Episode 19: Dave Deckard Catches Us Up on the Trail Blazers Offseason | Rip City Roundtable: A…

Episode 19: Dave Deckard Catches Us Up on the Trail Blazers Offseason | Rip City Roundtable: A…

[Music] all right we are back from break with the uh I guess commanderin-chief of the Blazers Edge uh Mr Dave Decker I appreciate you coming on being this the first time you’ve been on the Rip City Round podcast are you pumped Dave oh of course anyone would be I mean everybody from Adam on down would be absolutely fainting at the opportunity so they would be yeah I Adam was supposed to come on earlier and then he got busy so we we have you but we’re we’re pumped Dave oh that often happens I have to fill in for Adam like all the I good buddies good good yeah you go way back uh well um you know the the Blazers Edge audience and readers listeners people that watch content you know they’re very familiar with who you are are but we may have some folks that listen Rip City Round Table podcast but but don’t know about you and so if you wouldn’t mind give us like a quick introduction about yourself and how you um found yourself into this role uh with Blazer’s Edge I’ve been doing this since 2006 I’ve been a Blazer fan longer than that just started writing uh really on AOL message boards and then got connected with uh a guy who was doing the oregonians blog when it just started out I mean just in its first year he went on vacation had me fill in for a couple weeks and then I kind of caught the bug and started my own site and then uh very soon after got picked up and took over Blazer’s Edge and it just exploded from there that was right about the time of the Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge Revival and then Greg Odin came the year after and of course interest in the Blazers you know increased rapidly and our site traffic along with it and it’s never stopped so uh 2006 is oh God I hate to think 18 years now oh geez so long ago yeah it’s uh pretty darn amazing so and we have of course back then it was just me now we have what almost 20 people on staff so it’s it’s big Endeavor but a lot of fun especially when things get hopping around drafts or free agency or whatever to see everybody just scurrying around like ants getting stories publishing stories and finding information it’s really an amazing Community yeah yeah it it’s been great to kind of witness I’ve been uh a part of the crew here for about a year or started at the beginning of last season so it was covering games and doing Recaps and so it’s been kind of it’s been so cool I’m say say kind of cool it’s been really cool to see all the the writers and editors and everybody pumping out content and just marching marching to the beat that that you’ve set for for the team that’s been incredible Dave um I I have a quick question this was kind of off the beaten path but you mentioned like the Brandon Roy Lamarcus era and do you see any similarities to you know drafts with you know was Lamarcus you know Brandon Greg Odin and I know that didn’t pan out but at the time it looked like the Blazers were constructing this dynasty through the do you like take us back to how you felt about those drafts does it have any similarities to to this day and age well Roy and Aldrich were a little more speculative at first but once it became apparent who they were which it did pretty quickly I mean Brandon won Rookie of the Year and LaMarcus took about a year but you could see the gifts as like okay and then when the Blazers won the lottery and got Greg Odin that was the moment when the fire really lit and you’re going like whoever Lamarcus is he’s gonna be able to play beside Greg because Lamarcus has more of an outside game and Greg is in paint and Brandon is Brandon and this is going to be incredible and it was for the 80 some games that they actually played together over four years they never lost yeah when they played together together basically yeah uh so I I even had a t-shirt uh made that was like said something like uh 2008 you know what’s the trade 2009 who’s the free agent 2010 what’s your ring size and it’s like that was the course that uh that they were on but then Odin and Brandon’s knees went of course course yeah and they couldn’t trade famously ra Len’s expiring contract which became one of the early Blazers Edge memes like you know a deal that couldn’t get done and then they fired Kevin Pritchard and then you know all kinds of stuff right all that happened all at once and it fell apart and there was a big disappointment there it was really hard to believe it was like you know I don’t want to over dramatize but it was kind of like a death a sports related death not a real life somebody died but there was that feeling of oh my gosh this was supposed to be something and now all the air is sucked out of the room and it’s falling apart and it’s not coming back and what do you do and and there’s nothing you can do but grieve What Might Have Been yeah so that was a significant you know watershed moment both the getting of those players and the losing of those players there’s no parallel yet because the first hasn’t happened there’s no getting yet I mean God bless Don with King but you know it’s not Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge no there’s no there’s no plan there’s no upward mobility and there’s no Greg Odin yeah so when that happens i’ I’d say the Blazers are in the similar situation to where they were in 2015 before I mean that was the end of the jail