I actually floated a Blake, Rudy, Travis for Butler trade on the ESPN.com Wizards board awhile ago and people seemed to think that was pretty fair value. They liked Rudy and even thought somewhat highly of Blake for his ability to space the floor and play backup point guard. Who knows what Grunfeld wants though.
Done and Done. We would no longer be a good 3 point shooting team, but you have to give to get. Rudy may end up being a really nice player, but not here. Not behind Brandon, and not in a slow pace system. He's relegated to 20 something minutes as a spot up shooter. He wants to have the ball more and he'd probably be more effective in an uptempo offense. Personally, I think Rudy is a bit soft. If our identity is going to be a half court team that plays defense and rebounds, then he doesn't fit that. If you can get a tough nosed guy like Butler for him, it's a no brainer.
Obviously I think followup moves would need to be made either this year or next to add some wing shooting back into the mix, but hopefully Nic's longrange shooting at least holds steady or slightly improves (37% from the arc last season) and Martell would be a serviceable backup shooting guard in the interim, and frankly I think LaMarcus has a shot at becoming a good or great deep threat (at least from the corners).
You know I don't buy that Rudy being relegated to a spot up shooter. Bayless has shown that you can be more than that when he has been in. I think more of the problem has been Rudy is used to playing with a real PG in the lineup, and gets passive when in our system.
I'd agree with that except that he was paired up with Miller most of the time, and this year, far more than last, Nate put the ball in his hands as a playmaker in the half-court. The result? His usage rate is slightly higher, he's doubled his turnover rate from last year while his assist rate is pretty much identical. I like Rudy, but he really is best suited as a true off-the-ball shooting guard that runs off of screens and catches and shoots; I just don't think he's as versatile as we hoped he might be.
I would give Rudy and Roy a chance together on the court and give Rudy some touches as primary ballhandler before giving in to such a theory. IMO right now, one of the only reasons the Blazers are playing as well as they are right now is due to the injuries on the court. When players got hurt, it forced Nate to do some things that he would have never done otherwise. He was forced to play players he would not play for long minutes. He was also forced to shorten the rotation. The problem being, when Rudy comes back, he will no longer be in such a predicament, and so we will probably never see him give Rudy that chance. The same chance Bayless is taking advantage of now. If it was my way or the highway, we would have been playing Roy, Rudy, and Bayless all along and been looking for them to Gel. There is no use to squeaking by with a backup in a starters role trying out a few more wins when the goal is to get the team to championship contender status.
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I don't see a good fit for Jamison or Butler in Portland. What I want, if I'm the Blazers, is a fairly young guy that can fit in with the rest of their team. If they want an older guy as a stop-gap, I'd like for a guy on a cheaper/shorter term deal.
If someone is willing to take on Arenas they can have anyone, they will need to send around 25 to 30 million in salary if they want to add Jamison or Butler.
I don't know...the sheer volume of JailBlazers era stories still gives them a pretty solid lead historically, IMHO.
While the numerous offenses clearly surpass those of the Wizards - not even that can compare to pulling guns on your teammates.
Hmmm...not sure which is worse...raping Nanny, attempting to rape stripper, pulling gun on teammate...but yes, this is quite bad!
