I agree with the general sentiment in this thread. I don't think we need to make a trade for a small upgrade, especially when we don't know what effects it could have on our chemistry. Keep the same core of players together for a few years and we will be unstoppable.
The stated goal of management this year is to the make the playoffs and rightly so. This idea of infinite patience is what leads us to hold into guys like Telfair, Outlaw and Bonzi and pass on better players via draft and trades. If you want to see how talented players develop, look at LMA, Roy and Rudy. If you want to see how mediocre role players develop look at Sergio, Outlaw and Frye. Those guys will probably get better, but not by much. And in TO's case, his scoring average dropped by 3 so far this season.
We need to hold on to Telfair, Outlaw, and Bonzi. Those guys have a lot of upside and will be key in our playoff run. I'll be pissed if any of them are traded. barfo
Uh, no. Telfair was an experiment and they should have known better. He was drafted too high to be traded, we should have taken Jameer Nelson in the first place. Telfair wasn't ever going to bring much via trade after people saw him play in the NBA. Bonzi was too much of a cancer to be traded. You don't really think that we were getting offers for him left and right do you? He was a problem for Cheeks, a problem in the locker room, and on the court (didn't he spit in Danny Ferry's face once?) As for Outlaw, he fits in the system and we know it. Getting Salmons is a risk. As you said the goal this year is the playoffs, and with our squad I believe that will happen no movement needed. Of course I want to see the team improve through trades, but like someone else said this isn't a big enough upgrade.
We should have known after one season that Telfair wasn't the player we were hoping for. Instead we passed on CP3 and "let the cake bake." Bonzi was absolutely held onto too long and we even extended his contract. He's was Enron stock circa 2000 and we didn't see it was time to move him even though there were ample warning signs. Outlaw fits a team that expects ill-advised jumpers and no perimeter defense. It's a self fulfilling prophecy for the team that relies on him.
I would have never guessed Salmons could shoot from the outside after watching him blow by our guards for layup after layup.
I think we are agreeing with each other here. It's not really fair to judge a player after one year, especially someone who came straight out of high school. I assume that management thought Telfair had an upside ("potential") so they rolled with him for a while. We weren't about to get much in return after his first year, so they wanted to see what he could become. I don't really agree with that. For one, this was during a time when the Blazers were stirring up a lot of trouble on and off the court. There were a lot of guys they wanted to move remember? Damon and Sheed were getting in trouble together and as individuals, Bonzi wasn't respecting his coach, Zach Randolph punched Ruben Patterson during a practice. For a couple years the team was a mess. They moved Sheed first, and they were probably working on deals for Bonzi for a while, it just took time.He was arguably our best player after Sheed left, so we needed to keep him for a while anyway. Doesn't every team have one of those guys? It's Eddie House for the Celtics, Sasha for the Lakers.