Blazers era the cupboard was empty you were betting on Sebastian tare to save you you know so I mean yes I can draw parallel to that yeah but there’s no parallel at all to 2016 yet there there would have to be an awfully big upswing and tell and hope in order to get even close makes sense no that’s true that’s true yeah I guess the the the the Brandon Roy Lamarcus piece isn’t really there and then haven’t really swung on the the the number one overall pick like we did with in 2007 with Odin but maybe that happens in 2025 and you know in a draft that is super topheavy and and maybe that that does replicate something to have the talent in the cupboard like you said if done it this wanyama you know they gotten that number one pick that would have been all three of that Trio wrapped up in one okay right so that was the moment that was there stupid San Antonio again as if they haven’t already done this I know T oh wow you suck you get a generational Setter like they’re like you know Jeff BAS going to the oh yeah just I’m going to send my nanny to get the next big Setter I’m to show up you know we’re sit there going like can we have one I got a coupon no you’re F and it’s like wasn’t papovich like a foot and a half out the door and then they get wimy and he’s like I’ll come back and sign an extension yeah he did the Grandpa Simpson going into the brothel thing there U-turn yeah urn I quit I give me my you know Hall of Fame re wait a minute I guess I can a little bit more pretty much oh that’s good I need another 300 wins on the record yeah I’ll get that yeah I I remember last thing I’ll touch on with with the Greg Randon Marcus era move on but I had a professor in college and he I was from Port I would usually wear Blazers Gear to to class or something and and he he followed the NBA and and he was like well what do you think of Odin you know and this was 20 2010 probably or 11 I forget that last kind of run we had with Greg and and he said what do you think and I was like oh he’ll come back he’ll be healthy we’ll be fine and he’s like and he just goes up to the Whiteboard and he writes a number and it was 150 he circled it and I was like okay and he’s like this is how many games he’s gonna play in the NBA and I was like no no I was like way over that he’s like nope that’s how many games he’s going to play and and Dave I don’t know how many he played but it might have been pretty close in Port 82 Port Miami few in Miami did he even get to 100 you know I don’t know so I don’t think so but if he did it was just it was just but anyway so that I I wish he had been wrong my professor but sadly he wasn’t um all right Dave so let’s let’s move now to this draft so you mentioned kingan already and we’re not saying he’s going to be Lamarcus or anything like that but were you were you happy with the pick and that he fell or were you kind of indifferent about it give us your thoughts on that um it was I mean both and the way I put it afterwards was it depends on your grading system if you grade on a curve they did great yeah if if you grade on a curve they did everything they could with what they had they got really one of the three players that people were talking about I mean re K was the number one pick and the guy who went farthest up right yeah uh I think Stefan Castle got a a few you know notices everybody knew the Spurs were going to take him but he was another one with a lot of you know like defensive potential and stuff like that where going hey you know this guy could be something yeah and then cling right so y uh the fact that he fell and that they got him I think and that they could use another Center all of that good so yeah I mean really that’s a B+ a move given the circumstances yeah however how much impact is it going to make I mean he’s a inside he’s not a restricted area only guy but he’s here’s what I do in my head I go like okay is this guy better right now than Andre Drummond would have been it’s like I mean clearly not I mean Drummond has more physique more rebounding history more knowledge of the game yeah okay so he’s not going to come in here and make that kind of Splash and Drummond by the way can now be gotten on minimum contracts so it gives you some perspective now you hope obviously Donovan’s younger he’s you know he might grow into more all that stuff that applies to first round draft Pi is good but if you look at how much of an impact is it’s going to make it’s clearly not the same as a normal lottery pick you’re not going to project this guy is an Allstar or even a borderline Allstar at this point his his game is out of step with what the rest of the league has I mean it’s it’s not as your concerns aren’t as much as Zach EDI but they’re of the same flavor yeah and uh you know it’s just like okay he’s he’s got a long way to go and when he gets there you’re gonna have to emphasize the game that he has and not expect him to play the kind of game that everybody else needs so okay so you know hey look it was it can be a really good move but also not be forecast to be the move that you need both of those things can be true yeah okay I like that that’s a I think you know in this draft we were just trying to cling on to no pun intended there but cling on to to Hope or something to be like oh this was positive and you’re in your right it’s like relatively speaking great in a vacuum in in that draft good move and you know he fell we made the pick you know good for us but yeah in the grand scheme of things does it make