....I'll continue to say this - I don't see any problem with Houston emptying a few future firsts for the option of moving up AND giving Portland or Charlotte an opportunity to do something else with the 4th pick because ultimately all these future draft picks are a sunk cost if we have no time to develop any more young players AND the picks seem to be losing attractiveness by the day as Houston starts to become a more functional org and as Brooklyn continues to signal that they are happy "trying" as long as they have future draft capital from other teams. Ultimately we need one more good ceiling raiser with a relatively high floor and we are one pick away from that right now. Amen may have a hell of a ceiling but that floor is REALLY low if he doesn't hit. At least with Scoot/Brandon Miller - they are likely going to be serviceable starters at the very worst. You can say the same for most of the guys on the board from the 4th pick on. The risk reward ration for keeping these future firsts/pick swaps is just not as exciting for later draft picks.
I was looking very forward to the Banchero/Green combo. Jabari was an equal pick imo, based on his size and potential, so I was happy with either guy. This year is a very interesting draft, it could go a number of different ways at 4.
Exactly, a lot of us were just praying for either Paolo or Jabari, Chet was a glaring red flag with that frame.
Don’t get me wrong - those are nice players but they raise the floor more so than the ceiling of any team acquiring for them and both Portland and Charlotte’s problem is that they have treaded in that “also ran” status for years now.
This is a perfect example of why Scoot would be a huge upgrade at PG. He's smart enough to draw the defenders AND pass to the open guy. As opposed to... https://m.youtube.com/shorts/dSBX4kU32I8 Did you click the link? It was in the G League. I get it. You don't want him. That's news! Tell me why. How are you right over 95% of the BBall world? You're all that?
This feels like a complete leak from Portland. "Charlotte and Portland desperately pursuing trade offers!" --bad news for them, lowers the trade value of 2-3 "People are going to sell the farm for that #3 pick from Portland! Highest bidders come forward or else you lose (checks notes) Scoot Henderson! Forever and ever!" --good news for Portland, increases the trade value If Portland trades 3 for 14 + Brandon Ingram, who's never been a winner anywhere he's gone and has a contract worth 2yrs, 70M left before unrestricted free agency, then the entire Portland front office is going to be wiped clean by the time that contract is finished. Ingram had 3.5 WS this year in his age 25 season, which puts him below Buddy Hield (4.4 WS), Harrison Barnes (6.5 WS), KJ Martin (4.9 WS), and Alperen Sengun (5.2 WS). He's an eye test borderline all-star who doesn't play defense and is as redundant for Portland as Scoot would be, since they have Jerami Grant (4.4 WS) already).
Sounds like Portland is looking to do more of the same unfortunately. Trying to cobble something up for Dame. Makes it tougher for us to swing a deal to move up I suspect.
Show me the 95% breakdown. And for the record, I think Scoot will be a fine NBA player in 3 years - but everyone keeps ignoring that Tilman wants to start winning now - we aren't looking down the road we are looking to improve now, so anything that doesn't do that has a very low chance of happening......capeche? As for being smarter than everyone, that is silly, no one can say that, I am just way smarter than you. DD
New Orleans trading Ingram doesn't make any sense. They are probably offering a poo-poo platter of a ton of firsts plus jaxson hayes. If we trade up it's not going to be with Portland, it's going to be with Charlotte. I get the feeling that Charlotte doesn't really rate Scoot and can be persuaded into trading out of that spot. We certainly have the ammo to make it happen but they will probably ask for one of Green-Smith-Sengun +a handful future firsts. However, if Charlotte would accept something like KPJ + KMJ + Tate + 4 + 20 + 2 future firsts/swaps then I'm grabbing my apron from the pantry and driving KPJ to the airport myself. For those that are doubting Scoot's potential, it is basketball IQ paired with his athletic ability and work ethic that makes me really excited about the future. His game is tailor fit for the NBA and in 5 years he will be absolutely surgical in the PnR. Him and Jabari would be an exciting combo for years to come. If Green can sacrifice his ball usage and focusing on becoming a hyper-efficient scorer then we have a core that could be dangerous. Then go out and sign Cp3 to a J.J. Reddick type of deal (1 year 25 million) to mentor Scoot for a year or two. Lastly,offer Cam Johsnon the bag to come in and to space the floor. This is the dream off-season for me.
It does feel like a leak. Did you see the new scoot workout vid? He did an amazing job shooting 3 unguarded midrange shots and 2 dunks while being guarded by nobody, he looked amazing!!
You gotta give something to get something in a trade, internet. People who say we can trade up using "future firsts". Why would that be useful at all for Portland or Charlotte to move down one or two spots? The Rockets will likely need to part with one of their current prospects, which is why it won't happen.
...because loading up on trade assets is generally how you acquire big stars if you think you can win with your current core - normally when a team signals they are ready to trade a foundational piece, it means they are hitting the reset button so draft picks(and particularly ones that could be lotto picks) are more important than assets needed to meet salary matching requirements. Agree those teams would prefer getting their star "now" but if the offer doesn't present itself now, moving back and taking some assets for the trouble and potentially even flipping the 4th pick too is not a terrible strategy because being able to throw 4+ future firsts is a more flexible way(because trading young players depends on team evaluations of those players) to acquire game changing guys like Durant, Irving, Harden, etc.
