Blazers get #6 and #11

Yeah, for a guy like Harden or Rondo....I think that is worth it....doubt those teams trade either player though....

At the end of the 2012/3 season, the Thunder will be in a very serious luxury tax situation. They already have two players signed to max contracts, Durant and Westbrook. Perkins is signed for three more seasons at $8-9+ million. Then Serge Ibaka and Harden need to be resigned to their RFA contracts. Big man Ibaka is projected to be in the $10+ million range. Harden could easily be another max contract player. That is very serious money for only 5 players with projected contracts that puts the Thunder near the luxury tax threshold, with 10 more roster spots to fill.

This is a very interesting situation to watch and see how Presti handles it. A good option would be to trade one or more of the 5 players listed above for lottery draft picks.

For the 2013/4 season, the Thunder only have 5 players under contract for $48.4 million, and need to resign RFAs Harden and Ibaka. The Thunder could be over $75 million with only 7 players signed.

If Barnes gets picked from 2-5 [and that's a big IF], then Portland gets one of Drummond, T.Robinson, Kidd-Gilchrist,or Beal. C, PF, SF, SG. Assume for a moment that all 4 would become starters soon enough for the Blazers.
Drummond will require help from Prz and Aldridge and coaching. Robinson means Aldridge plays more at 5. Kidd-Gilchrist means Batum plays 2. Beal means Batum at 3. [Matthews vs. Elliot Williams]

But I don't see any of those 4 dropping.

So Fix PG. I'm with Murrog. Get the best PG in the draft. From 6 to 11, the strengths and weaknesses of players and fit for Portland is close enough for me that it's more about fill the biggest need -- PG. That's why I'm for Kendall Marshall at 6. At 11, there will be a big available -- Sullinger, Zeller, Leonard, TJones, PJones ... The depth for PGs is shallow, so get them where you can.

There are no guarantees in free agency. Whether it's a PG who is a young vet or a "seasoned" vet who fits, by all means get him. Fix PG both for next year and for the future.

oldfishermen wrote:Anyone interested in trading the two Blazer’s lottery picks for Harden?

Naaah, he's got a glass jaw.

Here is one more veteran PG name to consider trading for. I am not sold this is a sweet enough deal for our #11 pick.

There are rumors Charlotte is shopping D. J. Augustin, again. They are looking for an early teens draft pick. I doubt the Blazers are interested in him since they did not pull the trigger on the rumored Crawford for Augsutin trade at the last trade deadline.

One idea floating is Augustin plus returning the Blazers first round 2013 pick for our #11 lottery pick.

D. J. may be a serviceable backup, but not the starting PG we need. He probably would be a slight upgrade over Jonny Flynn. Getting our 2013 first round pick back is worth considering.

I maintain POR can sign a FA PG w\o having to give up any assets....

No need to trade for DJ, even if it meant getting our mid teens pick back in probably a much weaker draft...

Forgot to mention him before but anyone for Damian Lillard? Scoring machine PG that can shoot the lights out. 24+ PPG 5 boards and 4 dimes a game and shoots the 3 at 40%. Also is 21 years old and has a nice polish to his game. If Batum can ever get the handles we have been promised this could be our guy. Also Elliot Williams can do some handling and distribution. We don't have to be afraid of our coach kills young gunner PG's careers and more.

I think we need a floor general, not a scorer, but that is just me.

Murrog wrote:I think we need a floor general, not a scorer, but that is just me.

Agreed. If the Blazers decide to go for a PG in the draft, it should be Marshall.

oldfishermen wrote:Here is one more veteran PG name to consider trading for. I am not sold this is a sweet enough deal for our #11 pick.

There are rumors Charlotte is shopping D. J. Augustin, again. They are looking for an early teens draft pick. I doubt the Blazers are interested in him since they did not pull the trigger on the rumored Crawford for Augsutin trade at the last trade deadline.

One idea floating is Augustin plus returning the Blazers first round 2013 pick for our #11 lottery pick.

D. J. may be a serviceable backup, but not the starting PG we need. He probably would be a slight upgrade over Jonny Flynn. Getting our 2013 first round pick back is worth considering.

I'm sorry, what? Rumors that Charlotte is wanting to trade a restricted free agent for a pick in the teens? No. they can't y trade a free agent for a draft pick. And they would get nowhere near that if they could

I missed the RFA part on DJ, thanks for the tune-up. A sign and trade deal for DJ does not make any sense either. If we really wanted DJ, make him a RFA offer, which I do not see happening.

This next trade idea is only for discussion. I am not sure if I would make it. I am only brain storming ideas.

Trade our #11 pick for center Kendrick Perkins. He has three years left on his contract. $8M, $8.7M, & 9.4M. At some point within the next year, the Thunder will need to trade at least one of their players for a pick or two. Any interest in this trade idea for Perkins?

Renegade wrote:

Murrog wrote:I think we need a floor general, not a scorer, but that is just me.

Agreed. If the Blazers decide to go for a PG in the draft, it should be Marshall.

It was just a thought as in we need shooting and there has been talk of taking the best shooter on the board. This would be a 2 for 1 kind of deal as we need a point. I agree that we probably need Marshall more, but I for one wouldn't mind having a rookie that can put the ball in the basket. I can't be the only one sick of watching bad O.

Bad O gets fixed with the proper floor general, just saying.

I for one would trade for Perkins in a flash--I would probably do the #6 for him, even. I think he is underrated and would be a great compliment to LMA.

So the rumors out there is the Blazers are willing to trade one or both for a starter that still has several years of above average play.

Brian Wheeler is hearing that Atlanta is shopping Joe Johnson. Utah without a pick is shopping Al Jefferson or Paul Milsap for a lottery pick. I would rather the Blazers re-sign JJ Hickson than give up #6 or #11 for Joe Johnson (has 4 years left) or an aging Al Jefferson or Paul Milsap (which both prefer to play PF).

Here are the rumored names floating around inside the Blazers that are targets to trade for on draft night:

Rajon Rondo, Joakim Noah, David Lee, Eric Bledsoe, Danilo Gallinari, Tyreke Evans, Andray Blatche

The Blazers feel Goran Dragic will be a better PG than Kyle Lowry, so Lowry is not at the top of their PG list.

The latest rumor if the Blazers can't trade for a starter are in this order: Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, Harrison Barnes at #6 and Perry Jones, Terrence Ross and Kendall Marshall.

I would make a trade for Paul Milsap. Yes, he is undersized, but he has proven that he plays above his height -- he also has extremely long arms. He plays hard and he comes to play every game. I think he can help a team win. He isn't an all star, but he is much better than average.

Not having watched much college ball the last few years (just can't get into it as much as I used to -- I think because so few players stay in college you don't get to see players develop from year to year very much), I don't know who is good in this year's draft, but it always feels like a real crapshoot nowadays. I like the potential I'm reading about several of the players, but I just don't know how much of a risk it is that the player never turns out to be much of anything (looking over the past several NBA drafts, there are several draftees that turned into really good players each year, but boy are there are a whole lot of zeros too).