re: New Orleans Pelicans are willing to part ways with Brandon Ingram in hopes of getting Dame

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Lillard
Ball
Roco
Zion
Hayes

with no real bench except NAW.

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NAW
Adams
Hart
Naji

I mean it's not the best bench in the world, but it's not "no real bench" either. Not to mention we would still have the MLE to pick up another solid role player.

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we would have major roster issues unless we spent more and got Covington back

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Gayle will spend if we're contending.

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but we'd need both LA franchises to melt down to be confident in saying Western Conference contenders

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Uh kawhi is pissed at the clips and the Lakers just got a year older LeBron and have no cap room. I'd also take that projected lineup against them as well. I feel like you're underselling how good Zion and Dame would be right now without even factoring in how much better Zion will get.

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but without BI, we'll improve enough to fix those issues and make the playoffs, but we will be a quick out...for 2, maybe 3 years

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I think they can figure out a way to keep BI and still get Dame. But, if they were to ship out BI, they’re not also sending out every pick. They’d still have Bledsoe and Adams’ deals to package with a bunch of picks to upgrade. They’d probably bring back Lonzo who would be a movable asset.

They can make a deal with Portland and still maintain a decent amount of flexibility moving forward. Plus Gayle will pay the tax for a perceived contender.

I would agree.

Not only can the Pels offer the best offer of anyone out there who is likely buying (meaning OKC is out), they can pretty much tailor that deal however Portland would want it. Picks, young players, an all star, bloated contract vets. We have it all.

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SGA + BI + Zion > Lillard + Zion without question

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Now fill out the roster for both scenarios and do it again.
You know what you are getting with Lillard, a guy ready and capable of winning a championship right now. SGA/BI aren't anywhere near that level yet, and you don't even know if they ever will get there, and if you have to throw the kitchen sink to get SGA, you don't have as many assets to improve yourself. A veteran taking a minimum contract instead of more money isnt' choosing to play with SGA/BI/Zion right now.


One thing that would happen that no one is thinking about is the buyout market and the veteran FA market.
When Kevin Love gets bought out b/c no one will trade for him, you can then get him at the vet minimum, and it wouldn't be hard to get him here b/c he knows he would have a shot to win it and he'd actually get to play. Houston is probably going to buy John Wall out if they can't trade him.

WHen you throw MLE money at a veteran, like what Phoenix did with Jae Crowder, they will be more inclined to join Lillard/Zion than most other teams, especially if they know they will be an integral part. We can give Jeff Green more than Brooklyn can, same with Batum and the Clippers. Would be a nice veteran SF/PF to have. Maybe Denver isn't willing to give Will Barton the full MLE.
a guy like Rudy Gay would consider signing with us in a heartbeat if Lillard came here, for the vet minimum.


Lillard's value should be what Harden's was. that was Allen/LeVert and 3 likely crappy firsts. I don't see much value in pick swaps, unless they are way down the line. the 2021 and 2023 pick swaps Brooklyn gave Houston are worthless.
BI, Kira and 4 firsts or Jax/NAW and 3 firsts, including the #10 pick should be more than enough, and if we did that, we'd still have picks to go out and get more. I'd say go all in and get rid of all the picks.

BI/Kira/#10/#35/2022/2023/2027 firsts for Lillard
Lonzo/Bledsoe/Iwundu/2025/2026 for Barnes/Buddy


Lillard
NAW/Buddy/Didi
Barnes/Naji
Zion
Jax/Adams/Billy
That's 10 players at $123.7 million in salaries with a tax cap at $136.6M. So you basically have $13M to fill out the roster if you want to stay under the tax. Max MLE is $9.5M for the first year. You'd need at least 3 more vet minimums at $1.7M each, so that's $5.1M. You'd want to keep a minimum spot open under the tax, so you really only want to spend about $6M of the MLE.
Get Love after he's bought out. there's your back up PF.
Sign Patty Mills to be your backup PG.
Sign Rudy Gay at backup SF/PF.

BI for Dame; AND we add picks?

frick.that.

Zion - will be 21 to start the season
Dame - will be 31 to start the season
BI - will be 24 to start the season

So I'm giving up a 24/5/5 player who has yet to entire their prime for a tail-prime end guard. Who has MAYBE 5 years left of being elite.

Talk about wrong timeline. If I'm getting Dame, I'm not giving up BI. All this chatter was like AD for Tatum and we wanted both him and brown. reality is, BI aint available unless its a young elite talent around Zion's age.

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Ingram is entering his sixth year in the NBA. I didn’t see growth last season, I saw a plateau. I’m not saying he can’t improve. A jump to an alpha dog for a championship level team is a ton of improvement though.

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Seemed like the coach had a plan for Zion but not him. He was forgotten about. Even so, I’ll take a plateau. Finishing games is a mental thing that will come with time.

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You think so?

Not necessarily disagreeing, but Simmons seems radioactive right now, and his flaw is essentially the worst flaw a modern-day NBA player could have.

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CJ + Ingram <<<<<<<< CJ + Dame while trying to be the same kind of team.

Trading with the Pels pushes the Blazers down a tier into the playoff bubble where they'll never have a good shot at a favorable playoff matchup or a high draft pick.

CJ + Simmons forces Portland to become a different team, probably build a 4 out style to fit Simmons better and you can have a better defense. You also have Maxey who looks like a potentially good 2 way player. I think shifting in that direction gets them farther than a build around CJ/Ingram.

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You think that POR would go for the short rebuild?

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Olshey threw everyone under the bus LINK That kind of finger pointing and blame deflection are the acts of a desperate man that doesn't think they'll be here for the next rebuild. Maybe Olshey gets fired with 3 years left on his deal, and Portland does go rebuild, but if he doesn't he has given no indication that he's interested in/comfortable with doing a rebuild.