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The Portland Trail Blazers Let the Trade Deadline Pass with Only a Minor Deal. What’s next?



The Portland Trail Blazers Let the Trade Deadline Pass with Only a Minor Deal. What’s next?

In today’s show the Blazers do very little at the trade deadline this is who they are welcome to lock on Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what’s up world it’s your pass first

Bo Garden trailblaze reporter Mike Richmond you are listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so

Make it a part of your daily routine make it your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s show is a trade deadline recap what happened what didn’t happen and kind of how we got here we’ll look around the

League talk about what the Blazers did one thing they haded Delano banson and they signed Ashton Hagens to a 10-day contract two things but one of them at the trade deadline and we’ll look around the rest of the league and kind of the implications and the things the Blazers

Didn’t do because of that and then the Blazers played a basketball game this evening against the Detroit Pistons it did not go well um in a variety of ways we will uh we’ll save the recap for the end of the show cuz uh the basketball game against the Detroit Pistons where

Some of the Blazers lost to some of the Pistons is not the biggest news of the day the biggest news of the day is that hey you’re Portland Trailblazers joined a bunch of teams with not doing very much the trade deadline just didn’t have very many fireworks and as

Speculated by pretty much everyone in Blazer land the Blazers didn’t do anything Malcolm Brogden still on the team Jeremy Grant still on the team I like Amy Simons I guess if you were really hoping for of big still on the team if you if you wanted matis thel out

Of there still on the team whatever it was um like they didn’t make a move they made one minor move they traded a top 55 protected pick in 20 uh in 2027 to the Boston Celtics exchange for Delano Banton we’ll talk about Banton in the second segment but I I think in general

Let’s kind of rund down what happened in the league a little bit and then we can get into why the Blazers didn’t do anything U because I think that’s the question you might be asking is like huh or you might be celebrating um I think there is people who who are really

Excited about the pragat the pragmatic approach the Blazers are taking so let’s let’s get into the why this was perhaps the pragmatic approach there just it’s not all stuff happened this was a quiet deadline This was um this was a deadline for people who love obscure basketball

Players oh Shai hak baji and kellyo linck oh my God goodness what a what a trade but it’s like teams sat out the the Atlanta Hawks didn’t trade shant Murray the Lakers didn’t make a deal the Warriors didn’t make a deal the Bulls puzzlingly enough didn’t make a deal

Like there were there were plenty of teams who basically didn’t do anything the Houston Rockets you know they made a deal they traded an injured player for an injured player they didn’t do anything um the teams that did stuff the Knicks they traded to get buan bogdanovich and Alec Burks from the

Pistons who the Blazers played tonight uh the Mavs they made big splashes got Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington Daniel Gafford the center from the Wizards PJ Washington the uh forward plays a little small ball center from the Wizards or excuse me from the Hornets OKC acquired Gordon Hayward from Charlotte I think

Charlotte had a pretty nice uh uh day unloading unloading uh um veterans kind of ushering themselves into a new era and they’ve also traded Terry Rosier that kind of um finally picking a path and the path isn’t try to win 38 games or whatever it is um and the funniest

Trade of the day by far was was the Milwaukee Bucks trading for Patrick Beverly um I think there’s been criticism from Blazer fans and perhaps rightly so that the Milwaukee Buck like don’t use Damen Lowa the right way and they certainly don’t use the Damen Lo in

The way that he was used to being utilized here in uh Portland but Blazers would have never got um would have never signed up to have longtime hated rival Patrick Beverly join you Pat Bev is going to help I think but extremely funny like Dame doesn’t really have beef in the league

He has like longstanding probably like closing in on a decade of beef with Pat Bev uh going back to the 2014 uh playoffs with with Houston like longstanding beef and now their teammates definitely the funniest minor deal of the day but there wasn’t big fireworks nothing

Happened in fact by my count uh three four but three and a half uh first round picks traded hands three and a half first round picks that’s that’s it the whole the whole dang time I mean you can go back to the heat trade with Terry Rosier and and then there’s a

First round pick traded but like on Deadline day like today the Hornets got a a first round pick from the Mavs in um for PJ Washington the Wizards got a first round pick from uh the Mavs for uh well from OKC but via the Mavs for

