Yes? Jermaine O'Neal had contributed nothing to the team at that point while Davis was considered a "proven double-double" player. I didn't like the move at the time, but Whitsitt was clearly trying to consolidate some unused potential into solid production. The Lakers were already out of the Pippen pursuit by the time the Blazers traded for him. Phil Jackson and Jerry West wanted to add Pippen, but Jerry Buss nixed it because he didn't want to pay Pippen's salary. And the fact that the Lakers were interested in both players doesn't mean the Blazers traded for them due to the Lakers' interest. Hard as it may be to believe, multiple teams can be interested in the same available players.
If someone can find the "Webster broke his foot our season is over" thread from last year, I'll rep them. We're a deep team and we'll be fine.
Ah, one more thing to debate. Maybe it should be a poll? I say Nico will be working out within 6 weeks and back on the court within 3 months. We'll have him back in games by the all-star break (or the next game after).
I wonder what would happen if Martell got injured again. Who would be our starting SF? Move to Rudy into the lineup at SG and Brandon to SF, or Travis into the lineup at SF?
That's not a "consolidation" trade, though. Pippen clearly was a consolidation trade. The Dale Davis deal was to "win now" and actually further advanced the issue those teams had with finding PT for good players.
Ditto. This is a big pet peeve for me. Nico and Rudy both are injured because of it, just as I've argued many times was the risk. I don't want our guys doing it, whether they are "representing" some fictional "USA Team" or any other "national" team.
I was using the term "consolidation" more generally. Turning inefficiently-used parts into players that can more efficiently help the team. You're right that it's not what people generally mean when they use the term, but I was using it loosely to describe both deals...he was trying to consolidate little-used players into players he felt would have bigger impact on winning. In the case of Pippen, he consolidated multiple proven players into one proven player. In the case of Davis, he consolidated potential talent into proven talent.
http://sportstwo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125486 Then two months later... http://sportstwo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130934 This sucks, but it's now time to focus on the guys who are playing... tomorrow!
Of all the positions to lose a player at, this is the one we can most easily fill. Tough break for Nic, but things could be much worse.
Stephen Jackson is a 41% FG shooter, <35% from 3 pt, and averaged 3.88 TO/game last year. His usage rate was 25.2 (Roy was 27.4, for comparison) and his PER was 16.1 (1 point above Travis Outlaw). Why in the hell would this Blazer team want Stephen Jackson? How would he fit into the offense?
Well, I think it's the fourth-worst player to lose. Losing Roy or Aldridge would ruin the season and losing Oden would be almost as bad, for the present and future. Batum, though, is the next most important player, both in terms of what he gives the team now (their best small forward, IMO) and his development for the future. So, it's a pretty major blow, as far as I'm concerned. Not a season-killing one, thankfully, but far from incidental.
I think this was the best spot to lose a player from- Batum projected as a little better than Webster in my mind- didn't really set the world on fire during the preseason (though it could have been injury). Webster will cover Batum's minutes fine and Bayless/Rudy will take the overage at the 2 and 3 spot.
I swear I had a dream last night Batum had shoulder surgery and was out for the year....then I read this today. How crazy is that.
the fact its not even game 1 and we lost a STARTER for the season is quite disturbing. This is exactly the kind of things that happen when talking about disappointing seasons. Im telling ya... this is a bad omen for our season.
You're right. Just like last season when Webster went down right our of the blocks. Only 54 pathetic wins. You're such a pessimist, MIXUM. I wonder, when you get a hangnail, do you worry that they're going to have to amputate your finger?
