http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/rob_peterson/02/19/trademill.deadlinewrap/ Plus, here's a blurb from SI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/02/19/trade.deadline/?eref=sircrc
The Blazers are clearly a loser because they failed to leverage a very good asset. The Bulls were a young team ahead of schedule too a few years ago. Look where that got them. Pritchard and company messed up. They should have sent Lafrentz and an assortment of young goodies for Carter or Jefferson, and they did not.
Not sure if you are joking, but the answer is no. PA owned The Sporting News for awhile, not SI. He sold The Sporting News a few years ago. I agree with Rob Peterson. Good read.
The Bulls didn't have a good enough frontcourt at the time, whereas we have the frontcourt to win long term. We are already ahead of where that Chicago team was.
a) KP has amassed better talent than the Bulls did b) Who's to say Batum or Webster won't end up becoming better than Jefferson and/or VC? c) I like what Thomsen said in that the Blazers wouldn't be ready-for-prime-time next season, anyway. So, why rush it? Am I saying that I'm jumping up and down that KP didn't make a move? No. However, I "totally" believe, and am ultimately comfortable with, what was offered didn't size up to the risk KP was willing to take. All meaningful moves would have involved other players other than Raef.
I'm comfortable with the fact that the Blazers best years are still ahead of them. Other people are not, however. They want it all now. VC is not a good option for the future.
I don't agree with you on that one, Oden is injured half the time and he will continue to get injured more
1.) He plays well for 3 years, and then is gone right when we are making our championship push. Batum/Webster will be better by then and we'd go celebrate championships. 2.) Addition by subtraction: Losing Sergio.
But with VC you get stuck with paying him $16M a year when he'll probably start declining. Statistically he already is. So you're paying a declining player $16M to play a position he doesn't usually play. Eh. His contract could have also affected any deals the Blazers wanted to make in the future.
Absurd. They shouldn't have sent "an assortment of young goodies," by which I assume you mean Rudy, Batum or Bayless. I don't think Sergio has much value. I was iffy on Jefferson for just RLEC, because I don't think he's a very good player anymore and I'm much more interested in Sessions or Childress in the off-season (assuming Childress' injury isn't limiting long-term). Adding in good, young players and the Blazers truly would have been a loser. Carter is a good player and a big upgrade. If Portland could have acquired him for RLEC and Outlaw, great. My guess is that Thorn ultimately wanted more. And for a short-term gain, I wouldn't have wanted to deal a good young player like Rudy, Batum or Bayless.
If your talking about Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Rudy Fernandez...yes, in some ways. (Although Rose and Gordon stack up pretty favorably with that bunch, Roy being the best player out of all of them, with Rose having the most potential, and Gordon being second best behind Roy of that bunch). But if you're talking about Batum, Rodriguez, Bayless, Freeland, and all that crap, then no. I'd take Thomas and Noah over all of them. As for the old Bulls core, Brandon Roy is obviously a lot better than anyone from that, but Aldridge/Fernandez/Oden really haven't set themselves apart from what Hinrich/Gordon/Deng/Nocioni were doing then. Pritchard f'd up. In the NBA, you have your core. That's most important. Then once that's in place, you put role players around them. For example, if the Blazers did: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=d22o6t Then you have You'd have a starting lineup of Blake, Roy, Jefferson, Aldridge, and Oden, with Rodriguez, Fernandez, Webster/Outlaw, and Pryzbrilla available off the bench. What's not to like about that?
I wouldn't trade Rudy Fernandez. He's a legit player. But Bayless and Batum should be completely expendable if it means getting a star level player back.
Tyrus Thomas is hot garbage. He's a glorified Jerome JYD Williams. Put him on a good team and he's nothing more than a hustle player with spot minutes.