Daniel Gafford and the Mavs had to uh agree to swap a 28 first rounder with o so they like moved some picks around to send picks out and the Jazz got a first rounder for um when they sent OSI agbaji and Kelly o lenck to the Toronto Raptors

And really the Raptors just probably wanted to get out from under um uh they have they’re going to have as many as three first round picks in 2024 it’s probably just too many to add so they said you know osag baji is probably better than the 24th pick in the NBA

Draft let’s just if we can get him we’ll we’ll we’ll call it a swap we’ll call it a fair Swap and Kelly lck is pretty good basketball player too although maybe not around for a long time but but that gives you a sense of what was out there

It gives you a sense of when the Blazers were trying to and now who knows if they were trying to I imagine my perception of what the Blazers were doing were receiving calls not making calls but when the Blazers were Fielding calls um they just weren’t there just weren’t

First round picks to be had I mean the team that moved first rounders is the is the Dallas Mavericks pretty much nobody else did like like I said like the Raptors kind of just like got out from under a first round pick because they were going to have too many in this

Upcoming draft so there was like they they they kind of flipped out but like Dallas moved picks Dallas was a team that that that held on to their young players and and moved first round picks in order to upgrade and I think the Mavs got better um I think the Mavs are

Equally I think the Mavs are more likely to lose in the first round of the playoffs and they are to make the Western Conference Finals even after these moves but undeniably a better basketball team this evening than they were this morning but they’re the only team because they’re relatively

Desperate to get better um who move first round picks one team in the league facing a generational Talent they have the thing that everyone wants who’s chasing a championship it’s the marketting efficiency is have a player who’s one of the five best players in the world Luca Don is great so the Mavs

Are like they have some urgency to go ahead and get good and so what they do they traded first round picks to go ahead and get good no one else in the league did that which kind of speaks to where the Blazers landed yikes if they were hoping to get

A first round pick for for Malcolm Brogden it just straight up was not out there you know I don’t know that I’m not like reporting that or anything but like just look at look at the deals it was going to be a second rounder I think Charlotte might have

Pounced early on the Terry Rosier thing and made it happen um and and and made it happen with the heat maybe the bler shouldn’t have burned Bridges with Miami so aggressively over the summer and then they could have um already done that but they don’t they don’t necessarily want

To do that right but but I think the the the landscape of the league and I think this is important to to kind of understand as we’re talking about this or as you’re talking about this or or as you’re listening about this I think that’s what you’re doing right now

You’re listening about this it’s like one of the reasons the Blazers probably didn’t do anything is because there wasn’t much to do um according to uh Joe Crona when he spoke to reporters he said that there was a bunch of calls and a bunch of interest in specifically

Malcolm brogon but he just didn’t find a deal to his suiting and or to his liking that it suited him uh and you look at you look across the board at all the action that happened today and all this like and the lack of M of big players the lack of you know

Bruce Brown didn’t go anywhere who’s long long rumored to be uh the Raptors want a first round pick for him Deonte Murray doesn’t go anywhere kusma doesn’t go anywhere it’s um when when um buan bogdanovich gets traded after after basically multiple multiple years of assuming that he absolutely would the the Knicks traded

Two second round picks um then Quinton Grimes in order to get to get bogdanovich and Burks from from Detroit there weren’t first out there it doesn’t appear it just is doesn’t appear so I think you can think two things and I think this is totally fair I think you

Can be frustrated that the Blazers didn’t do anything that’s a totally fair reaction and also understand why they might not have let’s talk about what Cronin said Joe Cronin spoke to reporters though and I I I think this kind of speaks to where they’re at he

Spoke to kind of where they’re at as a team and and the sort of what the thinking is now and I want to talk a little B about that and kind of what it means for the future because um the Blazers kind of sat out this trade deadline they can’t sit out much

Many more of these uh they they have to continue to get better and today they chose not to for probably pragmatic reasons let’s talk about that let’s talk about Joe Cronin uh and more in the second segment first I want to tell you about our good friends over at eBay

