2024-25 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

One of the best remaining bigs off the board





Why?

 

Jake with an update

 

No. But Grant wasn't the only player to focus on... or was he?

 

If you're able to keep Russell and add Grant with any semblance of good health, that's probably a top 4-5 team in the western conference, IMO.

I don't want to overrate Grant, but if engaged and hasn't fallen off, he's the two-way wing I've been desiring for a while. I'd like to know the advanced analytics on how much he's played positionally at the 3 and 4, though? His 3 point shooting numbers are good. Good size. Has some offensive game. I wouldn't dare do 2 picks, but something like what I've saw: Rui, Vincent, Reddish, and 1 pick works for me.

 

Yeah. Last thing we need is a guy who is just going through the motions.

 

I mean, he's been rewarded handsomely for not playing the right way on really bad teams. There's a lot worse things than being overpaid in Portland with zero expectations. Remember when he was in Detroit, he didn't want to come here because he didn't want a reduced role.

The hope is you get him around a coach and stars who take things serially and they can redirect him to something closer to the Denver version of him. He's not too old to where he can't be that guy still...if he wants. For us, it's the closest version that's moderately obtainable of a Rui/Vando combo. You want to merge their one way skills into someone with two way ability.

Since he's Klutch, I feel more confident that if we get him he's ready to go, knows what he's in for, and has been vetted by Bron and AD. Klutch doesn't push this otherwise and Bron wouldn't sign off on it otherwise.

He's not perfect. He's a worse rebounder than Rui and has developed bad habits on bad teams. But he can defend, shoots a smooth 3 ball at a higher clip and is quite good at getting to the line. I want him and I'll give up a decent bit to get him. It's just not two first rounders.

 

that's been the book on him since he left denver (as jsm said). he seems like he prefers being a primary offensive option to being a three and d guy for a contender. and honestly, that's ok by me. he makes a ton of money and just wants to have fun playing basketball; he's not complaining to the media about his situation or demanding out or whatever. maybe portland likes having him there, too, and since improving the team in the near future isn't that important, they'll wait for a totally stupid deal or just wait for his contract to expire and revisit.

i know everyone hates it, but more and more it just seems like there was literally nothing on the table for us this summer. i'm also ok with that, as tables get bussed and reset over the first few months of the season. i also don't think we're in as bad a position as most others do. we're not great, but we're not terrible by any stretch. and we have retained a lot of assets that some of our competitors have burned without becoming markedly better (imo).

 

Missed most of this conversation, but the hard truth is that no one really wants DLO.

If we could unload him we would have at this point. I don't expect anything to change on that front. Maybe someone finally bends toward the deadline but there just does not appear to be a real market for him.

He will help us during the regular season and then we gotta hope for the best again if we squeak back into the playoffs.

 

Yep, at this point our best/only option is developing alternative options when DLo inevitably trends downward in the playoffs or even high-leverage regular season games. We need Austin to take another step forward as a creator and Gabe/Max to be rotation-level two-way players. If we get those outcomes I think we can live with DLo's peaks and valleys until the right trade emerges.

 

I wonder how this team would look if they kept the core part of the rotation: AD, Lebron, Reaves, Vando, Rui, DLo, Gabe and just added Bruce Brown.
He fixes a lot of issues in terms of lineups flexibility: can be used with AR instead of Dlo/Gabe to form a big backcourt or you play at at SF with his size with AR, Dlo/Gabe if Vando/Rui are not working.

Got to get Dlo to be ok with this but seriously a move that could get 1-2 more wins in playoff series

 

Is he a FA not signed yet or on a team looking for assets/picks to trade him?

 

what's the path to getting brown? particularly whilst retaining the guys you name? he makes 23 million per, we're right up against the second apron, and toronto has 14 guys under contract and is just three million under the luxury tax for a projected lotto team.

i will say that rui slots in as a nicely fitting pf there, who could probably put up some numbers. but we need to add at least 6 million and probably no more than 8 million to his salary to make that work. would require a third team and probably the inclusion of either wood, jhs, or both. and then we're probably paying someone to take one of those guys using a pick or something. all that for a guy who had a down year last year and could end up being a downgrade from rui overall.

 

Yeah I’m not going to put too much stock into anonymous speculation that he doesn’t care about winning. That sounds like guesswork based on him initially leaving a good situation in Denver to go to Detroit. But he got his first big payday and the opportunity for a bigger role. I think that was a reasonable business decision for someone at his point in his career. As was agreeing to the big contract Portland just gave him.

Just one year into his new contract, I also get why he’d signal that he’s happy in Portland and not necessarily make a big stink trying to force his way to a contender. Plus, I’m not sure he’s the type of player who even has the leverage to force Portland’s hand.

If that means we can’t get Grant, so be it. Overall I’d still sign off on a Rui/Gabe/Cam + 1 protected FRP package for Grant, but it’s not the worst thing in the world if Portland doesn’t want that package. There is some legitimate risk for us in that scenario, down with no backup PG and there is the chance that Rui continues to improve such that he’s closer to Grant’s tier

 

Not going all in … if that’s what some might call it vs waiting for better deals …. still gives us a vastly superior team to watch the next few years than blowing it up pre-maturely hoping ALL the stars allign sometime in the next decade to be a puncher’s chance contender again. We already saw how that went for 6 years with the LUCK of several high draft picks which likely ain’t happening again …. Randle, DLO and BI.