A FA guard nobody has mentioned

What about Ben Gordon?

If I remember correctly, Ben is an unrestricted FA this summer.

He's a guard who can score in bunches and is definitely more of a SG than a PG, but he seems like a player that would play really well off of Brandon Roy.

 

He's too one-dimensional for my liking. He can certainly score, but nothing else. He can't set anyone up and he can't defend. I think he's best-suited in a Travis Outlaw role for whatever team he plays for -- just come off the bench and gun.

 

Depending on his contract demands, He's a player that you would love to have off the bench. A Rudy/Gordon backcourt would be deadly.

 

Too small to guard SG's. He doesn't seem to fit in with they types of players that KP chooses to acquire.

 

Frankly I'd rather trade for Hinrich ... way better defender, an actual point guard, and isn't going to demand a ton of shots like Ben would; this team has plenty of offense it just needs somebody capable of setting the table, but also a competent defender and able to hit the open shot ... basically everything Steve Blake does offensively but with a little more strength, quickness and defensive chops.

 

Isn't the reason he's a FA was b/c he wanted 11+ M?

 

Exactly. He won't get that kind of scratch in this economy and was stupid as a box of rocks to turn down the two deals Chicago offered him (around fifty million for five years IIRC?).

The guy is a gunner (and a damn good one) but his aspirations are to be the primary offensive weapon on a team, not a super sub, not wingman for a dominant guard (like Brandon), but the man.

People are already complaining about how few touches Oden gets on the offensive end this season, now imagine how much worse that gets with Gordon in the starting lineup.

 

Do we need a third shooting guard? Some people already worry about Bayless fitting in at point guard alongside Roy or Rudy. Gordon is already in the definitely-can't category, in that respect. He's a pure shooting guard, offensively, and doesn't have the size to defend shooting guards well.

 

The only way I see this working is if we just went to a 3-guard rotation of Roy-Rudy-Gordon. That would mean pretty much giving up on Bayless, Blake, and Sergio, because whoever remained would not get much in terms of minutes.

 

No. For one reason:

If we signed Ben Gordon, we'd have to deal with Денг Гордон on a nightly basis.

 

Gordon is a bad fit for us and we are a bad fit for him.

But I do like the idea of getting Hinrich.

 

Yeah, but that will only work if Roy is on the floor all the time. Neither Rudy nor Gordon can run the point or defend point guards. The hope is that Bayless can, in a year or two. Then Portland can run Roy/Bayless/Rudy as a three-guard rotation and at least one distributor will be on the floor at all times.

Plus, I like Bayless' talent more than Gordon's. Gordon is a great scorer, but Bayless has the potential to be an elite scorer, as well as a decent passer and strong defender.

 

Gordon's lack of defense and the big contract he will demand keep him from coming here. We already are pretty stacked at shooting guard and have two scoring threats off the bench. I'm in the group that believes you can never have enough shooters, however, Gordon's weaknesses outweigh his outside shooting prowess.

Hinrich is the better viable option and we should look to get him via trade.

Bayless just doesn't look like the type of player we need. Our championship window(IMO) starts next year and we can't afford to have projects like Bayless.

I've also liked the way Blake has played and it would be nice to retain him. If we get Hinrich, he would solidify an already deep bench and we'd have one of the better PG tandem's in the league.

 

People who think we should acquire Hinrich make me gag. For the money he's getting paid he would be a very dissapointing acquisition with the cap space we have available. He's just not a very good player.

 

I disagree, he brings a lot of intangibles and puts up decent scoring numbers along with hard-nosed defense. He's
also fairly young and is an upgrade from Blake. A PG rotation of Hinrich/Blake would be very nice.

His contract isn't actually that bad as it goes down every year.

Realistically, who could we get that is significantly better than Hinrich? Maybe Miller but he's older and doesn't bring any outside shooting.

 

Maybe KP traded Nate for Don Nelson as our coach. If this happens - we are still one Vince Carter from running a Roy/Gordon/Bayless/Rudy/Vince every night.

 

Meh, Ben Gordon doesn't really fit what this team is trying to do.

 

There is only one role I would see a guy like this in: Volume scoring off the bench. We already have Rudy for that. In another year, I think Ben would just be causing playing time issues.

 

Kirk Hinrich's shooting percentages have been downright horrid throughout his career. I don't think we should knock anyone for their shooting if it meant defending Kirk's. He's a good defensive player, a horrid shooter, and a sub-par play maker. Blake fits this team better than Kirk would. Kirk isn't worth the money he's being paid, there's a reason why nobody was willing to take him and his contract. The Bulls tried desperately to trade him but couldn't find a taker.

 

you can find ben gordens late in the 1st round of the draft.