Sign Millsap, then trade Aldridge to fill in a gap elsewhere. Young big men like Aldridge can bring back a lot of value in a trade. One thing I've noticed from talking to various basketball people, is that it doesn't seem like a lot of GM's have a grasp on what they're doing. I don't think a lot of GM's look at things like scoring efficiency. Aldridge isn't a very efficient scorer. He's an okay rebounder. Millsap is a very efficient scorer and a good rebounder. The power forward choice, if Millsap is willing to sign, is a no brainer. Then you can trade Aldridge for a small forward or point guard, depending on what you want, and get a good one, since Aldridge is a big with pretty good basic stats.
Aldridge is rounding into one of the better defenders on our team and his high post oriented game will be a perfect compliment to Oden working the low block as the year's progress. I like Millsap, but I'd rather keep Aldridge if it's all the same to you and spend cap money this summer to get a small forward like Josh Childress.
We wouldn't need him to guard a SG if he's playing alongside Roy. He'd need to guard PGs, and I don't think that many people think he'd be even passable there. The guy can shoot the ball, though, that's for sure... Ed O.
I'd agree that Hinrich, Nocioni or Deng sort of make sense for you guys, but Hinrich is the only one I'd consider a deal for. You wouldn't give us anything to make me want to trade Deng (if he's going to pull out of his tailspin... which I think is largely because the coaches play to his weaknesses... it might as well be with us... we won't get good value otherwise). You've got better options than Noc already. So that leaves Hinrich. I think he's significantly better than Blake, but is that worth it? If at the end of the day you expect Bayless or Rudy to start there, probably not.
How is Hinrich "significantly better than Blake"? He is a better defender, but that is really it. I think Hinrich would be a nice addition to the Blazers, but I find it laughable when fans of other teams say their PG's are significantly better than Blake when frankly they aren't. Portland has spare parts, and adding players like Deng, Nocioni and Hinrich would help our team, I'm not sure how much. As for Ben Gordon? Nice player, horrible fit in Portland.
~21PPG on 16 FGA with ~4 APG is a ball hog? Seems similar to Roy's numbers: ~23PPG on 17 FGA with ~5 APG
The guy is talented DC. I've just always felt, when I've had a chance to watch him, that his shots weren't coming in the flow of the offense. I've seen him go one-on-one at lot. Roy has really only started to do that this year as well, so really I'm not defending him. At times many of us have felt that the Portland offense shuts down and watches Roy.
That's what made last night's game so sweet for me. When the ball goes down into the post - specifically, to Oden - it then begins to open up SO many more options/opportunities! Much less of that give-the-ball-to-Roy-and-watch-him-work offense. Perhaps this seems a bit trite, but last night was Greg's "breakout" game.
Blake is impressing me. I am inclined to keep him (and the Sergio rotation) rather than get Hinrich. Deng, on the other hand... in the buy-low, sell-high world of intelligent investors, Luol Deng is the perfect pickup. Trout + Webster for Deng? I'd be happy with that. Long-term solution at SF, with Batum sharing the rotation (and when Deng is injured). Deng is the better player, and the only potential all-star of the 3. iWatas
I felt that way too ABM. I've been screaming to get the ball to Oden all year. I cringe every time I see him open in the paint with good positioning, and the guards just ignore him. Finally we started giving him the ball last night, and FINALLY we started seeing some progress from Greg. I was very very encouraged.
