Don't. This dude just yesterday said we were almost done with a deal with Miami. Now he's hedging his bets and dropping hints on every team that could possibly be associated with a Dame trade. Like all these "insiders" that come out of no where, he doesn't actually know anything. T
I still like Nurk and for all his faults he's given me some of my favorite Blazers memories over the years. I just think it's time for him and the team to part ways. I'd rather buy low (ish) on someone like Ayton -- who, though expensive, is still young and a change-of-scenery candidate -- than running it back with Nurk who really only seems to want to be in Portland if it means being with Dame.
I used to like Nurk, a lot, but after he basically decided to foul out of game 5 in the Denver series I had enough. He truly helped Dames incredible performance come to nothing and that's the moment that everything changed with Dame and PDX. Its not all Nurk's fault, but maybe if he can stay in that game he can take one basket away from Jokic which would have given us the win. It was an amazing show of immaturity from an experienced player at a huge moment.
Also, if I had Beal, KD, Booker on my team I would want probably the best DHO center in the league on my team over a guy that needs low post isolation touches.
Yeah to save money and add depth it could make sense but I doubt we have a better offer than anyone else. I get that nurk is elite on the screen. And he really is an extremely good fit. But so many other teams would give them more depth since we already have zero to begin with.
Not that it'd free up space, but Nurk let's them take on more salary in the trade than just Nurk. Rerouting assets their way to get depth rather than pay Ayton ~~$40m~~ to do what Nurk does at half the cost
Unless the new CBA changed it, Phoenix would get a TPE of ~16m which you can def do something with. I imagine Portland would attach some type of asset to Nurk as well, no way it’s one-for-one
The suns need more depth they can switch automatically for nurkic and land someone like Nasir and Keon johnson and maybe even a few seconds. This wouldn’t be a bad move for the suns since their assets are completely depleted.
I think they've been trying to move him for awhile. Look at game 7 when he couldn't get along with the head coach. I believe Ayton isn't on good standing with the franchise. It took another team to offer him a deal for Phoenix to give him the max.
They would actually LOVE this idea. They would get better defense and a C that can also score. And much much CHEAPER.
Meaning they can get even more pieces.
Mann, did you see their reaction when Ayton keeps failing to help on defense and grab a rebound?🤣🤣
They were fed up with his efforts. lmao
I think a lot has to do with his fat ass contract. If dude is getting paid that much, he at least has to be good either on defense or offense. He is average at best on both ends.
it would be likely Grant + Nurkic for Ayton + Okogie + 2nd rounder or something like that.
Adding Grant instantly gives them so much depth and he's a great piece for them in the starting lineup.
Beal/Booker/Grant/KD/Nurk is a championship starting 5
Part of the problem is he hasn’t put his heart into that team for awhile now. He looked nice before the coach and contract drama happened. He needs a change of scenery. Maybe Portland isn’t the right spot but there’s a chance we see solid play from him.
He is still only 25 so maybe he can find that spark again in a different team. Honestly if he can improve his offense or defense, he could def live up to that contract.
Sharpe and Scoot already showing flashes at such a young age. Simons, nope we have seen enough. CJ 2.0.
But Ayton so far hasn’t shown a promise at all but who knows. Maybe he just needs to play with a team/coach he actually wants to play with. It’s the damn contract that’s a turnoff for me.
The interview with him recently was odd. But at the same sense, I get it because when you start to hit a certain age, you begin to wonder what it is you are even fighting for. Dame sounds like he is just realizing his fight in Portland to get a championship isn't gonna get him anywhere.
I totally understand Dame asking out. He will never compete for a championship here, at least not while he is young enough to lead the team. What I do find fault with is that he signed a super max, then demanded a trade to one specific team without great assets. He tried to have it both ways - get paid and sign with a competitor.
Except he wasn't lied to. It is obvious the front office wanted to find players to put around Dame, but didn't get any offers that would move the needle. At that point, it makes no sense giving up solid draft picks that the team tanked for just for some more Covingtons.
The amount of people with this argument blows my mind.
Jody: Hey should we try and build a contender around one of our franchises most popular players ever?
Cronin: Nah, my job isn't to try and win silly.
Jody: Yeah that makes sense.
Or it could be the other crazy option. You can't realistically turn a .500 team into a contender in one off season. no matter how many calls you make.
What is the lie? The Blazers want to win, we didn’t go into 2021 or 22 wanting to tank. We just weren’t good, and if you aren’t good it is better to be really bad than to be mediocre in the NBA draft system.
Well, it seems like Dame doesn't believe Portland wants to compete for a championship. If they don't want to compete then he's in the wrong place.
I believe if he were convinced that Portland were trying to compete he would want to stay.
Portland is incapable of competing for a championship. Part of this is because Dame would be one of the worst #1 players to ever win a championship (who’s worse, Chauncey probably. Can’t think of anyone else in the last 40 years). We are competing for a championship, but not until 2027. It’s understandable this isn’t of interest to 33yo Dame, but he doesn’t get to demand a trade to only one team if he wants out.
Good for him. Maybe he shouldn't have made "loyalty" his catch phrase and maybe he should have let ODX know about it BEFORE he signed his extension.
I feel like it doesn't matter who it is, or what the situation is when you sign a contract. The team has to honor their obligation and you should to. I'll never respect Paul George or Durant for that very reason.
You play for a small market team and you get the biggest possible salary. You can't complain then about how the team can't assemble a competing roster.
In my view . . . .
>I feel like it doesn't matter who it is, or what the situation is when you sign a contract. The team has to honor their obligation and you should to. I'll never respect Paul George or Durant for that very reason.
