this is his 4th year where he's been a regular rotation level player, but the Milwaukee/Denver year were pretty unfavorable situations personnel wise. So by my construed math he's 2 out of the last 3 averaging decent starting level PERs. While I agree that this is probably his highest productivity level, it's my read to expect more of the same if he were to remain Portland's starter the next few years. Dude is not a lead guard. He depends on team chemistry for his personal stats. He takes care of the ball and can bury an open look, but don't expect him to take guys off the dribble for his own more then a couple times a game. He's an okay starter and should remain one STOMP
My preferences (that I've mentioned enough before) are: 1. Steve Nash 2. Andre Miller But I'd really love to go after Ricky Rubio (and let him stay another year in Europe). If he does decide to stay a year over there (or two) we are one of the few teams that have the firepower to trade for him (Bayless & our pick?) and a lot of the bad teams need immediate help and cap savings... As a crazy dark horse thought, if we were intent on Brandon eventually kind of assuming a flex PG role a really nice stopgap (while going after Rubio perhaps) might be Grant Hill. That might sound crazy but he'd be great as a facilitator for 20 minutes a night, the only question is his durability. However a Hill/Roy/Rudy backcourt could be very good (especially in a zone defense) as far as floor spacing and intelligence on the court with Rudy guarding 1's, Brandon 2's, and Roy 3's. Hill would be an incredible mentor for our young guys and awesome vet presence, and I think he's the kind of guy who fits in any role you put him at. He'd be playing a Pippen role for us his last couple of years with the team. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Grant-Hill-2830/ Draftexpress says: "Plays a very savvy offensive game, and still extremely skilled and efficient. Has good versatility on both ends...A great leader on and off the floor. Offers a great presence in the locker room for younger players to emulate....Uses his great experience and savvy to be effective in a variety of different ways, and rarely takes bad shots... Plays off his teammates as well as any player in the League. Fantastic at identifying and taking advantage of opportunities to cut to the rim. More of a smart passer than a playmaker now that he’s not able to rely on his freakish athleticism to draw defenders." Say we traded Blake/Bayless and took on an contract for Rubio and he stayed another year... Hill(20)/Sergio(16)/Roy(12) Koponen/Rubio(in a year) Rudy(28)/Batum(20) Roy(24)/Webster(24) Aldridge(32)/Outlaw(18) Freeland Oden(28)/Pryzbilla(20) We'd be relying on Roy and Rudy a lot for the year, but I think it'd be a fun and very smart team to watch play. A ton of versatility and length with guys who can play multiple positions.
So Grant Hill becomes a point guard at 37, Roy becomes a small forward, Batum becomes a shooting guard and we roll forward with only one true point guard who can't shoot and doesn't play defense and our two best players in Brandon and Lamarcus are only going to play 32 minutes a game? Phew, I don't even know where to start with this, except to say 'no thank you.'
I was trying to illustrate vague offensive arrangement, but since abstraction isn't your best skill here's defensive arrangement for you. Rudy/Sergio/Roy Roy/Batum Hill/Webster Aldridge/Outlaw Oden/Pryzbilla Batum guards point guards quite a bit already and so while your idea of Grant Hill as a PG at 37 is offensive, we currently have a french 19 year old PG starting many games! BTW, Brandon's playing 36 in the quote you so tactfully displayed, and LMA would get his minutes for sure in the case of any foul trouble or injuries to Greg or Joel (in which Travis would get more minutes too).
I just can't see Blake moved/not extended this year unless an obvious upgrade is coming back in a trade. Since I do not believe in miracles - I would suspect Blake stays. The real question is - is KP looking for Sergio or JB as the future, is he willing to give them another year to duke it out or does he go out and get someone else that will move Blake to backup next year or later (like Ramon Sessions or if they are willing to pay a bit more - Captain Kirk). Personally, I would not be surprised to see him try to go after Sessions - and if it does not work - keep one of Sergio/JB and bring Kopo to fight with the survivor for backup PG minutes. The way this team wins with a Roy/Blake back-court - I just do not see them gambling on shipping him out for either Sergio or JB at this time. This is not like the Zbo trade to give LMA minutes. We were not winning with Zbo. We are winning with Blake. On the Ricky Rubio front - I too would love to see him in Blazers unis - I just doubt it will happen. The league sooner or later will pay attention to what Portland does - and someone will nab him and wait a year with a top 5 (or higher) pick.