us better or more hope for the future that’s probably undecided right now yeah and and that wasn’t going to happen in this draft and you knew it and all the moves have to be viewed in that like bailing out of the second round I mean the first round this year was the second round in a lot of drafts not quite I’m overstating it but you know it’s it’s really speculative players that you hope make the roster that you hope make an imp pack not players that you think are going to really stick with your team or change it that was the entire first round from the first pick on down by the way there’s not there’s not one of these players where people go he’s a lock to be an Allstar yeah no no one said that ever I mean in the analysis and you know what they do with the draft like this is the next Kevin Durant you know it’s always the next whatever it’s just like um this guy such a good pick you know hey pretty good you know it’s it’s literally like you know 2 am at the bar yes okay everybody drink no not bad not bad just talking themselves into it that’s so good yeah yeah better than nothing hey so so were you then were you pleased with Cronin in trading the 14th in Brogden to Washington did that did that feel good to you or did that feel like a reach Panic move or was that the right thing to do no I mean it felt good the same way getting your uh yearly doctor’s visit done feels good you know it’s just like okay is this what you want to do do you want to sit in the waiting room for half an hour and get jabbed with a you know needle and uh told to eat more vegetables of course not but okay they had to get rid of rogon because they need to get underneath the luxury tax right and not flirt with it they needed some flexibility uh and they had no use for that 14th Pi this the seventh pick was speculative what was the 14th pick so yeah look you know it it was fine they they checked off some boxes they didn’t take on another first round contract uh for a player they weren’t excited about and I think if they had an a player they were excited about they would have taking him but I’m gonna assume that the reverse logic indicates that there was nobody there that they liked as well as the player they got all right and trading Brogden which seemed like an overpay giving his given his talent but his contract couldn’t hang around all year they had to do that too so they killed two birds with one stone got themselves a young player a player with more versatility with a lot of smarts that they’ve like for a while uh again is he going to change the universe no but he fits the team better than executing that pick with a rookie who doesn’t know how to play and maybe might not even make the rotation uh and brogon would have been yeah my only thing and then Advia is who we got from Washington young player played really well last year uh do but do you think Brogden we could have gotten more if we had held on during the season or do you think it would have just been similar results and we just him getting injured or something I mean you might have but you’re playing chicken in a couple ways first of all uh what do you give with him yeah the contract is expiring but you know teams aren’t going to take on 23 million for uh free so you know what do you give with them to induce them what are you getting back all right because you got to take back unless somebody’s under the cap which basically almost no one is what are you going to take back that’s not going to impact you farther than brockton’s contract does and by the way he had the shortest possible contract literally expiring right and and between those two can you still get when if the financials work can you still get a player that you like and the answer at that point is maybe no especially since as traded the 14th pick had no trade impact value the player only impacts the value of the trade after he signs a contract right yeah if you do it midseason that player now has a contract so you’re trading away Brockton and that player if there more inducement is needed which mean now you got to take back 25 or 26 or whatever so I think they saw their opportunity they took it yeah no that makes sense yeah sure I mean why not why why mess with by the way that more value might have been incremental but what is incremental going to do this season yeah and then that kind of indirect effect or I guess direct effect is now instead of a a a a backlog in the back court with basically Four Guys pling Point shooting guard whatever you want to call it now you take brog at least out of the mix so you have a Simon’s sharp scoot kind of rotation and see what’s there as opposed to throwing in a veteran guard that kind of always muddied the water a little bit there yeah and you have another small Ford and another small Ford is your 14th draft pick in essence in essence yeah which is pretty good yeah that is he’s better than anyone you would have gotten there and you got rid of that money off the off the L so yeah that’s how you have to think of malcol Malcolm brogon at this point he was a Daman Lillard h you know he was not a hire for this team at that salary yeah yeah now don’t go back and reverse engineer all those trades to see what you ended up with you will go crazy right but unfortunately trades all the implications of a trade aren’t made all at once they unfold over time oh yeah and given what’s unfolded over time I think they did okay yes I think and it’s still that you know does Rob Robert Williams turn into anything