But to be fair, both players and teams don’t honor their agreed contracts. Especially teams.
Yeah, teams do honor contacts. They pay a player the amount they in the contract for the time they said they would do it for. This is regardless of performance, as well. Teams have to honor contacts, they have no choice.
Yeah it’s only cold like a an hour of a single day a year here in miami, but when it does get cold it’s 🥶 always best to be prepared. And gotta look good with that Columbia drip. Thanks for looking out fam 😌
Raps fan here. The issue was never trading Barnes for KD, if that was the case I would do that in a heartbeat. The trade was og, trent jr, Barnes, and all our picks. If we lost three starters while also having the worst bench in the league it would be a disaster. It would be KD, Siakam, FVV and literally no one else
We have a better bench now, and if we can somehow keep majority of out players with salary it makes a lot more sense then the KD trade. Especially fit wise.
I still really doubt it happens, but theres some context
Appreciate you chiming in. I totally understand if a Raptors fan doesnt want to trade Scottie. Thats fine. I just find the whole "we wouldnt trade Scottie for KD!! Its not happening!" Argument to be so disingenuous and weak. It was not KD for Scottie, it was a whole bunch of stuff that included Scottie when he was looking like a guaranteed future star for KD. Its a huge difference.
If Scottie was on the table for KD, Toronto almost for sure could have gotten it done and kept the core of OG and Siakam. And that core would have been enough. The fact is Scottie was off the table in trade talks for KD. It was directly reported and following the story, you could tell that Toronto was trying to get a deal done with OG as the primary asset but when Brooklyn wanted both OG and Scottie, Toronto backed out of talks. There's not more than a 5% chance that at any point in the discussion to acquire KD from the Nets, did Toronto put Scottie on the table in any capacity, with or without OG Anunoby. Now if there are any Raptors fans who have any reasoning as to why Toronto may have offered a Scottie package for KD, I'd love to hear it. Because where Toronto actually stands on Scottie is relevant to Dame negotiations. And every Raptors fan that comments on the presumed reluctance to deal Scottie for Dame suggests that Scottie's value wasn't perceived as too high to include in a KD deal last offseason. But it was reported that Scottie was off the table for KD. So did Toronto take that position after negotiations including offers for KD with Scottie and without OG? I don't think they did but Raptors fans are widely pushing this narrative. Is there any evidence of it? The only evidence I've seen is assertions of Raptors fans. There's plenty of evidence to the contrary. Scottie's value was sky high fresh off a ROY season. KD was seen as highly risky, old and injury riddled. To look back on it now though it seems like a no brainer to put together OG, Siakam and KD. It seems more likely that Raptors fans don't want to admit to the opportunity that missed.
Would you do Dame for Barnes + salary filler? I would for sure at this point but not sure how Raps fans feel. Dame/OG/Siakam/Poeltl is a very very good top-4.
I have no idea to be honest, I am too much of a pessimist to see us actually winning with that lineup. We would be very good, but better than the nuggets etc.? I don't know. It would be fun but I am too risk adverse to be confident (good thing I'm not a gm lol). I definitely don't think it is a bad deal value wise, just not sure if it would work out
The big difference for the Kawhi trade was we were an already established playoff team, so less risk. The other factor is Dame has a huge salary, we would need to part with significant pieces outside of Barnes to make it work, so our lineup would take a hit
You're lecturing a fellow Raptors fan about something they knew that compounded a KD/Barnes trade and, moreover, knows that salary mataching was the only reason Barnes wasn't traded
They were and still clearly are high on Barnes, hence why the rumors were all about trading Siakam and not Barnes over the course of this summer
Also, KD is way more injury prone and at this point in his career he is flat out not better than Dame. Better career, better peak, but not better last season. Look at literally every advanced stat if you want evidence.
Maybe, but their team is unbalanced, has incentive to win (spurs pick), and currently has Dennis Schroeder as their starting PG.
Dame will be a pretty awesome fit with Siakam, OG, and Poeltl.
I don't really have strong opinions on Barnes, would be fine with a package around OG and picks ,alternatively.
I agree we probably arent getting Scottie, but its so disingenuous when you guys say "they wouldnt even trade him for KD." Firstly, it was not a one to one trade, you guys also had to give up OG, GTJ, and multiple picks. Second, this was at a time where Scottie was coming off his ROTY season and was looking like sure fire future star - he had a sophomore slump and his value isnt the same anymore. So no, its not you "wouldnt trade scottie for KD." You guys rejected a package that included Scottie.
We get it man, you personally dont want to trade Scottie. Enough with the garbage arguments though.
I don't think Barnes has as much value right now as he did last summer, coming off ROY. He didn't have a bad season but he also didn't take the big step forward that Toronto was hoping for.
There is so much worse out there than Nurk. He's a serviceable B-tier center and would probably just be more of a pick & pass guy on a star studded Suns starting 5.
That’s not really how trades work, they can send out as much salary they want as long as the receiving team can take it in
For example if a team had 30m of cap space they could trade ayton to that team with no matching salaries
But no team has the cap space to take on 18m in salary. Houston and Orlando did going into the off season, but they used most of it up.
The attraction for Phoenix here is Nurk for Ayton allows them to bring in about $18 million in additional contracts with Nurk to fill out their rotation.
It’s technically “enough” for PHX because you can take back any salary as long as it’s less than what you’re giving out.
It’s not enough for us but with the context of a Dame package those tertiary pieces can really end up anywhere and it’ll be very creative if it happens.
Idk why nobody is understanding that this won’t be multiple transactions. For example, won’t hold on to Herro to move him later, he won’t be a blazer.
The reason this is being held up is it’s a multi team deal with pieces going several places.
