would you take Gordon Hayward on this team? Just honestly,
if you only had to give up Plezzo and then there's probably another two salaries
that you need to sandwich in there, maybe it's not going to be Josh
Hart, is what I'm saying. If it's like Justice Winslow and maybe you
don't even want to give up n seor Little, I wouldn't give up key
On Johnson. But if it is Justice Winslow, Nasire Little and the Bletzo
contract, because Charlotte's looking to save long term money and shave a little off
the top of this season. Do you consider that if you're Portland, I
would, and especially if you're getting a first round pick as part of the
equation. If that's really what Charlotte is offering. And I think this leads
to almost a larger discussion for the NBA off season. What does this mean
for the overall seller's market. The Blazers might actually be in a position to
get more with the number seven pick then we actually could have envisioned. I
would have guessed that Christian would went for more than just to bottom five first
rounder. His defense is bad. I do think he has the mobility to
cover a ton of ground in the half court and help out around the rim.
I'm very interesting see what he looks like on a real team. I
would have guessed that he went for more than just the number twenty six pick,
even if even if Houston is sort of drowning in excess on the front
line with alparein Shangoon, they haven't even given Usman Garuba a look, and
they're widely expected to take Palo Bankro during Thursday's draft. Jeremy Grant's different.
I understand that he is entering a contract year. I understand he's not coming
off the best year in terms of his availability or his efficiency, but knowing
what he showed in his first year, and just overall as someone who has
more ball skills than anticipated, and knowing how thirsty, just utterly thirsty NBA
front offices are for these three and d archetypes on the higher end, I
would have probably guessed that he went for more than a distant first round pick.
And cap relief is basically what this amounts to. And you normally,
I know, Detroit jumped up ten spots in the second round. You normally
wouldn't see a team prioritize an asset as the centerpiece so far out in a
trade. NBA general managers, front office execs, Vice presidents of basketball operations,
presidents of basketball operations, whatever is are of basketball operations, whatever the
hell they're called now, they don't have the job security to say, yeah,
twenty twenty five pick, like that's three years down the line, that
that can certainly be like our primary asset. I'll be the one that's making
this election comment in the chat from Bubba. If the Blazers get og,
they are set, I would one hundred percent agree. I would guess,
and just everything I've tangentially heard is that number seven isn't even going to come
close to getting OG from the Raptors. And I don't know what else you
include at this point that would even appeal to the Raptors giving up OG.
But looking at Grant specifically, I just would have assumed, even in a
contract year, because he plays such a desirable type of basketball, and because
he slots nicely onto a winner, onto an already good roster, if he's
willing to not dominate the ball as my and I don't think he was superball
dominant in Detroit this season. The first year it was all sort of like
no holds barred, given their their roster. But I don't think that he
was just sort of running amuck there. Either. I would have guessed that
he got more than that distant first round pick. Maybe it's different for Detroit
Troy Reavers in the early stages of this rebuild, they're willing to sort of
hedge on that distant first round pick. But like there's a chance that pick
doesn't even convey, and if it doesn't, it turns into two seconds immediately.
Like I said, I don't know if that's what Detroit agreed to send
Portland in any case, and we can all guess it's going to convey.
So long as Joanna's attend to Coopo is on this earth and breathing, the
Bucks will probably be sending out a bottom ten first round, or let's say,
in that situation, that's still not really that high end of an asset.
And so you traded Jeremy Grant effectively for extra spending power and that late
first round or down the line where we don't even know if Detroy were gonna
be one making that pick. I might even guess that the Pistons aren't the
team making that pick because he could get moved a few times. This is
all to say, what does this for the other names that are on the
trade market, John Collins, Harrison Barnes or names that we've heard. Rudy
Gobert has even been mentioned. It certainly look, if you want Eric Gordon,
now seems like the time to go out and get him. What do
you have to give up to get these guys? And more importantly, what
are those teams going to be able to to get for those players that I
think is going to reverberate around the NBA's offseason trade market, and I'm very
now more intrigued than I was before to see how it plays out. And
I think, finally, like on the Blazers, this is such a home
run for them, and I think it's clarifying in a way that we couldn't
guarantee before, just because it felt like they were sort of wandering in the
wilderness after that mid season tear down, and I still don't have a feel
for what the number seven pick becomes. Was this a way for them to
cover their ass and keep the number seven pick at least through this season,
wait to see if maybe something materializes in middle of the year, like the
next star that we just can't guess that's going to come on the market.
