The Trail Blazers Could Blow Up The NBA Offseason…

The Trail Blazers Could Blow Up The NBA Offseason…

what is up fellow sickos i am Dav Valley coming at you with the one the only the certified fantabulous Mr grant Hughes the offseason look ahead train continues after a brief respbit uh for finals basketball/ the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies just going insane during set finals we’re on to the Portland Trailblazers who the the not so secretly stacked anymore Portland Trailblazers grant do you remember that video we recorded last offseason they called us mad men only for us to just be right like always doing some aggressive back patting over here we got it we did it hey look at us we did it we’re right i honestly dislocated my shoulder twice patting myself on the back so often so my question to kind of start off here Grant before we dig into their cap sheet could the Blazers just be the NBA’s biggest wild card of the off season and they don’t have My justification is this no they’re not they don’t have a Kevin Durant or a Giannis to trade but they’ve already shown that as a team that’s quote unquote rebuilding they’re not afraid to give up future draft equity they did that with Denny Odia last year they they were a top five defense and played 500 basketball for basically half of the season last year and then the other thing that I don’t think is being talked about enough at least not you know where we exist on the national level Joe Cronin and Chanty Bilips got extensions but with so that implies security but with the franchise up for sale could there just be pressure to get better so that it increases the price tag or the appeal of this franchise and so when you have all of that in one hand and then the knowledge that they just have all these kind of movable contracts or good salary matching stuff they have first round picks although the commitment to Chicago is a little awkward we’ll get into that um do you think that there’s a chance that this is like a team that could I think we’re in for the most craziest off season ever some people are saying but like is this a team that’s sort of built to shock and surprise this summer i think it is because it’s this is the core question is very much for me is very much related to everything you just talked about and their whole like wildcard status it’s like what as an organization do you make of that closing run where the defense looked great i think depending on where you cut it off it’s like they were 23 and 18 or something like that down you know down the stretch or there was a stretch in the closing run that was slightly better than 500 but then it was critically fueled by the young guys like they were playing the younger players it wasn’t like it was like Jeremy Grant led this charge down so like what do you take from that as Portland and then how does that inform your plans and I think the answer for me right now is I don’t know because I did Portland is like the king of the was that real like the March April run like it’s Jaylen Green has the crown for that but it’s like Anthony Simons has done it scoot has kind of done it now you you they’ve had these runs against teams that are like quitting or whatever so it’s just like this is a very Portland thing to be talking about and so maybe they should be very on guard for not and to make sure they don’t like overestimate what this closing run means but the fact that it happened and the fact that it was the young guys fueling it I think puts everything we’re going to talk about on the table whether that’s salary dumps whether that’s extensions for some of these young guys whether it’s consolidation trades like it’s just all kind of there so they are the Blazers are weirdly like a centerpiece offensive team except I don’t know like what what types of deals they’re even interested in at this point they I want them to just be like the Giannis team like that would just be Yeah that would be so fun um let’s get in do you want to take us through their just sort of offseason vitals as we like to call them around here yeah so they’ve got about 11.8 just call it 12 million under the tax no Grant okay I’ll be I’ll be more precise going forward 17.8 million beneath the first apron that includes the capital they have for what will be the number 11 pick uh in the 2025 draft they can use most of the 14.1 the full mid level uh without entering the tax so their draft pick situation a little complicated uh they’ve got a lottery protected first owed to Chicago but they can trade this is the important thing to remember as we’re trying to put stuff together uh up to four first rounders this summer they have those swap rights with the Bucks uh from 28 through 2030 essentially uh so fairly assetrich pick-wise uh we’ll talk about some of the contracts that they can move there’s quite a few there’s some expirings that are interesting of varying size depending on how big of a deal you’re looking at um so decent financial position decent flexibility good pick equity uh this is all just like the snowball rolling down the the the transaction hill I guess right they got to do something right and I would agree and I think what is kind of the place to start is to look at some of the contract decisions of their own that they have to make to like do you make these extensions are these players keepers because do you need to include them in certain trades what is the view of them i’m going to preamble this by saying we are not covering the extension eligibility of DeAndre and Robert Williams the third or Matis thy but like that’s just if you’re extending any one of those i love you know I’m RW3 pill but that dude