That would be called "tampering" and the Blazers would be fined and punished for making side deals. Look at what happened to Minny years ago. Instead, we have the Bird rights for Hickson, as long as we retain him. That means we would be able to sign him for whatever amount and for 1 year longer; even if we are over the cap. My hopeful plan would be retain Hickson and Babbitt and sign a veteran or 2 with our MLE's.
Well, I don't think so... I think we'd have to renounce our rights to him in order to go over the cap. Maybe I'm wrong. I would love to sign someone else and then sign Hickson, but I don't think the rules work that way.
The Minne situation was a bit different. They were going to keep signing Smith to small-dollar, 1-year deals until he had his full Bird Rights. And, allegedly, they were going to then give him a big deal once he had acquired Bird Rights. And they had this pretty much all worked out, including what his big contract would look like, a year or two in advance of him being able to sign the big deal. Or something like that. And tampering wouldn't be what I'd call this situation. Tampering, generally, is when you're talking about (or to) players under contract with another team.
I think there's a couple things at play here: First is that JJ's game is 110% pedal to the metal at all times he's on the court. If he were asked to play for 36 minutes a game, he'd have to significantly change his approach to the game and would basically turn into a shorter LaMarcus. Second is that Stotts is probably being asked to give Leonard and Freeland some major burn so Olshey can see what he bought. I'm personally amazed that Leonard averages 18 minute a game. And if you're going to sit one of Hickson or LA down, you pick Hickson. Not just because of reason number but also because... Third, he does space out, turn the ball over, force plays, and generally get himself into trouble on the court a bit more than the average starter. He's not Javale out there dunking on the wrong rim, but he does have a tendency to feel like he needs to prove himself, and that usually ends with a drive to the key and the ball in the hands of the guard who doubled him. And finally, he doesn't really play great defense. He rebounds like a mofo which is great, but his DRtg is 105, which is the average ORtg of the NBA. Basically he doesn't hinder anything out there defensively, but he certainly doesn't shut anyone down. A legitimate center (like the ones Stotts is auditioning) might help there.
That's really not surprising. Grant did an amazing job defending Karl Malone, who was probably the best scoring power forward in the game in his day.
-4 or -0.1 isn't a huge difference, IMO. What I find funny is how similar they are for our ball club. Both came out of Sacramento and they both weren't really expected to be as good as they were before coming to PDX. Maybe it's something in our coffee?
There is something in our coffee, and I'm pissed off that I'm allergic to it now and can't have any anymore! :MARIS61:
Speaking of that old Era. I'm curious on the defense and offensive efficiency of Sabas with Grant. I wonder which front court Duo was more Offensive and Defensively more efficient.
If you're a center, you run away from Portland. If you're a PF, you should beg to play in Portland. Lucas Buck BGrant Sheed ZBo LMA Hickson Quite a solid run of Blazer PFs over the existence of the franchise, for the most part.
To the OP: "so what?" If I was on another team, I'd hate the Blazers too. In fact I hate any team that ISN'T the Blazers. (for Basketball that is).