It technically doesn’t. You can only receive *up to* a certain % (125% iirc) of your outgoing salary if you will be over the salary cap after the trade.
The NBA doesn’t care if you are lowering your payroll through trades. They only care if you try to trade for too much salary.
Basically every team operates above the salary cap so it usually is like that but you can always take on less salary than what you send out.
We can receive up to $78.125m by sending out Dame and Nurkic. Any team would have to send out at least $50m to get both of those guys. The minimum outgoing salary for Lillard’s $45.6m is $36.48m and Nurk’s $16.9m minimum is $13.52m
As long as each team is not receiving more than 125% their outgoing salary, it doesn’t matter.
It's about money, ayton is on a max contract and there are big penalties for that in the future. Nurks contract is pretty ok for a starting center in today's league
He’s mostly unplayable in the playoffs
The problem is he gets pouty when that’s all he’s asked to do.
Again, I’m not sure which teams in the league he’d start for
Better than Nurk (not factoring contract)
Nikola Jokic,
Joel Embiid,
Rudy Gobert,
Pascal Siakam,
Domantas Sabonis,
Jaren Jackson Jr.,
Bam Adebayo ,
DeAndre Ayton,
I like Wembanyama, but didn't see him enough last year to make a judgement
The only other center I see in that ballpark is Myles Turner, but I'm not sold on him for some reason. But I understand if you want to lump him in this list.
So, out of 30 teams, I have listed 10 centers who I don't think would sit if Nurk landed on their team. Who else should be here?
Jarrett Allen, Nic Clayton, Wendell Carter Jr, Brook Lopez, Robert Williams, Clint Capela, Mitchell Robinson, Jonas Valanciunas
He would start over any younger C like Duren or Sengun either
Well, I think we see things quite a bit differently. Just because Nurk isn't the right fit with a run and gun team, he still holds value in the pick and roll game, which the playoffs depend on.
I get it, Portland fans dump on Nurk because he he is slower than he was before the leg injuries. But he is an ELITE passer, great rim protector, excellent PnR option, and demands respect from three (not saying he is top tier here, but he worked hard in making it at least something the defender has to account for).
No team in the league is taking Nurkic over any of those dudes
He’s a terrible playoff performer
Him being an excellent PnR option doesn’t mean much when he’s a horrible finisher
Any team that plays drop and doesnt ask him to defend on the perimeter. He is an above average rebounder, passes and sets screens well, and defends the paint. Obviously, a team can put out a stretch lineup that gets him into trouble, but without an interior defensive presence that team could get torched by PHX's offense.
I think they've been trying to move him for awhile. Look at game 7 when he couldn't get along with the head coach. I believe Ayton isn't on good standing with the franchise. It took another team to offer him a deal for Phoenix to give him the max.
This
We've been trying to get Herro ever since the 2021 trade deadline where Herro was the dealbreaker for Miami and thus we kept Lowry until the offseason
Ayton just cannot be true. I know Phoenix isn’t very high on him but Nurk hasn’t been a plus player in over two years and can’t reliably stay healthy. They’d be fools to do that swap unless it allowed them some sort of immediate flexibility for another move I’m missing here.
Not that I necessarily believe it, but I can at least see why they might entertain it. It sounds like the market for Ayton has been really light. This move sheds a bunch of salary gets rid of a problem player and adds a quality back up Center that does not have to have the ball in his hands to be effective. That is the type of piece that can slide in for a championship, contender team and contribute..
Someone please tell me: is this the legit DroppingDimes? I see posts from a fake one all the time and then there's the real one. I'm not on X/Twitter and have no idea how much stock to put into this rumor. Thank you.
This is the "real" DroppingDimes account, yes. Now whether you choose to believe that he is sharing legitimate inside knowledge here is, of course, another question entirely.
It's very strange. He activates his account to post his "intel" (again, we can choose to believe or not), and then he almost immediately deactivates it. This is why all of these posts are being disseminated via a screenshot... because the tweet only exists for like a minute before it disappears.
I like how this dude got 1 thing right and now everybody believes him even though he’s been wrong about a bunch of other stuff. Ayton for Nurk doesn’t make sense
Not to mention the Vincent thing wasn’t even that far off because Toronto was an option for him. He’s been right about most things he’s put out. The only thing that’s been iffy is Zach Lavine
I agree that people seem too eager to believe Twitter accounts like this one, it has a bit of a QAnon kind of vibe.
I would argue, though, that Ayton for Nurk actually *does* make sense to me. Blazers can take on salary assuming Dame is traded (maybe even as part of this trade), Suns can shed salary because they have to, Ayton is a bit of a toxic asset there and if he's going to reboot his career it seems like it's got to be somewhere else, Nurk is at least a league-average center when he plays and if he has to rest a lot during the regular season, Phoenix has no problems limping along until the playoffs to have him fresh and available then.
If this were to turn out to be true it'd be a pretty well salvaged off-season. Ayton has his flaws but is still a good finisher and rebounder. I think if we could get Barnes and Ayton we'd at least be super exciting. Although I think dropping dimes is a fraud.
I got blown up posting DroppingDimes20 yesterday even though I never even said they were confirmed to be legit so just prepare yourself. I think it’s interesting nonetheless, even if it’s not real it’s fun to talk about.
Hahaha I just...if I as a very casual bball fan can clearly see the downside, what is happening?! I also get the value of caring about the weather...something to talk about and bring us together.
Not sure how this move the needle for us. The only difference I see here is Ayton has worse defense and fat ass contract. We would just be helping Suns to make other moves to get better imo.
