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shoktart
New Member
Both the Blazers & Cavs are in rebuilding mode. However, I sense that Cleveland and their owner are in a bit more of a hurry to become a playoff team than the Blazers. The Blazers GM has said several times that he is looking longterm. Pesonally, I think that's smart because no one is beating Lebron anytime soon anyway.
If I were Cleveland I would keep the draft picks and build a very young nucleus that will become very good around the time Lebron is done winning championships.
However, if Cleveland is willing, Portland should make the following trade:
LaMarcus Aldridge
for
Tristan Thompson, #1 pick, #31 pick
As a Blazers fan I think this would be a very smart move for Portland.
And Cleveland would probably like this because they would get their veteran All Star PF to go with Irving, Waiters & Varejao. Plus the Cavs have cap space so they would probably add a nice SF to go with the other starters. Plus, this would still leave the Cavs with their #19 pick.
Back to the Blazers. I like what this would mean longterm. We would have 6 of the Top 45 draft picks to play with. That's huge for a team lacking depth and looking to build for the future.
1. Tristan Thompson - he's a serviceable big man that has not yet come close to reaching his potential. And he has already shown more desire to play down on the block than Aldridge ever did.
2. #1 pick - SG Ben McLemore. I know the Blazers would probably take Nerlens Noel. But maybe for once they would take the dynamic wing player over the injury-waiting-to-happen big man. B-Mac would give the Blazers another much needed dynamic scorer to go with Lillard. Matthews & Batum aren't scorers. We desperately need a scoring wing player.
3. #10 pick - C Gorgui Dieng. Here's the funny thing. Noel is getting all the hype and all the pressure at that #1 spot. But the forgotten defensive stud big man in this draft is Gorgui Dieng from Louisville. He's a champion, and he has no injury concerns. He doesn't give anything offensively, but neither does Noel. On the defensive end Dieng is the next Serge Ibaka. He would be a great addition to the center position. We'd have Meyers Leonard for offense and Gorgui Dieng for defense.
4. #31 pick - PG Nate Wolters. How about an under the radar steal at the top of the 2nd round. This is a big PG (6 '5") that can shoot and run an offense. He's simply overlooked because he's white and played at South Dakota State. But he would be the perfect backup PG. Who knows if Eric Maynor comes back, but even if he does you can never have enough reliable PG's on a team.
5. #39, #40 & #45 picks - C Jeff Withey, PF Kenny Kadji & PF Ryan Kelly. Here is where we add depth to the front court position. We get another nice C prospect to go with Leonard & Dieng. And we get a pair of nice PF prospects, one who plays on the inside & and one that plays on the perimeter who can come off the bench as a deep threat.
6. Top 10 pick in the 2014 draft - Andrew Wiggins? Jabari Parker? Marcus Smart? Julius Randle? Willie Cauley-Stein? Noah Vonleh? This is probably the biggest part of the Aldridge trade that I like, and most people probably wouldn't think about. The Blazers have a Top 10 protected first round pick for the 2014 draft. Which means if we finish better than the worst 10 records in the league the pick goes to the Pelicans. By trading Aldridge and looking for the future this will ensure we will suck next year so we can add one final very important piece in the Top 10 of the next draft.
Portland will never become a contender through free agency. We HAVE to build through the draft.
2012 - Lillard, Leonard, Barton
2013 - McLemore, Dieng, Wolters, Withey, Kadji, Kelly
2014 - Top 10 stud
You add those 10 draft picks to Matthews, Batum & Thompson and now the Blazers would actually have something fun and exciting and potentially dangerous in a couple years.
If I were Cleveland I would keep the draft picks and build a very young nucleus that will become very good around the time Lebron is done winning championships.
However, if Cleveland is willing, Portland should make the following trade:
LaMarcus Aldridge
for
Tristan Thompson, #1 pick, #31 pick
As a Blazers fan I think this would be a very smart move for Portland.
And Cleveland would probably like this because they would get their veteran All Star PF to go with Irving, Waiters & Varejao. Plus the Cavs have cap space so they would probably add a nice SF to go with the other starters. Plus, this would still leave the Cavs with their #19 pick.
Back to the Blazers. I like what this would mean longterm. We would have 6 of the Top 45 draft picks to play with. That's huge for a team lacking depth and looking to build for the future.
1. Tristan Thompson - he's a serviceable big man that has not yet come close to reaching his potential. And he has already shown more desire to play down on the block than Aldridge ever did.
2. #1 pick - SG Ben McLemore. I know the Blazers would probably take Nerlens Noel. But maybe for once they would take the dynamic wing player over the injury-waiting-to-happen big man. B-Mac would give the Blazers another much needed dynamic scorer to go with Lillard. Matthews & Batum aren't scorers. We desperately need a scoring wing player.
3. #10 pick - C Gorgui Dieng. Here's the funny thing. Noel is getting all the hype and all the pressure at that #1 spot. But the forgotten defensive stud big man in this draft is Gorgui Dieng from Louisville. He's a champion, and he has no injury concerns. He doesn't give anything offensively, but neither does Noel. On the defensive end Dieng is the next Serge Ibaka. He would be a great addition to the center position. We'd have Meyers Leonard for offense and Gorgui Dieng for defense.
4. #31 pick - PG Nate Wolters. How about an under the radar steal at the top of the 2nd round. This is a big PG (6 '5") that can shoot and run an offense. He's simply overlooked because he's white and played at South Dakota State. But he would be the perfect backup PG. Who knows if Eric Maynor comes back, but even if he does you can never have enough reliable PG's on a team.
5. #39, #40 & #45 picks - C Jeff Withey, PF Kenny Kadji & PF Ryan Kelly. Here is where we add depth to the front court position. We get another nice C prospect to go with Leonard & Dieng. And we get a pair of nice PF prospects, one who plays on the inside & and one that plays on the perimeter who can come off the bench as a deep threat.
6. Top 10 pick in the 2014 draft - Andrew Wiggins? Jabari Parker? Marcus Smart? Julius Randle? Willie Cauley-Stein? Noah Vonleh? This is probably the biggest part of the Aldridge trade that I like, and most people probably wouldn't think about. The Blazers have a Top 10 protected first round pick for the 2014 draft. Which means if we finish better than the worst 10 records in the league the pick goes to the Pelicans. By trading Aldridge and looking for the future this will ensure we will suck next year so we can add one final very important piece in the Top 10 of the next draft.
Portland will never become a contender through free agency. We HAVE to build through the draft.
2012 - Lillard, Leonard, Barton
2013 - McLemore, Dieng, Wolters, Withey, Kadji, Kelly
2014 - Top 10 stud
You add those 10 draft picks to Matthews, Batum & Thompson and now the Blazers would actually have something fun and exciting and potentially dangerous in a couple years.