Why in god's name would any team want to exchange an expiring contract (valuable) for Brandon's bloated 5 year albatross (not valuable)? We're stuck with him.
Short term, I think the Blazers need to move Roy to the bench, and put Batum back in the starting lineup. It actually could make both the starters better (having someone who can play really good defense would be a welcome addition), and it would give the bench someone who's willing to take shots (and Roy ought to be able to produce some offense if he's only expected to play 10-15 minutes a night). There's no shame in being a 6th man. Rasheed Wallace did it for a Blazers' team that was within sight of the NBA Finals. Manu Ginobili played that role on championship Spurs' teams. Time to try Brandon there.
I think the Blazers should really try different roles for Roy offensively. whether he is the primary ball handler/point guard or what not. I think we just need to lower expectations for him. There will be a turnaround eventually, he'll just have to modify his game. He's not getting traded.
That sounds good on paper, and in principle I completely agree with it, but let's be real, that kind of move is unlikely to have a positive impact on a team that looks emotionally spent; a group completely bereft of chemistry and lacking an identity -- a team ultimately built around Brandon. If Roy goes to the bench he may eventually adapt to it, but I think it's going to be quite the adjustment for his teammates to seize control of the alpha dog role when they've grown so accustomed to playing second banana. I can see Matthews maybe doing it because I think he's got a pretty strong personality (a natural leader even) and Miller could probably make the switch fairly easy, but even with Roy playing let's say 20-25 minutes a night, I think we're going to see a lot of tug-of-war between he and the rest of the team as he tries to reassert himself and figures out how and where he fits into the overall structure of new non-Roy centric offense. I want to make one thing clear. I don't think Brandon is a bad guy nor even a selfish guy, I think he's a very proud guy and that he feels a lot of responsibility to try and live up to his contract, but because of that I don't think he's going to be able to let go of his status as the team's focal point without a whole lot of struggle. Even if he does let go of it, I think that could sap whatever confidence and "swagger" he has left in himself and when that's gone, just how much use is he going to be?
The $80 million dollar 6th man? I don't think thats going to happen anytime soon. I'm almost to a point where I'm not sure whats better a loss, or a win. Atleast a few years back we could've said well we want to win to show a culture of winning to our young guys. Thats not the case anymore, we really aren't trying to cultivate any young guys aside from maybe Armon and Batum. The more we lose, the more I salivate over Terrence Jones, Irving or Kemba Walker in a Blazer jersey.
Well, probably a good idea to get that adjustment started, because I think it's the only solution in the relative short-term. Roy's contract is not trade-able, and he's not a ruined player eligible for an insurance buyout. The idea would be to find the role that he's best suited for, and I would argue it's as a sixth man. And, as Nate frequently points out, when it comes to ego - he could still finish games!
