From ESPN.com, updated today: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4319607 One source close to the process on Friday identified two main obstacles to the aforementioned three-way deal. Concerned about the quality of its backcourt rotation if it has to surrender Hinrich with Thomas after losing Ben Gordon in free agency, Chicago would insist that the Blazers surrender young guard Jerryd Bayless, which Portland is reluctant to do. If it can't get Bayless, Chicago might still be willing to substitute Tim Thomas for Tyrus Thomas in the deal, but sources say Utah would likely balk if Tyrus Thomas is not included. Hinrich, meanwhile, is a lead guard that Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard has been known to covet for some time as a potential backcourt mate for Brandon Roy.
The main problem is defending the point guard spot. Roy and Rudy can't do that very effectively for any significant stretches of the game. Blake is weak at it. Bayless has the quickness and defensive effort to do it. Hinrich is also a good defender of point guards. For that reason, I assume that they'd get most, if not all, the point guard minutes. That does mean no role for Blake, but I was assuming he'd be involved in any Hinrich deal. Blake is paid less (and is worse) than Hinrich, so he'd make a reasonable backup for Rose. If this happened, Rudy might start to get his minutes squeezed. That's a problem inherent in having a player largely restricted to one position, the same position your franchise player plays. Were I Pritchard, a Hinrich deal means that I'd start looking for deals involving Rudy. Nothing needs to happen immediately, but over the next year, it'd be something of a priority.
Let's see... starting PG for a 54 win team in the west, or... a guy with a PER of 8 who's certainly not ready now. Our backcourt minus Hinrich is Rose and Pargo. Bayless might be good to play some minutes if one of those other two get hurt or otherwise miss games, because there's nobody else. Blake is ready now to play extended minutes if called on, and he can play PG.
What's Chicago winning next year, anyway? You're a year or two from contention, if it were me I'd take the player with Monta Ellis upside over a fairly average PG.
If you want a PG that can't create his own shot, is a bad defender and not a good passer, then by all means, you can have him.
We're never going to contend. We've been sold the Tyrus Thomas has Michael Jordan upside story already. Didn't buy it then, don't buy it about Bayless. Our other options are guys like Lindsey Hunter, maybe signing a guy like Linton Johnson III, or playing the 7' 300lb Aaron Gray at SG.
You got a chuckle out of me, sir. Personally, I think that Blake for Hinrich in the 3 team scenario makes too much sense to both sides - Bulls are getting a competent backup PG that is paid like a backup PG and can stroke the 3 and play some SG for a one year trial, the Blazers have minutes to help Bayless develop.
be honest, everyone wants to see Aaron Gray at SG, that'd be hilarious. [video=youtube;POPMNkSWeNc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POPMNkSWeNc[/video] Bayless has insane athleticism, supposedly a great work ethic, and he's 20 years old. That's not worth gambling on? One player not panning out (and as you have said before, TT showed some good potential towards the end of the season) is no reason to give up on prospects in general. For me, there's nothing worse than mediocrity. But be my guest and take Blake, I'd be pretty happy if Portland's PG rotation is Hinrich and Bayless next season.
Good call on Blake. He is steady, can knock down the open shot and most importantly is a proven NBA player. I don't think Blazers would give up Blake in this trade senario . . .basically upgrade some at PG and allow Utah to kill the Milsap offer.
Blake just doesn't fit under the LT threshold in this deal. If he did, I think the deal would be done already. The Bulls gambled all along and they failed miserably. Curry and Chandler, Tyrus, Ben Wallace. Their next gamble seems to be loading up on cap space (Brad Miller is $12.5M expiring, Jerome James is $6.5M expiring, Tim Thomas is $6M expiring, Tyrus is $5M expiring) for 2010.
To be fair, the Bulls were a 49 win team, Hinrich had a 17 PER, Gordon a 17 PER, Deng a 17.5 PER, they had Nocioni and Duhon, too. They played a lot of 3 guards and were successful at it. They were terribly weak at PF and C, but felt it was OK to gamble on Tyrus and his higher ceiling than LMA (in their eyes). Roy was who many Bulls fans wanted, but we were already really deep at the G positions. It is generally tough for teams to consistently contend for the championship. I'm not talking about 50+ wins, I'm talking about certain to make the conference finals and really a chance to win it all. You can end up like the Bulls and Memphis (Gasol era), where you win 50 games for a few seasons in a row, don't have what it takes to contend, and you get mediocre position in the drafts to try and add quality guys to your core. I think Portland is at a critical stage. You guys might be high on that 11th pick in the draft today, but tomorrow you'll have to be high on that 18th pick (if you see the glass half-full).
MANY fans on various message boards rocked this the summer of '06: Give up the idea of Portland trading Bayless to Chicago. It's not going to happen.
Indeed I will. If it means trading for a 28 year old slight upgrade (and VASTLY overrated by Bulls fans, btw) and trading our 20 y/o prospect in Bayless, I'll enjoy our mythical capspace.
