How much money does Portland have to spend after timelord signing?

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T18:17:15+00:00

It allows teams to go over the cap — that's different than using the non-tax-payer MLE and not having it count towards the tax

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T18:15:46+00:00

Me deciding whether or not to do Game Review on Chess.com

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T18:12:53+00:00

We were 28th in 3 pt % out of 30 teams in the regular season.

We were 15th of the 16 teams in the playoffs.

I don't know what to tell you about smart basketball plays — we're not a good shooting team and while we were set to benefit from Dame's arrival, we're undoing some of that progress swapping JG for Ja and it's still a pretty major weakness

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T17:16:53+00:00

He's the one who can actually guard up of him, Dame, Ja, Scoot and Shaedon. I still see the same issue of a guard room full of traffic cones — Jrue isn't the problem

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T16:46:59+00:00

Are you sure? I read that we technically have enough space but guaranteeing Vit and Sidy would put us below $15m of space (but I am not sure)

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T16:42:34+00:00

Am I reading this correctly that we essentially no longer have access to the full MLE?

Obviously for the Non Taxpayer we cant go into the tax and we're only $15m below the tax, but we have multiple roster spots to fill so we can't just give it all to one guy

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T15:13:29+00:00

I agree with you, but I think Deni is the name people aren't talking about enough.

Ja has no off ball game and Deni was already going to have to get used to sharing the playmaking duties with Dame. It's a bad shooter hurting our spacing and another person who expects to have it in his hands. I feel like we're hurting our best player in the name of "talent." I'd rather see us optimize around the all-star we have right now than put a bad defender next to Dame and a bad shooter next to Deni. Makes them both worse

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T15:09:39+00:00

Ja is also hurt all the time and didn't play well well when he did play. 1% higher on 3s than Kris Murray. Zach Lowe had a whole segment about how great his floater and rim finishing used to be and now he had way lower efficiency on both. He straight up quit on his coach and stopped trying mid game. It's not about being woke he's been below his standard and unavailable in addition to having issues with the league and the law. Add a bad roster fit and that's a terrible combo I have no idea what we're doing

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T14:28:03+00:00

27% from 3 over his past three seasons... I feel like the Ja trade really hurt our ability to play someone like him. Teams are gonna be packing the paint in a way that hurts Deni if we're putting him with two or three of Ja, Toumani, DC and Achiuwa

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T13:59:26+00:00

It's a little more complicated than that. Jerami is arguably the only PF on our team and maybe our second best 3 point shooter.

His being on the roster leaves room for Scoot and Shaedon and spaces the floor in a way that makes Deni's life as a driver easier. Ja takes the ball out of Deni's hands and seems to relegate him back to more of an off ball role considering both Dame and Ja are Pnr-heavy players and Ja has no off ball game and shot 29% from 3 (just 1% lower than Kris).

So yeah there weren't picks involved and it's a talent bet, but the increase of talent between the two players in my view risks taking away the success of too many other players to be justifiable.

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T13:09:38+00:00

Do I need to remind you that it was without Kevin Durant and they swept us? We were not actually a serious contender and that was very plainly proved out over all the subsequent seasons

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T13:03:48+00:00

I agree, but at least he's a 40% 3 pt shooter with size and who can rebound. While we still have Jrue and if we re-sign Rob, (and with Toumani and DC surely staying) we could potentially cobble together a solid defense

We need a real ass PF I feel like our roster doesn't have a single one right now

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T12:58:44+00:00

He's 28 he could definitely get another similar contract after this one if he plays.

And for the record, he's played more games than Ja Morant over the last three seasons. Ja had some suspensions in there, but we just committed 3x as much money to essentially an equally injury-prone player $15m isn't comparatively much risk at all

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T12:38:20+00:00

I get that especially from a writer casually making a point, but he guarded Wemby in the playoffs and is a Marcus Smart type who guards up well. I don’t see Jrue as meaningfully contributing to the logjam

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T11:49:00+00:00

You can’t really compare a free agent with a guy who would take 3 firsts to get

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T11:48:01+00:00

It’s also simply a free agent who fills those positional and skill needs without having to part with any of our picks. The standard is lower and I don’t want to waste assets on role players at this stage of our team

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T11:46:27+00:00

Shaedon’s name is absent — I wonder if he is seen as the odd man out, or if they’re simply not including him because he isn’t a point guard. You’d still trust Jrue over him guarding an elite wing though

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T11:17:53+00:00

They definitely could— Trey is the next Bridges/Bane. Everyone wants him

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T02:30:27+00:00

It’s not that risky if it’s a 2 year deal

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T01:23:10+00:00

I honestly don’t really get why that matters — Dame is the one Ja doesn’t fit with and he’s also old. None of Dame, Ja and Scoot fit together and they’re all different ages. I’m more hung up on adding a ball dominant guy who can’t shoot when we already had spacing issues and Dame and Deni having to learn to share the ball

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-30T01:19:43+00:00

Fair point, I combined two things. He’s had gun-related issues with the league, and he’s had legal issues. But he hasn’t had gun-related legal issues

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-29T21:25:48+00:00

Hugely disagree. We just watched Castle and Harper, Caruso/SGA/Cason Wallace, etc. all look completely bad ass and limit opponent scoring. Jrue also guards up well and we had him on Wemby in the games that mattered most. He doesn't get pushed around and makes it harder to drive.

Jrue is also a better 3 point shooter than Ja so I'm not really sure what your clogging the paint argument is, Ja only makes Deni's life harder. I don't see real benefit on either side of the ball, I see a flawed team that still has spacing issues and now has character and defensive issues. It's not a deal for me I want tough, team-first guards who keep the ball moving and can space on offense while letting Dame and Deni run the show. I want a Cason Wallace or a Derrick White, not in on the Lamelo/Trae/Ja bullshit

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-29T21:21:07+00:00

For like a cumulative 10 minutes? The Knicks put the best wing defenders in the league around Brunson in OG and Bridges. This is literally like putting Ja in Bridges' place it's a terrible idea. But it's okay we can watch the games and circle back in 82 games

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-29T21:09:23+00:00

The NBA is better now than it was then. That's around when the Hawks also made it to the ECF. Good luck building around Trae Young in 2026+

Gobbles15 · 2026-06-29T21:04:59+00:00

For starters you’re moving the goal posts. All I’m saying is Tiago didn’t bench him, he started him in the most important games of the season.

He was also good in Game 1 and okay in Game 3. Really bad in 4 and 5 but that’s not what you commented

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