That's the rub with Brandon. In a vacuum I don't mind his presence on the team, but theoretical "1 good game every 5" Roy vs. "LMA marginalized when he's in the game" Roy means he has to go. Forget the money for a second, the team needs to establish an identity and I'd prefer the inside-out approach they went to with Aldridge for the first two-thirds of last year over Roy taking fifteen foot step back jumpers late in the clock.
I agree and disagree with you on this. I agree that Nate did not adjust Roy's new role very well. But when Roy came back he came off the bench. LMA started. The 5-7 minutes a game they played together does not tell me that LMA will continue to defer. Wallace joined the team at the same time. The chemistry was not there in general. That doesn't mean they can't create better chemsitry this year. But with a new PG and limited preseason.........they will probably start slow.
I don't think the $14mil tax bill is likely. It or a higher amount is possible, but so is a smaller tax bill if the Blazers are careful with their other moves this off-season. Tax bill could be $10mil. Also, the team will take a nasty PR hit if they amnesty Roy now. It will affect season ticket sales. You can count on it. That costs money. That hit will be much, much less next summer if Roy has a really bad year. Amnesty now is $15mil - $3mil other team pays + $??mil in lost revenue/marketing costs to replaced pissed off fans Amnesty delayed til next summer is $15mil + $10mil lux tax. Now, appx $10mil is not chump change, but Allen used to throw around $3mil trade kickers like they were jelly belly's in his candy jar. I don't think the Blazers need to make this decision now unless: Allen is preparing the team for sale. In which case, go ahead and piss off the Roy fans as the circus around the team being put on the block will drown it out. Allen wants to rebuild the roster and wants to do it now. Allen is exciting about team-building again and wants to build a team around Aldridge, and needs the room to bring try to swing a trade for a big-time player, in which case why don't we have a GM and a new coach who will run a little bit? Roy tells the team his is essentially done as an NBA player.
I guarantee that ticket sales will be fine if they amnesty Roy. Ticket sales only drop when the team stinks and is losing a ton of games. This franchise survived trading Drexler when he still had game.
This reminds me so much of the Drexler and Cliff Robinson issue. Drexler had that terrible Hamstring injury and Cliff started becoming a star. There was question on who's team the Blazers will be; now that Drexler's injury and hampered ability effected our team's success. The good news was we traded him after the fans accepted this; and Drexler even asked to be traded. It was a much easier pill to swallow because many fans already had an idea on the direction of the team. I think this is the best approach. 1 year of trial. This year will decide what to do with Roy.
You "guarantee"? OK. I guarantee the ticket office will have a harder time selling season tickets. Yes, if the team wins a ton of games the tickets will be sold during the season. That is always true, even during the jail blazer era. But, when the team had no star and lost games - you literally could not give your tickets away.
Different era. Much, much, much higher ticket prices (increase well above the increase in average wages) and the jail-blazer era broke that connection between the team and city. Better than most NBA cities, but not like it used to be. If the Blazers are hard to watch and losing, the fans will stay away.
So we have a star in LMA and a several fan favorites no named "Roy" (Batum, Crash and Camby). I think the fallout of waiving Roy is totally overblown.
Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard Bulls' dream (sources say) & Heat's nightmare is for Chi to get Brandon Roy after Blazers cut him w/amnesty clause....
Because that's what the Bulls need. A SG that demands to take the ball out of Rose's hands and isolate.
In regards to tickets, I think fans have already, maybe because of Oden and increased expectations of the team, but fans already stay away a little. There were games I couldn't go to where I tried selling my tickets WELL below face value, and had nobody buying them. And on sites like Blazers, Stub hub, etc., there were many other tickets available also. The arena is filled up for Laker games, and Celtic games. Mainly because those teams' fans bought the scalped tickets being sold online. But I've seen a noticeable drop off in the ability to get anywhere near face value from friends or strangers in the last 3 years, and I imagine the lockout, KP, Cho, Roy "issues" will continue to increase that difficulty. Especially with a team not as, I dunno, hyped with high expectations? Yeah, they'll likely still sell out this season, because they go off of tickets sold. But huge chunks of those 300 level seats are bought up by scalpers,a nd I magine once they are struggling to profit on them, they won't come back.
They need a wing on their team other than rose who could create his own shot. Bogans, Korver, Deng can not do that.