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Not cash keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items only exclusions apply all right so usually after these days Joe Cronin comes and talks to the media um you know big big he GMS don’t really have to talk

To the media if you’re Leon Rose and you run the Knicks you never talk to the media under any circumstances truly never has uh but like Cronin on Deadline day and and and you know and early in free agency he’ll he’ll he’ll have one of his his public press conferences he’s

In terms of GMS a very accessible one but um this is when he sort of makes his his public statements and public appearances and it’s these function effective as sort of state of the unions um this one was not particularly noteworthy he talked about just you know

He likes where the team is and and he didn’t um you know he he didn’t go as far to say as like we aren’t going to trade you know he he didn’t say we’re desperate to be the 23 and 29 Houston Rockets and if we could only finish a if

We can only be like squarely the 11th best team in the west next year I’ll be deeply deeply satisfied I I don’t think he really thinks that like I was teasing him earlier this week and getting heated about it because I do think like um a

Racing to the middle during a rebuild is a mistake and I and and that’s kind of by not making a trade it does feel like a race to the middle but if there is no deal out there for Malcolm Brogden and I don’t think the Blazers were really

Interested in any in any meaningful way to trade Jeremy Grant and they probably should have been um because you um if you miss opportunities to get good you’ve they’re gone don’t come back but if the Market’s not there and the Market’s pretty obviously was not

There at this trade deadline it is it is the pragmatic approach to not make these deals right to totally like I said I think you can be frustrated that they didn’t make any deals while understanding why they didn’t like I think you can I think those things can

Happen at the same time like dang I wish they had done something and dang they didn’t do anything because nothing was out there and if you’re really excited that they didn’t make a deal great congratulations you had a had a freaking great day I am happy for you it happened

I am I’m legitimately happy for you it happened just the way you hoped um but but Cronin you know he I’m not going to quote him verbatim here it’s on the Blazer’s YouTube channel if you really want to go watch it um it’s about 15 minutes of him chatting pregame um but

He he mentioned that he didn’t want the team to take a step back that he doesn’t want to take any more steps back he wants to continue moving forward and that’s why I joke about the Houston Rockets thing um like he wants them to continue to move forward and I think there is

Something perhaps Noble about that right is that he thinks like we have a whole bunch of young players in the roster you know we have all these rookies and seconde guys we have scoot Henderson we have Shaden sharp we have you know amre Sims is one of our longest tenur players

And he’s under 25 uh deandre’s 25 years old like they were this team’s young they like they don’t it’s like you know J Grant is good and and and 30 years old but he’s not like ancient by any means right but there isn’t this there isn’t this urgency to like dump

Veterans and and go young they they’re they’re young they don’t they don’t need to necessarily do that he doesn’t want to take a step back but then he also said I don’t want to rush it which is kind of in a way saying nothing right like he doesn’t he doesn’t

Want to tank he doesn’t want to like and they might tank like they might just straight up lose intentionally the last handful of games of the season I don’t think they’ll do it for like 10 but I wouldn’t be surprised if the final three are um a lot of remixers uh they also

Might just naturally lose they lost to the L to the Pistons tonight they might just naturally lose some games they’re really injured um but like they um if you don’t want to take a step back but you don’t want to rush it Forward does it just mean you want to stay in the

Stay the course I don’t think he means that and and and I I think I’ve learned enough from watching Joe Cronin do these things that taking him at his at his actual word is a mistake you know remember call this time last year they said he was anxious to push all the

Chips in to to um get a player and willing to overpay when they overpay so anxious to overpay in order to build around Dame and he had literally no intention of doing that very clearly no intention of doing that so like I I’m I’m really not going to take many of his

Like I don’t I’m not going to put a lot of um Credence into his words right like he’s he’s getting up there and talking to the media and saying what he has to say to get to the next thing I think his actions will be much more valuable for

Us to interpret than what he says in 15 minutes in front of the media once once a year um although I will remember the lies and complain about them in my space that I get to complain about them uh but here’s kind of where I’ve landed with

