both LA and the batum are restricted right? if they mess with the goran, make an offer on those 2. make them over pay.
Two situations are not comparable. They have a owner who has billions of dollars and gives their GMs all the freedom in the world. They tanked several years and was able to get Roy, LMA and Oden. They did lose two of them but still have one. They lost two but still have LMA. We never tanked, lucked into Yao/TMac and lost both. Yao was completely untradeable due to money and when TMac's name surfaced in trade rumors, he shut it down eliminating all of his value.
If they did get Lowry and Lopez that starting 5 would be pretty damn good. Lowry Batum Wallace LA Lopez.
Ouch duh, hadn't had my coffee yet . Still putting Lopez next to LA would be lethal. Lowry would thrive with those bigs also.
They need to hire a coach and GM before they start dreaming big in free agency. Dragic will probably go there if they throw a huge contract at him, but why would Nash or Deron even consider them at this point?
I could see the attraction to play in Portland. Billionaire owner and LA who is one of the best PF in the game. LA also doesn't seem like a douche, something that Howard is starting to appear to be.
I'm a little afraid. I think if they miss on Deron Williams (which doesn't look like a foregone conclusion to me), recruiting Dragic in free agency is a better play than signing Nash or trading for Lowry. Nash is the best player, but his window isn't nearly as long as Aldridge's. As for trading, they'll want to take a crack at Williams when free agency starts, so they'll trade their draft picks to fill a different position. If they traded the picks for Lowry, they'd be surrendering on Deron Williams. So, I expect they will trade to fill center and/or swing man, and sign a point guard in free agency, with Dragic an obvious candidate.
I don't like Brook Lopez next to LA. Too soft a front line and they are too similar. Lopez is an even softer rebounder than LA. Not a good mix.
Idk about that next year. We praise Nash for his conditioning but he has taken a step back. He's at 13, 11, 3 reb's and 1/2 a steal this year. Let's say his step back at 39 isn't that significant and he's at 12 and 10.5. Would you really take that over a 26 year old Lowry at 16, 8, 5 reb's and 2 steals? Let's not discount the fact that Nash plays NO D, and I'd say that Lowry is a better investment next year for the present and future.
If I was Portland I'd be looking to trade for Lowry. Maybe a lotto pick and future considerations for Lowry straight up. Portland is smart, they wont overpay for Dragic.
Portland's pick isn't even top 10 at this point. I wouldn't trade Lowry unless it was for a top 6 pick. EDIT: I forgot about the Nets pick. Wow what a mistake by NJ. That might be a little too high (4th) to trade for Lowry.
This would be a perfect situation for Morey. Blazers have 2 lotto picks. We have three ( Lowry, Martin, Scola )+( Bud, Morris, Patterson?, Parsons?) players that they could use to contend. We get those two picks, pair them with possilbly two more right out side the lotto(#'s7, 12,15,21??). We could probably get one of Portlands second rounders too. Trade 7 and 12 to move up into the top 5. Preferably to NO for #2. Now you have #2, #15, #21 and possibly a second rounder. Draft until they can't draft anymore.
The Blazers problem with trading the two lottery picks for established players is who are they going to give up to match salary? Next year they have Mathews at 6.5 Mil and Aldridge at 14 Mil. Everyone else is at 3 Mil or under. Crawford has a players option so don't think he is tradeable. They have to combine enough salary to get that superstar over to trade before or on draft day. If they wait till the summer then trade those picks they have to wait 30 days to trade them making it late summer before a trade can be approved. I think that puts us in a strong position to trade Lowry at 5.75 Mil for a couple of their smaller contracts and one or both of those lotto picks. They get to keep all of their cap room, add a starting PG plus keep Aldridge, Batum and Matthews and can still offer max money to Hibbert of someone else they want. It also takes them off the suitor list for Dragic if we decide he is the PG we want to keep.