needs to stay on the court before I’m talking about an extension i think the most important one would be Shaden Sharp he is extension eligible now this is just for reference i’m not making any predictions his four-year max would be 190.5 million his 5year max would be 246.7 million they could include language that would bump that up to um 296 like the you know the the AllNBA special grant how much is he worth to you and like what is the number that is I don’t know if you’re if if it’s your walk away point or you’re pouncing at it however you want to frame it of just should we just wait for restricted free agency to see one how he’s doing two how the Blazers themselves are doing and also we know that we just haven’t seen restricted free agency offer sheets just offered in high volume so you can either let the market set his rate and match or just know that you maintain flexibility and you could just sign him then so I think if if there’s an extension offer that Portland is willing to make it’s probably one that Sharp wouldn’t accept and and I think that’s because if it’s me I’m looking at the Jaylen Green extension and I’m saying it’s got to be like 75% of that tops just because they have just like from 10,000 ft similar player types and you have less information about Sharp because he played 32 games two years ago and wasn’t and has not been like a locked in full-time starter basically ever uh so I mean he started 52 of 72 last year so you have it’s his last year was his age 21 season like I it’s got to be restricted free agency i don’t So if it’s like we’ll do a two Jaylen Green example two plus one $80 million like he’s not taking that i I I don’t think I just I I would be shocked so I I think the Blazers would be right to just kind of acknowledge we need more information especially if we think we’re going to be like a little bit more competitive what does Shaden Sharp look like in year four on a team that is going to need him to defend and need him to be a better three-point shooter and need him to be a better playmaker like all that stuff i mean there’s a world where the numbers you’ve got up here four for 190 seems you know it seems beyond insane right now but like maybe he has a great fourth year and it matters to the Blazers and the Blazers are good and it’s like both sides are happy with that so I I think restricted free agency is the way to go which is antilimactic because we’re talking about his extension eligibility right now yeah and I guess I’ve just be curious like what is the just because he’s like you said played 32 games a season ago he hasn’t had like the cleanest the dude can score and the type we all know about the above the rim rim stuff but the types of shots he’s able to get off and sometime sometimes makes are insane and then when you also watch him he can make those tough shots but you don’t feel like he ever is going to need to dominate the ball so I’m just like I don’t know like does he get what did Jaylen Suggs get that was too low five years and 150 so Jaylen Green got three years and 100 for 100 yeah so like would you go four for 130 like does that get him to sign no well he might sign He might sign that i’m not offering that if I’m Portland no way i’m I’m I’m way under a hundred like three i’m way under if it’s a I’m doing three years and maybe I want a team like I’m trying to I’m lowballing honestly if I’m Portland because I don’t think I don’t think he’s shown enough i’m not saying he won’t but just at the moment right now you can’t treat him like he’s absolutely a core piece i I I would be curious what Portland fans would say to that like there’s probably some percentage that are like oh yeah he’s you lock him up for whatever you can but I think most Portland fans would say like there are at least enough questions here to where it would be nice to have another year of information i agree that I’d wait for restricted free agency i do think four years and uh 20 would if I’m Portland probably gets me thinking i’m not going to lie so Sharp should take that the other another extension eligible candidate Tamati Kamara and he’s fascinating just because as a second round pick there’s some different options they can use he’s eligible uh starting I think it’s like July 20th or something four years and $89.2 2 million that extension would kick in during 2027 2028 um I believe and so but you could also go the route of he has those like two cheap years so it’s like do you let him play out this season then decline his team option next summer let him enter restricted free agency where you would have matching rights and then sort of just pay him then I I think you’ve got to well just can we start with if If you’re Portland would you just offer 4 for89 like is he worth that maybe is the better question would you be willing to pay 4 for89 for a guy that just kind of looks like he’s a 37% three-point shooter as an all all defense guy that can guard everybody is that is that a fair market value yeah I think that’s fair i think so too i would probably a question of timing it’s a question of timing and do you do you want to have another cheap year if you can do you and I think if if you don’t do anything now the move is absolutely to just game it so he becomes a restricted free agent after this season and then that’s and then and then you just maybe you might get him cheaper because who knows what the market is going to going to offer for a play he’s like he’s never going to be a 20 point guy right like he’s never going to be a more than like a like a what option on offense fourth maybe and and like he might just be an elite 3 and D with emphasis on the defense so those guys get paid uh