Earlier today, Denver agreed to trade for Mason Plumlee, who will be a restricted free agent after the season. The team will retain Plumlee’s rights in restricted free agency this summer and that was a major draw for the Nuggets, as Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post relays (Twitter links). The Nuggets will have the right to match any offer sheet Plumlee signs during the offseason, but Dempsey expects them to re-sign him without having to go that route.
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- The Nuggets are no longer in talks with the Sixers for Jahlil Okafor, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Denver was one of four teams reportedly in talks with Philadelphia for the big man.
- The Nuggets will receive a 2018 second-round pick from the Blazers as part of the Plumlee deal. Mark Porcaro (Twitter link) notes that the Blazers have already given the Kings the right to swap second-rounders with them in that draft, which means Denver is likely to receive the lesser of the two picks.
- Dempsey (Twitter link) believes that Plumlee has the ability to play the power forward spot next to Nikola Jokic and he can envision the Nuggets using that combination. Plumlee has expanded his game this year, as I wrote in a recent edition of Fantasy Hoops.
Neil Olshey has done a fantastic job building this team the right way so far. They have stockpiled quite a few assists and already have 2 building blocks. Lillard and McCollum are all stars for the years to come. Harkless, Vonleh, Crabbe, and Nurkic all have a lot of potential to be good, serviceable players in this league. Then they have good trade assets like Davis, Turner, Ezeli (non guaranteed contract), and three picks in a strong class.
I don’t think Turner is considered a good trade asset. He’s injured and has underperformed since getting to Portland. His contract is really bad, arguably one of the five worst long term contracts in the league
The Knicks roster alone has three, (Noah, Lee, and probably Melo but only because of the NTC), Mozgov is worse. He’s probably the 5th though, unless you don’t think Tobias Harris is worth the $17 million a year he has. Then you could make that case as well.
Lee’s isn’t actually that bad in todays NBA at 4 years/$48. I’d say Noah has the worst deal and Biyombo at 4/$72 is almost as bad
Turner doesn’t have a good contract. And Ezeli’s non guaranteed deal doesn’t do much considering the huge soft cap level. If someone is trading for Ezeli, it’s either because Portland is attaching something valuable to him or Portland is getting a bad contract, but maybe a slightly better and healthier (than Ezeli) player in return.
Neil Olshey should be fired. 136 mm on the books (already 10 mm over the tax line) for next season with that roster? He has 2 good players that play the same position, and they’re looking to trade one. He gave mid-tier (at best) role players big contracts. Now he has to trade Plumlee because nobody is going to pay $3-4 in tax for every dollar he’s paid. You’d have to trade at least 2 of those picks to get rid of Crabbe at his current salary.
That would be a huge scapegoat move since ownership wanted him to retain their free agents. Also not sure where you’re getting your information on Dame and CJ, because I haven’t heard of a single legitimate source saying that Portland is trying to move either of them
Then he should quit for being made to look like a fool (or demand a raise for it). I have no doubt that the ownership here was willing to pay “whatever it takes”. Gilbert said that to LeBron. Noble, for fans, but with the new rules (and frankly the old new rules) a GM needs to explain the ramifications of what was done. I doubt it was Billy King’s idea to trade (in effect) 3 unprotected 1st rounders to Boston; but he was fired. I haven’t read directly that they’re shopping either PG, but where there is smoke there’s fire. I believe they’re kicking the tires on it. Seriously, if you understand their cap situation, they almost have to.
You’re an idiot Olshey is doing a great job but meanwhile fools like Kupchack and Phil Jackson still have gm jobs
Learn the game; learn the CBA. If you have the ability. Until then, get some humility because you haven’t a clue.
It’s pretty funny that you’re the one telling people to learn the game and get some humility when you’re the uninformed and rude one in the situation. You should learn the cba, learn that mid tier guys get those contracts nowadays!! And that Neil Olshey kept all their free agents from getting away for nothing while picking up 3 first round picks in this draft, getting first rounders in the future, and still finding ways to cut costs (Plumlee extension) while still getting young, promising players (Nurkic). If you’re going to make stupid comments at least don’t be rude about it.
