With the obvious improvement of Batum and the possible health of Webster, Travis is completely expendable. And with the apparent lack of improvement of Bayless, I have to think those two are going to be traded. It further seems to me we will trade (IF we trade) for a young PG or maybe PF/C combo I we feel we won't resign Joel.
I would like to trade them for a young PG. That sounds good. That is only if Webster and Batum kill it. I still think we can use Trav and get work out of him. Just nothing at crunch time.
Bayless is not going anywhere. I think there is a greater chance of Blake leaving than Bayless. Get over the fact that a 20 year old player with One year in the NBA and One year in college is not ready for prime time yet. He has all the tools and is a very hard worker. He will be a very good player. I was never a fan of Telfair or Sergio, but I see something different in Bayless and have faith that he will improve greatly by the end of this year and will be a very quality back-up by next year. As far as Outlaw, I could see it go either way, but I don't think that Webster has much to do with it. Webster was worse than Outlaw before he missed a year, and worse than Batum already. Also, Outlaw will be playing more BU PF this year than SF whereas Webster is SF and SF only. If it wasn't for one single outstanding quarter, people would be questioning if Webster will ever make it in the NBA.
He has all what tools? Seriously I just don't see Bayless being the pg the Blazers need. We need a pg who can get the ball to all the weapons that are on this team. Bayless will always be a shoot first pg. He's not a natural distributor of the ball. You can't teach court vision, you either have it or not and Bayless doesn't have it.
Bayless yes, never had a spot for him in the first place. Travis is here to stay. Funny that people don't get that even now.
I don't think that the team will be in a rush to make any deals. There's simply no reason to move either Bayless or Outlaw unless it results in a clear upgrade. And I think that our team is pretty hard-pressed to get a clear upgrade at any spot (except backup 4). As to whether they SHOULD trade either of those guys: I don't think so, so maybe that's coloring my analysis of whether they will or not. Outlaw might never be a starting-level player, but he's still got a chance to continue to improve, and I don't think that Webster (in spite of my hope for him) is a reason to dump him. Bayless is still very young and I'm comfortable giving him a few more years before we give up on him. Ed O.
That is a really good point. I never thought of that. What if that quarter never happened?! We would probably think Webster sucks!
I like the reasoning and logic in the post. My only question is whether Bayless is comfortable giving the Blazers a few more years before giving up on us. I can see him being a valued contributor on a team somewhere but unless the Blazers trade Rudy, I just don't see Bayless as that person (or unless we get a different coach). I don't believe Nate has much faith in Bayless as a PG and I don't see him getting much by way of time at SG. I can envision Bayless as very frustrated by December and wanting a trade. Gramps...
Kudos BP on starting up the "trade travis/travis is great" and "Bayless sucks/is the future" argument in September and all in one thread.
It's not really up to Bayless. He is under contract, and from everything I have read about him, he will not be a cancer. He may ask for a trade, but I don't see KP likely to grant him that wish. All will be forgot by the time he is ready for a new contract if he is a major contributor by then. And if he is not a major contributor by then (I think he will be) then it's not a big loss if he leaves. As far as Nate having faith in him, last year he got a chance when Blake went down, and started playing well. When Blake came back, Nate continued to give him shots until Bayless started really crapping up the place. Then, like any good coach, Nate lost confidence in Bayless. But, Bayless will continue to get shots both in games and of course in practice, and if he starts to shine, Nate will give him a chance again. Nate has been much more willing than many other coaches to give younger players a shot.
With no other clear back-up at SF or PF, Outlaw is staying put. People just need to accept him for what he is - a flawed, but valuable, bench player. Bayless is a crap-shoot at this point...but as patient as the team has been with Outlaw and Webster, I can't quite see them just giving up on him.
I don't think KP is fixin to do anything and hasn't been. I think he likes his roster just the way it is. And if he makes a move, I think it will be to bring in another scorer to help Roy and Aldridge. That would probably mean Outlaw Or Martell on the way out. If Martell falls on his face and he sucks or is inconsistant. I kind of think he and Outlaw with Bayless maybe out to bring in a scorer like Caron Butler by mid season.
Bayless/Blake/Outlaw/pick for Gasol/Conley/Jaric or Bayless/Outlaw/pick for Rubio/Blount Miller/Conley Roy/Fernandez Webster/Batum Aldridge/Gasol Pryzbilla/Oden or Miller/Blake (with Rubio in two years) Roy/Fernandez Webster/Batum Aldridge/Howard Pryzbilla/Oden/Blount
my hope now is that webster plays his ass off and travis has to sit, and then subsequently be traded for some backup PF who can actually rebound. Miller/Blake/Bayless Roy/Rudy Martell/Nic/Rudy LMA/???/Howard Oden/Pryz
I am currious as to where you are getting the "apparent lack of improvement" info from regarding Bayless? Strictly going from what we have actually seen, Bayless has improved a lot at PG. Last summer league he had a total of 4 assists on a team that was better than this years team. This year he averaged 4 assists. To me that says he got significantly better.
