Speculative, but interesting. "The capped-out Blazers are trying to get under the luxury tax, but this move also could be clearing the way for another trade. The Blazers had been rumored to be a willing third-team trade partner in talks with the Knicks and Rockets that would send Carmelo Anthony to Houston. One holdup has been trying to find a team to absorb Houston forward Ryan Anderson’s contract."
He actually was not a bad player.Hustled hard and played good enough defense to not be a tottal liability out there
That's exactly what it was. Original snap had some caption saying like coming home from Asia which the person cropped to troll
Harkless + Ed Davis should basically work for Portland if they take back Anderson, Harkless has a 10Mx3 year deal, Davis is expiring and i don't think they're going to pay him anyway next summer so, might be a good idea to trade him, and he should be a decent option for the Knicks or a fourth team as a back up 4/5
can't it be traded contingent on our 2018 pick being conveyed to LAC? ie. if for some reason we win the draft lottery next year, then our 2020 pick to NYK just moves to 2021 instead?
I thought other, later 1st round picks (one pick in this case; 2020?) would be in play if we dropped the protections on the 1st rounder we owe the Clips.
Yeah, I think there's got to be another shoe dropping in Portland. I get that even without another move, it gets them out from a bad contract (Crabbe) and avoids a crazy luxury tax bill. That said, Lillard and McCollum are very much in "win now" mode (as evidenced by their recruitment of Carmelo), and if a super wealthy owner instead goes the complete opposite direction and removes a viable rotation player for no benefit whatsoever other than his bank account... that's not going to go over well. Now, it doesn't mean the other move coming is necessarily Ryan Anderson or anything to do with a Carmelo deal... but until it happens, it's certainly fair to wonder. Combine that with the Mike Rice tweet from Monday night, and it's all very interesting.
I have no idea what settling means, but I know we aren't able to trade any future pick until the 18 one has.
We can 100% trade our 2020. The rule is you can't trade consecutive first round picks and they can't overlap with protections. I'm not sure how protected the 2018 is, but we can easily make it work
i'm not sure, so will defer to you guys. but i would generally think we could include language in a trade contract to satisfy the 2020 pick obligation in a subsequent year should our 2018 not get conveyed to LAC
You CAN trade consecutive 1st rounders if you have another one from a different source. You just can't be without A 1st rounder two consecutive years. Doesn't matter whose it is.
They're $2.9M over the lux tax line. If they could swap Noah Vonleh for Nanu, that gets them close, especially if they can tie it to a Ryan Anderson for Harkless + Meyers Leonard (which doesn't solve the no one wants Meyers Leonard problem). Or a Harkless + Ed Davis + Vonleh is at least salary neutral. If you really want a good conspiracy theory -- Shabazz Napier makes $2.3 million, and Portland wouldn't mind dumping him after a disappointing season. Guess who also happened to be playing in the UCLA workouts with Harden and co.?
It's probably not so much about protecting his pocketbook as it is ensuring the team has room to maneuver. Or looking back and saying, "You know, this is a bad investment, cut me loose of it." I remember a summer ago when these grotesque contracts were being handed out (although we still had some Tim Hardaway Jr-type deals this year). Yes, those contracts were the new norm in the new-TV-contract era, but it didn't take a genius to see that buyer's remorse would come calling. Seriously, I don't know what Portland's management was thinking when they paid Crabbe and Turner (and somebody else, can't remember). "If we don't pay them, someone else will"?
Agree. I think it's very likely that Houston and Portland has already figured out a solution and are ready to move forward. The only thing pending is that NY still try to trade Melo for Irving even if they have 0 chance. It's like the last leverage they could use against Rockets and they won't let it slip away without trying.