I mean do you think he can net uh a decent draft pick or do you think he can net a good player or is he be here and then get hurt again I mean what because that’s like the last piece right of like the notable player that we got back in the in the Lillard trade do do you think Rob goes anywhere or gets anything us or do they even trade him or do they look at trading Aon at this point yeah because Williams is younger you know he’s 25 still and his salary is going to be a lot more friendly the Blazers have to it’s one of the big questions of the year they have to make a decision on eight they’re either going to need to try to extend him or they’re going to need to move him and I’m not saying to has to happen this summer but I’m saying that you don’t have much longer to figure out who he is and what you want out of him and whether he can give it sure so Aon is the more variable Center at this point Williams is a known quantity I mean he’s injured but you know how he plays you know that he can play you know that it’s not your entire team at stake whether you play him or not same is not true of Aon I mean he he’s going to have a huge impact on that salary Ledger if you decide to keep him and you need to be able to get huge production out of him on the floor if you’re not sure you can do that you need to trade him to someone who hops they can yeah so so do you think so so so should Aon be the next if you had to say the next Blazer moved it traded is is it Aon or is it Jeremy Grant oh it’s grant for sure because Grant you can move right right and uh also we’re fairly sure he’s Grant is a known quantity for the Blazers and he’s 30 which is a lot different okay uh eighton being 25 and a variable potential Allstar those two aren’t really comparable so you could see I mean let’s put it this way if the Blazers have already given up on Aon then he would be like yeah high priority move I don’t think that’s happened right so Grant will go first but assuming that Grant uh gets executed Somewhere over the next couple Seasons Aon is the next most important Aon is the most important question let’s put it that way Grant is the question that’s a good way to put it Aon is the most important question because and there were stretches last season Dave and we saw this when he came back from injury and I know games weren’t High pressured and we were wanting to lose but he was playing really well and that chemistry with with scoot looked good I I mean do you think that was just like like we we were we were not wanting to win games and just go out there and play so it looked good or do you think there was some substance there there’s a yes and no full credit to the development that they made for Scoot and DeAndre and and the pair together however the times that they looked good were also the times that the rest of the league had stopped playing Portland you know I mean every knew and as you say it’s not just that the Blazers had stopped playing that had kind of happened there just weren’t any other alternative everybody there was no an fry Simons there was no Shaden sharp Jeremy Grant was sitting a lot of those games okay well who’s left okay I guess you two you two go and score yeah it looked good now again I don’t want to dis missed that that might still be there but you can’t take what happens at the end of uh just terrible season and go like okay this is you can Bank on this this next season otherwise hung Jin would be our starting center still right so uh I think it’s possible that that’s there I think they need to try it and by the way I would favor running things through eight for just this reason I that’s I want to see him emphasized more than I want to see anybody else on this team emphasized especially early on to to answer this question because it’s it’s huge but I’m not banking on him and Scoot becoming the next big T yet okay all right all right well what so for Grant I mean would you be surprised if he’s still on the roster opening night no but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t either and I think somewhere between now and the trade dead line and what you got to get is a contender who either has or has access to draft picks and I think there are a lot of suitors there are a lot they’re going to be a lot right now anywhere from Dallas who made it to the finals and didn’t you know quite do it but obviously the Lakers are in there I think the Clippers are in there now that Paul George uh has gone uh I think Denver would be interested I think Milwaukee would be interested you could see Miami being interested I mean think of the names of people who are right there uh Cleveland even uh who are right there but need another piece for sure now the nice thing is the Blazers aren’t going to ask for your star in return they’re gonna ask for maybe young player enough salary to cover Jeremy of course but they’re gonna ask for draft picks yeah so there are a lot of teams who can do that especially since we don’t want those draft picks now we’ll take 2025 sure but we’re going to assume you’re not a lottery team then we we want 2030 yeah and teams are going to go yeah okay I’ll do that so I think the Market’s hot for him right now I think the other will be as we get toward the trade deadline whichever team thought they were going to do it and didn’t will be interested as well okay a struggling team and again any of the teams that I just named could be in there yeah yeah and he and and he’s a guy I mean he can fit like those teams that