bah, I've been up for 36 hours working on a mid term paper and studying for a mid term exam for tomorrow, I meant to say LMA + RLEC
That makes more sense. I was thinking we were going to have to chop up Raef's corpse in half and trade both, each worth over 6.7 million.
Toronto sucks, that's why he wants to leave. They seem to have no good path to getting better. You guys, would presumably be a good team, and he'd want to stick around. Although Amare seems like a safer bet, because of that little Bosh-Wade-Lebron love triangle from Team USA.
Uh, no. For one, Bosh seems to be the one who cares more about winning. Two, Amare has stated multiple times that money is what he is ultimately after. Three, Amare has a much more expressive and explosive personality. And lastly, Bosh seems more loyal.
If I were Portland GM, I wouldn't do a deal for Bosh unless Toronto allowed me to talk to Bosh and discuss with him frankly whether he'd be happy in Portland and be interested in signing there long-term if a max deal were put on the table in 2010. As long as money and winning were the main determining factors (as they generally are, in that order), there shouldn't be an issue. Talking to him would bring to light whether he doesn't want to live in Portland during the season or doesn't like McMillan or any other potential conflicts that could cause him to leave.
Exactly what I said. Bosh wants to leave Toronto because they're not winning. You guys would presumably be winning. The risk with Bosh is that he may want to go join his buddy D-Wade down in Miami and win there, rather than in Portland. With Amare, it's just a matter of giving him the money he wants, which makes him the safer bet.
Doesn't Amare also want to be "The Man"? It's about money and getting the shots, being the featured player. Bosh is more of a team player but I think wants to be with his boy LBJ.
Money is his number one goal, for sure. He'll definitely latch on with one of them. He'll need to, because any franchise anchored by Bosh will be mediocre at best for the duration of his contract.
I actually want my Wlves to make a move for Amare and put him at Center so Big Al can dominate at his more natural PF spot!!! Let's face it....'Sota could use the starpower!!!
Stoudemire would not be the guy that I, personally, would target. But let's be real here. Aldridge is about 28 months older than Stoudemire, and while he has a lot more room to improve his game, Amare already is at a near-HOF level. Amare is only 26 years old and presumably will improve in some facets of his game. Could his defense be better? Sure. Might this year's downturn be something more than a reaction to the emphasis on Shaq (when he plays) and poor coaching by Porter? Absolutely. This is, though, one of the tip-top players in the NBA. A guy who hasn't even reached his prime yet. I really am excited about Aldridge and look forward to him becoming a good player on the Blazers. The odds, though, of him ever becoming the player that Stoudemire is right now seem slim. If we can get Amare for Aldridge and RLEC? Do it. Oden and Roy and the others will adjust. Allen will open his pocketbook. And the Blazers will have an unstoppable offensive force and a better chance at winning titles over the next decade, IMO. Ed O.
I was wondering when someone would say something to this effect. I was wondering why some tend to overvalue thier player's potential? I don't see Aldridge catching the type of production Amare puts up now...and I forgot that Amare is actually moer than 2 years younger!!! I'd have to pull the trigger too
I actually mistyped (blame the rum and Touchdown and Sparks and Mike's Hard Berries I consumed). Aldridge is about 28 months YOUNGER than Amare. I'm sorry. Ed O.
A rejuvenated Amare could vault this team into title contention this season. The age difference isn't that big. A little over 2 years is nothing. I do have concerns about his attitude. He hates that system they run now in Phoenix and our offensive sets are just as stale/slow. Of course this all could be a waste of time considering this rumor came from fan blogs. "Extremely close," yet it's not on ESPN or any other credible site. I'm just sayin....
This is one where you hope Nate kind of knew Amare and had some kind of relationship. If Nate thinks he can get through to him, it might work. Otherwise, it could be the first step in heading back to where we came from (JB era).
LMA is probably my favorite Blazer with Oden and Bayless being really close behind. I would even have to think about doing this trade. I don't agree 100% with Ed O because I do think LMA has a chance to be as good as Amare. The main thing that would make me scared to make this trade is if Amare wouldn't sign back with us in 2010. I think that would be a really bad blow to this team and probably would ruin our chances to ever be a championship team in the Roy/Oden era. If KP really was pretty sure we could re-sign Amare I would probably do the trade even though it would hurt the team chemistry this year but I think in the long term would be great. I'm saying this with not even being a fan of Amare's attitude but his skills.
Marc Stein mentions one possible trade involving portland...(I dont know if anyone posted this yet, but I'll do it anyway... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=tradetalk-090205 Its basically Outlaw, Bayless, Raef for Amare. Which would be a horrible deal for us IMO strictly because we lose Bayless, create a logjam at PF and would have no idea who to start. Unless Amare or LMA are quick enough to play SF.
I'm blown away by the shit people come up with. So I guess LMA becomes a small forward, or maybe he's 15 minute a night bench player? And why the fuck would we give Bayless away and leave us with just Sergio and an unhealthy Blake? ESPN has really taken a dive with their so called "reporting" in the past few years.
which is why I'd want no part of him at either spot. I saw JR a lot more when he was with the Warriors. Not only was he consistently bad at defense, there were stretches of several games where he openly pouted about not being the featured guy on offense (or something?), barely pretending to be trying. Also dude has had many knee surgeries which would give me concern. Gawdy stats and losses seem to be the story no matter where he's been. STOMP
