Blazers would have to waive some fools….

Pretty simple: Raptors dump expiring Brown for 4yr Jerami Grant contract. Blazers get an unprotected '25 FRP from the worst in the east plus a '26 to accelerate their rebuild, and plan to probably waive Brown or maybe extend depending on what happens with Simons.

Who says no?…

BI contract is expiring and NO has two 2025 FRPs. But they need a starting center, and Bahamian DA feels like a culture fit in the Big Easy. Portland wants to maximize its Cooper Flagg odds and a few months of BI is a small price to pay for this chance.

Just an idea, probably a bad one but hey, it's Fanspo…

Why does trade machine approve trades that violate roster limits?

It leads to tons of posts suggesting trades where one team ends up with a 17, 18, 19 man roster. Then people don't seem to realize these trades can never happen….

Spurs are sitting on a giant hoard of 2025 FRPs. Probably one of the only teams with too many.

They also have Tre Jones on an expiring contract. Bringing in CP3 and drafting Castle shows they might not feel Tre Jones is the guy.

Blazers need to move Simons. He'll surely be happier on the Spurs, who seem like one of the few teams with good enough coaches not to be disuaded by his recent slump.

To make the math work, there is also a swap of Duop Reath for former Blazer Zach Collins. The South Sudanese center speaks Spanish, Basque, Persian, Italian, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, and Chinese, so would be a nice fit on the Spurs' typically international roster….

Detroit Rationale

Hardaway's contract is expiring. If he isn't going to get an extension in Detroit, and they want someone who can fill his role, Simons might be a great fit. He is almost a perfect statistical clone of Hardaway with slightly better career shooting and assists, but slightly worse defense.

Simons's career history suggests he's more likely to flourish offensively in a secondary role like Hardaway's than as a primary ball handler, though it's a nice bonus that he gives you depth at secondary ball handler.

One snag could be the fact that Simons' numbers are way down so far this year. Some in Blazers' media feel it's due to a lack of adequate help on Portland's shooter-deprived roster, leading to defenses focusing on Simons. Others have cited Portland's stagnant ISO offense as not creating enough open looks. Sounds like excuses, so I'd expect Detroit to want to see Simons exit the slump before a trade is signed.

Portland Rationale

Trading Simons is a top priority for Po…

With Ja back, and the emergence of Scottie Pippin Jr., it is looking less and less like Memphis needs Marcus Smart for his primary ball-handling abilities. After his recent terrible shooting performance that costed them a ballgame, the Grizzlies fanbase has started to wonder whether he might get moved.

Meanwhile, Portland is seriously lacking a true starter-caliber PG after trading away Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and Malcolm Brogdon. They had hoped Simons would emerge as a replacement for Dame, but he has looked genuinely bad as a starting point-guard so far this year.

The reality is, Simons is an elite movement shooter with almost unlimited range. He's probably top-10 among guys in the league who can pour in buckets from anywhere on the court. But he is not best suited to be a starting point guard. He is best suited to running defenders off screens and spacing the floor.

The fact that Simons can serve as a backup PG option for Memphis should be enough to make them not feel they …

Only six players 7' 1" or taller have ever entered the NBA draft after scoring at least 750 points in a college season or averaging over 38 PPG in a foreign league:

7' 3" 299-lb. Zach Edey with 983 points (to be selected in the 2024 draft) 7' 6" 310-lb. Yao Ming 38.9 PPG in Chinese league (#1 in the 2002 draft) 7' 1" 325-lb. Shaquille O'Neal with 774 points (#1 in the 1992 draft) 7' 1" 235-lb. David Robinson with 903 points (#1 in the 1987 draft) 7' 2" 225-lb. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 870 points (#1 in the 1969 draft) 7' 1" 275-lb. Wilt Chamberlain with 800 points (#1 in the 1959 draft)

Note: weights shown are draft weights; Robinson won his titles at 250 lbs. and Wilt won his title in LA at 310-325 lbs.

Yet we keep hearing from all the wise-guys like Gilbert Arenas how Edey would have been a #1 pick even just 15 years ago, but not today because:

"the game has changed" nobody posts up anymore bigger centers like Rudy and Brook without elite close-out speed get "hunted" by opposing …

Rationale:

Trail Blazers:

pick up two promising young bigs in Isaiah Jackson and Jarace Walker (who is on a team-friendly 3-year deal) who fit well into their rebuild plans pick up three decent vets whose contracts will expire next year, freeing up to $65.9 million of cap, in Simmons, Schoder, and Adams (which would take them from -$30M to appx. +$30M) shed $3.6 M in cap space

Rockets: make room for whichever of the two generational PG talents who'll be the best player available for their #3 pick (Stephon Castle or Nikola Topic, both of whom are ready to start right away) pick up an elite 3-level scorer and starting PG/SG material in Simons, who is not much of a drop-off from VanFleet when you consider he's $17M cheaper pick up elite wing defender Thybulle to shore up defense pick up Rayan Rupert, an athletic French guard from last year's draft with potential shed $16.6 M in cap

Pacers: pick up big Deandre Ayton to add depth, defense, and NBA Finals experience at the center positio…