you mentioned Dave are are teams that are in contention or want to be in contention but Jeremy can kind of Swiss army knife a little bit I mean he can fit in on a lot lot of different teams like there’s not a team well we don’t need a Jeremy Grant we have so and so and it’s like I don’t know I mean he can kind of slide in which does make him valuable to to any team that the Blazers would be talking to well and he has the two that people love uh which is he can defend and he shot 40% from the three-point Arc yeah and by the way as one of the primary scorers for his team I mean who else on the Blazers were you going to pay attention to yeah right so it’s not I I’m not saying he’s going to do that automatically nor will nvms think this guy is you know the Superstar but what skills do you want and 3 and D are still pretty big right in fact there are teams that are assembling nothing but three in D players right still around the point guard or around the center yeah so uh yeah I the Market’s hot for Jeremy right now I think they’re going to do it at some point yeah I mean you look at the the Boston Celtics not like every team is the Celtics you have every guy on that starting unit can three and D you know and obviously most and more offense you know with with Tatum and brown and them but pretty much they could switch everything and those guards could defend the wings could defend um and so Jeremy I think still fits that blueprint on a team that that wants to follow in a suit like that so I I just wish we had had different time Dave I I feel like it’s just kind of wasted right now it’s a story of the Blazers right move wrong time they’re the guy who thinks of the perfect response two hours after the party is over uh and that’s that’s been their history really I mean back to the era we talked about okay we we got this expiring contract in the exact years that they’re no longer valuable and we’ve got this draft pick two years too early or we have the cap space to make this move two years too late or one year too late or whatever it is right yeah and it’s like okay and you made little moves underneath that to make it worse sometimes and that odd timing where you’re just to step off and then one or two mistakes has been enough to keep them I would say out of contention yeah yeah you’re right I like the leaving the party and then coming up with the response two hours later that’s just perfect if fit on a t-shirt Dave we should make those so that um one final like player roster question and then one more about the offseason then we’ll wrap up here but so scoot sharp Simons you have to keep one well I don’t know if you have to answer that what how would you want to see this play out I think is a question because clearly there’s there’s something there obviously with Simons we’ve seen him develop and we saw the had last year there’s something with sharp there’s something with scoot we want to see more but what how does this play out with the guard Trio here well Simons is a known quantity so there’s your first inquiry do you need what he brings it’s not going to be a ton of Defense but it will be a ton of scoring and he can shoot it well okay so is he your God now party you wants to say yes because he’s clearly the best that the Blazers have in those departments but then you think well he’s my guy who does that but then like Devin Booker is the guy who does that in Phoenix okay is Simon Devon Booker no Luca donic does that and Dallas has two you know but you know what I mean like yeah but Luca like okay Luca is the guy Luca is the guy that you forgive everything for what he bring and you build around him okay is Simon comparable to donic not even in the same universe at this point so you start to go is he better as a sixthman or the second scorer on a really good team instead of the main scorer on my team and the answer to that’s probably yes so I don’t Advocate trading Simons I’m just looking at Simons and going he’s probably not the solution he’s probably just a really good career NBA player who can score a lot he’s closer to CJ McCullum and he’s not even CJ at this point but yeah he’s closer to CJ McCullum than he is to anybody else who’s played or Daman Lillard let’s put it that way okay so your your hold on him is there but it’s light the other two depend on how good they are and we still don’t know yeah scoot I think has the potential to impact the game but he also has huge bust potential and sharp he has both but we don’t know what his ceiling is I mean there’s a narrow look scoots scoots Avenue is wider to bust or or not he’s got a lot of Lanes to switch into before we figure out his path forward yeah sharp is really narrow he’s on a backr he’s he’s your uh galopy that you your hot rod that you built in your garage yeah and it could go real fast but it’s you’re driving it on one L country road because it’s not licensed and street legal yet at this point yeah so like that road is pretty dang narrow and if you miss a curve you’re you’re in trouble or the thing breaks down or whatever right yeah yeah so I like I like Sharp’s potential but gosh okay did am I willing to risk my team or you know whatever my future on that narrow road I’m not sure so I think of the three I believe that scoot is probably the one that you still ride on given the fact that you drafted him even though that makes me itch okay and that and that Shaden there’s no real cost to letting that run for now look you’re not going to get a a lot in trade with them right