None of those guys are better than LMA. Barnes is a 2nd-best player on a team, at his limit, McAdoo is a role player, and Muhammad isn't available until the 2013 draft. You're joking about Drummond, right? He's the biggest project in years, shot 29% from the foul line, and has a much worse offensive game than Oden had coming into the league. The guy has bust written all over him. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/57279/andre-drummond For all of the talk about how deep this draft is, I honestly don't see many franchise-type players in it.
The only reasons to trade LA are if you can get better talent back now or, if you think you can't put a winning team together within his productive career span, to get a top-3 good draft pick to start over with.
I stopped reading at the bolded part. What does that even mean? Is it bad to predictably have a PER 23.4?
Huh??? It has nothing to do with his face, or how he looks. People who understand basketball know that Aldridge is soft because he would rather shoot jump shots than take the ball to the hoop, and because he doesn't work hard at rebounding. I'll repeat myself: he got only 4 rebounds against the Celtics the other night. That just doesn't cut it.
I'll tell you what it means. Every play down the court, he wants the ball with his back to the basket, then he will back his man down until he gets a jump shot he likes. This makes him vulnerable to double teams because you can see the play coming way a mile away. As someone else has pointed out, he's not a very good dribbler, so he isn't comfortable slashing to the hoop like a Dwayne Wade, or Kobe, or LeBron. Aldridge is very skilled, no doubt about it, but his game is somewhat limited because he needs the ball in certain positions to do anything with it.
That might be the offense he is in as well though? Aldridge and others are predictable because the offense they are in is predictable
Well, the Blazers are running more this year than ever, so I don't think McMillan is tied to any particular offensive sets; I think it's Aldridge who wants the ball in certain positions, and so the team goes in that direction.
By the way, when was the last time we beat a team that we were supposed to lose to? Just curious. The great players lift a team up, and deliver victories that are unexpected, but Aldridge rarely does that. These days we seem to beat only the teams that are clearly worse than us.
He's predictable? Fine. He puts up a PER of 23.4. What's the problem? Nobody has ever claimed that he is a Kobe or LeBron. You won't find one of them in this draft either. Those are once-in-a-generation players.
Surround Aldridge with players that can consistently knock down the open shot and he could beast the league. Teams are daring our guards to shoot while packing the paint.
I'll go one step further. Give these players a system that is designed to give them good looks and isn't as easy to defend and guys will start to shoot a little bit better (though probably not "night and day" better because there is something of a talent deficit going on too). Bottom line: the mix on this team is atrocious, Wallace and Felton just don't fit in a half-court offense (or at least this half-court offense), most of these guys play below the rim, we don't have a lot of ball-handling and ultimately Nate has never gotten his teams to set decent picks since he's been here. Lots and lots of things need to be addressed.
Portland is 7th in OFF EFF and 12th in Pace. I've already showed how terrible the Fastbreak EFF is with this team (28th in the NBA), so why would you want them to run even more? I realize that these stats probably mean less than your opinion, though. Such is life on this board. Let's see here. Offense is the problem, and it's Nate's fault. Defense is the problem, and it's Nate's fault. In-game adjustments are the problem, and it's Nate's fault. Base level.
OK--potential semi-comparables using the teams with the league's five worst records: DJ Augustin, BJ Mullens, and the Bobcats' #1 Eric Gordon, Carl Landry, and the Hornets' #1 Nick Young, Javale McGee, and the Wizards' #1 Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, and the Kings' #1 Jose Calderon, Demar Derozan, and the Raptors' #1 How many of those would you trade Aldridge for? Or, how many of those teams would make that deal for Aldridge?
ZBO, for one. Putting up 20/10 but then it was "necessary" to get him out of here at any price (one that hurt the franchise as they attempted to hoard cap space for two years). Result? Multiple allstar and led his team to the 2nd round of the playoffs last year. The fans start to turn sour on players, the players get wind of it and it messes with their mind. its always been historical, back in the day, blazer fans were calling for Drexler's head at times too. always a fickle bunch who turn on their players pretty quickly.
I would do none of those. But something like derrick williams, top five pick, good player was more along my line of thinking. Would nwver happen because they dont have the assets, but..... Utah got a lot for deron. I think youd be crazy not to listen if someone offered you something comparable.
Well, right now, Aldridge is not a malcontent (Williams reportedly got JERRY SLOAN out in Utah), loves the city and fans, the city and fans love him. He's possibly going to be on the next olympic squad. Still improving every season and looking better and you want to trade him for unproven commodities and draft picks? Its just madness.
