Ifeaanyi Festus Ezeli is in town and preparing to interview w Blazers

I agree. Both with draft picks and free agent signings, I've always believed in making the high variance (or "high risk/high reward") plays rather than the safer plays. Winning a championship is incredibly hard--you have to win some bets to get there.

 

I think he can turn out to be a healthy Oden. This kid is strong just like Oden he can score around the basket. He very good rim protector.

 

Jordan was considered the safer bet over Bowie. Bowie was considered riskier, but with a higher reward if he stayed healthy.

 

Who is the "Jordan" in this scenario?

 

Definitely Festivus over Biebs. 10,000x.

 

Why the heck didn't somebody bring that comparison up when KP was trotting that idea out?

 

That isn't actually true. Bowie was considered the safer pick because conventional wisdom said that you needed a big man. No one saw Jordan as a surefire NBA star. Here's what Rod Thorn, the GM of the Bulls at the time, said:

"He isn’t going to turn a franchise around. He’s a very good offensive player, but not an overpowering offensive player."

 

Still kinda worried if we sign this guy, they will fuck up and resign Meyers and get rid of moe. We need crabbe and moe. Meyers needs to go. Harks ceiling is so damn high, he can play multiple positions, defend multiple positions. He goes straight up with the ball, no hesitation. Athletic. Can develop a nice three ball and probably could become a good play maker as well. Crabbe is very important to our bench on offense though he can't create his own shot, he shoots a high percentage from
Mid range and three. Meyers only has a couple good things about his game that we have seen minimal improvement in

 

I was replying to the theory of risk taking in the draft. I know Minstrel is not the only one who believes in that philosophy. And quite honestly I used to. But I am not sure I do anymore. Especially when injuries are concerned. We need to make sure we get a solid player when we draft high.

As for Ezeli.....I am all for taking a chance on him and his injuries, because you are not losing that much (Like you would with a draft pick) Unless we have to move a player I value. I am still waiting on who we are letting go.

 

Plus we already had drexler

 

The two situations weren't the same. Jordan was considered "more talented" but not being a big man, a lot riskier and not a franchise cornerstone. In today's league (or even the league a decade ago), Bowie would never be ranked ahead of Jordan.

Oden was considered just as talented as Durant, a potential era-defining big man. If we want to compare it to that draft, Oden was the Olajuwon of the draft, not the Bowie. Even in the 2007 draft, it's likely a young Olajuwon would have been ranked ahead of a young Jordan. It's just that "our Olajuwon" got hurt. Bowie would never have been that type of player even had he stayed healthy.

 

Most importantly you can play Harkless against the Dubs, who does Biebs guard or what is his role in a series with them?

 

I was 25 at the time hanging out in sports bars every day in the Bay area. The consensus from die hard sports fans (Non Blazer fans) was that Jordan would make multiple all star games, but if Bowie could stay healthy he would lead us to championships. His highlights were actually better than Jordan's in college. (especially his passing and blocked shots) Jordan was a safe bet at the time, but I agree no one thought he would be the best ever. Not even his teammates at NC. (i.e Sam Perkins)

 

Is there any reason Ezeli couldn't sign the kind of deal they said that Durant might; a two year deal with a player option on the second year. Portland could then go over the cap to sign him for more if his first year was healthy and productive. They would also have some protection if he wasn't healthy, since it would be only a two year deal.
With this kind of deal it seems Ezeli would be willing to sign for less. But how much less. It looks to me as if Portland's cap space seems to be shrinking as they trade for Napier and sign Layman. Just accounting for Napier, I have us down to 7.6 million. That would seem really small to Ezeli, even if only for one year. But just renouncing Leonard or trading Davis would bring it up to 12-15 million (depending on whether they kept Montero and Alexander). That would seem to be very sufficient.

 

They wouldn't be able to go over the cap to re-sign him, because the player needs to have been with the team the previous three seasons to qualify for Bird rights (or two years for Early Bird rights). After he opts out next season, he'd be a normal free agent, the Blazers would have no more benefits to re-signing him than any other team.

 

Crap!

 

He guards Zaza when he is in the game.