This I think it’s totally fine that they didn’t trade Malcolm Brogden today I think it’s totally fine they didn’t trade Jeremy Grant today but I do think if they start next season particularly with Malcolm Brogden on the roster along with these three young guards Anthony Simon Shaden sharp and Scoot Henderson

It would be a pretty bad mistake and let me offer you this because I see this sort of dichotomy too often the Blazers are allowed to trade Malcolm Brogden for another adult when I say that the BL I would I I think the Blazers should trade Malcolm brogon it’s

To get rid of the Log Jam right they um they have too many guards that are best with the ball in their hands and Malcolm br’s one of them he’s good and if you can trade him for an upgrade for a player that fits better next to the

Three guards that you already have and shanen sharp again is like someone who seems to thrive even though he has some off ball skills seems to thrive better when you give him the ball and say go um he seems to lose some of his aggression

When you stick him in the corner he does doesn’t always rev up the same way so like I think they need I think eventually this summer they need to they I’m sure they will and they really need to revisit it and get value from from Malcolm Brogden as as this in the off

Season and if they do so I don’t mean they need to go young and they need to you know shed money and be cheap and get draft picks what they should if if they really do want to prioritize being somewhat competitive and having functional development by having their

Their young players on the court but in like an environment where they’re not getting um shredded all the time you’re allowed to trade Malcolm Brogden for another adult you’re allowed to trade him for another veteran that fits the roster a little bit more you’re allowed

To trade him for a wing or or a backup center or like like someone who can provide mentorship um and teach players how to be professionals in the league but also like not get in the way of guys playing you can do both and that’s the

Challenge I don’t think it was there for them um this trade deadline but um this idea that that trading Malcolm Brogden means um draft picks only is like is so to me it’s so silly to me it it’s you can make trades in a variety of ways um and the Blazers will this

Offseason I I they are Char they’re challenged with finding a real trade um for for Brockton because they just clearly need to do it and know it’s like and entertain it for Jeremy Grant too um he’s not as much because there’s not like they need his help at the forward

Spots more right but um entertain it because you know it’s very unlikely that the next time the Blazers are good either of those two dudes are on the roster so go ahead and get the start the process don’t rush you know don’t take a step back but don’t rush continue to

Move forward by doing nothing here I think it speaks more to the market but doing nothing again this summer would be very worrisome and I don’t think they will um but I think that’s that’s kind of where I landed on this um where I landed on this trade deadline

Is they’ve narrowed their window to like really needing to get draft free agency trades right all this summer big big big summer for him um and after after sitting out this trade deadline um they got to figure it out real quick who is Delano B Blandon um Banton excuse me he

Uh the Blazers sent a top 55 protected pick in 2027 second round pick uh to the Boston Celtics to get banson uh it’s never going to the that pick will never be traded it’s a fake pick uh basically the Blazers have a 2027 pick that they

Owe the lesser of they get the lesser of the worst of of um and and the better version of it goes as a swap with with the New Orleans Pelicans so in order for it to go to the um Celtics both the Pelicans and the Blazers in 2027 would

Have to finish with two of the five best records in the league it’s just not going to happen just not going to happen um so the pick’s fake they just get a fly they get to take a flyer on on on banson um if you were to kind of like

Describe my favorite type of player he’s exactly it 68 69 skinny point guard who Absol absolutely cannot shoot he was the 46th pick in the 2020 MB 2021 NBA draft um spent the first two years with Toronto spent this last half season with the Celtics before coming over career

3.4 points 1.7 boards and 1.3 assists um shoots 41% from the floor for his career 25% from three and 67% from the free throw line um he’s like a big dude who has some ball handling and playmaking skills but he’s like not a pure point guard but he’s like more of a guard

Because he’s skinny than he is um other positions but he’s tall um and he like I love weird players and I love big Point cards who can’t shoot Banton is like B Banton is like the perfect player for me to root for I don’t think he’s good to

Be clear uh but I do I do enjoy him I I watched a bunch of him his second year with the Raptors I have not seen him play a single minute in a Celtics uniform but I watched him a bunch of his second year with the Raptors and I was

Like intrigued by him um but he’s he just you know I if he pans out great an interesting flyer on a 24-year-old if he doesn’t pan out no biggie it’s a second round that as soon as you hit the 2027 NBA draft it will be yours magically again okay the Blazers played a

