http://basketball.realgm.com/src_fr...an_make_the_blazers_truly_special_and_unique/ Very interesting read from Christopher Reina at RealGM ... I'm not sure if I agree with his 2010 ideas (that Bron-bron would be interested in coming to PDX) but very complimentary and very even handed in his assessments of the team overall. ps. It's weird to hear outsider media break the team down, but do it with such depth.
Good article. I like how he thinks that we have a great chance to get either James, Wade or Bosh in 2010. How cool would that be to have either of them?
He's wrong about when Roy and LMA's contracts are up/if they sign extensions when the new salaries kick into effect, and that error leads him to believing we could sign someone like Lebron without a massive exodus of our current talent (or at least he fails to mention that point in his article). It wouldn't be just signing Bron to a max deal and adding him to our big 3 + roleplayers, we would have to gut alot of our roster and we'd have to release one or both of Roy and LMA just to have the cap room to make Lebron an offer, or somehow pray that he's amiable to signing an MLE or slightly above MLE deal to play for us for a discount until we got his Bird Rights and could resign him while going over the cap. A twosome of Oden and Lebron sounds formidable on its own but probably wouldn't be the best offer, and the idea that Lebron would give up 50ish million just to come play in Portland doesn't sound realistic either.
Yeah. Realistically, if we somehow got LeBron it'd probably be in a Cleveland fire sale trade for a package that included LaMarcus, Bayless and Fernandez. Which is actually a pretty decent offer.
He sells Roy way short, IMO. Seems like he hasn't watched the team lately, either, by how he glosses over some of our younger players. I'd say we have at least 6 or 7 players who could be as good as what he refers to as the "superduper stars".
It sure is. I know I'm being delusional about this but I want to win with Rudy. Aldridge and a combination of Batum, Outlaw, Webster, Sergio, Blake, Bayless, Freeland, and #1 picks might get it done. Hell, I'd be tempted to make it Roy and Aldridge instead. Just not willing to let Rudy go.
Ben Wallace is #42. Of course, Penny Hardaway is one spot higher than Clyde Drexler... so I think it's a bit flawed Ed O.
I interned at Nike this summer and one day LeBron was there hanging out and someone asked him what it would take to come to Portland. He said he wanted a building on the Nike campus named after him as well as his own personal jet... Then he started laughing and said that Portland already has a great team and that he is focused on being a Cav for this season.
I sure wish this was true, but it isn't. We have 2 players who have the potential to reach that level. They are Roy and GO. The rest can get to the very good level, but not team changing. I love LA, but his game has holes he needs to fill before I can believe he is a hall of fame type player.
Great article. I found myself repeatedly shaking my head at how far we've come over the last three years, and how lucky we are with our current situation. Paul Allen, Kevin Pritchard, and an entire roster of extremely talented yet great character guys seems like a perfect storm for the rest of the league. I see 0% of signing Lebron, but I think we'll be fine.
And he says no one on the 2000 Blazers team qualifies, so he doesn't even have Pippen in his top 80. Seems like a pretty arbitrary list. I don't think Ben Wallace was even the second-best player on that Pistons team.
