Blazers looking to trade #3

[Pelicanidae]

I wouldn't make that trade at all. Massive roster downgrade for the sake of pure salary dump and not a very good pick. I think we have to be very careful moving forward with regards to the salary but not careful enough to make throwing BI away for nothing but an expiring worth it. That's extremely ill-advised imo.

If BI goes to the Hornets, that #2 pick must be coming back, as far as I'm concerned.

[LAL1947]

I wouldn't make that trade at all

Agreed.

Actually, what Donato proposes is a fair trade (bad contract of Gordon Hayward for bad contract of CJ McGollum)... but I wouldn't make that trade for either team because it makes both teams weaker. McGollum is a burden at this price point, i.e., the contract extension he signed with the Pels. He is a nice guy and a top quality locker-room presence... but at some point, what you do on the court needs to matter too! He's never been worth $30M, not even in his heyday. And you all are paying that to him now, when he is past it, lol. Told you all that extending CJ to this kind of contract would be a burden though. That was about 6-9 months ago (?) can't remember exactly when, but yes, you all burned me for that too. Probably cause I'm a Lakers fan.

Oh well, I am hoping the new CBA will mean that small-market teams do not feel the need to make mistakes like this again. Gotta weigh all options before being forced into situations that demand "such and such black player needs to get paid" or else the team he plays for is "racist".

[donato]

I wouldn't make that trade at all. Massive roster downgrade for the sake of pure salary dump and not a very good pick. I think we have to be very careful moving forward with regards to the salary but not careful enough to make throwing BI away for nothing but an expiring worth it. That's extremely ill-advised imo.

If BI goes to the Hornets, that #2 pick must be coming back, as far as I'm concerned.

You do realize I'm not trading BI in that trade???

[PELICANSFAN]

You mention that you're not sure if we need to make a trade of BI now in case, and I get that - especially if you think this team is 90% of the way to championship contention right now, and the health will turn around. If you think that, then why would you shake things up? I get that. My point is just that if you're not 100% convinced of that, something has to give because the change has to be made in the next year or so. Trying to make changes of that scale in the summer of 2024 will be harder, and in the summer of 2025 they might be impossible.

That's fair. However, I would think Griffin and management would lean more towards being 90% there now rather than starting a mini-rebuild and pushing the "window" 2-3 more years down the road.

[Pelicanidae]

You do realize I'm not trading BI in that trade???

I did, but for some reason I completely brain misfired in my response. Totally my bad

I still wouldn't make it. CJ's contract, while the expiring from Hayward is good, is still probably more valuable because it will be expiring just as the new CBA comes in and therefore will probably be worth more on the open market as a trade asset in future. Plus, I think he's still got value as a player even if I think he's the worst of our 'big three.' Chucking him away for someone who is just quite simply not very good at this point purely for the salary dump is not a good value trade imo.

Plus you have to think positionally. Even if Hayward was a fine player for an expiring, he's a wing - he's not getting minutes over BI, Herb, Trey, Zion, and Naji. Meanwhile we're much more shallow at guard, increasing CJ's contextual value to us.

[Pelicanidae]

That's fair. However, I would think Griffin and management would lean more towards being 90% there now rather than starting a mini-rebuild and pushing the "window" 2-3 more years down the road.

In all reality I feel like all three of the Big Three will be here next season. I agree that Griff and co are probably still thinking ''well, injuries, we never really saw what we had, look at how well we started the year'' or something similar. I just also think that's the least pro-active, least ambitious way of going about the immediate future.

[Pelicanidae]

More details on the new CBA - yes they're coming via Shamit but various media figures have already confirmed these as legitimate interpretations (Seth Partnow, for example). Source: https://intheno.substack.com/p/cba-p...at-will-be-the

Some positives there, including things like 2nd round players now being signed into an exception rather than into cap space, and there being some additional lee-way in traded player exceptions.

One bad thing though:

The maximum term for contracts signed using the T-MLE will DECREASE from three years to two. This means teams will no longer have full bird rights on these players.

This change is in addition to second apron teams no longer having access to the T-MLE.

So yeah, trying to operate above the first or second aprons is going to be a headache.

Basically, the league has made operating under the tax much more appealing and tried pretty hard to hamstring any teams that go over. The idea of just being able to spend your way to a title still exists if you have infinite bankroll I guess, but it's going to be less appealing to most teams than it used to be.

Quoting again from Shamit, something I largely agree with:

Despite additional mechanisms for player retention, I forecast greater turnover among the middle class of the league. Smart teams will hold onto stars and cycle cost controlled roles players around them until they feel ready to compete for a title. It will be the max or near max deals for non all-star level players that will continue to hurt. The Warriors and Heat can’t be happy with the money they have committed to Jordan Poole and Tyler Herro. Atlanta has tried to trade John Collins for years! Once again, smart teams will see this crossroads coming and make aggressive decisions to move off these players. It’ll be the teams left holding the bag that will find themselves on a path to nowhere.

