1) As much as the beat down we took at SA was a true barometer of the team, tonights beat down of SA at our place was true redemption. I got a lot of confidence back about the strength of character of this team. 2) Rice & Barrett stated on TV tonight that we had a few solid trades in place, but all teams demanded Batum and KP refused. Apparently, they didn't want Outlaw. Batum was the deal breaker. And I agree. I think in 3 or 4 years he will be one of the top SF's in the league- at least a near all-star. He's raw, but he has all the intangibles (length, fearless, ability to learn, can shoot, good defender as a rookie...) to be very good. It also restores some faith (not that I really lost much, if any) in KP.
I knew we should've traded Outlaw earlier. We're now too crowded to showcase the decent offensive talent that Outlaw has, and his inconsistent play has left other teams less impressed. He's making an effort on defense and rebounding after the deadline though, which is a plus. Hopefully we can trade him for something before he decides to bolt for another team. Honestly, as much as I don't like him sometimes, his offensive talent makes him a 20/8 guy on a bad team. He wants to be an All-Star and he will never be on the Blazers.
Batum is under contract for 4 more years after this one with the last year topping out at a whopping 3M. Besides probably having a higher ceiling as a player then Travis, Batum is also a major bargain. I doubt R & B know any more about the specifics of the trade offers management considered then they did on deadline day. Yes KP has said that there was a lot of interest in Batum, but KP says a lot of stuff including that he doesn't like to make midseason trades. He hasn't been shy about making moves in the offseason though and this one seems an obvious time to pass some judgment. They'll have capspace to play with for the last time for the forseeable future and will have given their various youngins a nice long look. I could see them going a lot of directions, but it always seems to come back to PG and SF spots. Someone should create a Who is the more likely longterm starter - Bayless or Batum poll. STOMP
Agreed that I feel a lot better about chances of making the playoffs after this victory. I also agree with the apparent opinion of GM's around the league that Batum is a more valuable asset than Travis. I had been hoping that there might be still some out there who could be taken advantage of.
Travis still has value, but essentially if we trade him and Raef's contract for a good player, and with a poor crop of free agents coming up Outlaw isn't good enough- so I get where other teams are coming from. Batum has a much larger upside. I also can envision in a few years both Bayless and Batum as starters.
