What kind of trade value does Sergio have? I'm guessing not much. maybe to team rebuilding and stock piling PGs. I see Sergio in a some package to a team rebuilding, but Sergio won't be the main Blazer in the trade. You can't have the tail wag the dog . . . if Sergio wants to go, there will be an opportunity for that at some point this season (if a big trade comes up), but this trade is not to be rushed by Sergio. After that big win and the fact Sergio is playing a role right now (small role, but a role), I don't know why they take these things public. No way Blazer make a move just because Sergio publically requests it . . . and if he said it instead of his agent, he might be riding the pine.
That's an excellent question. I will say this about Sergio, I was one of his biggest detractors last year because of his shoddy D, piss poor shooting, and a tendency to make at least one boneheaded pass or play for ever decent one. This year he looks much improved in his shooting (at least his form if not his FG%) and he's cut down on the mistakes ... his D is still pretty crappy however. I think Sergio probably does warrant a better look than he's getting here in Portland, but with Blake, Brandon, and Rudy eating up most of the guard rotation minutes he's never going to get the 20+ that he probably "deserves." I can see Sergio being used as a throw in with the Raef Lafrentz contract along with other players in some kind of consolidation trade. I think he'd probably thrive in D'Antoni's system, Ivaroni's, Carlisle's and maybe even Larry Brown could find a use for him since he's actually a pretty solid setup man, with a true point guard's mentality.
Yeah, I think it would be best if Sergio/his agent went to the Blazers front office behind the scenes. I really hope we keep him and we can take care of this in the off-season. I always thought this was the season where everyone proves if they are part of our core or not and after the season we make the moves to surround our core with role players and make sure everyone knows their role on the team.
Can't we trade Blake instead? Everyone's been complaining about Blake (his shooting's okay, but he's too slow and unimaginative) and the team didn't look bad in preseason when Blake was out. Sergio's problem is that Nate isn't giving him enough minutes to get comfortable. If Nate didn't have Blake to give minutes to, we'd find out quickly either (a) whether Sergio can look better given extended minutes, OR (b) whether Roy and Rudy can play together for extended minutes, OR (c) how ready Bayless is to contribute. I've been a Blake defender, but he just isn't that great. Keeping him is a crutch that allows Nate to justify playing slowdown ball. When Nate was in Seattle, he was forced to play more uptempo because he had a player at PG (Ridnour) who was actually pretty similar to Sergio, and maybe even a worse defender.
Problem is this is probably the worst time to try and make a trade. It's rare you see a trade this time of year. Anyone have a trade exception out there we can trade Sergio for?
Not a chance. He'd get even fewer minutes(likely zero) under Larry Brown than under Nate McMillan. Brown is a coach that preaches the value of EVERY possession at BOTH ends of the floor. BNM
The problem with everybody discovering their role with the team is that we probably have at 11 guys on the roster who are deserving of minutes, and with Nate tightening up his rotation down to 8 or 9 plus guys like Brandon, Rudy, LMA, Blake, Travis/Martell and Greg (once he comes back) all likely to get the bulk of available time, there's precious little to get spread around for guys like Channing, Nicolas, Bayless, Sergio, Joel and Ike ... and it's probably better for a guy to get a DNP than get thrown out there for 5 minutes where they are going to feel rushed and have no chance to develop any kind of rhythm.
package sergio with trav and get a good SF in return. bayless has what it takes to be the PG of the future. hell backup blake for now.
I know your argument. We have discussed it many times (I am "Chairman" from the other site) And as they say, we will have to agree to disagree. LOL I just don't think we have too many players at any position. Especially with our history of injuries. Blake and Bayless can both play some 2. Five players for two positions is not too many. I agree with most that Bayless is the future and Blake will be a good back up, but you still will need three PG's in a 15 man roster. And Bayless is not yet ready to run the team. I do say move Sergio if he is unhappy, I just don't think we need to consolidate.
Way to take the "maybe" out of my quote ... I would find it extremely unlikely, but Sergio has at least shown an improved ability to take care of the ball and reduce the boneheaded turnovers, and it's not like Augustin or Felton are exactly lockdown defenders.
Yeah. That is where the problem is, we have 2-3 players at EVEYR POSITION who deserve PT and 20mpg at least... that just isn't happeneing. We should be at 10 max... Bayless/Blake/Sergio (gotta make a decision), Roy, Rudy Batum, Webster Aldridge, Outlaw Oden, Przybilla That is the 9 players we should keep, imo and consolidate the rest... We can keep someone like Blake and leave him on the bench and he can play spot minutes. Yeah, you are right that 3 players at each position isn't the problem. But 3 at every position that EXPECT minutes is a problem to chemistry... a serious problem as signs are already coming out 5 games into the year... and Oden and Webster (who WILL be in the rotation) aren't even back yet... yet we have a 10 man rotation already? That is tough...
This is shocking to me. I thought Sergio was much happier this year: he's got a good pal in Rudy on the team now, and he's the #2 point guard since Jarrett is gone. Also the "Spanish connection" is becoming a play we see pretty much every game now. As someone else said, I also worry about how Rudy feels about this. After all, Sergio was part of what convinced Rudy to come over in the first place..
While Ridnour isn't a great shooter, he's a much better shooter than Sergio. He's been pretty consistent at a TS% right around 0.500 his entire career. Sergio wasn't bad his rookie year (TS% = 0.493), but has gotten progressively worse (0.423, 0.364) once opposing teams realized they could just back off him and dare him to shoot the wide open jumper. Ridnour also gets to the line with reasonable frequency, and once there makes his FTs (career FT% = 0.854). This is another weakness of Sergio's. He doesn't get to the line, and the few times he does, he doesn't make his FTs (Joel Przybilla shot a higher FT% than Sergio last season). BNM
Problem is Blake is the only PG on the roster that should be starting, no matter how average he is. Sergio isn't a starter, he is energy off the bench in a limited role, Bayless isn't ready to be a starter... Roy/Rudy shouldn't start in the backcourt... They can play together throughout the game a little and finish the game together (which is much more important than starting)... but putting one of them at the PG for the majority of the game isn't the answer imo... The lineups w/ Roy and Rudy (when one of them isn't playing SF) haven't been as good as I thought they would this year. I think that is the main reason you see Blake soo much, because he really isn't that good of a player. He would be a solid backup though, but i'm not sure he would be that much of an improvement as a backup over Sergio.
GS and NY are both great fits for Sergio. Both of them are looking to deal, so I am sure some wort of 3 way could get done with us sending out some more and getting Lee from the Knicks
The problem isn't having three players at every position, it's having three players at every position who are all essentially the same age, who are all trying to establish themselves in the league. If we were talking about a mix of rookies and sophomores along with some guys in their late twenties and even a couple of thirty+ year olds, guys don't feel so bad waiting on the bench, because they feel like eventually older guys will move on, giving them an opportunity to step in and fill the gap. A team like the Blazers composed of almost everyone under 25 (aside from Joel and Blake -- Raef doesn't count) means there's no guarantee of getting a shot to play, and these guys want to play, not just collect a paycheck.
"Maybe" or not, Sergio is the type of player Larry Brown loathes. From Raymond Felton's draft profile at draftexpress.com: "Defense: A great ball-hawk, pressuring his man the entire length of the floor and being a general nuisance when his man has the ball. Great lateral quickness. His ability to jump into passing lanes allows him to create some turnovers, though he tends to avoid taking unnecessary risks. A smart defender considering his experience level, and much of his ability can be contributed to his time at North Carolina." Felton does get posted up by bigger guards, but at least he keeps his man in front of him and doesn't turn the game into a lay-up drill for the other team. BNM
