OT: Portland Trailblazers Buy Out Deandre Ayton's Contract
- Thread starter aceboon
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I have no idea what the Blazers strategy is. Trading Simons for Jrue is a win now move. Drafting Yang is a rebuilding move. Getting rid of Ayton for NOTHING is a desperation move
I hope they move Jrue for more young pieces (although his value isn’t too high right now). Better for him and for their rebuild. Would hate to see him end his career struggling on a rebuilding team
If the Blazers are truly rebuilding they’d bring him off the bench so Scoot/Shaedon can start. But then why trade Simons for him? But why would they bench Scoot and start Jrue if they’re rebuilding? Very confused
I hope they move Jrue for more young pieces (although his value isn’t too high right now). Better for him and for their rebuild. Would hate to see him end his career struggling on a rebuilding team
If the Blazers are truly rebuilding they’d bring him off the bench so Scoot/Shaedon can start. But then why trade Simons for him? But why would they bench Scoot and start Jrue if they’re rebuilding? Very confused
Waquoit
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Not a desperation move. It's the mark of a team that has recognized a sunk cost. Ayton has no value with that contract. I watched a good chunk of the Blazers early last year (before I had to pay for league pass). It was clear that their best line-up had DC starting with Time Lord off the bench. This is true addition by subtraction.
Samoo
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He wasn't part of their future and they obviously didn't get any offers that met their needs - likely they would have had to add assets to get off of his contract any other way. Nobody is going to miss him in Portland.
That's true and his contract is pretty solid even if he is always injured. I could see them trading him, but they would probably be low-balled, so it's not really worth it.
HuskyHawk
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Yang was a really strange choice for a team trying to win. My only guess is that they see a complete lack of quality centers in the league, and a trend where the position is becoming more important again. If he becomes really good, they can move him or DC easily. But it's a head scratcher really.
It all only makes sense if they are trying to build culture. Ayton was bad for the culture, Jrue good.
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Just saw that and is good for Clingan as it narrows down the Big guys after that questionable draft pick.
Portland vs San Antonio should be fun with SC and DC; Charlotte vs either could get some LM time against either.
Now hopeful that Cam and Tristen get their G-League contracts bought out.
Portland vs San Antonio should be fun with SC and DC; Charlotte vs either could get some LM time against either.
Now hopeful that Cam and Tristen get their G-League contracts bought out.
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I don't think Portland has a clue. Weren't they kicking around trading DC not long ago? I guess it always comes down to money in the end.
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your source?
HuskyHawk
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I think they have a clue in this case. Look at his advanced stats. Between DC and Timelord, there's no need for Ayton and evidently nobody would take his contract.
Deandre Ayton Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com
Checkout the latest stats of Deandre Ayton. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, shoots, school and more on Basketball-Reference.com
www.basketball-reference.com
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I don’t think they ever considered trading DC. They have been on him since high school. Buying out Ayton clears the way for Clingan to be the day one starter, and it helps them avoid taking on long-term money in an Ayton trade. They were a better team with Clingan starting last year, and he’s only going to get better. It makes sense.
Holiday gives them a much-needed defender at the guard position. Holiday, Camara, and Clingan are going to give teams fits. And Holiday will be a great veteran presence and mentor to Scoot and Shaedon Sharpe. I have real questions about the long-term money, but he actually makes them better this year. Plus, Simons was unlikely to resign. I did think they’d deal him for a package centered around draft picks. Maybe there were no great offers?
The Yang Hansen pick makes less sense to me. There are real questions about his athleticism, physicality, and defense. Plus, from a team-building perspective, they used a first round pick on a backup center. Guys like Coward, Bryant, and even McNeeley would have all made more sense as rotation players to me. They must be really high on Hansen. At least they picked up future assets to move down 5 picks, and it’s possible they couldn’t move down any further given that the Nets had interest. It’s still questionable to me.
UKemba15
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An SI bozo wrote an article like “hey what if Portland traded Clingan” but it was never actually a thing. There was a thread about it on here.
Potential Clingan trade news
https://www.si.com/nba/trailblazers/news/blazers-predicted-to-part-with-donovan-clingan-to-land-all-star-in-trade-proposal
Samoo
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Nonsense, they love DC. And Ayton took a $10 million cut in the buyout, which put Portland far enough below the cap to potentially use their full MLE to sign someone they actually need. When they signed DA it was a bit of a gamble, and it didn't pay off. Successful GMs admit their mistakes and correct them - everyone in PDX is praising Joe Cronin for this move.
I'm just guessing they need a backup PG.
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Some C I've literally never heard of and I guess barely played last year signed a 4 year, $41M contract, so this comment seems fairly accurate.
HuskyHawk
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Kornet is better than Ayton at this point. But yes, it's clear there are very few good centers right now.
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Ayton doesn’t really defend or play hard and he’s not a model teammate, but he’s better than Jackson Hays.
Two teams that had Ayton tried hard to get rid of him. He’s a guy who averaged a dbl dbl ; there is something behind the scenes. As for lakers he was best choice but not a good fit for them . They needed a rim runner , defender and three point shooter ( I e turner , Lopez ) . Mid range / low post offense with little rim protection ( although decent rebounder) is not a fit … but they needed a body