“At this point, it’s a lot of things being said, sometimes words being put in my mouth, and I haven’t said anything,” Lillard explained. “I think, it should be all of the people who’ve covered me since I’ve been in the NBA, they know that if there’s something to be said or if I think something or have something to say, I’m going to say it and I’m going to stand on it. Like I said, it’s been a lot of talk and nobody’s heard me say any of these things.

“But anything that I have to say, I’ m going to say it directly to [Blazers GM Neil Olshey] and I’m going to address it directly with my team. I don’t really have nothing to say to you guys about it. Everything that I need to say and that I feel has been said to Neil. So, there’s really nothing else that I have to say about it.”

It sounds like Lillard has given an upgrade or trade me ultimatum.

The Billups situation was weird. He's been a public figure for years, it's odd that an allegation from 20 years ago would surface at this time. Does Derrick Rose have this **** to look forward to? Not really sure what moves Blazers can make to help Lillard. Dame to Golden State just makes too much sense. Golden State needs to cash in on Wiseman before people start questioning those advanced stats.

I just don't see Kawhi leaving. Clippers have reinvented themselves around him. They have some back end work to do and need to figure out the PG spot, but George and Mann both upped a level these playoffs and Kawhi has to think if he was healthy They would be in the Finals.

I think a smart organization can build around those limits. You can play Simmons with 4 wings, good luck trying to get a favourable switch on defense or play a traditional center on Simmons. That's Why I think the Spurs fit- not many avenues open for Popovich to get top talent and no one else is better at finding complimentary role Players.

Noel S&T $12 Million to the Blazers for Robert Convington 1 year guaranteed contract of 12 Million

Why it works, the Knicks don’t lose Noel for nothing and add a better 3&D wing to the roster that means they don’t have to overpay Bullock either. Convington is a Thibs guy having played for him on the Wolves and is an expiring contract in 2022. He would also be a upgrade for Bullock having more self creation ability.

Noel also does it because, the blazers fit his game, they wouldn’t need him score. 12 Mil for 2-3 years is a far contract too for what he brings.

Why the Blazers do it, Nurkic has been injury prone the last few seasons and isn’t a ideal Center for a team that needs defense more than scoring. The blazers need to retool and being able to trade his reasonable contract would help OR if they keep Nurkic the blazers finally have a good back up center after a season of watching Kanter not play the best defense. Though honestly moving Nurkic might be the smartest move the blazers can do. Breaking up CJ and Dame is risky and could make them a worse team.

Mitch
Randle
Convington
RJ
FA PG

They would have to renounce his rights at the end of the season to have Max space but at 31 he might be willing to take the the MLE option to stay long term and be on a legit contender again…

TripleThreat wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:
I’d love Jarret Allen - think he is a legit all-around very young center and yes I understand Allen is about to get paid.

Wonder what price would be - Mitch & #1 - maybe more?

Allen would be a sign and trade, so the trade value is really Allen's full Bird Rights compared to the same team trying to sign him to an offer sheet.

I don't think it would be much, since another team, like the Knicks, could sign Allen to an offer sheet and there's a decent chance Cleveland won't match it. I think the Knicks could get Allen without having to give up any first round draft picks.

The complication is Cleveland wants to dump Kevin Love's contract. So having a lot of open cap space is NOT a bad thing. So when you have that much cap space, teams are going to keep trying to dump their ugly contracts on you. I wouldn't call it a problem, I would call it a functional complication of having options. The argument the Cavs will make ( and I won't agree with it) is that Allen's value is the price to eat Love's contract.

I believe the Knicks could also get Allen without having to take Love's deal.

Houston is not sold on Mobley so far. So if they want Jalen Green, they want to see if they can get the Cavs to trade up one slot, reap some kind of value/any value, and let them take Mobley and they take Green anyway. Cleveland understands his and will be somewhat reluctant to trade up when Mobley could just fall to them anyway without having to give anything up. The issue in these situations is ownership. Fertitta might force the Rockets to take Mobley even if the front office would rather go for Green.

Allen wouldn't cost too much. Well, not as much as some might believe. He would walk in and eat up a lot of cap space.

Houston wants to drag in OKC into the deal so they can find a way to dump Wall before Cleveland tries to entice Presti to take that Kevin Love contract. Once you shift from a two team to a three team deal, it just gets more complicated. Once you get a fourth team in, it turns even more daunting.

It would not surprise me if the Rockets tried to trade back, and if they succeeded, try to trade back yet again. Lots of owners are hot and bothered by what Troy Weaver did in Detroit. That kind of draft run is not common at all. Some owners don't think that way. They believe volume in one draft/one offseason can spark a turnaround. Let's not avoid giving credit here, Troy Weaver absolutely crushed it last offseason and now he has Cade Cunningham to boot. He's setting some unrealistic expectations for some handsy owners.