Basketball game today believe it or not let’s talk about it they they lost to the Detroit Pistons in overtime um it was a weird one on a weird night and a weird time for the league when basically everyone play everyone plays despite and a bunch of

Teams not having enough players to to be competitive and the Blazers for their own part were also injured um let’s talk all about that but first let me tell you about Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further ever wonder what Adventure could be

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And go find your next big adventure shop Nissan usa.com still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Richmond and you are still listening to locked on Blazers Blazers played a basketball game today believe it or not they played a basketball game today we’re going to go

Do our fastest recap in the west and talk about what we saw in a game that went to OT let’s do what we do baby Blazers lose one 128 122 to the Pistons Malcolm Brogden and DeAndre missed this game due to illness a general illness in the Box

Score which is a classic tank commander General illness they’re not tanking this just a classic uh classic joke um General illness Sidelines them they were conquered by the general uh scoot Henderson did not play in this game left foot sprain doop re do breath was a late scratch with right knee tendonitis so

The Blazers rolled out a starting lineup of Anthony Simon matis thy tumani Kamar Jeremy Grant and Jabari Walker at Center luckily they were playing against the Detroit Pistons who just didn’t have that many available players um they only had nine dudes healthy uh they called up another guy so they technically had 10

But like n nine nine guys plus including two ways available in this game they waved kilan Hayday they waved danil galinari they traded bug bug anovich um they TR they traded uh excuse me bu on bogdanovich they traded Alec Burks like they’re just light on guys cuz it’s

Deadline day and with the deals pending and stuff like the guys aren’t available yet so they were super super light-handed too or short-handed rather um so yikes short-handed on short-handed some of the Blazers for some of the Pistons and Portland LED early 30 to 25 they had a monster second quarter 41

Points in the second quarter shot 63% from the floor uh LED 71 56 at the break and they were cruising they led by as many 20 in in second quarter and led by 23 with 4 minutes and 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter amre Simons hits a technical free throw cash

He checks out Ashton hains newly signed Blazer checks in Blazers are up 23 five minutes left in the third quarter it’s time to just roll on home against the worst team in the NBA except they blow it and time didn’t come back in the game he had a sprained ankle and he was

Listed as questionable um questionable never like questionable just so rarely means you come back in these games like if you if you get a designation that isn’t just like he’s coming back then you’re like you’re just it’s just unlikely and so as soon as they said on the broadcast Anthony Simons has been

Has is is questionable to return like but the at that point the Pistons have cut a 23 point lead to 12 and the Blazers are just holding on for dear life because they’re just without they just don’t have their skill right like they miss malol Brockton because he’s

Good they miss good Henderson because he’s just like he can dribble and they’re desperate for someone who can like dribble towards the rim and get their own shot they miss duath because he can shoot they were missing deand dren because he’s been really good recently like you know there’s are four

Players who play a ton um not to mention the guys that are out for the the remainder of the season so uh the Blazers you know they’re they’re closed the third quarter only up 13 9784 uh that 23-point lead whittles down to 13 in the final 5 minutes of the third and

Then it just it just gets away from him uh they do not ever give up the lead but in the final two minutes or final minute excuse me final 70 seconds up by four they give up uh they give up a jumper to Kade Cunningham then they give up off a

Rebound a fast break bucket to to assar Thompson and Jeremy Grant gets the ball back with a shot clock off a chance to hold for the last shot the Blazers call a timeout and they’re just going to set up like a a go get it type of play for

Jeremy Grant these are good right like I I’ve mentioned this in the past um at the end of games you want it to be simple um there’s with a lot of time left it it gets gets a little harder if your guy doesn’t have a really strong handle and Jeremy Grant certainly does

Not have a strong handle but like in general uh in a tie in a tie game I’m in favor of 14 flat I’m in favor of get flat being like guys on on flat against the Baseline and just like one-on-one go take a jumper and you’ll just live or

Die with it like the number one thing you want to do is is get the very last shot of the game make sure the other team does not get another chance and if like you have someone who can go get their own shot like sure the problem is