The Bulls do use Gordon at the end of quarters at the top of the key clear out kind of play, but if there is one knock I have on Gordon's offense it is that he isn't that good at manufacturing his own shot and playing one-on-one. He's most effective getting kickout passes beyond the 3pt line (42.2%) for mostly open looks, and pulling up for the open 3 on fast breaks and that sort of thing. Given that he's out there a lot with guys like Thabo and Thomas and Noah, it gives opponents the luxury of double teaming him and Rose. And those ~4 APG is pretty amazing when you consider that most of the guys he can pass to aren't much able to score with the ball from anywhere beyond 3 ft. Gooden's been surprisingly good, but he only gets 30 MPG and still averages near a double double. This season is something of a change for Gordon. When paired with Hinrich, he guarded opposing PGs while Hinrich guarded the bigger and more physical SGs. The team won 47 and 49 games with that backcourt. VDN is forcefeeding the PG position to Rose at both ends, meaning Gordon now has to guard the SGs or often SFs, as the Bulls play a lot of 3 G lineups or use a guy like Deng to guard the Kobe types at SG. Maybe I'm something of a homer, but I'm just not seeing that Gordon would be anything but an ideal guy to pair with Roy. He is small and quick and can guard opposing PGs. With Roy you have the big guard complement who can be/should be primary ballhandler and Gordon gives you a guy that will make opponents pay for double teaming Roy and an alternate clutch guy. The back court would score about 45 PPG and get about 10 APG, and I don't think there's more than a couple of back courts in the entire NBA that could match that. On the other hand, Portland is well over .500 and winning 6 of the last 10 games with a more traditional PG playing, and chemistry is worth a lot, IMO. Hinrich has been a real frustration for me as a fan. He's got the skills and mentality to be a really good player. But it's so frustrating to see him clank open 3's when they count and make them when they don't (the 3pt shooting % is deceiving!). If he could be consistent in his shooting, he'd be recognized as being one of the better/underrated guard in the league. I wouldn't look at last season as anything but a complete meltdown for the whole team.
I feel your pain. We want a guy like Gordon paired with Roy, and right now that's the role Steve Blake plays. Trust me, Blake is not a traditional point guard. He's terrible at finding our big men inside. He's not very good at hitting the open man on a break. He's a scorer, but really all he can do is shoot. Right now the future, as some of us see it, is Bayless and Roy. Blake is a stop-gap, so I think that's why most of us don't see Gordon as an option. If we brought in Gordon, where would that leave Bayless? If anything we want a more traditional point guard on this team. Someone who can control the flow and run the offense. We don't have a player like that right now.
I keep going back to the championship Bulls. They didn't have that traditional PG, but instead played guys like Paxson and Kerr and other 3pt specialists who guarded the PGs on defense. Ron Harper played a lot on the 2nd 3peat team as a defensive specialist guarding opposing PGs. What they had, and what Portland has now, is a guy at another position who can do what a traditional PG does. That'd be Pippen on that Bulls team, and Roy on the Blazers. I can see fans' desire to want Bayless to succeed. Consider that BG was 6th man of the year as rookie; he was good enough that the coach couldn't keep him off the floor. Bayless isn't being so good that Nate can't keep him off the floor for significant minutes... Another possibility for the Blazers is to play Roy at point forward (a la Pippen) full time, opening the back court for a variety of combinations. Blake + Rudy. Rudy + Gordon. Or whatever combo KP can put together via trade and FA.
The problem is that you're trying to fit Roy into a Pippen role, when Roy is usually in the MJ role on this team.
MJ played PG for much of a season and averaged near a triple double at it. He hated playing PG so they went to the Pippen thing. And Pip was the main guy on the team when Jordan retired (the first time) with a lousy supporting cast and they only lost in the playoffs due to a ticky tacky foul call on a 3pt shot (3 FTs which won the game). By the end of MJ's career with the Bulls, he was effectively a PF, playing on the block with that deadly turnaround jumper. It was useful that Pip could get him the ball in position like that. So to me the ultimate question is if Roy is willing to play the point forward / point SG role.
ok we get it you like ben gordon. your username is "i like ben gordon" in russian. you have a ben gordon tattoo on your lower back. you have a ben gordon trapper keeper. you have various cutouts of ben gordon from magazines that you have glued onto the pages of your social studies workbook. ben gordon makes you believe in love. ben gordon makes the sunshine so much more beautiful, because you know that you have another day on this beautiful world where you can think about ben gordon. we should go after boozer in free agency? to what, backup LMA? preposterous. gordon should be our FIRST target. what would it take before chicago wouldnt match? max?? and what the fuck is up with luol deng??? do you think he is tanking it ala VC in toronto?? his numbers from 06/07 were out of this world and now he is a marginal starter?
