Just lazy sports journalism. They look around league and see we have centers so anyone who needs a center we get linked to. Just ignore it’s all part of the off season nonsense.
xXChickenravioliXx
I didn’t realize the Pelicans don’t have any centers. I don’t want to move Ayton, and BI has a similar contract situation and also wants the max. But, I do see why these ideas are being put out there by people who don’t follow the Blazers or realize we have have zero urgency to move on from Ayton right now.
KittenCrusades
Not from anyone that knows anything
GaviFromThePod
Blazers front office has zero interest in BI. I think that national podcasters havent paid enough attention to portland to actually figure out what they want or their franchise direction going forward. They only watch us on national televised games. Its them being bored and needing content so they drum up some BS on nba trade machine
ItsMoreOfAComment
It’s probably because we keep incessantly googling “blazers trade rumors” and they want that sweet sweet ad revenue.
PoopEatingExpert
It kinda makes sense. Â
BFT_022
I’d move him. Just not for BI. I believe that going forward I’d go with Clingan, Wiliiams, and Reath at 5. Ayton makes just too much money for what he brings to the table, and has never shown the drive to improve his game. He’s on the top 5 of best paid centers in the league. Anyone thinks he’s a top 5 center?
durmduke
BI would sink our future
Alternative-Minute76
Straight one for one makes no sense for us unless we were trying for a salary dump and move grant. But I think the Blazers should at least entertain the idea if the pelicans are offering more assets, we have in my opinion 3 rotational centers even without ayton.
Gobbles15
I don’t disagree, but if we can get a lightly protected first for Ayton in 25-27 it’s probably wise in the greater context of our rebuild.
I.e. I’m not interested in Ingram, but the Pelicans need a center and have tons of picks. Feels like there could be a three teamer that works. Kinda like the Thunder trading away Al Horford. Get the cycle of flipping talent for picks going a little more considering that Clingan is set to be Ayton’s eventual successor and that we have no pressure to be good next year
Oggbog
I’m not sure I buy that NO wants to move Ingram. Two of their biggest problems was interior spacing, big V clogged the paint which doesn’t help Zion or Ingram. And they were desperately in need of a point guard. I love me some CJ, but he does best coming off screens and going ISO when the sets fall apart. Him and Alvarado running point was hard to see.
They picked up DeJounte who, in my opinion, is a better playmaker than anyone they had before (especially if he isn’t needed to be a big time scorer) and his defense coupled with Herb takes away a lot of the perimeter pressure they were feeling.
They do still need a center, but I don’t know if they feel they need an expensive one to play solid D and mobile enough to clear out of the paint. They have plenty of scoring options: Zion, BI, Murphy, CJ, and Murray.
mm825
People want to see Brandon Ingram moved, Ayton has name recognition
papa_f
If we’re able to get a 3rd team involved and get a/some shitty contracts and picks for Ayton, it’s a no brainer. Speeds up the rebuild, clingan has a better skillet to build around too
toadtruck
I can’t speak about the FO, but many of you here don’t like him and want him gone.
calartnick
It certainly has a lot of merit. Most National media members think Clingan will most likely be a good starting center in the league and the pelicans need a center, and BI is very good and still young and they are looking to move him.
Theoretically the Blazers have a spot for BI but when you look a little deeper it really doesn’t help the bLazers when you look at how much BI is going to get paid and Portland would be happy to snag a top 5 pick in this years draft
RoseGardenForever
It fixes the Pels issues and they don’t care about Portland’s needs basically.
It’s just a brain dead trade idea that sounds smart on paper. What they don’t talk about is how BI will be asking for an insanely expensive contract that, in my opinion will age terribly considerably his availability and on court impact.
BI has only played just over 60 games 3 times in his career with his rookie season the only year he reached 70.
The dude is going to ask for a max 4 year extension while having the same court impact and availability as LaVine who is untradable at the moment….
GodlessWhisper
I’m not obsessed with the trade idea but there are a couple aspects to consider. Trading Ayton for BI reduces our salary commitment. Yes, BI will likely ask for the max, but we can just say no thanks and now we’ve freed up $36m in cap space to play with next offseason. DA’s contract is through the next 2 seasons so it’s worth considering. If we keep DA for another season, our return for him reduces as he will be viewed as a 1 year rental. That frees up cap space, which is important as we continue to rebuild around the young core and, as Cronin said in his exit interview, continue to add to our talent base.
From a roster construction perspective, we did just draft Donovan Clingan as our big man of the future and RWIII is still on our roster. I’m not saying Clingan is ready to start today, but if we are committed to developing our young core, it might be worth throwing him in there with Scoot and Shae, and the more minutes the better. As the roster currently stands, DA severely limits the minutes Clingan can have, assuming Jerami is the starting 4 and on the roster this season (looks like he will be since a trade is not materializing) .