That the Blazers had just been riding Jeremy Grant like okay you’re going to save us dog and he had been really good but once amrey Simons checked out like it was just so clear that it was like the plan was give the ball to Jeremy and hope he does

It like there wasn’t um the the they were just isoing him and they were just giving the ball and just letting him go to work and he was going to work like he scored a kajillion points finished with 49 um a career high but like the Pistons

Knew it everybody knew it everybody in the gym knew it and so he gets the ball and kind of gets off it for a second and then he gets it um he throws it he’s kind of a little too close to the sideline and he gives the ball to matis

Thel mati thel says okay you picked up your dribble and matis tries to do something where he he just catches it and throws it right back to Jeremy and then tries to vacate because he wants to get one for flat you know he wants to

Get as far away as possible so the help can’t come but um everybody knows that and so Marcus Sasser says well I don’t give a like he’s he’s not going to pass I’m not worried about matis thel I’m not worried about Jabar Walker I’m not worried about tumman Kamar I’m not

Worried about Ashton haens they good freaking luck and he just hard team on Jeremy Grant rips it out of his hand just an absolute nightmare final play um I don’t know let me talk about that in a moment a um Marcus Sasser who is who was really

Good in this game flies the other way after getting a steal and misses what a would be game winning layup at the buzzer it was almost going to be an awesome play to end the game but he smok the layup went full Courtney Lee uh with

All due respect to my 2009 NBA playoff Fanatics um with all actually just shout out to y’all no due respect um tied to 120 after after uh regulation you go to OT uh Jeremy Grant hits a jumper to start like a 20-footer to start overtime and bl take a two-point lead but Marcus

Aser hits a three with three minutes left and the Pistons would not Trail for the remainder of the game Blazers Jeremy Grant hits that first shot Blazers go 0 of8 with two turnovers so then to end overtime it just absolutely got away from uh Pistons win 1281 2 2 that’s your

Fastest recap in the west Jeremy Grant career high 49 points to go with eight boards and six assists um he was 18 of 20 at the free throw line dude was dude was attacking and getting fouled and and um they need they just leaned on him uh

Amrey Simons in three quarters 29 and five assists um if he plays they win like it’s just it’s not a question if he plays they win but he didn’t play and they lost uh 17 from Jabari Walker to go with 11 boards Chris Murray had 12 in

This game uh Chris Murray had a play off the dribble that he I’ve never seen him do before and pump fake Drive help comes leans in gets finishes uh on the right hand side like every time he plays he does one little thing I’m like I didn’t

Know he did that um he’s he’s starting to show more and more consistent flashes of a well-rounded game he hasn’t put it all together with consistency but he made both his threes tonight um and and like he had that play off the dribble and he and he continues to be to make it

At least one like just like smart physical defensive play each night uh tonight it was a nice block um inside like he’s he’s you know I’m not sure that he’s much more than a role player in his in like his even his best form but he might

Be a really useful role player because he has a lot of skills uh on the other side the the three the big the big three of the core four were really good for the Pistons Jaylen Duran 27 and 22 Jade iy had 26 Kate Cunningham had 23 14 for

Uh Stanley mud and 171 dimes from Marcus Sasser Off the Bench okay we don’t need to talk about this game too much I want to say this um if you’re a longtime listener to the program you know that I think coaching is like a is probably

Like 25% or a third I think I’m settled on a third it’s about a third of the equation right like most of what goes into winning and losing is talent and I think you saw that right when the Blazers were who already missing a bunch of their good players just like didn’t

Have enough Talent um the game just started slipping away from them right and like Talent it’s like what’s John gonna do like where’s he gonna look sure I think for the most part in those in that fourth quarter when things were crumbling there’s not a lot you can do

But when you get to the when you get to the final play that’s where a coach can put his imprint on it and the final play was a of Regulation was a absolute mess absolute mess it was no creativity too obvious um Jeremy Grant’s not a good

Enough ball handler to handle the double teams you don’t put you don’t um you know it was just a mess so that’s like that’s my that’s my um 6633 split right there 6733 split right there it’s like I think most of this game was lost because the

