I think he does a pretty good job of laying out the situation that Olshey and his staff face going into the summer. Pretty good read on the other teams he covers as well: He mentions one thing relative to the Aldridge situation that I'd been thinking about: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/f...playoff-casualties-will-spend-for-the-future/
That's bollocks. "Sources around the league" are all quoting Jason Quick's bullshit unnamed player comment.
He makes a serious point: even assuming LA's first choice is here - do we maybe want to blow it up now given (a) the strength of the West and the comparative difficulty of going anywhere in the playoffs, and (b) the upcoming massive changes in the salary cap that will reward people with cap room Personally, I would find it depressing, but I can see the reasoning. Even at our best we don't look like a serious championship contender. But then again, what are the chances we could do what Miami did with FAs? Portland is many things, but it's not Miami (or LA or New York).
So actually the 5th year does hold as much sway since it does give him best of both worlds. He signs a 5 year contract with opt outs. If he gets hurt he is covered for all 5, and if he is playing well he can opt out for another contract......... or leave. My gut says he signs a 5 year contract with opt out clauses, for various reasons.
I don't quite see how the bigger cap in the future means it's time to blow it up now. Seems to me that knowing the cap will increase, you sign everyone you can now with the anticipation that you can sign someone else later. Unless you believe that all of LeBron, CP3, Anthony Davis, Harden, Durant, etc. want to sign here as free agents. Which they surely don't. barfo
Wow, when you're being serious you're a real bummer. Also: you are right. We'll always have "squirrels", though.
People that think a championship is impossible are just downers, the blazers are a top 5 team healthy as presently constructed.
Best thing the Blazers can do is retain assets by not letting players walk. If they re-sign them to appropriate rates, we can always trade them. If we let them walk we get nothing.
Lamarcus pretty much hinted in his exit interview that he'd sit down with his agent Olshey and Allen and figure it out. To me that means agree to a deal that helps both parties. I don't see LA walking and leaving the Blazers high and dry. Seems like his agent would want the most money as well since it increases his cut too. Lamarcus will need to know who he's playing with in order to really seal the deal. He may demand that they keep Wes as well. Hard to say. He'll probably have a list of teams he's willing to be signed and traded to if he decides to leave.
Hard for me to give Zach Lowe too much credit for his 'four or five year deal with opt out' idea, when posters here have been saying the same thing for probably weeks now.
we may have BEEN but since only 2 returning starters are under contract and one of those had a very bad injury this is a huge offfseason and we could field a very different team next year
Yeah, I really don't see much wisdom in blowing things up. It seems to me like you want to keep a really good nucleus together and then have more cap space next year to hopefully bring in another quality FA who wants to join the core. Also, you would think that we'd learn around here that the roster is only 50% of the equation as to which teams are legitimate contenders. Health is the other 50%. Golden State is good, but they've also been healthy all year. A healthy OKC would be on the same level with the Warriors, but bit the dust due to major health issues. The Blazers were healthy last year and managed to win 54 games and a playoff series while being considerably worse on paper than this year's snake-bit roster. So, to me, the idea that you take a powder because the other teams in the West look too tough on paper is monumentally stupid.
