I think Blake basically gives Portland options. I think he's good enough to be a starting guard on a championship team (like Derek Fisher, for example), but yet I think he'd adapt (and do well) to a backup role if Pritchard were able to bring in someone better. I'm not absolutely convinced there is someone better available, though personally think if we can get Miller for not too many years (and at a reasonable price) that would be a good pickup. By the time his contract would be up Bayless or Rodriguez (whichever is kept, as I suspect one will go this summer) should be ready to take over, at worst, the backup spot from Blake. Of course, maybe Pritchard is ready to roll the dice with Bayless next year. I like him a lot on potential, but he hasn't shown enough on the court for me to be sure. Pritchard gets to see him in practice so has a much better idea of where he is.
Miller will be a UFA this coming offseason. We've yet to see where the cap line will be drawn so we can only speculate on how much space Portland will have. I'd guess it will take around 8M per for 3-4 years to sign AM. It may take adding Blake or Travis to the guys Portland renounces to clear enough space to put together a competitive offer. If this is the direction management decides to go and they have to choose between the two, it makes a lot more sense to me that they'd wave goodbye to Blake as 4 PGs seems a recipe for an unhappy roster. With Rudy and Roy at SG and Miller at point, there won't be many minutes left STOMP
If by 'roll the dice' you're implying trade Blake and Sergio away and set up Jerryd to be the starter then I don't think there's much chance of that happening at all. But if on the other hand you mean to say trade away Sergio and/or Steve and sign or trade for an established, veteran point guard (Andre Miller, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, et. al.) and give the backup minutes to Jerryd I'd say there's a slight possibility, but my guess is that KP and Nate are going to have to see a helluva lot more from JB before they'd consider either option. For what it's worth, my gut feeling is that Blake will be retained, Sergio might be traded (or possibly Jerryd?), and KP will make a run at one of the available free agent point guards or try to work out a sign and trade or just make a lopsided trade with his 7 million dollars of cap space (possibly up to 14 million) and maybe he turns to the draft to add some depth or just brings Petteri over (assuming he's ready). These are the names we're looking at when it comes to restricted and unrestricted free agency: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10 Ramon Sessions Jason Kidd Andre Miller Raymond Felton Nate Robinson* (*=not really a point guard) Possible Trade Targets (guys at one time or another mentioned as possibly available in the past year): Kirk Hinrich Steve Nash ? All I can say is that I don't envy KP and some of the decisions he's going to have to make this summer, but then again he's well compensated for his trouble, so I don't feel too badly for him. It's going to be an interesting off-season.
I have been thinking for awhile now that the team we have now is the team we are going to have in the future. I don't think KP is going to bring in any veteran players in the off season, since by next year some of the guys on the team will be playoff vets already. KP and Nate both like the chemistry between Blake and Roy. The only changes I see being made are players being let go. Frye will probably be sent down the road. Ruffin will take his cup of coffee and run. They will probably be replaced with Joel Freeland who seems to be playing well in Europe right now. I think we will see yet another year of Sergio Vs Bayless for the back-up roll. I am hoping one of the them plays well enough to make the debate pointless. I honestly don't care who does. The real question is do you think Portland can win it all with the current roster. I think if certain things fall the right way the current roster will be a contender. I have a feeling KP feels the same way.
Assuming it's close to this year's or perhaps a little less, the team is looking at about 7 million as a baseline (with Frye renounced), dropping Blake moves that figure to 11 million, and terminating Travis' contract ups that figure to somewhere north of 14 million. I strongly suspect that the Blazers will not renounce both of those guys, instead choosing to move them (if they get moved at all) in a lopsided trade where the team can take on more salary than they send out. Going back to the chatter surrounding the trade deadline and the rumored Hinrich-Deng deal, I have to wonder if A) there was any truth to it, and B) if so, was the main hang up Deng's BYC status? Which ends July 1st. And finally C) is this something the Blazers would even want to re-open this off-season? I have some doubts about Deng's durability, and Hinrich's production (especially given the size of their contracts) but if you are looking to consolidate your roster and get some improvement at two positions of need then it's something I would take a long hard look at.