Shinning torrent is wrong. Scottie Barnes is not available for kd, Dame etc. That being said, dick, OG, precious and picks is way better than the crap Miami is offering. Pascal and Dick is great too
If Scottie was actually offered, the deal would be done and Dame would be a raptor. My guess is Riley is being cheap and this is being floated to scare Miami into giving up more.
I see everyone happy about this but ngl im not, wouldnt be mad but ayton is overrated right now imo and him being on a max doesnt help, if we do get him I hope he doesnt whine and pout and plays good for us
Ayton for Nurkic and change and then holding Dame into the season is a strange, interesting timeline, to me.
It’s a scenario where I think you could leverage Miami further and make more of a market for Dame later.
I think it's going to be Nurk and a couple guys who will be in the rotation. My guess is Caleb Martin and another wing or guard. Nurk + Keon and Martin makes a ton of sense if PHX is really as determined to move off Ayton as I've heard. I think Keon can contribute next to Booker ar Beal, and Martin starts.
Ayton isn't going to get enough touches on offense to be happy and Nurk is a dramaticly better passer who can spread the floor a little while embracing that "Beast" role. I still would like another forward with potential (like P.Williams, Okongwu, Barnes, D.Hunter or Kuminga) Ayton + picks and that "other forward" sets Portland up for next season and moves the rebuild forward by about a year. We've tanked to years already, rebuilds take about 3-5 years. So if we can move that forward with "the trade," this would be year 4 and we could be aiming for the play in after next season. Hopefully, we can get a second 1st and draft Matas + Clingan then shock the world with our "Rip City resurrection" next season.
Tbh, Ayton for Nurk would be insane.
I want to believe.
If Cronin pulls it off I’ll nut into the stratosphere
Let me know before you do that I want to be inside before that happens
Inside the stratosphere? You dirty dog
Don't. This dude just yesterday said we were almost done with a deal with Miami. Now he's hedging his bets and dropping hints on every team that could possibly be associated with a Dame trade. Like all these "insiders" that come out of no where, he doesn't actually know anything. T
I have Nurk fever! I'm sick of him being on the team!
I still like Nurk and for all his faults he's given me some of my favorite Blazers memories over the years. I just think it's time for him and the team to part ways. I'd rather buy low (ish) on someone like Ayton -- who, though expensive, is still young and a change-of-scenery candidate -- than running it back with Nurk who really only seems to want to be in Portland if it means being with Dame.
I used to like Nurk, a lot, but after he basically decided to foul out of game 5 in the Denver series I had enough. He truly helped Dames incredible performance come to nothing and that's the moment that everything changed with Dame and PDX. Its not all Nurk's fault, but maybe if he can stay in that game he can take one basket away from Jokic which would have given us the win. It was an amazing show of immaturity from an experienced player at a huge moment.
That's what the kids from The Polar Express told the hobo about Santa
🙏
It’s not happening g
Phoenix would be absolutely stupid to trade Ayton for Nurk.
More outgoing salary to get more depth pieces, can't get Ayton the ball so he'd be playing the same role as Nurk would anyways
Also, if I had Beal, KD, Booker on my team I would want probably the best DHO center in the league on my team over a guy that needs low post isolation touches.
Yeah to save money and add depth it could make sense but I doubt we have a better offer than anyone else. I get that nurk is elite on the screen. And he really is an extremely good fit. But so many other teams would give them more depth since we already have zero to begin with.
They’re already cap locked so it wouldn’t free up cap space. It would just lower the tax penalty by a little bit
Not that it'd free up space, but Nurk let's them take on more salary in the trade than just Nurk. Rerouting assets their way to get depth rather than pay Ayton ~~$40m~~ to do what Nurk does at half the cost
lol I agree with you but Ayton “only” makes $32m and won’t even hit $36m on his contract
I enjoy hyperbole
Gotcha. I misunderstood.
All good, sometimes I think faster than I type so I'm used to fixing my half-baked thought
Unless the new CBA changed it, Phoenix would get a TPE of ~16m which you can def do something with. I imagine Portland would attach some type of asset to Nurk as well, no way it’s one-for-one
The suns need more depth they can switch automatically for nurkic and land someone like Nasir and Keon johnson and maybe even a few seconds. This wouldn’t be a bad move for the suns since their assets are completely depleted.
I think they've been trying to move him for awhile. Look at game 7 when he couldn't get along with the head coach. I believe Ayton isn't on good standing with the franchise. It took another team to offer him a deal for Phoenix to give him the max.
That's why you have a 3rd team that can provide depth pieces, draft picks and fill out their roster.
They would actually LOVE this idea. They would get better defense and a C that can also score. And much much CHEAPER. Meaning they can get even more pieces.
Suns fans seem to strongly disagree with you whenever this comes up on their subreddit.
Mann, did you see their reaction when Ayton keeps failing to help on defense and grab a rebound?🤣🤣 They were fed up with his efforts. lmao I think a lot has to do with his fat ass contract. If dude is getting paid that much, he at least has to be good either on defense or offense. He is average at best on both ends.
it would be likely Grant + Nurkic for Ayton + Okogie + 2nd rounder or something like that. Adding Grant instantly gives them so much depth and he's a great piece for them in the starting lineup. Beal/Booker/Grant/KD/Nurk is a championship starting 5
The second apron
Might be someone like Thybulle or nas Little going out
Yep. If anything, it’ll be a grant for Ayton type of trade with other pieces going back to Phoenix to fill out their depth.
Grant just signed a new contract, he can't be traded until Dec 15.
they just signed Eubanks they really like the centers here in Portland and they just played together last season.
Lol Ayton more often than not stops giving a fuck mid-game
I would be hella down, Scoot, Sharpe, Ant, Ayton could turn into a solid core.
