http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...518~3439&teams=29~29~22~25~25~22~22&te=&cash= POR sends: Blake, Outlaw POR receives: Conley, Mason, Ibaka Portland sacrifice too much (keep Bayless) get an expiring Portland resident vet at SF in Mason to help us out this year, and though the PG position is inexperienced it'd be Roy/Rudy relied on at the end of games. Plus they get another low-risk young prospect to help long-term developing in the spanish acb league (I heard they turn out okay from there). The whole Conley-Oden dynamic is the obvious attraction and long-term he probably makes more sense than Blake. KP was VERY high on Conley prior to the draft, and neither roy nor blake know how to get the ball inside at all. MEM sends: Conley, Crittenton, Warrick MEM receives: Blake, Outlaw They get some immediate shooting help now, and some stability to help develop their younger guys around. Blake and Outlaw are both in the top 20 for 3PT % in the NBA, and Blake cna play off of combo guards like Mayo well. OKC sends: Mason, Ibaka OKC receives: Warrick, Crittenton They get some more young guys that can contribute now, cashing in on an expiring vet and a prospect who may never come over. Hopefully it gets them a couple more wins this year based on effort. And both of those guys are still very capable players. Posted this on the trade board, I really think it would help us in the future, clear room, and I do think Conley would help us more long-term than Blake (plus KP was supposedly very high on him and that makes me think he still has potential). His value is very low now, and I don't want to sacrifice the Sergio/Rudy chemistry. I know Sergio and Conley are both really probably backup type of guys right now, BUT I would argue we have two starter quality SG's. If Roy and Rudy are closing out games I could definitely deal with a rotation of: Conley(18)/Sergio(18)/Roy(12) Roy(22)/Rudy(26) I could definitely deal with Conley and Segio getting 18 mpg a piece, I think they're experienced enough to handle that. And we'd still have Bayless to evaluate long-term.
Re: Conley-Oden reunite (w/extras including OKC) blake is already a good mix of conley and mason. He can shoot the 3 and create for teamates while playing good defense. I do not see how this will make us better when the team is clicking right now. How many PGS do you want on this team?
Re: Conley-Oden reunite (w/extras including OKC) well you were one for three actually. Blake plays bad defense and CANNOT CREATE. If we had a starting PG who did even an "average" job at creating with LMA and Oden underneath we'd have a ton of easy points in the paint. As is we're terrible at points in the paints, which are the easiest to finish. I understand that Oden's not playing great yet but there's a reason his scoring went down when he started with Blake... he can shoot (or is at least on a hot stretch). I want two PG's who can create for others on this team (I know what a novel idea). Right now we have Sergio.
I dont know why everyone is hyped on Conley here...Just because he played with Oden in college doesnt mean he is gonna be the savior for Oden in the NBA...an entry pass is an entry pass is an entry pass...
Ibaka isn't coming stateside any time soon, he's got a large buyout, which leaves us with Mike freaking Conley, and Desmond Mason for Steve Blake and Travis? No thank you.
QFT! WTF is so wrong with Blake?! That is a terrible trade for us IMO. I don't see Conley being a good PG in this league, not worth giving up Blake and Outlaw for him and Mason.
Well, he also played with him in junior high, high school and several summers of AAU ball. Supposedly, they have some great chemistry. Think of it as the Indiana Connection on the starting unit to go with the Spanish Connection on the 2nd unit. Just because I understand why some people want to see this reunion doesn't mean I agree with it. Right now, Steve Blake is a better player and much better fit on this team than Mike Conley (assuming the goal is to win as many games as possible this season and have a chance of advancing in the play-offs). Conley is very young and still has "upside", but Jerryd Bayless is even younger and IMHO has even more upside. We don't need three young relatively inexperienced PGs on our roster (two of them can't shoot and two are turnover prone). I'd rather have one veteran that doesn't turn the ball over and can knock down an open shot than a boatload of upside. BNM
Ibaka's tune may change a little if he were coming to Portland to be developed on a young and competitive team rather than going to OKC. Who'd of thought Rudy'd give up so much to come over here? I'd imagine the markteting potential would be much greater for Portland (the guy plays in Spain for ACB, as does Freeland right now), and playing with other former ACB guys might help. He won the dunk contest recently, is only 19, and has incredible potential, and he'd be another french speaking dude to pair with Batum. A project for sure, but that could be good (we don't need 15 contributors on the roster). A trade like this would leave us looking like this next season: Conley/Sergio/Bayless/Koponen? (one position we'd need to address) Roy/Fernandez Webster/Batum Aldridge/Frye/Ibaka Oden/Pryzbilla/Freeland
No way. Our top offensive weapon off the bench and our starting point guard for a project.. stop with the trade proposals already, especially Conley. Greg doesn't need his buddy.
Its only a couple of ppl. IDK why either, its ridiculous. He has proved nothing in the NBA other than he is average.
Rudy is the exception not the rule, and Ibaka would not be in a position to play major minutes; one of the sticking points with Rudy is that he wanted a large role with the Blazers and they were able to make assurances that he would be used heavily in the rotation. Secondly, why on earth would OKC surrender their rights to Ibaka when they are in dire need of a good power forward, and all they get out of the deal is Hakim Warrick? That's a bad, bad trade. Hell the only team that makes out in your deal is Memphis who gets a steady, good, point guard in Blake and a proven instant offense guy in Outlaw. I understand Conley is quick and point guards take awhile to develop, but where did people get this idea that he is somehow good/great or has tons of untapped potential (despite him being drafted too high at 4th overall)? I've watched him play a few times and I just didn't see anything special.
