Posted the same thin at BE, wanted to see your guy's opinion So, i know many of you are not super thrilled about seeing Andre Miller in a Blazer Uni, but let me assure you, there is really nothing to lose if your the Blazers here. Milelr came into the summer looking for a 3yr -30 mil dollar deal, and we all know that wasnt going to happen. So he saw the market fall for PG's like Bibby and Kidd and saw the lack of interest from teams and now would be happy for something over the mid-level for a couple of years. I will spell out how I think the Blazers should procede with the situation and what happens after we get Miller... My plan comes with a little bit of an overhaul, but bear with me here, i think something like this could happen. To my knowledge i believe we have 7.7 Million to work with under the cap.... 1) Sign and Trade: Blake for Miller starting @ 7 mil for two years (2nd a little higher) - Remainder of Cap Space = 4.7 Mill In my mind, this is the perfect way to bring in Miller. We still need to give Bayless some breathing room, and roy and rudy can play emergency point as well 2) Sign and Trade: Outlaw for David Lee Starting at 8.3 mil for 4 years. This is the hardest step in this scenario. It will be hard for New York to bite, but if they sign Sessions, they might want at least something in return for Lee, and outlaw is expiring. 3) Joel Pryz + 2010 1st Round Pick + (Possible Rights to Overseas Players for Shane Battier. There can be other variations to this trade and Houston might want more in return in which case we could offer webster as well. I doubt Pryz comes back next year for the same type of money, Centers are hard to come by in the NBA and very valuable (see Marcin Gortat) So your 2009-2010 Portland Trailblazers PG: Andre Miller/Jerryd Bayless/Brandon Roy SG: Brandon Roy/Rudy Fernandez/??Martell Webster?? SF: Shane Battier/Nicolas Batum/Dante Cunningham PF: LaMarcus Aldridge/David Lee/Jeff Pendergraph C: Greg Oden/David Lee/LaMarcus Aldridge This lineup gets to the Wester Conference Finals with a chance at the Championship
I like the way it starts, but don't think the Knicks will get Sessions, and think that is overpaying for Battier. I wouldn't be opposed to trading Joel, but I would rather have a different piece back. I also have concerns about trading Blake for Miller. Who is the backup? What if Miller doesn't mesh with Roy? Too many bad things could happen.
I don't want to see Joel traded, definitely not for SB. If Greg goes down with an injury, and Joel is gone, the team is back in the lottery.
LMA and Lee would still be there. Both are capable centers. Neither are the defensive force that Joel is, but both are way better offensively.
If we acquire Miller, I'd go as long as a three-year deal starting at $6M, then $6.5M and finally a team-option for $6M. I'd prefer NOT to deal Steve Blake. I suppose I'd be open to this, but it's not my favorite scenario. Roy and Fern could man the 1 if need be. I do not like the idea of David Lee if we're sending out Prz. I'm not as big a fan of Battier as others are.