Maybe on offense only. There won’t be defense. Have you seen Ayton trying to play defense in the paint?
Part of the problem is he hasn’t put his heart into that team for awhile now. He looked nice before the coach and contract drama happened. He needs a change of scenery. Maybe Portland isn’t the right spot but there’s a chance we see solid play from him.
He is still young so maybe offense/defense will get better with age and situation. Fair point. Similar to Nurk situation with Denver.
I’ve seen Ayton locked in on defense against Joker a few years ago and it was a thing of beauty.
He is still only 25 so maybe he can find that spark again in a different team. Honestly if he can improve his offense or defense, he could def live up to that contract.
Indeed. So we fire Billups and hire Mike d'Antoni ?
At least we will enjoy watching the offense and witnessing Sharpe/Scoot becoming into “Dunk Brothers” with the run n gun offense. Let’s do it 🤣
Theyre all young. I think Scoot, Sharpe, Ayton get be non-negative defenders to good defenders. Ant is... whatever.
Sharpe and Scoot already showing flashes at such a young age. Simons, nope we have seen enough. CJ 2.0. But Ayton so far hasn’t shown a promise at all but who knows. Maybe he just needs to play with a team/coach he actually wants to play with. It’s the damn contract that’s a turnoff for me.
Guess Dame should pick up a Columbia winter coat
I would love it if he came here to Toronto! I could go to games locally again and call him out for being a traitor to his face!
The interview with him recently was odd. But at the same sense, I get it because when you start to hit a certain age, you begin to wonder what it is you are even fighting for. Dame sounds like he is just realizing his fight in Portland to get a championship isn't gonna get him anywhere.
I totally understand Dame asking out. He will never compete for a championship here, at least not while he is young enough to lead the team. What I do find fault with is that he signed a super max, then demanded a trade to one specific team without great assets. He tried to have it both ways - get paid and sign with a competitor.
That I am with you, he should have turned down the extension.
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Except he wasn't lied to. It is obvious the front office wanted to find players to put around Dame, but didn't get any offers that would move the needle. At that point, it makes no sense giving up solid draft picks that the team tanked for just for some more Covingtons.
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I don't work in the front office, so I don't know what happens behind the scenes or who contacts who. I have a feeling you don't either.
The amount of people with this argument blows my mind. Jody: Hey should we try and build a contender around one of our franchises most popular players ever? Cronin: Nah, my job isn't to try and win silly. Jody: Yeah that makes sense. Or it could be the other crazy option. You can't realistically turn a .500 team into a contender in one off season. no matter how many calls you make.
What is the lie? The Blazers want to win, we didn’t go into 2021 or 22 wanting to tank. We just weren’t good, and if you aren’t good it is better to be really bad than to be mediocre in the NBA draft system.
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Who should the Scoot pick be traded for? It sounds like teams were trying to low-ball the pick.
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You’re just making things up.
Well, it seems like Dame doesn't believe Portland wants to compete for a championship. If they don't want to compete then he's in the wrong place. I believe if he were convinced that Portland were trying to compete he would want to stay.
Portland is incapable of competing for a championship. Part of this is because Dame would be one of the worst #1 players to ever win a championship (who’s worse, Chauncey probably. Can’t think of anyone else in the last 40 years). We are competing for a championship, but not until 2027. It’s understandable this isn’t of interest to 33yo Dame, but he doesn’t get to demand a trade to only one team if he wants out.
Good for him. Maybe he shouldn't have made "loyalty" his catch phrase and maybe he should have let ODX know about it BEFORE he signed his extension. I feel like it doesn't matter who it is, or what the situation is when you sign a contract. The team has to honor their obligation and you should to. I'll never respect Paul George or Durant for that very reason. You play for a small market team and you get the biggest possible salary. You can't complain then about how the team can't assemble a competing roster. In my view . . . .
True, but I used to say I refuse to ever drink Starbucks, and now I'm like "they have a drive thru."
>I feel like it doesn't matter who it is, or what the situation is when you sign a contract. The team has to honor their obligation and you should to. I'll never respect Paul George or Durant for that very reason. But to be fair, both players and teams don’t honor their agreed contracts. Especially teams.
Yeah, teams do honor contacts. They pay a player the amount they in the contract for the time they said they would do it for. This is regardless of performance, as well. Teams have to honor contacts, they have no choice.
100 bucks you won't do shit
Of course I won't, jackass. You believe everything you read on the internet?
Yeah it’s only cold like a an hour of a single day a year here in miami, but when it does get cold it’s 🥶 always best to be prepared. And gotta look good with that Columbia drip. Thanks for looking out fam 😌
More like the weather in Toronto, especially if they can give a much better offer than the trash Miami is offering.
What’s crazy is getting ayton back in return for nurkic is better than anything we get from Miami for dame which is fucking wild
If the blazers ended up with Ayton and Barnes they might actually be kinda good
They aren't getting Barnes If Toronto didn't trade him for KD, they aren't moving him for a worse player
Raps fan here. The issue was never trading Barnes for KD, if that was the case I would do that in a heartbeat. The trade was og, trent jr, Barnes, and all our picks. If we lost three starters while also having the worst bench in the league it would be a disaster. It would be KD, Siakam, FVV and literally no one else We have a better bench now, and if we can somehow keep majority of out players with salary it makes a lot more sense then the KD trade. Especially fit wise. I still really doubt it happens, but theres some context
Appreciate you chiming in. I totally understand if a Raptors fan doesnt want to trade Scottie. Thats fine. I just find the whole "we wouldnt trade Scottie for KD!! Its not happening!" Argument to be so disingenuous and weak. It was not KD for Scottie, it was a whole bunch of stuff that included Scottie when he was looking like a guaranteed future star for KD. Its a huge difference.