I'm just fine with 'abstraction' and yeah I screwed up the part about Brandon; I misread it so I apologize there. But your proposed roster still doesn't make a whole lot of sense; you've created a completely 'inelegant' solution that is reliant on tons of cross-switching all game long and a jumbles together a team that is completely 'wing' heavy. and utterly devoid of any depth at the 1. Wouldn't it just be a helluva lot simpler to just get a true point guard, a starting quality three, and consolidate some of the redundant pieces that are already on the roster allowing us to instead field a balanced team instead of a giant kludge of mis-matched parts?
Johnny Flynn and Teague I think have the best NBA upside out of that bunch, with Maynor trailing not far behind. I haven't seen Rubio or Jennings enough lately to see how they stack up against the other guys. Evans and Willie Warren aren't point guards. If I had one pick out of those PG's to draft, I would be all over Johnny Flynn easily. Guy is a stud.
The problem I have is everyone wants to play Fantasy Basketball, even though it doesn't really work. I mean, do you really want a PG who is constantly looking to score along side Roy?? Putting together a team that plays well together is the real challenge and some very good players may not be so good on certain teams. If your going to replace Blake, I would presume a solid vet who plays good defense and is unselfish. How many players out there actually match that profile? Kidd maybe. Hinrich is, to me, a lateral move for twice the money. Bibby? Are these players really that much better than Blake on this team? Andre Miller certainly looks interesting - but can he play along side Roy and how much will he effect the cap? Steve Nash? Please - Blake has pretty much owned him in recent games, where Nash plays piss poor defense and turns the ball over. Nate would probably kill him. The other option is to let Blake hold the fort until 2010, which is certainly a low-risk option imo. What I like about Blake is the intangibles - he reminds me of that commercial that goes "we don't make the things that do whatever - we make the things do whatever BETTER." That is what Blake is to me.
a Miller signing would take up most (if not all) of Portland's salary cap space but it wouldn't effect their ability to resign their own FAs other then they'll be pushed further past the luxury tax line once they (presumably) resign Roy LA and Oden STOMP
ESPN's Chris Broussard just speculated that the cap will drop from 62M to 58M. Of course it's the following year that the other (bigger) shoe drops. With teams already losing $$$ it's entirely likely that teams will be looking to slash salary to avoid the lowering luxury tax line. If I were in KP's shoes, I'd try to keep from forming any preconceived notions on what I want and pay attention to the opportunities as they become available.... there should be plenty to consider STOMP
Blake is 'fine'; he's serviceable, he's solid, he's a decentish point guard who is slightly below average (for his career) as a starter and slightly above average as a backup. The big problem is that this coming summer is the last time for many years to come KP will actually have any cap space to play around with; there is no waiting around until after 2010 because there's a pretty good chance LaMarcus and Brandon will be getting sizeable extensions this summer -- so it's use it or lose it. Does that mean get rid of Steve Blake at all costs? Absolutely not, it just means that if there is a way to substantially improve the position with a clear upgrade then KP ought to look at it.
Are you nuts? Blake is #15 in 3 pt percentage (in the whole league) and his turnovers are about equal to assists but not enough for him to be ditched. His ppg has been rising over the last few years and he has been a crowd favorite when hes hot with the 3-ball. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=nba3ptpct&league=nba&sort=3p%&order=true&season=2009
Blake also has one of the best TO / Assist ratios in the league - they are definitely not equal in amount.
ant said the guard next to Roy needs to be a good 3 point shooter and defender, and Blake is only half of that package. With him being an excellent 3 point shooter, the half he's not sold on is the D. If you're going to question a poster's sanity, you should at least understand the simple points you're disagreeing with. STOMP
Stomp - Well I'm sorry, I'm not the official turnover / defense specialist here. But I didn't see Ant pull out the stats showing that Blakes 3 point percentage or the fact that his PPG is on the rise compared to his other seasons. Blake signed a low cost contract with us with an improved scoring potential and I think most of us should be thankful for that. He wanted to sign with us because he knew the team chemistry is there. I would rather have a team chemistry player then someone that is slightly better on defense and costs the team more. Let our other members of the team do the defense - Oden, Joel, Rudy, Batum.