but but I I I it’s very difficult to gauge what kind of offers he might command as a restricted free agent i would be willing to find out if I were Portland yeah I think Yeah I would do you think he would sign for 89 he would right i think he would have to yeah yeah um because he’s already 20 this this season coming up will be his age 25 season so like the clock he’s you know you might want to and he’s only had second round money so far so like that first big payday that’s the like the lifecher you probably want to jump with that if you’re him i think the most like the riskiest scenario would be well we just want him like cost controlled for the next two years and so we’re just going to let this float until he’s actually a free agent would be uh that’d be interesting i I’m not doing that i will not let him get to unrestricted free agency the final extension eligible candidate we’re going to talk about I actually think he’s more interesting following the Desmond Bane trade uh you want to talk some Anthony Simons Grant yeah he is extension eligible because if you if you blink like everybody is which is the most bizarre thing it just it’s always shocking who’s extension eligible um he can start sign for a starting salary on a max deal of up of 37.8 million um he but like he’s been the guy we’ve all been trying to trade forever uh to Orlando specifically to Orlando specifically so that’s off the table so I guess you just you just max him and say like well maybe maybe he’ll be tr that I mean part of the reason he was in addition to the skill set um was that like his deal was movable what was it 25 a year basically uh so I don’t have I should have it in front of me yeah I think next season he’s on the books for because it was I believe it was upscale he’s on the books for 278 27 277 um so coming off his and so he’ll be 26 i just like he’s s he is a weirdly hard player to evaluate just because the same money if it was four for 100 again is that where you’re like would you I’d do that i would do that again i think I might be a little offended if I were him um just because it’s like I’m now entering my my prime and uh or I guess he’s probably already entered it but the next deal will take him through his prime basically and with the cap going up you’re basically cutting you’re offering him a pay cut uh which he’s done you know he’s just Anthony Simons has been Anthony Simons this whole time okay four for 104 so it’s $26 million a year I would I would offer that I think he’s movable at that number is really the main reason I I still don’t well what do you think do you think Simons is someone that Portland should view as like a an a key piece with with having Scoot on the roster and you have Shaden Sharp that you’ve got to think about is is he still someone that’s like more than a third guard you know a year or two from now i don’t know and because I don’t know I think I lean towards keeping him because right now who is the player that has the combination of on and off ball gravity that he does as a shooter there’s nobody else on this roster that does that and I think also he’s in the final year of his deal i bet you’d get first a first round pick for him if you want to get more than that you’re probably looking at like you’re taking on a KCP type deal nothing like too toxic but it’s not a contract you’re chomping at the bit to have on your books i like wouldn’t he be unless the extension’s outrageous where it’s like $40 million a year or something isn’t there a case that he would be more valuable to you as a trade asset as well if he’s on a longer contract well yeah for sure because otherwise he’s a rental and that those guys just don’t return the same value i think too I I I I think I’m with you if I’m hearing what you’re saying like you extend him to preserve the asset like we like to say and like make you know that’s a big number that you not big but like a big enough number that you could use in a trade and he’s more valuable if he’s got more years on the deal is there a case to be made that in with a Portland team that presumably is gonna have Donovan Klingan playing more and maybe maybe being like one of those elite defensive anchors in the middle that has a lot of minutes going to guys like Kumar and Avdia and maybe Tyel plays a lot more a player like Simons whose weaknesses are on defense like just and whose whose strengths on offense are still really badly needed on a on a roster like this he might is there is there value like in he’s just no he’s a piece that we need around because of what he does and because of how we can hide his deficiencies i think unless Shane Sharp and Scoot I think you throw in here to take like more leaps as offensive players i I honestly think like that’s the call right now because you could even say well until they acquire somebody who does what Simons does at a higher level and it’s well it’s not just that like you need more than like one like dead eyee shooter on this team and you just don’t really like yeah there are guys that hit them at a high enough clip but no one is being guarded the way that Anthony Simons would do and so ideally you want two of those guys and when you look at the roster if you had to bet on anyone who’s there turning into that like that wasn’t even Scoot’s profile coming into the league when everyone was highest on So Shaden Sharp is probably your next best bet there i think you’re on to something to where it’s all right he’s not no not an untouchable member of the core i don’t even know if the Blazers have any truly untouchable players to be honest tummani Kamar because of the value but like if we’re getting down to Brett I don’t know that