Many teams calling about Raef

Portland will let Raef come off the books and use the freed up money to get a moderately priced free agent and sign Roy, LA (maybe) and Oden to near max deals.

 

Butler is an excellent player, there is no doubting that. And grabbing him with our spare parts would be a steal of a trade, there is no doubting that. If that deal is on the table you have to make it just on the value proposition alone. Can you say Double Whammy Flip Pritchslap?

HOWEVER (you knew that was coming), I have serious reservations about the compatibility of Roy and Rudy with Butler to assume it would be the best fit for a team. It might work really well. It might not. There is a lot of overlap there.

Since I don't think that Raef and Outlaw is anywhere near close enough to nabbing Butler, and that he would cost a LOT more to obtain, I would prefer to look at the idea of trading for players that are better complimentary fits with our existing roster, even if less talented overall, and that would be cheaper to obtain than an All-star like Butler.

In terms of team fit (and assuming that Portland is confident in the health of the players coming back), I think this lineup is better:

Hinrich
Roy
Gerald Wallace
Aldridge
Oden
6th man: Rudy

 

Personally, there aren't many 3's that I like better than Butler. Matter of fact, Lebron is the only one I can think of right now. I can't see Washington trading him though unless their owner is really pushing for lower salaries. He's not overpriced himself, and he's producing.

As for his past, I personally think it gives me even more respect for him. He overcame a difficult childhood and has since become practically a model citizen.

 

umm, I accidently put Frye in there instead of Diaw, Diaw would back up 3 and 4 still getting 30 mpg. He is good in the transition but Diaw is also a great half-court player with extremely good passing skills for a bigger guy. Seeing Sergio/Rudy/Batum/Diaw/Pryzbilla in at the same time would be a thing of beauty. He's criticized for being underselfish and he has a big contract, but on Portland both would be fine (if we had Nash). The contract might get old his last two years but we've taken bad contracts before to get what we want (See Raef).

As far Nate letting them run, he's been pushing them to do so more lately, they just have no idea how to (other than Sergio, Rudy, Batum and Martell). He hasn't drilled them on lanes to run whatsoever, with Nash that'd have to be a focus, at least in part.

Here's a quote from Nate after our last game against the suns: "He is still orchestrating that offense, getting everyone involved and knowing the situations," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "He is probably as good as I have seen as far as knowing were to go with the ball and what to do."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2008/11/24/20081124spt-suns.html

lt sounds like he'd trust him.

I think this is truly a championship contendor this year, and a championship favorite next year.

Nash/Sergio/Koponen
Roy/Fernandez/(2nd rounder or vet)
Webster/Diaw/Batum
Aldridge/Diaw/(2nd rounder or vet)
Oden/Pryzbilla/Freeland

(imagine Nash on our team now with Aldridge out of his slump, Roy learning to get easy buckets backdoor, and Oden with a year of experience)

 

LA's struggles this year (not that they'll continue all season) but learning to play with Greg and all, could be a blessing in disguise, at least as far as contracts go.

 

Rudy wouldn't be a throw in, he's part of the deal. Raef, TO and Rudy. Is that better for you (forget Sergio or Bayless). Looking at what the Warriors might like, that seems okay. You know they won't just give Caron away for Travis Outlaw and "filler". Caron is a mighty fine player in my not so humble opinion.

And he got last year's numbers on a team that had a BETTER record than us and went six games with Cleveland in the playoffs. He was the LEADER of that team.

So don't act like he isn't a VERY good player.

 

LAST YEAR:

BRANDON ROY: 38MIN/GAME, 45.4 FG%, 34 3PT%, 75.3 FT%, 4.7 RBS, 5.8 AST, 1.8 TO, 1.1 STL, 0.2 BLK, 19.1 PTS

CARON BUTLER: 40MIN/GAME, 46.6 FG%, 35.7 3PT%, 90.1 FT%, 6.7 RBS, 4.9 AST, 2.6 TO, 2.2 STL, 0.3 BLK, 20.3 PTS


Look at those numbers objectively. I'm not going to say Butler is better than Roy, because Roy is very clutch and is a great leader, but Butler has also hit a few game winners and his numbers are better in most categories.

 

Warriors?

I think he's a very good player, but I also think your proposal is a fleecing for them. Loads of capspace + 2 very nice young pieces is overboard for a guy with as many knee surgeries as he's had. If thats the deal I pass

STOMP

 

Any deal to get Butler would have to include Rudy and with all the recruiting we did to get him here, I just don't see us trading him halfway through his rookie season.

 

Okay, I don't proofread my posts sometimes. Wizards. Better?


Also, has Butler had that many knee surgeries? Arenas has had several. Butler has been injured a few times but I didn't think any were particularly serious.

 

it's fine, I knew what you meant... just a cheap laugh at your expense. Sorry

if memory serves, dudes been scoped several times. I don't know anything serious here but if I were considering trading for him I'd want that checked out. At 28 with 3 years left on his deal he's probably a good risk to stay relatively healthy. He's pretty darned talented, but at just over 6'5 barefoot he's also a bit on the small side for a 3. I like him and think he'd be an upgrade at the SF for sure... he's not my favorite possibility there but I could be very pleased to add him at the right price. I'm just throwing out the positives and negatives I know about him out there.

STOMP

 

You know, the more I see Batum, the less I feel like we need to bring in small forward. He's been great!

 

Bump for "trade for a former all-star" gossip.

 

I think Wallace's name is gonna be tossed around almost every teams trade rumors until he's traded or the deadline passes...You have to think Raef is gonna get traded one way or another, he is a great asset for the 2010 FA class.