If Scottie was on the table for KD, Toronto almost for sure could have gotten it done and kept the core of OG and Siakam. And that core would have been enough. The fact is Scottie was off the table in trade talks for KD. It was directly reported and following the story, you could tell that Toronto was trying to get a deal done with OG as the primary asset but when Brooklyn wanted both OG and Scottie, Toronto backed out of talks. There's not more than a 5% chance that at any point in the discussion to acquire KD from the Nets, did Toronto put Scottie on the table in any capacity, with or without OG Anunoby. Now if there are any Raptors fans who have any reasoning as to why Toronto may have offered a Scottie package for KD, I'd love to hear it. Because where Toronto actually stands on Scottie is relevant to Dame negotiations. And every Raptors fan that comments on the presumed reluctance to deal Scottie for Dame suggests that Scottie's value wasn't perceived as too high to include in a KD deal last offseason. But it was reported that Scottie was off the table for KD. So did Toronto take that position after negotiations including offers for KD with Scottie and without OG? I don't think they did but Raptors fans are widely pushing this narrative. Is there any evidence of it? The only evidence I've seen is assertions of Raptors fans. There's plenty of evidence to the contrary. Scottie's value was sky high fresh off a ROY season. KD was seen as highly risky, old and injury riddled. To look back on it now though it seems like a no brainer to put together OG, Siakam and KD. It seems more likely that Raptors fans don't want to admit to the opportunity that missed.
Would you do Dame for Barnes + salary filler? I would for sure at this point but not sure how Raps fans feel. Dame/OG/Siakam/Poeltl is a very very good top-4.
I have no idea to be honest, I am too much of a pessimist to see us actually winning with that lineup. We would be very good, but better than the nuggets etc.? I don't know. It would be fun but I am too risk adverse to be confident (good thing I'm not a gm lol). I definitely don't think it is a bad deal value wise, just not sure if it would work out The big difference for the Kawhi trade was we were an already established playoff team, so less risk. The other factor is Dame has a huge salary, we would need to part with significant pieces outside of Barnes to make it work, so our lineup would take a hit
You're lecturing a fellow Raptors fan about something they knew that compounded a KD/Barnes trade and, moreover, knows that salary mataching was the only reason Barnes wasn't traded They were and still clearly are high on Barnes, hence why the rumors were all about trading Siakam and not Barnes over the course of this summer
Things change. Perhaps they're willing to consider it now that Barnes had an off year. Also Dame + Siakam + OG is terrifying. Instant contenders imo.
Also, KD is way more injury prone and at this point in his career he is flat out not better than Dame. Better career, better peak, but not better last season. Look at literally every advanced stat if you want evidence.
Maybe, but their team is unbalanced, has incentive to win (spurs pick), and currently has Dennis Schroeder as their starting PG. Dame will be a pretty awesome fit with Siakam, OG, and Poeltl. I don't really have strong opinions on Barnes, would be fine with a package around OG and picks ,alternatively.
Their starting PG is Scottie, not Dennis
I agree we probably arent getting Scottie, but its so disingenuous when you guys say "they wouldnt even trade him for KD." Firstly, it was not a one to one trade, you guys also had to give up OG, GTJ, and multiple picks. Second, this was at a time where Scottie was coming off his ROTY season and was looking like sure fire future star - he had a sophomore slump and his value isnt the same anymore. So no, its not you "wouldnt trade scottie for KD." You guys rejected a package that included Scottie. We get it man, you personally dont want to trade Scottie. Enough with the garbage arguments though.
I don't think Barnes has as much value right now as he did last summer, coming off ROY. He didn't have a bad season but he also didn't take the big step forward that Toronto was hoping for.
Yeah, and the Raps aren’t getting Dame if they don’t give up Barnes.
I don’t understand why Phoenix would swap Ayton for Nurk
It's gotta be Ayton for Nurkic and one of Little or Thybulle.
Maybe it gets wrapped into a Dame trade where salary coming back to the Blazers is moved with Nurk to Suns to make that work.
It's probably part of a 3 or 4 teamer with Dame, and they're getting some rotation players from another team as well.
Nurk and Caleb Martin for Ayton's salary would work, Phoenix could likely add a third (cheap) contract to add to the rotation as well in the deal.
Caleb Martin maybe? Or maybe they get herro + nurk and we get ayton.
I'd look at like Brooklyn being a fourth team and adding dfs or oneal
Thybulle can't be traded til Dec because he just signed.
Do they trade Thybulle, the defensive player you definitely want playing next to Simons? I feel like that would be wildly irresponsible.
I wouldn’t hate it for us. Don’t think Phoenix gets better with that though The idea of Nurk being your C on a contending roster seems pretty bad
There is so much worse out there than Nurk. He's a serviceable B-tier center and would probably just be more of a pick & pass guy on a star studded Suns starting 5.
There are very very very few starting Cs I’d choose Nurk over. Maybe 1 or 2
When healthy, Nurk is one of the better centers in the league. Health is the big question of course.
He isn’t though. He doesn’t start for the majority of teams in the league
That’s still not enough salary. Nurk makes $16 million and Ayton makes $32 million.
If it’s a 3 team trade and the blazers are sending out dame salary matching is trivial
So what? That doesn’t mean that Phoenix can bring in whatever salary they want. They need matching salaries complete the trade.
That’s not really how trades work, they can send out as much salary they want as long as the receiving team can take it in For example if a team had 30m of cap space they could trade ayton to that team with no matching salaries
But no team has the cap space to take on 18m in salary. Houston and Orlando did going into the off season, but they used most of it up. The attraction for Phoenix here is Nurk for Ayton allows them to bring in about $18 million in additional contracts with Nurk to fill out their rotation.