Are they willing to trade number seven for a non star? And who is
that non star? Clearly wasn't Jeremy Grant. They're not done, though they
can't be done, but I expect them to pay near Kich. I expect
them to pay Sigmons. I'm just wondering if they have one more bigger swing
left in them. And on the Pistons, what I would really like to
see or fast forward to see, is like how much do they up end
free agency at this point, and is Charlotte or Phoenix or those teams that
are impacted by this at all? Right now, we've seen from Woes as
we're talking right now, As I'm talking right now, Woges reported on ESPN
that Phoenix has been aggressive looking for sign and trade possibilities. That is still
something that could appeal to Detroit. But what are you going to get for
DeAndre? Like this trade market has been so wonky and lead up to the
draft. I'm saying that obviously with just the two deals in question, I
don't know if this is a harbinger of a you know, an unfriendly seller's
market slash friendly buyer's market, but it could poort and just sort of this
wild, wacky, unpredictable offseason and so in some I think, Look,
the Blazers won, but just by far. No matter even what they do
with the seventh pick, I think Dame is still going to be an advocate
of probably keeping that I know he's been, I believe an advocate of Shade
and Sharp if he falls that low. And look, I've seen Shade Sharp
mocked everywhere from five to ten or around the eleventh area at this point,
or are you gonna be dame? If you're dame, are you pushing for
the front office to continue making moves? It has to be on the table.
Again, just if you're operating on Damian Lillard's timeline and you're preparing to
pay Jeremy Grant and you want to pay use of NERD kids like that,
those are win now players who are just ultra win now, not even just
like caught in between. This isn't Anthony Simon's going into year five. This
is you know, these are really established vets. But I say that and
I'm a hypocrite because I just don't know who what is out there, And
so I'm wondering if the Blazers can try and scale there moves a different way
at this point where they're still straddling those that line in between and trying to
capitalize on these just smaller scale transactions. Are they trying to get involved if
the Knicks want to dump off some of their role players, like I said,
the Gordon Hayward one would just be something I consider. If Charlotte's really
offering a first, I'm trying to cople together two or three has to be
three contracts. I believe to get there, and I especially if you're taking
on a first round pick. That's another app set you could try and move
around in a deal, as is Hayward's salary. By the way, you
can try trading just that thirty million dollars number, whether it's this season or
next summer as an expiring contract. This is just a really good piece of
business for the Blazers, And I think that you have to be confident if
you're a Blazers fan in their direction, not in the sense that, oh,
they're a bona fide playoff team, because look, let's just be brutally
honest, I'm not even trashing them. We can't say that they're that right
now. We just we can't. The West is going to be a bloodbath
next year. The Warriors aren't going anywhere. What if the Lakers don't suck
the Nuggets and the Clippers should be healthier, at least one of them is
going be healthier. That would have to be the guests here. The Pelicans,
if they get Zion back, they were really frisky towards the end.
Phoenix could retreat a little bit. But if Chris Paul's healthy and Devin Booker
are still there and they don't go nuclear, which I don't expect them to
go nuclear. Beyond Deandreton, They're still going to be around. Where are
the Dallas Mavericks going? You have other up and coming options like the Pelicans
of course, Minnesota like what they can come in and make some moves if
they find a team that really likes D'Angelo Russell, or they're just willing to
put first round picks on the table. So the West is going to be
a blood bath. And if you want to make the have more than an
outside chance or more than a coin tossed his chance of making the playoffs,
you have to really look within and wonder, okay, well what do I
do with this number seven pick? What could it get me? And maybe
you could even look at it through the prism of well, if I went
after someone who's in the middle of his career, like a John Collins,
could I move him later for value? And it's part of a different wind.
Now trade what's more valuable John Collins with a number seven prospect a year
from now? And I know people will say the number seven prospect, but
there's a car driving off the lot type effect here where once that pick turns
into a player, it loses some of its mystique and something that I would
float And it doesn't seem like the Hawks are going to trade him. But
if they really want a number seven pick, like does number seven and then
again various salary like can you do a John Collins DeAndre Hunter set up there
if you really wanted to lean into defense? Like does that get you into
a Capella DeAndre Hunter situation? I don't even know if that's worth it.
I like John Collins and DeAndre Hunter. Yes, I'd probab give up the
number seven pick for even with Hunter on the verge of a payday Capella and
Hunter, I feel like I'm less inclined to do so. But the reality
is we're at a point where I don't think the players that the Blazers need,
or would most need, or best fits for them are going to be
so available with the number seven pick and a name I would throw out there,
and I'm not the first to do so, so I I want to
make that clear. But Zach Low mentioned this, like are you calling san
Antonio about de Jante Murray? That's a hell of a fit next to Damian
Lillard, Like that's a hell of a fit. Are you worried about too
much ball dominance in the backcourt or just on the perimeter in general, if
you want Jeremy Grant to get touches, you have Murray, who could probably
struggle a little bit to operate off of Dame. But Dame gives you flexibility.
