espn daily dime: Richard Jefferson available

NBA front-office sources say that the Bucks, having lost Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut and Luke Ridnour to long-term injuries, have made swingman Richard Jefferson available even though Jefferson is in his first season in Milwaukee.

Jefferson is a player Portland has liked in the past -- which is how we're sneaking this in under our West banner -- but the 28-year-old's contract stretches through the 2010-11 season once he exercises his $15.2 million option for that season after making $14.2 million in 2009-10. If the Blazers proved willing to take back Jefferson's money, they have Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract to make the trade work.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

 

I used to be a huge fan of Jefferson's rebounding and defense, and somewhere along the lines he lost it ... hell I was even a fan this year until I started watching a few Bucks games, once his name started getting batted around as a possibility for the Blazers.

He might be worth it, but he's not quite the same player he was a few years ago -- although he'd clearly be an upgrade over anybody we currently trot out there on a night to night basis.

 

He looked really good in the Bucks game earlier this season, i say the Blazers could definitely use him. He would be a much needed vet presence.

 

Could some deal for Sessions and Jefferson be the reported small forward/point guard deal that Jason Quick was reporting awhile back? I'm not sure I would say that pushes us into the "title contender" category, but it would certainly be an upgrade -- Sessions is legit.

 

Oh yay, Miles contract all over again.

 

What? How is this "Miles contract all over again?" Jefferson's deal only goes through 2010-2011 -- that's a measley 2 1/2 years at which point I fully expect Batum to be capable of being our full time starter.

Btw, this worked under the trade machine:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...3025~1006~3231&teams=15~15~15~22~22&te=&cash=

Sergio, Channing and Raef for Sessions and Jefferson ... who knows if the Bucks would go for that?

 

~ $15MM a year for 3 years. Having one player make $15MM while everyone else makes a couple million would cause serious chemistry issues.

 

pfffft ... Brandon and LMA will be getting their fat pay raises this summer. Do you think the Blazers all secretly resent Raef for making the fat paycheck he gets for sitting on his farm in Iowa? I'd guess probably not.

 

having a very poor season and showing no signs that he will ever be what he was again. at this point he's not better than outlaw overall. no f'in way.

 

Horrible comparison. Raef isn't a player and isn't part of the team. RJ would be getting significant playing time. That's a major difference.

Look this isn't worth arguing about. RJ has got a horrible contract and doesn't come close to fitting in on this team. Pritchard would never trade for a terrible contract, his history is 100% on this one. RJ has a 0% chance of landing in Portland.

 

Exactly, or Bayless for that matter.

 

Look I'm not dead set on getting Richard Jefferson -- I'm actually pretty luke-warm regarding him -- the real prize would be Sessions IMO.

 

Not interested in RJ. He once was quite a good player, but injuries seem to have sent him into an early decline.

I'm not the biggest Outlaw fan, but I'd rather have Outlaw at this point.

 

But is Sessions available? He seems to be one of their few young players with promise. I'd be interested in him for sure, and I'd take Jefferson back as the cost of doing business.

 

Look, players all understand the score: veterans get paid, young guys have to play out their rookie scale deals and as long as a player is productive and not disrupting the locker room what is there to resent?

As for Jefferson being a "bad" contract, I disagree, it's two more years after this, he's in his late twenties, still productive (though diminished from a couple of years past). As for your assertion that KP would never trade for a guy with a "terrible" contract and that his history is 100% on this, how would you categorize Raef Lafrentz and Steve Francis' contracts?

Now if Jefferson had 4 or 5 years left on his deal then I think you could make an argument that he would have a pretty awful contract, but since he's only got two years after this, he's actually going to be a hot commodity on the trade market February 2011 just like Raef is this year.

 

sessions is ok but he doesn't have much range and wouldn't be an upgrade from blake. assuming we want bayless to be the backup PG i don't see the point. plus ridnour is out so they probably won't want to be downgrading their PG's right now.

 

I'm operating under the assumption that RJ and Sessions are the team Quick referenced a couple of weeks back ... pure speculation on my part.

 

even if this is not the case, I think a deal of RLEC and Outlaw, or something of the like, might not be a bad idea. RJ has always been better as a second or third option on a team than as a first option, and on the Blazers, this is exactly the role he would be filling. His contract is large, but not really that bad as it is only for another 2 years. Just about the time that Batum (knock on wood) starts to turn into a top flight SF, RJ would be an expiring contract the Blazers could use, or let his $$ come off the books with LMA, Roy and Oden all receiving large bucks. RJ can do a little of everything on both sides of the court, and could really help provide some vet leadership into the starting lineup. Also, since he would become the immediate starter, Batum would move to the bench and Nate could then move Bayless into the starting lineup if so desired without having to worry about having 3 rooks in the starting 5.

And to those of you that have been knocking RJ for this year, he is only 28 and I don't see him as becoming a worse player because of age yet. He has been moved onto a team that has an odd makeup and has seen lots of injuries. I think more than likely, this season is just a momentary stumble in his career. He has never been a cancer or anything like that which could be a problem, so I say, not the most exciting trade in the world, but if it came to be, I would be pleased.

 

This pretty much sums up my feelings.

What I would like though, is for RJ to get excited on defense again like he was a couple of years ago. If we could get THAT RJ, we'd be set.

 

my thought is if trading for jefferson doesn't work out it may rob us of an opportunity to do something better.