Where are we in terms of competing? If we believe we are close then vets like Battier, Hill, Prince, etc would be great. If not, figure out what the hell needs to be fixed after the coach, and start adding those pieces...i.e. Brooks, Hawes
The guy is a great 3pt shooter, 6'6", and only 25 years old. Seems like the ideal complement to Dre and fills one of the team's obvious needs.
Chuck Hayes would be perfect. He's 27 but with his skill set (post defense) I have a feeling he's going to be around for another decade. He's a young Kurt Thomas.
Brooks would be my top choice. If not him, then Landry or Hayes. Heh. All three guys were on that 09 HOU team.
I like Brooks. I think if we could add him, he would be a nice guy to come off the bench behind Dre, or Miller could be added in a deal to bring something else of need. I would like to see us make a push for Howard honestly. I'm wondering if Aldridge and Batum would get it done.
Howard has been the most durable center in the league over the past 7 years. Putting him in POR would put a dent in that title. Missed only 5 games in 7 years (some of which were due to suspensions).
He shoots a ton of 3s, but at 37% for his career, he's not a great shooter. For the sake of comparison, Steve BLANKY is a career 39% 3-pt shooter, and Martell Webster is a career 38% 3-pt shooter. I wouldn't call either of them "great" 3-pt shooters.
That would put Howard in an even worse position than he has in Orlando, but with an older PG, a SG that can't create his own shot, another SG who is no longer a star, and on an even smaller team with fewer scoring options. Why would Howard want to make that move? Why would Portland want to make that move?
Pryzbilla was horrible this last season, Chris Johnson played much better than him. I wouldn't pay any more than the vet minimum for Pryzbilla and even then I would only do it after we had rounded out the rest of our roster. The guy got injured again for the remainder of the season in Charlotte. Joel might not be able to beat out our second round picks for a roster spot. Trying to use our MLE on Joel is as retarded as New Jersey giving Travis Outlaw $35 million.
I like Joel, wouldn't mind him as roster insurance, but I don't want him as our backup, personally. I'm tired of playing 4 on 5 all the time. We need guys that can play on both sides of the ball. Not a guy who is in the way more than anything on offense. Part of the reason I don't really want Chuck Hayes either.
We already had him when he was called Channing Frye. If Nate McMillan has taught us anything, it's that he has a hard time putting players in situations where they can maximize their core abilities.
Honestly, I'd love to get Channing back, also. Though to the Nate criticism, I disagree. I think he put plenty of people in situations to maximize their abilities. Travis and Blake specifically are two who haven't looked nearly as good away from Nate.
The only players that I can think of who have more success since leaving Nate are Jerryd Bayless, who had a very solid end to the season as a starter in Toronto (while losing games), at least in terms of individual play, and Zach Randolph (who took 4 years post-Nate to figure things out). Josh McRoberts looks to be a solid NBA player as well, but he was too young and raw to contribute much when he was in Portland. Am I missing other players who have left Nate and been better players? Even going back to Seattle, I can't think of many examples.
