To be honest, I wouldnt even mind Gasol. Clearly we are doubling down on offense based on Neil's targets so why not go all in? But if you think this is anything but posturing by Gasols agent you're kidding yourself. He's pretty much waiting for the Spurs cute pursuit of Durant to end and they turn their attention to him. Portland is like the desperate guy trying to ask Gasol to prom, but Gasol is waiting on the cute jock to strike out on the hottest girl in the school before he settles for her.
Funny. My observation from years on this board is that almost any move by the Blazers is met around here by fans shitting bricks.
I wouldnt mind Gasol actually. That wouldn't be a terrible offseason. But I'd you want me to whine I'll go get some cheese.
Yeah well when you're used to disappointment..... Give it a day after we sign Mahinmi, you'll see the rationalization come out.
The one thing I am surprised at is why Thibs wants him. Pop I can see, he would reduce his minutes until the playoffs, but Thibs? Jon Krawczynski: I’m told Thibodeau had a long talk with Pau Gasol last night. Wolves pushing for him. Pau looking hard at Portland, San Antonio as well 6 hours ago – via Twitter APkrawczynski
Reading between the lines. We are a distant third and the only way we get him is if we pay more than the others and gasol wants a final bigger paycheck.
Renounce Harkless and Leonard and give Gasol 20 million a year. Why not right? It would put the cherry on top of this absolute farce of an off season.
Interesting not sure how reading between the lines based on any of that wording indicates Portland as a distant 3rd.
I think I've been here long enough to recognize the people that can only see the silver lining in every decision. We could be signing Tim Frazier for 20 million a year and these people would still try to find a way to spin it into a positive.
Two avenues to travel forward: 1) re-sign young RFA's Leonard, Harkless and Crabbe and let them continue to mature/grow/increase value - with an eye on someday/some year trading them for other pieces that finish the puzzle. 2) Sign Gasol for 2-3 years and have the illusion of having a budding playoff team that is getting better (but at the cost of RFA Leonard/Crabbe/Harkless or some combination) I think it better to keep our young guys and keep re-loading again next year. Asset acquisition mode for another 365, and another bump in the cap. For me, once Whiteside and Howard didn't join us, our slim chances at Championship level games weren't going to materialize anyway. We aren't there yet.
And I've been around long enough to recognize the people that only focus on the negative in every move, the so called "realists." We could sign Aminu to a stellar deal and they'd be like WTF is Neil doing he's not a star.
There's a 3rd... Trade Davis and Vonleh for future 1st Round Picks. Gives you $16M-$17M to pay Gasol and picks to use in trades down the road for the piece to finish the puzzle. Stay in asset acquisition mode while going for a championship.
I hope Neil doesn't trade away mid-level salaries and young promising Lottery picks for future picks and the chance to watch a 36 yr old for 2 seasons. Thats not a good way to build going forward. Asset acquisition - not asset dispersal!!!
Agree 100%... Even if we kept our young players, it will stunt their growth not getting playing time because of a 36 yr old who doesn't put us any closer to winning a title
I have no qualms going against the grain. I thought the aminu deal was fine even though the national media hated it. I thought the kanter deal was fine and didn't want the thunder to match. Now Ryan Anderson is getting more than kanter.... There's no way for me to defend this signing. No way.
Haha exactly. Let this season forever be the case study of why free agency will never be anything but middling C class players for us