I was rude? Maybe when you call someone an idiot, you should expect a rude response. There is no “nowadays”. There were lots of bad contracts signed/matched last summer (prior to the new CBA) based on assumptions that the NBA warned teams was false, and that are now either known to be false (or most to be false) or were made false by the new CBA. Nobody else in the league signed as many of these bad contracts as your team. They have issues because of it, period. If you don’t see it, then that can only be do to your ignorance of the situation (rude? – would you have preferred stupid, the word you used?). Whether it’s the GM’s fault or not is a matter of opinion, but he certainly hasn’t done a fantastic job.
Man I honestly didn’t read the part where he called you an idiot till now so I definitely apologize for that. You know emotion will get in the way when you’re talking about your favorite basketball team lol. Yeah for sure the Blazers have problems and signed a lot of long term contracts because of the cap spike this year, but only the Meyers Leonard deal was really questionable. Matching Crabbe’s offer sheet in retrospect was an overpay but they were trying to compete this season and wouldn’t have been able to get a similar player this offseason. Neil Olshey had a directive on how to work this offseason, did the job, and now is working to backpedal and continue to stock up picks and young talent. And that’s all this front office has really been about, we have Dame and CJ obviously but them having Vonleh, trading into a pick last year and getting Jake Layman, they’re trying to keep a revolving door of spending money to compete every year but having the ability to still draft every year and be able to sell while having young prospects to develop. The bottom of our bench in the pre-Matthews injury, pre-Afflalo trade postseason run was Will Barton, CJ McCollum, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe. That’s a lot of talent and shows Olshey’s drafting ability and the coaching staff’s ability to develop players. After Aldridge left for nothing in return, the Blazers realized they need to embrace the small market they’re in. Which is why they resigned all their RFAs. I’m interested to see what Meyers and Moe Harkless had on the table elsewhere and whether or not they paid more than another team would have (I read recently that the Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov deals were given with no other team even offering a 4th year to Deng or offering similar money to Mozgov) but in terms of a team bouncing back after Batum, Matthews, Lopez, and Aldridge leaving, making the playoffs the year after and then refining the roster in year two with an eye towards the future isn’t a step back; they weren’t supposed to compete this early anyway. I think it gives a more definitive starting point on what they need to do as an organization.
Their 3 first round picks this year are their own, Cleveland’s, and Memphis’. So you’re talking a pick in the 26-30 range (Cleveland) and another pick in the late teens/early 20s. While they might be able to find a good player there, picks in the 20s are basically valuable because of the rookie scale and you know that the player you draft (unless a draft and stash) has to sign a contract for essentially 4 years (including option years…which is really the value of late first round picks). They could probably find a decent player with their own pick but don’t expect much (right away at least) from those other picks. Not unless they manage to turn those picks into cap relief (by offloading some of their bad contracts).
Cheapy the Plumlee deal shows how he understands the CBA. Getting another year of a player on his rookie contract and adding a 2017 1st in the process. They aren’t in the luxury tax yet and won’t be when next season starts
Good deal for both teams. Denver couldn’t play Nurkic (with Jokic), and Portland couldn’t (sanely) sign Plumlee. Nurkic is younger, and won’t need to be paid until 2018.
That’s all very accurate. Now why should their GM be fired for making a deal that we are all in favor of?
I was more responding to the “fantastic job”. I wouldn’t fire him even if the team owes luxury tax, as long as either the team is winning or the tax is low and/or ancillary penalties have not kicked in.
I’d rather have a GM who has the willingnesss to take calculated risks. Besides, we can’t judge these contracts after one year. Him overpaying for role players wasn’t even an awful choice. I think contenders will gladly take Crabbe or Aminu at their salaries. You have to overpay because of this new CBA if you’re Portland. Remember this squad is only one year removed from making the second round of the playoffs. They’re still relatively young too. Let them grow together for a few years and we will see.