Cough, Cough. Maybe we can cough something up that gets us even more cap room for another player before signing Batum.
So let me get this right: you will not say one bad thing about Smith while he is a Blazer but Matthews is as useful as a hairball?
lol . . . well I'm going to miss your "edge" when it comes to Smith. Couldn't you pick someone who was good?
Ben Golliver @blazersedge Kravitz: President Donnie Walsh Calls Keeping Roy Hibbert The Pacers' "First Priority" http://www.blazersedge.com/2012/7/3...sh-says-keeping-roy-hibbert-is-first-priority
"First priority, after using our 5 year contract option on George Hill." If Hibbert was priority one, they would have locked him up long ago, or even waited on George Hill and offered Hibbert a 5y/$65m deal, since apparently they're comfortable going up close to $13m/y for him.
I think you're reading it slightly wrong. i did the same initially. He's not saying in the quote roy hibbert is our first priority this offseason. He's saying in the matching/not matching scenario, and bettering their team, first, ideally, they want to keep him. But they need to analyze if that is the best step going forward.
We can still trade future picks. Just because next year's is already promised (with protection) doesn't mean we can't trade future first rounders....
yeah, it does. Stepien rule. Because of the protection on next year's pick (going out to 2016), you can't trade, say, 2015's pick b/c we might suck too bad next year to give CHA the 2013 pick, so it reverts to 2014. You can't trade 2015 if 2014 might already be traded. And so on... We can trade 2018's, because protection runs out in 2016 and now it's 6 drafts out so we can trade 2018. But that's it.
I would think, but don't know, that we could say next available first. so if it is conveyed in 13, then 15, etc.
If Portland is going to get Hibbert (and keep Batum), we'd be a playoff team. I'd be willing to tell CHA that we'll give up the protection on our pick, which thereby frees us to deal a pick to Indy.
that's another matter entirely. I've been advocating that since before the draft, just for situations like this. UTH and GSW were talking about doing this before the draft so that UTH could get back in.