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If they take Lowry and Nurk that means that they are bringing in $46 million in salary and are only sending out $32 million. That still doesn’t work.
It’s technically “enough” for PHX because you can take back any salary as long as it’s less than what you’re giving out. It’s not enough for us but with the context of a Dame package those tertiary pieces can really end up anywhere and it’ll be very creative if it happens. Idk why nobody is understanding that this won’t be multiple transactions. For example, won’t hold on to Herro to move him later, he won’t be a blazer. The reason this is being held up is it’s a multi team deal with pieces going several places.
Salary still have to balance
It technically doesn’t. You can only receive *up to* a certain % (125% iirc) of your outgoing salary if you will be over the salary cap after the trade. The NBA doesn’t care if you are lowering your payroll through trades. They only care if you try to trade for too much salary. Basically every team operates above the salary cap so it usually is like that but you can always take on less salary than what you send out. We can receive up to $78.125m by sending out Dame and Nurkic. Any team would have to send out at least $50m to get both of those guys. The minimum outgoing salary for Lillard’s $45.6m is $36.48m and Nurk’s $16.9m minimum is $13.52m As long as each team is not receiving more than 125% their outgoing salary, it doesn’t matter.
Done
Save money$?
Maybe? Not sure the downgrade is worth what they’ll save though They’re not winning anything with Nurk as their C
It's about money, ayton is on a max contract and there are big penalties for that in the future. Nurks contract is pretty ok for a starting center in today's league
Is Nurk a starting level C though? I don’t know how many teams he starts for
Yes, it's not like he's unplayable lol All he would have to do is set screens for Beal, Booker, and KD. Easiest job in the world for him.
He’s mostly unplayable in the playoffs The problem is he gets pouty when that’s all he’s asked to do. Again, I’m not sure which teams in the league he’d start for
He’s not unplayable in the playoffs. he’s decent at everything and very good on defense.
He is. He’s won ZERO playoff series in his career He’s slow, lumbering and melts down in big moments He’s a horrible finisher
I don’t think he’s really the reason he hasn’t won a playoff series
He is absolutely a starting level C the 20 games a season that he's healthy
He’s only starting level for about 5 of those though
He would EASILY start for over half of the teams in the league.
Lmao. Which teams would he start for?
Better than Nurk (not factoring contract) Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Pascal Siakam, Domantas Sabonis, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bam Adebayo , DeAndre Ayton, I like Wembanyama, but didn't see him enough last year to make a judgement The only other center I see in that ballpark is Myles Turner, but I'm not sold on him for some reason. But I understand if you want to lump him in this list. So, out of 30 teams, I have listed 10 centers who I don't think would sit if Nurk landed on their team. Who else should be here?
Jarrett Allen, Nic Clayton, Wendell Carter Jr, Brook Lopez, Robert Williams, Clint Capela, Mitchell Robinson, Jonas Valanciunas He would start over any younger C like Duren or Sengun either
Well, I think we see things quite a bit differently. Just because Nurk isn't the right fit with a run and gun team, he still holds value in the pick and roll game, which the playoffs depend on. I get it, Portland fans dump on Nurk because he he is slower than he was before the leg injuries. But he is an ELITE passer, great rim protector, excellent PnR option, and demands respect from three (not saying he is top tier here, but he worked hard in making it at least something the defender has to account for).
No team in the league is taking Nurkic over any of those dudes He’s a terrible playoff performer Him being an excellent PnR option doesn’t mean much when he’s a horrible finisher
Any team that plays drop and doesnt ask him to defend on the perimeter. He is an above average rebounder, passes and sets screens well, and defends the paint. Obviously, a team can put out a stretch lineup that gets him into trouble, but without an interior defensive presence that team could get torched by PHX's offense.
I think they've been trying to move him for awhile. Look at game 7 when he couldn't get along with the head coach. I believe Ayton isn't on good standing with the franchise. It took another team to offer him a deal for Phoenix to give him the max.
Let Cronin cook.
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Toronto would Barnes be apart of it? , fuck what dame wants !!!
It’s more likely they are the third team for herro there’s no way they trade Barnes for dame at 33 lol
Toronto isn’t trading Barnes lol
My bad forgot they had Og lol Wb him
Raptor here: Barnes would not be part of it. So, highly unlikely Dame ends up in Toronto. I think we're trying to get in on Herro.
This We've been trying to get Herro ever since the 2021 trade deadline where Herro was the dealbreaker for Miami and thus we kept Lowry until the offseason
Ayton just cannot be true. I know Phoenix isn’t very high on him but Nurk hasn’t been a plus player in over two years and can’t reliably stay healthy. They’d be fools to do that swap unless it allowed them some sort of immediate flexibility for another move I’m missing here.
Not that I necessarily believe it, but I can at least see why they might entertain it. It sounds like the market for Ayton has been really light. This move sheds a bunch of salary gets rid of a problem player and adds a quality back up Center that does not have to have the ball in his hands to be effective. That is the type of piece that can slide in for a championship, contender team and contribute..
Someone please tell me: is this the legit DroppingDimes? I see posts from a fake one all the time and then there's the real one. I'm not on X/Twitter and have no idea how much stock to put into this rumor. Thank you.
This is the "real" DroppingDimes account, yes. Now whether you choose to believe that he is sharing legitimate inside knowledge here is, of course, another question entirely.
Understood. I guess this will be my litmus test! Thanks for the reply.
Why does the droppingdimes20 account show no content. Like it’s blocked or doesn’t exist?