they have any untouchable players but I look at this and say if they’re not trying to tank like they need Anthony Simons because he’s he does stuff that nobody else on this team has shown they can do consistently and it’s like I know his percentages can wax and Wayne the way he’s guarded is just fundamentally different than a lot of other players on this team very true and th this is a specific example of what we talked about up front of like if if you said if they are not going to tank like I don’t think they’re tanking and that means that they sort of believe that their close to the season was real and if that’s true and you want to be as good or better Simon sort of needs to still be there hey what you’re you’re just like teeing us up with great segways here so look well I think the the biggest question is so what do you think they will do or should do this off seasonason when it comes to the transaction market is it are you I would call them I think you boil it down to are you just looking to maybe cut off some of the veteran salary so that you can open up even more minutes for maybe some inbound youngsters or flyers that you take or are you being more let’s not say aggressive buyers but opportunistic buyers to where it’s like the Denny Oavia situations that way you’re it’s not oh it falls into our lap they actively sought out that situation so it was opportunistic but it was like an aggressive opportunism but they’re not the team that it’s no they need to go give up four first on pick for Kevin Durant right now no I don’t I don’t think so and really if you look at like the way that their their roster is structured and the payroll looks it’s like they are kind of more like they’ve got that massive exp what’s making 35 in the last year of his deal and you’ve got Simons if they don’t extend him that’s at 27 in the last year of his deal you know the Robert Williams 13 like they’ve got all these numbers is like you should package these up and send them somewhere with a couple picks and you could go really big game hunt if you wanted to i don’t feel like that’s the move for them um so like just to keep it boring sorry like what they need is shooting and it could come at any position and if you can unjam the center position so that Klingan is just he’s our guy and then we have just at least not all three of dooop wreath and Robert Williams in the mix there like if you can unclog that you can add some shooting they were 26 in three-point percentage last year they were mid pack in attempts per 100 so they they’re getting them up like their process is okay the results have been bad get shooting ditch at least one of the bigs and then like kind of see what you have that’s that’s kind that would kind of be my like three-step plan for for the Blazers off season is there like an ideal archetype of player that you would want to see on this roster if they do decide that we’re trying to be like really firmly in the playin mix next year i mean I think you can skew like pretty offenseheavy offense only because I like their front court defensively so like which is such a luxury by the way like if you’re keeping Avdia Kamar and Klingan just as an examp like you there’s just a ton of options that you can go off after at the trade market so so like you know a Malik Beasley type a Buddy Heel type a Cory Kisspert type like these are all different you know these some of these are trades some of these are signings whatever uh those types of guys where it’s like yeah we’re giving back a little bit defensively but we can we can accommodate that like those would be the types of players I’d target just someone who’s going to get threes up and make threes and keep the floor space especially if Klingan’s your big and it doesn’t look like he’s going to like tap into any kind of spacing game um and who knows if Kamar and Avdia will will be reliable three-point shooters just someone that’s really going to stretch the defense out so you do have you know just kind of offsetting the strengths and weaknesses by adding like legit like scary shooting I think would be the first thing I’d go for and they might be like even a Grayson Allen if Phoenix is looking to cut money at some point but I do wonder I I think there’s room and I there better be like a mandate to like put more on his shoulders next year in Scoot Henderson but they could also kind of use like another like you know Sharp or Avdia or uh like as your secondary creator type Simons as well there might be room for like more of a true floor general to come off like assuming Scoot is just going to be the full-time starter there’s probably room for like a floor general type to come off the bench but I think you hit it on the head for me just be like let’s just surround all like you look at the paint touches that you can get from Avdia and Scoot like you just want to surround those guys with shooting and if you also want to maximize like Donovan Clingan has issues enough catching the ball and finishing um open up that space for him even more like you need shooting around these guys yeah and if you if you do I mean like it’s on the West Coast so maybe Chris Paul would be interested like just some someone like that I one of the Joneses i’ll just I’m never going to refer to Taius or Trey i’ll just say one of them uh some someone like that i mean if if Klingan can’t catch the ball I think Chris Paul’s one guy that would put it in the spots where he’d have the best odds at it i’m not I I’ve just thought of Chris Paul right now i’m not like this is the guy but that if you’re not just going shooting I think you’re right i think it is someone that can help the shooters you do have get cleaner