Everyone has been pumping Caron Butler or Gerald Wallace lately. I don't disagree, but I think that Danny Granger is another desirable (and likely unobtainable) piece.
I wouldn't trade him. He's already an NBA ready defender, he can shoot, elevate, and pass intelligently. His offense is rookie'ish, but I really think he's going to be a high caliber NBA starter at the very least. He was a huge steal at #25.
Which is why no one is talking about Granger...Butler might become available soon....and Wallace is for a decent price, and they both fit just as well into what Portland needs.
Not after what I saw tonight! He had some spark in him to take it to Kobe, and hard. I like that fire. We need that more....
Funny cuz when I was typing that... I was telling myself "should I put Nic above Rudy?" I prolly would.
I've got to say I've been increasingly "underwhelmed" by Rudy ... I can tell he's still a smart player, but he's just too skinny to take it inside with any regularity, and his ability to create off the dribble needs a lot of work. Funny, we almost never see threads bemoaning his lackluster play when almost everyone else on the team is criticized regularly when they underperform. I wonder why that is?
How in the fuck can people say no to trading someone for someone better?????? I'd trade Roy for someone better too. Now you have to determine what is and what is not better. Battier is betterm but his cieling isn't as high, but maybe Batum will never get any better? Wallace is better, but older and you have to ask yourself if Batum will ever be better. If so then you probably don't make that move. If you don't think Batum will ever be as good as Wallace though you should trade for Wallace.....or anyone else.
He's struggled lately, but I give him a pass considering this is his first NBA season. Although I'm disappointed, I thought he would be the one guy who would step up big with Roy out.
I agree, I'm not really "down" on him per se, but I just think it's kind of funny how we see threads complaining about Bayless, Batum, Greg, Sergio, LaMarcus and hell even Brandon -- all rookies or young players -- but hardly a peep about Rudy jacking up ill advised three pointers that seem to be streaky as can be. I'm not about dogging him, I just find if odd.
Exactly. The way this question is phrased, the only people saying no should be the ones who get overly attached to players in a Blazer uniform. If he can be traded for something "better" he should be. I think it's highly unlikely they'll be able to get someone better by trading him however.
I may be biased on this, but my gut seems to tell me that Rudy generally doesn't take the "bad" 3. He takes (and misses) a bunch of open ones, but I don't generally see him taking them early in the shot clock with a hand in his face. If he (or Outlaw, or Blake) are taking wide-open 3's, I'm not going to fault their shot selection: we WANT to take wide-open 3's. If they're not going down, and you don't bring anything else to the table (Blake, Travis on "off" nights, etc.) then you probably need to sit.
Batum has a swagger and he's not afraid of any player. He is composed and thinks. All of this screams Pippen to me. At 19, you don't trade that! We are building for tomorrow. Imagine how good this kid could be by 21?
Rudy's big problem lately is that he's just missing shots off of screens. Watch him--whenever he does the Reggie Miller/Rip Hamilton weave-and-bounce to free himself up for an open three, he's invariably missing now. The ONLY threes he's hitting are wide open spot up shots. A lot of the shots off screens are bouncing off the front rim, which makes me wonder if he's hitting the rookie wall. Remember, he also played a ton last summer in the Olympics and in practices leading up to them, so he really hasn't had a break in a long time. Remember how explosive he used to look? All those shots he was canning off screens? It's got to be fatigue.
Batum's trade value << Batum's play Therefore, you do not trade him. OTOH, Outlaw's trade value > Outlaw's play (because of his contract) (I think this is true, but I'm JABH) Therefore, you look to trade him. p.s. JABH = Just Another Blazer Homer
Hm. I'm not sure that I agree with that. He's been better than expected, but he's still not even an NBA starter level player in my opinion. I look at it this way: Batum's trade value < Batum's value to the present and future of the team He's contributing now and he's likely to get better. I doubt any team will give us enough to make up for the potential he's got. Ed O.
Because Danny Granger is to the Pacers what Brandon Roy is to the Blazers. So it isn't going to happen.
Actually, "Batum's trade value < Batum's value to the present and future of the team" is closer to what I really meant, but I just posted too quickly. I'd note that value to the team is contract dependent. However, the basic sentiment is the same - You don't sell low. That's why I don't support trading Batum under any likely scenario.
batum reminds me more than a little bit of mcgrady when he was a skinny 18-year-old inconsistent rookie with promise