[Pelicanidae]

Via @EricPincus: "There's 'a zero percent chance,' per a Pelicans team source, that the franchise can keep this group together as is, perhaps as early as 2024-25, but certainly by 2025-26."

Another good read on the expected fallout from the new CBA.https://t.co/m3FDrf28eH

— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) June 9, 2023

Rumblings of some sort.

[PELICANSFAN]

Via @EricPincus: "There's 'a zero percent chance,' per a Pelicans team source, that the franchise can keep this group together as is, perhaps as early as 2024-25, but certainly by 2025-26."

Another good read on the expected fallout from the new CBA.https://t.co/m3FDrf28eH

— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) June 9, 2023

Rumblings of some sort.

I saw someone on twitter speculate that the "Source" is indeed Shamit (and Shamit even liked that post).

[Pelicanidae]

I saw someone on twitter speculate that the "Source" is indeed Shamit (and Shamit even liked that post).

Could be! I have zero sources myself so I'm just sharing the discussion.

[Kumar]

I saw someone on twitter speculate that the "Source" is indeed Shamit (and Shamit even liked that post).

I am nobody's source and have no relationship with Pincus. If he is citing a team source he literally means a team employee.

[Pelicanidae]

Well, that clears that up.

So, rumblings

[Speakthetruth]

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/st...53729853022218 yeah I can see Ingram for pick 3

[Pelicanidae]

For me, it really does matter.

Trading BI for 2 is a bold move but I approve.

Trading him for #3 is terrifying to me.

[Speakthetruth]

If they can't get 2 , I think they would have to wait until draft to see if he is available at 3

[Pelicanidae]

If they can't get 2 , I think they would have to wait until draft to see if he is available at 3

That would probably be the best option and they could have an agreement with the Blazers in advance on this, but it does add some difficulty to the negotiations because it requires the Blazers to essentially just put themselves on hold for us.

[Speakthetruth]

Yeah the Blazers could very well just pass and take another deal

If they are certain in the front office miller is going 2 they could still make it

[fullcourtpress]

Please trade Zion as opposed to BI. plus having your two best players being non 3pt shooters isn't smart these days

[RaisingTheBar]

Please trade Zion as opposed to BI. plus having your two best players being non 3pt shooters isn't smart these days

This.

[Freyfamilyreuni]

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/st...53729853022218 yeah I can see Ingram for pick 3

I just don’t see this team trading BI and especially to a team in the Western Conference. I think BI and Herb were with Willie at the Finals game yesterday, I doubt that happens if BI was in the middle of possible trade talks.

If there is really anything to this report, I think the more likely scenario is Zion for the 2 (plus hopefully future firsts). And we’d only do this if Gayle has decided that she’s had enough of Zion’s off seasons and if she’s spooked about the salary situation for the team.

The one team that might be willing to overpay for Zion is Charlotte. It would certainly excite their fan base bring Zion back to North Carolina, and the Jordan/Nike angle makes it a good fit as well. Griffin would want to get enough so he could survive the blowback of trading a player like Zion, and Charlotte being in the East would also be better than trading him to a Western Conference team.

I doubt this happens, but I think this is a more likely scenario than trading BI to Portland.

[PELICANSFAN]

I honestly do not see the Pels trading either. I think this is either Charlotte or Portland trying to drum up business for their pick.

[NMThreeMVP]

I honestly do not see the Pels trading either. I think this is either Charlotte or Portland trying to drum up business for their pick.

If that's true, Griff would have to come out and shoot this down, or he's doing damage to his own team. Example: The relationship between Jaylen Brown and the Celtics.

[Pelicanidae]

If that's true, Griff would have to come out and shoot this down, or he's doing damage to his own team. Example: The relationship between Jaylen Brown and the Celtics.

What usually happens is that, if the trade falls the through, the team denies they were ever interested after the trade, from what I can remember.

For example, when we were shipping Eyebrow, everyone and their mother was reporting about how the Celtics were very much interested. The minute he goes to LA, Ainge is in the media saying how they were entirely happy with Brown and Tatum and were not looking to make big moves.

[PELICANSFAN]

If that's true, Griff would have to come out and shoot this down, or he's doing damage to his own team. Example: The relationship between Jaylen Brown and the Celtics.

Don't think I have ever heard a GM give a media report that much credence, especially when it was pretty benign ("Pelicans aggressively looking to move to #2 or #3").