We've seen him work off of CJ. McCullum, Simon's, even Norman
Powell a little even Nurkic a little bit. So Dame gives you that functional
maaluability number seven for like a Jante Murray. You're at the point in this
trade market anyway, where it feels like you need to think outside the box.
I don't think if Kevin Durant hits the trade markets like I don't want
to say many, but some have predicted at this point if Brooklyn implodes,
I don't think Portland really has the juice to go there. Brooklyn's not going
to prioritize picks anyway, And because Portland already owes a future first round pick
down the line aside from number seven, like they would have to go further
out and it would be like jagged conveyance obligations and you probably need a third
and fourth team who would actually prioritize picks, although I misspoke there. If
you're trading Kevin Durant because Kyrie Ring's leaving or you're moving him, you're probably
are prioritizing picks, but having just number seven, like unless it's looking at
a sign and trade with Simmons, which you absolutely do if you're getting Kevin
Durant. It just is Brooklyn gonna want to trade one expensive player for another.
I gave some consideration to Ben Simmons here. I'm probably not trading the
number seven pick. I think Ben Simmons is underrated. I want to make
that clear. What he could do defensively for Portland is fantastic. Throwing him
into the fold with Grant and if you're gonna keep Nord Kiss your center that
I don't know what the floor spacing or the offensive pecking order looks like in
that situation. And if it's costing you number seven, like, can you
get something else out of that deal? Like a Seth Curry would be good
for Portland And aside from that, it's like, but That's what I'm getting
at is I think you have to think outside the box. If you're Portland
now with this number seven pick, or again just in general like Gordon Hayward,
to me, would be sort of an outside the box acquisition if you're
going to guarantee Beletso salary and use him as that functional trade exception in himself,
which most people I've talked to said they don't think that's going to happen.
They have until four days after the moratorium and free agency to do so.
At the same time, I think after using the CD McCollum traded player
exception, it's something that you could absolutely look at. I've even thought.
This is something that crossed my mind, is if Kyrie Irving's actually going to
leave Brooklyn. I don't think he's a terrible fit in Portland and I can't
stand Kyrie Irving in general, But what if the Bucks, just knowing that
they could use that shock creation, are they willing to put Chris Middleton on
the table, And if you're sending Middleton to Portland, would you give the
number six excuse me, the number seven pick for him? I just food
for thought. I know that he's kind of on the older side and slipped
off a little bit last year coming off that injury. He could also be
exactly what on Portland needs. Maybe you don't want to get into that territory
where you all of a sudden have to pay all these guys Jeremy Grant,
Simon's nurkicch and then Chris Middleton. I think he might be extension knowledgeable right
now, but he is not that far out from free agencies A player option
with forty point four million next summer, so and he's making thirty seven point
nine. Even getting to that number is difficult. Just an outside the box
name. It just feels like that's the type of thinking that you would need
to do. Ideally, the player I'd love to see in Portland and so
many other places, but I also don't want him to leave it. Okay,
see shake Gil just Alexander would be great, just having another secondary ball
handler, similar vein of jejant Day Murray. Murray's a much better defender,
Shake Gol's Alexander's a better offensive player overall? What does that do? And
nudges Jeremy Grant further down the pecking letter? How does he feel about that?
Would he reject an extension if you go out and acquire someone who's ahead
of him in the pecking letter, but as a bigger guard even like Murray's,
Like looking at jehan Da Murray size, you don't have to worry about
paying Simons then also having them on the roster, like you can just easily
work that this isn't McCollum, Powell Simon's Damian Lillard territory in that essence,
and that really like the names, and I've tried to run through like just
offbeat ones unless the Ahams would have come available, I don't anticipate that Harrison,
Barnes and stuff would not be worth number seven to me. That's it
wouldn't even come close. I can't even get there. So those are the
names that if I'm Portland, I'm kind of still just monitoring. I don't
think, though, I keep coming back to the Gobert thing. I don't
know if that's the move that you made because of how much he he's earning.
I think that he would he would completely just revamp their defense. And
if you had Gobert, if you're putting him on this roster without giving up
Grant Hart or Lillard, I might have him as a top five team,
top four team in the West automatically. I don't know if that's sort of
championship ceiling territory though. But look, this was a fun trade to have
before, right before the NBA Draft. I think it's just a huge,
huge hit for the Blazers, and I think it's justifiable for the Pistons.
But we have to wait and see what that cap space turns into. If
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