I will say – in a DA for BI trade, the Blazers do have some leverage to get draft capital out of New Orleans, which would make this a great deal. For one, New Orleans is more on the win now side of things and currently, they have only rookie Yves Missi(21st pick) as the only big man on the roster and they definitely need a starting center. Additionally, they’ve been trying to move on for BI for a while and given that his deal is expiring, they are up against the clock in terms of not letting him walk for free in free agency next year. If we can get draft capital, BI can ball out for a year and then we can let him walk and use our cap space to go after young talent to place around our core.
pythonwarg
They dumb.
Inside-Mixture-9362
If we could get BI on a Grant level deal (which he would never agree to), I would love a BI for Ayton deal. Even better would be Simons, Thybulle, and Ayton for BI, CJ, and a pick swap (again contingent on BI agreeing to an extension in the 30 mil/year range)
– NO: Gets a starting Center and 6th man in return for BI. Gets off CJs last 2 years
– POR: Gets BI who fits really nicely in a lineup of Scoot, Shae, BI, Avdija, and Clingan. CJ can be the 6th man (a role that Simons wouldn’t want to play). Toumani and RW would be 7 and 8 in the rotation with the potential to add a significant piece in the upcoming draft.
Obviously this deal is likely too much of an “arm chair GM” type trade, but it is fun to theorize. POR would have to check 2 important boxes to even consider something like this.
– Convince BI to sign on a semi-reasonable deal in the 30/year range
– Find a decent trade for Grant (Having Grant, Avdija, and BI doesn’t really work)
gerrard_1987
I’ve heard several podcast pundits mention Ingram and Portland and still don’t get it. Ingram is not complimentary. He’s a black hole of one-on-one without the defense to make the ball-stopping worth it.
Now, if New Orleans wants Williams III, the Blazers need to get on that. Send Timelord home!
SongBig1162
It’s more about fit. We need a 3/4 that will replace Grant eventually and the Pels need a 5 who can somewhat spread the floor.
Trailbleezers
Only casuals and bored journalists would even consider it. B.I. Makes no sense here. Ayton should get at least one more year to prove himself here. He has more upside than clingan, he’s young, he can still be a corner stone for us if we can get him to play like the last 1/4 of the season
MyNameIsJoe68
People don’t understand that Ayton is a central part of the Blazers rebuild. They think that he’s just another trade asset like Brogton, Ant or Grant.
23 Comments
Just lazy sports journalism. They look around league and see we have centers so anyone who needs a center we get linked to. Just ignore it’s all part of the off season nonsense.
I didn’t realize the Pelicans don’t have any centers. I don’t want to move Ayton, and BI has a similar contract situation and also wants the max. But, I do see why these ideas are being put out there by people who don’t follow the Blazers or realize we have have zero urgency to move on from Ayton right now.
Not from anyone that knows anything
Blazers front office has zero interest in BI. I think that national podcasters havent paid enough attention to portland to actually figure out what they want or their franchise direction going forward. They only watch us on national televised games. Its them being bored and needing content so they drum up some BS on nba trade machine
It’s probably because we keep incessantly googling “blazers trade rumors” and they want that sweet sweet ad revenue.
It kinda makes sense. Â
I’d move him. Just not for BI. I believe that going forward I’d go with Clingan, Wiliiams, and Reath at 5. Ayton makes just too much money for what he brings to the table, and has never shown the drive to improve his game. He’s on the top 5 of best paid centers in the league. Anyone thinks he’s a top 5 center?
BI would sink our future
Straight one for one makes no sense for us unless we were trying for a salary dump and move grant. But I think the Blazers should at least entertain the idea if the pelicans are offering more assets, we have in my opinion 3 rotational centers even without ayton.
I don’t disagree, but if we can get a lightly protected first for Ayton in 25-27 it’s probably wise in the greater context of our rebuild.
I.e. I’m not interested in Ingram, but the Pelicans need a center and have tons of picks. Feels like there could be a three teamer that works. Kinda like the Thunder trading away Al Horford. Get the cycle of flipping talent for picks going a little more considering that Clingan is set to be Ayton’s eventual successor and that we have no pressure to be good next year
I’m not sure I buy that NO wants to move Ingram. Two of their biggest problems was interior spacing, big V clogged the paint which doesn’t help Zion or Ingram. And they were desperately in need of a point guard. I love me some CJ, but he does best coming off screens and going ISO when the sets fall apart. Him and Alvarado running point was hard to see.
