Do we need to trade for another big?

Loved Howard's professionalism and figuratively, for a man dying of thirst in the desert he was a cup of water, but let's not get carried away.

 

You don't think he'd be a lifesaver right now if Pendergraph is out for weeks or months?

You don't think he's 5 times as good as Cunningham, Babbitt, or Pendergraph?

What is your reason for wanting Pendergraph over Howard? They'll both be in the league 2-3 more years, Howard is 10 times as good, I'm out of comparisons...

(BGrant--I'm not saying he'd take Camby's job. He'd be a substitute. Enough of your irrelevant comparison to Camby.)

 

When Cunningham finally reaches his prime, after several years of taking up space on rosters, he'll be less of a player than Howard is now. Do you really think that he'll ever be able to start in the NBA, even due to others' injuries, like Juwan did last year? I see a frail undersized PF trying to keep up with SFs due to his size, lasting about 5 years in the league. He doesn't have Outlaw's leaping or quickness. He does try at defense, unlike Outlaw. So he is no Outlaw, and that's not saying much.

Howard was 5 times Outlaw last year. If Howard was dumped to open a 5-year spot to develop Cunningham, who will always be less than Outlaw, that's just dumb.

 

Personally, I do not. Howard was terrible last year.

 

Terrible, how? If you're comparing his stats, is it to Camby, or to Pendergraph and Cunningham?...because he'd be a substitute, not a starter. How would he be worse than the subs we have at C and PF? (the inexperienced Cunningham, Babbitt, and Pendergraph even before his injury)

 

What about Turiaf, he's no gem but a very hard worker, nice on defense, and not a bad passer. Plus he's used to cheering a lot from the bench.

New York might not be using him a ton this season, and we might be able to grab him at a good value.

 

I'd love Turiaf, but he's not really a Center.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jwSjgEWp78

When I think of Mbenga, I can't help but think of this video. Just. Wrong.

 

A player who's also available (for good reason some might say) is Fabricio Oberto. He hasn't done much at all in the NBA in a couple of years, but neither had Howard, and he looked perfectly serviceable playing for Argentina this Summer. He has about two things going for him: he's a legit 7 foot, and he's a very smart basketball player (particularly in moving the ball), so the offense would run smoothly with him in there. But we'd have to lose Patty Mills plus one other player to sign him, and he's probably not worth that.

 

I would like to see us cut Armon and pickup the best PF or C we can find. Dampier would be an amazing pickup but I doubt he would be interested. Oberto or Turiaf would be fine. Heck just getting the best DLeaguer the team can find would be ok with me. I believe this team could be a contender by March if they get a few breaks to go their way. So I would like to see us put as much effort into maximizing our early season record in order to get HCA as a 2 or 3 seed. If we lose a small amount of long term potential in Armon I believe that is worth the cost in order to add a few early season wins. Having some sort of big man, even a below average sub, would allow the team to not have to always play small ball. I don’t want to see Nic and Babbit having to play consistent minutes at PF every night.

I would be curious if theres any chance of us getting a 16th roster spot from Pendy's injury. I can't remember the specifics of that rule.

 

Cho is going to sign someone, but not for more than 3 weeks at this point. At least that is what Quick reported in the O this morning. He doesn't want to cut anyone from the 15-man roster, and trading anyone on the roster for a 4th-string (or 5th if you count Aldridge) center makes no sense.

 

I love Jeff but can't we just waive him and free up a roster spot? We take care of all his rehab needs and he gets paid of course, this is done assuming he is out for all or most of the season.

 

Rudy has been impressive in preseason so far and is hopefully upping his value. If we can trade Rudy for a halfway decent backup C then pull the trigger. But I just don't think it's worth it thin out the rest of the roster who is providing quality depth for a guy who will be relegated to the end of the bench for the majority of the year.

We just found out that both Joel and Oden are practicing at near full speed. I trust that at least one of them will be back within a month of the season opener. If Cho & Co have news that we are not privy to that leads them to believe that Joel and Oden are never returning to form this season, then of course pull the trigger to get another Big. But with the info we are provided at the moment, I see no need to be overly alarmed and dismantle a well constructed squad.

 

He said he wants to leave the NBA, not just leave Portland. Presumably, any team that trades for him will still have to deal with Rudy being homesick. Regardless of how he plays, Rudy's own public comments have torpedoed his trade value.

 

Right now Cho is assuming that all of our big men will return and be healthy at some point this season.

Considering recent (and not so recent) Blazer history that is quite a gamble.

Luckily Cho has a long history of quick and decisive roster moves.

 

BREAKING NEWS: TheRealJP31
Tough news today y'all, I'm out for the season with torn ACL

 

I think some within the organization envision Johnson to be the PG of the future. I don't think there's a chance that were going to trade him for a stop-gap center.

 

Johnson is a terrible shooter. He is a pass-first PG, so I won't compare him to the strong Jarrett Jack. He's more like a Telfair with muscles. The strength will someday enable him to play defense, after a couple of years of learning.

So the coaches will put 2 years of their attention into developing a Telfair who can play defense, but who still can't shoot. As with other failed shooters of recent years, Armon's backers will constantly assure us that learning the shooting skill is only a matter of time, and that he'll be better next year.

He isn't a spectacular passer like the rookie Sergio. He has the strength to drive like Jack. Once again, we're stuck developing a young player who won't ever be a star, instead of getting experience like Juwan Howard. And when the GM does rarely give in and get experience, he then dumps the vet at the first opportunity.

Keeping Johnson isn't worth ruining the season. Get an experienced big man. This time, keep him.