now if he bus that you haven’t lost a lot of opportunity cost yeah if that if that car ends up winning the you know drag race okay all right that’s the good job so lowc cost high ceiling I think you go with that okay Simons is Simons contractually as a couple years left his contract looks really good right now at 25 million you’re you’re almost underpaying him what he can bring but when he’s extended that’s not going to be true no when he’s extended that first number is going to go up to four yeah so if you’re not going to pay it trade him right and trade him while he’s shining and you know feature him and and and let him go and so that’s my assessment and we we got another two years baking on the young ones and then Simons if if you love them you’re fine if not I love it time to go okay that’s good now Dave the metaphors are too good they’re too good you need to write a book uh okay final question has to do with our head coach Chanty as he heads into his final season under contract here in a year that you know we if the Blazers start out 12 and0 okay we’re all going to be like okay let’s win or whatever but ultimately we need to most likely the best F forward is be back one more year see what we have get into the 25 draft and then go from there where does chony fit into this Dave is he just gonna coach his last season and then just leave or what what’s the deal here I haven’t seen a bigger lame duck since the AAC commercials I mean it is uh look if they weren’t G to completely stink this year I believe that they probably would have made a coaching change anyway but they’re not going to bring in a coach I mean again look at this draft what did they do look at free agency what are they doing right it’s just it’s non-existent right yeah yeah so they’re going to run back the same team minus Malcolm Brockton and maybe Jeremy Grant or another veteran whatever well they don’t have any other veterans I guess so scratch that Jeremy Grant Robert Williams whatever they do okay yeah they’re gonna run back the same team with a couple new young players and that’s it yeah and this team didn’t win last I mean they are headed great for the lottery so they’re not going to go get a shiny new coach and they can’t right who’s going to take this job there will always be someone who does it right raise your hand if you want to start your uh career with 50 losses right that’s optimistic yeah that would that would be good yeah exactly I mean Mike shash is not going to say you know jump at this opportunity right so uh in any case they’re going to write it one more year and they’re G to try to get a better stripe of Coach probably I don’t believe there’s any way they bring chony back because he will not have had a winning season at that point right I mean in fact his his first fiveyear coaching record is going to be an eyore now I don’t think that’s all his fault I don’t think he it’s not his fault you know what I mean it’s like this was this was a gambling hire a get experience h a lowrisk higher as it turned out uh and it didn’t work out and that’s the story and chy can get another chance somewhere else in a better situation he’ll probably be okay the Blazers will get a better Coach they’ll probably be okay they just gotta dance together for a little bit longer and yeah and write it out oh my God it’s not pretty oh no this is like you you sorry for another analogy but you know you’re getting divorced but you’re staying together for the kids yeah know that that last six months before you tell them let’s let them graduate high high school before we actually break the news that’s this year uh for them and it’s likely to have all the fun of that event that is yes all the fun of that event well that couldn’t be a better analogy for this situation because that’s exactly what I was thinking too it’s it’s what it feels like because it’s like so awkward and you just there’s sing together kids so Dave well well man this is a pleas I I you could have been telling me stories make me laugh for hours here this was awesome man um but we appreciate you taking the time it’s Fourth of July today we’re recording this on Fourth of July so we we appreciate you taking the time out on a on a holiday like that uh you know again you’re you’re still doing content you you got some trail daddy podcast still coming maybe yeah we’re doing that I’m in I’ve been on and off uh traveling so it’s been harder to do the podcast here in late June and July but we’re going to pick that up as the season goes do that at least every other week if not every week so that’s uh that’ll be awesome it’ll probably be a weekly thing as the season starts so tune in for that but we got four or five Evergreen EP episodes under our belts uh already just to kind of soft launch and we’ll pick up as we go you’re incredible Dave the legend Mr Dave Decker we appreciate you coming on thanks we will see you soon all right see you [Music] we are rogue Media Sports

In Episode 19, Dave Deckard, the Managing Editor and God Father of Blazer’s Edge, stops by the roundtable to make us laugh, cry, and realize the road is long and narrow to contention. But there is hope and a possible blueprint for the Trail Blazers returning to glory and brining competitive basketball back to Rip City. Dave breaks down the Clingan draft pick, the Brogdon trade, and the future holds for a few “veteran” Blazers likely to be traded. Enjoy the episode!
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/21644797?utm_source=youtube