They picked up DeJounte who, in my opinion, is a better playmaker than anyone they had before (especially if he isn’t needed to be a big time scorer) and his defense coupled with Herb takes away a lot of the perimeter pressure they were feeling.
They do still need a center, but I don’t know if they feel they need an expensive one to play solid D and mobile enough to clear out of the paint. They have plenty of scoring options: Zion, BI, Murphy, CJ, and Murray.
People want to see Brandon Ingram moved, Ayton has name recognition
If we’re able to get a 3rd team involved and get a/some shitty contracts and picks for Ayton, it’s a no brainer. Speeds up the rebuild, clingan has a better skillet to build around too
I can’t speak about the FO, but many of you here don’t like him and want him gone.
It certainly has a lot of merit. Most National media members think Clingan will most likely be a good starting center in the league and the pelicans need a center, and BI is very good and still young and they are looking to move him.
Theoretically the Blazers have a spot for BI but when you look a little deeper it really doesn’t help the bLazers when you look at how much BI is going to get paid and Portland would be happy to snag a top 5 pick in this years draft
It fixes the Pels issues and they don’t care about Portland’s needs basically.
It’s just a brain dead trade idea that sounds smart on paper. What they don’t talk about is how BI will be asking for an insanely expensive contract that, in my opinion will age terribly considerably his availability and on court impact.
BI has only played just over 60 games 3 times in his career with his rookie season the only year he reached 70.
The dude is going to ask for a max 4 year extension while having the same court impact and availability as LaVine who is untradable at the moment….
I’m not obsessed with the trade idea but there are a couple aspects to consider. Trading Ayton for BI reduces our salary commitment. Yes, BI will likely ask for the max, but we can just say no thanks and now we’ve freed up $36m in cap space to play with next offseason. DA’s contract is through the next 2 seasons so it’s worth considering. If we keep DA for another season, our return for him reduces as he will be viewed as a 1 year rental. That frees up cap space, which is important as we continue to rebuild around the young core and, as Cronin said in his exit interview, continue to add to our talent base.
From a roster construction perspective, we did just draft Donovan Clingan as our big man of the future and RWIII is still on our roster. I’m not saying Clingan is ready to start today, but if we are committed to developing our young core, it might be worth throwing him in there with Scoot and Shae, and the more minutes the better. As the roster currently stands, DA severely limits the minutes Clingan can have, assuming Jerami is the starting 4 and on the roster this season (looks like he will be since a trade is not materializing) .
I will say – in a DA for BI trade, the Blazers do have some leverage to get draft capital out of New Orleans, which would make this a great deal. For one, New Orleans is more on the win now side of things and currently, they have only rookie Yves Missi(21st pick) as the only big man on the roster and they definitely need a starting center. Additionally, they’ve been trying to move on for BI for a while and given that his deal is expiring, they are up against the clock in terms of not letting him walk for free in free agency next year. If we can get draft capital, BI can ball out for a year and then we can let him walk and use our cap space to go after young talent to place around our core.
They dumb.
If we could get BI on a Grant level deal (which he would never agree to), I would love a BI for Ayton deal. Even better would be Simons, Thybulle, and Ayton for BI, CJ, and a pick swap (again contingent on BI agreeing to an extension in the 30 mil/year range)
– NO: Gets a starting Center and 6th man in return for BI. Gets off CJs last 2 years
– POR: Gets BI who fits really nicely in a lineup of Scoot, Shae, BI, Avdija, and Clingan. CJ can be the 6th man (a role that Simons wouldn’t want to play). Toumani and RW would be 7 and 8 in the rotation with the potential to add a significant piece in the upcoming draft.
Obviously this deal is likely too much of an “arm chair GM” type trade, but it is fun to theorize. POR would have to check 2 important boxes to even consider something like this.
– Convince BI to sign on a semi-reasonable deal in the 30/year range
– Find a decent trade for Grant (Having Grant, Avdija, and BI doesn’t really work)
I’ve heard several podcast pundits mention Ingram and Portland and still don’t get it. Ingram is not complimentary. He’s a black hole of one-on-one without the defense to make the ball-stopping worth it.
Now, if New Orleans wants Williams III, the Blazers need to get on that. Send Timelord home!
It’s more about fit. We need a 3/4 that will replace Grant eventually and the Pels need a 5 who can somewhat spread the floor.
Only casuals and bored journalists would even consider it. B.I. Makes no sense here. Ayton should get at least one more year to prove himself here. He has more upside than clingan, he’s young, he can still be a corner stone for us if we can get him to play like the last 1/4 of the season
People don’t understand that Ayton is a central part of the Blazers rebuild. They think that he’s just another trade asset like Brogton, Ant or Grant.