Blazers were low on talent but then it’s like the coach had a chance to just like do something a like you know put his actual imprint on the game make up for that 33% and he was just a that was just nightmare final play um the other move

Today that the Blazers made was they signed Ashton haens to a 10-day contract haens has been a standout for the Blazers Rip City remix g-league Affiliates um and he got his this is his second time playing in in or third game but second stint with he played a couple

Games with the Minnesota timber Wes back in 2021 and he’s he’s getting his made his NBA debut or his Blazers debut but his but his third NBA appearance um I have limited exposure to Ashton Hagins but uh but I’ve I watched him play one game in college and he ate Carolina’s

Lunch he just dominated poor kale BL and RJ Davis just an absolute defensive um clinic in that game I I I did not care for him because he beat up on my beloved Tar Heels and then I just saw the remix play like a couple weeks ago month ago

And um he was one of the best players on the floor um my impressions of him is that he’s someone who can’t he plays really hard on defense really competitive defensive player um who cannot shoot and he’s a hard downhill driver but not a great finisher and I will say watching this

Game yeah nothing changed like I don’t think he’s um I think he’s pretty far away from an NBA player um which you know it’s not his fault but um Ryan ruper got a DN PCD that’s a did not play coach’s decision what would he need to do to

Play how much worse can he be um I don’t think it’s that big of a deal that he didn’t play but it is curious to me that it’s like um ruper just like when the game is just like completely you know that you’re light on players anyways

You’re playing Justin manah and IU baji and I understand manah gets to play because he plays hard on defense and doesn’t make mistakes but he’s not good on offense defense at all I’m like let’s see some rupair we’re in the we’re in the second half of the season it’s okay it’s okay

Um this is I think this is a thing that’s going to be a big deal for a small deal for me is like are the Blazers going to lean into it and like develop allow some for some developmental minutes are they going to chase games um if they chase games it’s

Not like a crime but it doesn’t seem that in it doesn’t seem that productive for where they’re at but also they kept all their vets right like so they’re going to chase games um and I think that balance will be something that I watch uh for the remainder of the year is like

What are those decisions and and and what do they look like um because it wasn’t like you’re going to take Jeremy Grant out but there was some other young guys that maybe aren’t part of the long-term future manah and Hain when and and ruper is and it’s like why not let

Him fail if you’re going to lose a 23-point lead to the Pistons why not let him why can’t he be the guy that does bad he could do poorly I I imagine he could go in there and like um Ashton Higgins was minus 28 and 27 minutes in a

Game the blaz lost by six like so like I feel like Ryan ruper could probably do that I feel like he probably could um I don’t know it’s something to keep an eye on for the remainder of the Season uh how about we do five more of these next week this is

A Friday February 9th show we do one every day of the week where every get podcasts uh the audio feed comes out late at night every morning 8:00 a.m. in your in Waiting in waiting in your feed you’ll find the they’ll find the YouTube video tell your friends about the

Podcast they can find it wherever they get podcasts also on YouTube I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you Soon

Deadline day came and went. The market is the market and the Portland Trail Blazers didn’t find a deal the fit their needs. So where do they go from here?

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8 Comments

  1. What? How can you say there wasn’t a deal when Joe Cronin literally said he didn’t want to sell.. he wanted to acquire?

    Multiple teams literally reported they wanted Malcom Brogdon. The knicks had to pivot to Alec Burks because of it

  2. I feel like Cronin is lost. So that’s the problem with this, it just feels like he was too scared to make a mistake. 0 Confidence .

  3. We are now the official laughing stock of the NBA… everybody thought the Pistons were the worst team, boy were they wrong

  4. As a Heat fan it’s funny seeing your team be ran horrendously. Thankfully yall didn’t give us a washed Dame either so you saved us from paying him 60 million a couple years from now. And we get to keep Jaquez and Jovicn

  5. The close out of the Pistons game was disgraceful! It was like the rest of the team freaked out and wanted JG to carry the load! Guys on the team passing up open shots and then driving to a crowded lane only to make a terrible pass out. Sand is running out of the hour glass!!! SHOOT THE BALL!!!

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