looks help the bigs that you do have you know finish as well as as their skills allow them to would this be should this be a Klay Thompson team if Dallas looks to trade him or is that contract just not not No I think I don’t think that contract is is like crippling yeah some someone like that that’s I whatever Klay Thompson still is he’s treated the same way by defenses i do think there are two obviously they’re free agents i I think they’d fall in like mid-level territory trey man if he’s healthy some on ball shake and then of course the offball shooting and Ty Jerome this would be a good Ty Jerome can you imagine him like within this defense um those are the types of moves I would support by the way where it’s if they have to trade a first round pick sure but like if you’re getting into like multiple first round pick territory I need to know like what’s the name that they’re getting back as part of this because I think one of the most dangerous things you can do is like fasttrack things too much like over accelerate after having what you view as a promising season right you still should I agree you still should have like just the healthiest little bit of hesitation in trusting the second half last year i think you’re going to you you can’t act as if like just the arrow is angling up and there’s no question about it you don’t know that yet you know what would be really interesting and they could almost just take them in without having to send out money by using exceptions but like if they were giving Boston a first round pick and both like okay here’s Pton Pritchard and Sam Hower and I was like I’m I’m all over that if I’m Portland that that like there’s both your needs addressed in two players that’s perfect we just made the Blazer as a championship contender richard out of Oregon dan I know you follow college basketball but that that would be I obviously knew that and that is not the first time I’m hearing this at all that’s so shout out to me uh who’s the most likely player to be traded on this roster do you think there’s like seven candidates for this yeah and you can like Eightton is Let’s go through them eighton expiring 35 jeremy Grant just I mean that’s the guy that I if you’re Portland that’s the guy you probably would like to trade he’s got two more guaranteed at 32 and 34 and then a $36 million player option is he likely to uh is it just maybe it’s just Robert Williams that the numbers right it’s 13 million he’s at a position that they have a glut of players at so I I guess I’ll just say Robert Williams but I’m wondering if I’m overlooking somebody they need to free DWP Reef if they’re not going to clear up some big man playing time though that would be my st honestly I don’t know if I would be able to i want every team that basically needs a big to trade for RW3 because I’m so RW3 pilled but then if I’m the Blazers it’s would you rather like hold out hope for Lightning in a bottle than get two second you’re not getting a first round pick for him right unless you’re taking back like obscene salary yeah but you’re also not I mean you’d probably an interesting case maybe there’s some situation out there that just wants that expiring deal but I think you’re paying to get off of Aon and Grant right like maybe I think so i think you’re giving up assets on the way out to move those guys with Eightton the payment might be we’re taking back money that extends past this year maybe um I’m just going to go with Matis Styel because his numbers squarely in the middle and so a team might not want Matis Styel but it’s going to be an expiring contract when he picks up the player option and like the Blazers because of the salary situation they’re in 12 million bucks allows them to take back almost what like a $20 million player so if that’s a route they want to go and attach something to him and that feels like kind of right up their alley like I said before we’re sort of like Matis Dable to Boston and like first round pick for Pton Pritchard and Sam Hazer look there you’re done and Boston saves some money but that I’ll just go with that there this is a tough team to read in kind of a I would say an exciting way because it feels like anything just might be on the table under all the circumstances yeah I think that’s right you have anything else on the Blazers or are you ready to take us out of here sir i’m I’m ready to take us out here uh look at us just being time efficient on Portland we hit everything for us anyway i’m sure some people like why wasn’t this 12 minutes long how is this a 25minute bug uh thanks everybody for listening for watching uh make sure that wherever you’re consuming this rate review subscribe give us a thumbs up on YouTube leave us a comment there as well join our Discord the links for that are in the YouTube and podcast description uh tell your friends tell your enemies shouts to Frank Nilikino apologies Jared Allen [Music]

Dan and Grant break down every aspect of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2025 offseason, including extension candidates, biggest needs, overall direction and potential trade targets! Check out all of our offseason lookaheads here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsDA9BkMoPHSNt1oBSdendJRQJ9nEBwaT. CHAPTERS BELOW.

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CHAPTERS⬇️
0:00 – Intro
0:40 – Are the Blazers the NBA’s biggest wild card?
3:39 – Blazers cap sheet and trade assets
5:13 – Shaedon Sharpe extension
9:07 – Toumani Camara extension
11:35 – Anfernee Simons extension
16:40 – Will the Blazers be buyers or sellers?
18:36 – Biggest needs and trade targets

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