Allen is a good player I’d offer a a couple draft picks in a sign and trade

gradyandrew wrote:Steph Curry doesn't block many shots and Randle hardly dunks- I get what you're saying, I just think you have to balance it against his All Star status and all defense level. Are you arguing that he's not good or or just the doesn't hit 3's?

I think a smart organization can build around those limits. You can play Simmons with 4 wings, good luck trying to get a favourable switch on defense or play a traditional center on Simmons. That's Why I think the Spurs fit- not many avenues open for Popovich to get top talent and no one else is better at finding complimentary role Players.

All Star status is nice, but doesn't mean a lot to me in terms of the Simmons analysis. Simmons has been an excellent defender. The question is, would he be an excellent defender as a full time center and a team would have to basically change it's roster to work around him. Also, do you want to assign that much cap space to such a limited offensive player? Teams tend to pay out that much to one player when they are thinking deep playoff runs. If the Spurs (or any other team) takes him, it will likely be because they believe they can work with & change him offensively.

foosballnick wrote:

wargames wrote:Here’s a trade scenario

Noel S&T $12 Million to the Blazers for Robert Convington 1 year guaranteed contract of 12 Million

Why it works, the Knicks don’t lose Noel for nothing and add a better 3&D wing to the roster that means they don’t have to overpay Bullock either. Convington is a Thibs guy having played for him on the Wolves and is an expiring contract in 2022. He would also be a upgrade for Bullock having more self creation ability.

Noel also does it because, the blazers fit his game, they wouldn’t need him score. 12 Mil for 2-3 years is a far contract too for what he brings.

Why the Blazers do it, Nurkic has been injury prone the last few seasons and isn’t a ideal Center for a team that needs defense more than scoring. The blazers need to retool and being able to trade his reasonable contract would help OR if they keep Nurkic the blazers finally have a good back up center after a season of watching Kanter not play the best defense. Though honestly moving Nurkic might be the smartest move the blazers can do. Breaking up CJ and Dame is risky and could make them a worse team.

Mitch
Randle
Convington
RJ
FA PG

They would have to renounce his rights at the end of the season to have Max space but at 31 he might be willing to take the the MLE option to stay long term and be on a legit contender again…

I'm certainly not an NBA Capologist - but do teams generally do S&T's with unrestricted free agents? Why wouldn't the Blazers just sign Noel themselves?

Cause they over the cap. They only would have the exceptions.

So in practice, if the Knicks have $60m of cap room, they could spend $56.6m on other players until they reached the cap, and THEN sign Robinson up to his maximum (or anything in-between), going over the cap to do so.

This was the exact scenario I was envisioning, but you're right it carries risk. It's possible he decides he wants to play somewhere else. Whatever those concerns are, and his recent injuries, have depressed his value, I would think. So the upside gain is, max out FA money this summer and next before signing Robinson vs. a downside risk of him going and the Knicks having to find another center.

I think I take that risk and go for it- hoping that winn6 convinces Mitchell to stay. An upgrade at PG seems so clutch for that. What if the Knicks offered Mike Conley a Gordon Hayward sized deal? Does that sit well with Rose if he is making a third?

What about Melo too? He played 1690 minutes last - 4th on the Blazers, 150 more than Noel, on a vet minimum contract! Can't Melo be our Gallinari? Run the bench unit and finish with the starters when he's feeling it.

gradyandrew wrote:

Mitch makes $1.8 next year on a team option. After that his salary will likely be much higher either re-signed or as an UFA - so from a salary perspective, the main difference will be a one year cap impact....UNLESS.....the team plans on blowing it's load on salaries this year to go over the cap in coming years with Bird Rights etc.

And the Knicks Will have matching rights and a low cap hold next off season. The Knicks could roll over their space but why- Thibs isn't going anywhere, The Knicks want to compete. If They spend it this season, next season They Will be limited to resigning Randle and Robinson.

And honestly, I hope Robinson signs a 100 million dollar deal next summer with NY- because that means that he will have played his ass off.

Mitch is not in a normal contract situation. It was explained to me that if we decline his option he will be a RFA this year. However, if we pick up his option he will be a UFA next year. This is where the decision gets hard. We can guarantee we keep him if we decline his option but we will be paying a lot more money a year earlier than we have to. If we take the option we get him cheap for another year and preserve that cap space that we can use to upgrade our roster but Mitch can just leave and we get nothing in return next year.

Their biggest asset right now is all the extra draft capital they hold which should allow them move up for a player they feel confident in being an immediate contributor or to trade for a veteran starter. Of course, they will do their due diligence in FA. I don't think we will see any desperation signings like throwing a bunch of money at a 35yr old Lowry to try to pry him away from Toronto. I don't think the Knicks will give up the farm for B.Roy or overpay for Wall or anything like that. However, we could see them go after Ball or Graham or another young player like Oubre who they feel could be a part of the team's future. If nobody jumps on board in FA we may just see them bring back a very similar roster to last years, with an infusion of talent from the draft of course.

The Knicks have been preaching patience. I don't think we should assume anything has changed just because they had a playoff run last season.