I don't think Deng's BYC status had a big effect on making a deal with the Bulls. I suppose it always depnds on what was included into a deal like that, but there were plenty of deals made by posters that easily worked around that status.
What I was thinking when I typed that was, roll the dice as in "Bayless is the long term pg solution, make no significant changes and let him develop into it". That doesn't necessarily mean he starts next year, but that in the near future he will and thus just stick with Blake and Bayless with eventually Bayless taking the starting spot from Blake (who makes a fine backup). This would probably include trading Sergio (which I hate to see as I like his game, but the current situation is no good for either of them).
Posters' trade scenarios don't necessarily equate to what KP and Paxson were actually discussing, but you could be right, maybe his base year compensation status wasn't the prime factor? I do wonder if John Salmons' play at small forward makes Deng expendable (he's balling out of his fucking mind!) especially if resigning Ben Gordon is a priority this summer. I don't even know for sure if trading for Deng and Hinrich is a good idea, but I can certainly see some merits for both sides to do a deal that looks something like this: Chicago trades: Hinrich and Deng Portland trades: Blake, Outlaw, and Webster, and other considerations (draft picks, cash, or draft rights?) That leaves the bulls with: Rose/Blake Gordon/Webster Salmons/Outlaw Tyrus Thomas/Tim Thomas Noah/Miller and Portland with: Hinrich/(Sergio or JB?) Roy/Rudy Deng/Nicolas LMA/(Freeland, Randolph, draft pick?) Greg/Joel Benefits: Chicago unloads salary, gets some depth and some outside shooting. Portland consolidates the roster, fills two positions of need, gets an upgrade (defensively at least) at the one, and a productive wing with a solid midrange game, good basketball IQ, and some upside.
If the Blazers are targeting a PG, I would think it would be for a defensive minded PG (given the strong PGs in the western conference). Too me this means a relatively young PG (with young legs). I see Miller and Nash's name being thrown around . . .and I could see how they might fit in. But I want a 3-5 year player who has developed a reputation for hard nose defense and a solid team player. Probably asking too much, but that is what I think the Blazers need.
If Rubio actually reaches the draft, I'd love for Pritchard to take a shot at trading for him. I think he's absolutely the real deal and a top-tier PG talent. Otherwise, I'd love for Pritchard to explore a sign-and-trade deal with Milwaukee for Ramon Sessions. Otherwise, I'd like Pritchard to try to sign Andre Miller as a two-year bridge to Bayless. Otherwise, I'm fine with sticking with Blake as the starter until Bayless is ready. Of course, if Pritchard comes up with a great option that I'm not considering, that's good, too.
To me that sounds like Blake. Granted he has trouble with the super-quick PG's, but who doesn't? As I've said previously I think our focus should be on backup PF. Somebody that hits the boards.
Blake works hard on defense, but he's by no means a great defender. He's good when the opponent is mostly stationary, but as soon as they cut or run the pick and roll, he's pretty much helpless.
We're fine at PG with all bases covered between Steve, Sergio and Brandon. Better than most teams in the league, IMO. We also still have Petteri on deck, I believe. Jerryd, Channing, Shavlick and Ruffin for a solid backup PF would make us pretty much unbeatable.
I'd rather keep Jerryd and trade Sergio, but I agree with the rest. There are a lot of other PGs in the league i'd go after though, and keep Blake as the backup and include both Bayless and Sergio in trades. Stuckey, Ellis, Sessions come to mind.
This is just another "What have you done for me lately" thread. As soon as he fucks up again, it will be like old times.
I don't think Blake has improved lately. He is having a career season, though. He's gone from adequate reserve to adequate starter this year (if you don't count defense...with defense, he's a lower-level starter). But this is the best year of his career...I wouldn't be counting on him to hold this level going forward.
his 2005-6 Blazer stint was pretty darned close to this... 14.5 PER then, 14.7 now http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/blakest01.html guys usually don't start their decline at 29... barring injury, usually they hold pretty steady until 32 or so STOMP
That's true...but both years are much higher than his other seasons. It may be a double peak, but it still doesn't look like his normal performance. It's looks like his highest level. I don't think he'll decline. I think this is an unusually good year and he'll regress to his mean.