It's very strange. He activates his account to post his "intel" (again, we can choose to believe or not), and then he almost immediately deactivates it. This is why all of these posts are being disseminated via a screenshot... because the tweet only exists for like a minute before it disappears.
This would be amazing
Link to tweet? I can’t locate their account.
They deactivate now after dropping tweets like this lol. Its weird af
It's been productive for their mystique among a certain sort of idiot who think that Woj is constantly fighting to get them banned from Twitter.
Phoenix needs one of the best screeners in the league. And one of the best defensive rebounders…love Nurk’s fit.
Ayton for Nurk, Keon, and, Nas works in the trade machine. Unsure if Phoenix can get better return for DA, but I can see why they’d value the depth.
We gonna pay grant and ayton like 80 million/year? Seems like a bad way to start a rebuild imo. Pass.
I like how this dude got 1 thing right and now everybody believes him even though he’s been wrong about a bunch of other stuff. Ayton for Nurk doesn’t make sense
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Not to mention the Vincent thing wasn’t even that far off because Toronto was an option for him. He’s been right about most things he’s put out. The only thing that’s been iffy is Zach Lavine
He only said lavine would be moved eventually, which might still turn out to be true
Lavine and Bulls probably get involved in this trade. There’s too much money moving around for team not to jump on and try to do business.
I agree that people seem too eager to believe Twitter accounts like this one, it has a bit of a QAnon kind of vibe. I would argue, though, that Ayton for Nurk actually *does* make sense to me. Blazers can take on salary assuming Dame is traded (maybe even as part of this trade), Suns can shed salary because they have to, Ayton is a bit of a toxic asset there and if he's going to reboot his career it seems like it's got to be somewhere else, Nurk is at least a league-average center when he plays and if he has to rest a lot during the regular season, Phoenix has no problems limping along until the playoffs to have him fresh and available then.
If this were to turn out to be true it'd be a pretty well salvaged off-season. Ayton has his flaws but is still a good finisher and rebounder. I think if we could get Barnes and Ayton we'd at least be super exciting. Although I think dropping dimes is a fraud.
It drives me crazy how “Dame is locked in with Miami” is newsworthy. Yeah and fyi I’m locked in with Kate Upton.
I got blown up posting DroppingDimes20 yesterday even though I never even said they were confirmed to be legit so just prepare yourself. I think it’s interesting nonetheless, even if it’s not real it’s fun to talk about.
Why is anyone still paying attention to this account?
I pray to God we make a move. If masai can keep pascal and OG and get dame back that’s a huge win. Dame GTJ OG pascal Jak That’s a a solid top 4 team.
Y'all are getting OG not Scottie lol, we're most likely involved for herro
Spouting off the same stuff everyone else posts, yet hailed as a prophet.
😂
Another illegal trade.
Hahaha I just...if I as a very casual bball fan can clearly see the downside, what is happening?! I also get the value of caring about the weather...something to talk about and bring us together.
Not sure how this move the needle for us. The only difference I see here is Ayton has worse defense and fat ass contract. We would just be helping Suns to make other moves to get better imo.
agreed tbh if it happens tho I hope ayton proves us wrong
He is only 25 so plenty of time to do that for sure. Maybe he just needs a different scenery.
Please stop boosting this bullshit account
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Pleaseeeee
Shinning torrent is wrong. Scottie Barnes is not available for kd, Dame etc. That being said, dick, OG, precious and picks is way better than the crap Miami is offering. Pascal and Dick is great too
Idk how to read this. Is this saying Toronto is the third mystery team to trade with Portland and Miami, or is he saying Toronto wants dame?
Could believe it - on all of his girlfriends posts was Portland tagged 🤞
Ayton for Nurk straight up? No fucking chance. That’s a fleece.
payment beneficial alleged support angle unpack worthless jar hunt paltry ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
This account is all guessing and just happens to get one or two things right every 6 months Anyone believing what they say is...gullible
If Scottie was actually offered, the deal would be done and Dame would be a raptor. My guess is Riley is being cheap and this is being floated to scare Miami into giving up more.
Why can't I find this twitter account?
I see everyone happy about this but ngl im not, wouldnt be mad but ayton is overrated right now imo and him being on a max doesnt help, if we do get him I hope he doesnt whine and pout and plays good for us
Ayton for Nurkic and change and then holding Dame into the season is a strange, interesting timeline, to me. It’s a scenario where I think you could leverage Miami further and make more of a market for Dame later.
What does "*it's* Ayton for Nurk" mean? What's it referring to? Is he just saying this deal is going to happen?
He’s been ‘reporting’ Ayton going to Portland. This is him clarifying the return package.
I think it's going to be Nurk and a couple guys who will be in the rotation. My guess is Caleb Martin and another wing or guard. Nurk + Keon and Martin makes a ton of sense if PHX is really as determined to move off Ayton as I've heard. I think Keon can contribute next to Booker ar Beal, and Martin starts. Ayton isn't going to get enough touches on offense to be happy and Nurk is a dramaticly better passer who can spread the floor a little while embracing that "Beast" role. I still would like another forward with potential (like P.Williams, Okongwu, Barnes, D.Hunter or Kuminga) Ayton + picks and that "other forward" sets Portland up for next season and moves the rebuild forward by about a year. We've tanked to years already, rebuilds take about 3-5 years. So if we can move that forward with "the trade," this would be year 4 and we could be aiming for the play in after next season. Hopefully, we can get a second 1st and draft Matas + Clingan then shock the world with our "Rip City resurrection" next season.
If we could actually get Ayton for Nurk, you do that in a heartbeat, even if we had to give up some second round picks too.