what's the point like you said, he's atrocious on defense at the SF position. He's been able to play SF in the past, in small-ball lineups, would Portland have one of those? No. And I guess if we go by small-ball lineups Al Harrington is a C then right?
Bosh is a soft player who is not smart and folds in crunch time. Amare is a lot better down low than he is. Bosh is KG minus the overwhelming defensive intensity and toughness.
Well, I really don't agree with any of this. Also, I don't know why being "KG" on offense is a bad thing. In his prime, KG was a fantastic offensive player. Bosh is actually not as good as KG was (though, that's hardly an indictment). As I said, a face-up threat who can shoot is a better complement to Oden, so the style of Bosh's game isn't really a problem.
Well, you're wrong on multiple accounts. Firstly, he's never been known for his defense. So you wouldn't be bringing him in as a defender anyways. He's just as bad as a SG defender than a SF defender, and his stats from Golden State and Charlotte prove this as he usually holds his opponent to a lower PER at the SF position than at the SG position. (IE. Higher PER differential.) Secondly, you assume that he can't slide to the SF just because he's known as a shooting guard. Well, if you want to look at a certain shooting guard already on our team: http://www.82games.com/0809/08POR5.HTM#bypos, you'd see that being shifted to the SF position doesn't mean you lose production. In this player's case (Roy), you'd see that he actually produces better as a SF. Richardson is the same height as Roy, but weighs more and is stronger. Why wouldn't he be able to play SF? Thirdly, you say that small ball is bad, but we have been playing a lot of small ball for the past two years. Aldridge plays center occasionally. Outlaw is an undersized backup power-forward. Roy slides to the SF position for 25% of his minutes. Even Rudy plays at SF. If you don't want Richardson for his general lack of defensive ability, then fine, but don't say he's unable to play the SF position when he's clearly capable of doing so.
Your choice, but in that deal, we give up Outlaw, who is arguable a worse defender anyways. We could make Richardson into a super 6th man like Golden State has done with Maggette if we wanted to. (Keep starting Batum) I'd rather have Richardson as the 6th man than Outlaw.
Richardson would still be getting the bulk of his minutes at SF which I wouldn't like, but to each their own, and I don't run the Blazers . I'm not a fan of Outlaw, I'm hoping Webster comes back strong from his injury and makes outlaw expendable. He's great in crunch time and a very likeable guy, just not my favorite player. Gerald Wallace would be a great pickup, i'm still holding out hope for Crash
This is true. Pritchard has to avoid falling to in love with his young players, otherwise he risks being labeled as Pritchtard. Brandon Roy and Amare Stoudemire would be such a potent duo, that I don't think you could pass it up. As long as Oden develops into a dominant defensive center, the Blazers would pretty set as a team.
That's your team's GM not mine. And the whole reason there would be any reticence is that Amar'e doesn't/won't play a lick of defense is already grousing under the slower tempo Terry Porter has implemented, that isn't going to change with Nate MacMillan at the helm. This doesn't even include the likelihood that he'd bolt in 2010 for a bigger market and/or warmer climes ... this isn't about Stoudemire being a bigger talent than LaMarcus (he is) it's about risk/reward; right now that equation doesn't favor the Blazers.
And it still bears repeating that Amare has declined quite a bit this season. It could just be a very down year, or it could be that he doesn't thrive in a slower-paced half-court offense. If the current Stoudemire is his true level, he's not a big upgrade on Aldridge, especially when you take into account Aldridge's superior defense.
When the Bulls played the Suns about a week ago, the Suns pretty much didn't run a single play for Amare. I had no idea what the hell they were thinking. He's not really a part of their offense anymore. That he's averaging 21 points while basically having no plays run for him is amazing. The Suns just kept forcing it into Shaq, instead of running plays with Amare.
"it" meaning just LMA + Lafrentz ... it's tempting, but then again we're right back in the same boat as we would be with Stoudemire; he's going to be a free agent in 2010 and I wonder if he'd really want to stick around. Sure the Blazers would would hold his bird rights and could offer him more money than any other team, but if he's already making noise about bolting Toronto a year and a half before his current deal expires, then why would that sentiment be changing when he comes to Portland? Players aren't always motivated by championship aspirations, sometimes they want to be THE man, or they want to live in a bigger market, or a place like South Beach, etc. I'd trade for him, but only if there was some way to get assurances that he'd be sticking around ... however I don't think Bryan Colangelo would settle for just LMA and RLEC, he'd probably also ask for Rudy or Batum (or both?)
