does someone have the insider at ESPN? when you goto the front page for the nba it says in the headlines "Rumors:some key blazers on the block now" edit:does someone have insider and can post the info for people who don't..i'd love to hear what "key" blazer is on the block
I have insider, I'll give it a look ... Update: It's just a reprint of a Portland Tribune article that ran the other day ... here's the excerpt for those that are interested
pretty much. I just get it because I subscribe to ESPN the magazine, but it does offer some useful nuggets from time to time. Here's another article from the Rumors page that caught my eye: Is Sessions seen as being a goner?
An article by a Milwaukee beat writer that I read a month or two ago said that the Bucks really have little likelihood of re-signing both Villanueva and Sessions, and may not even re-sign one of them. So, I'm certainly hoping they let Sessions go. Also, that Portland Tribune piece said, "I expect to see Sergio Rodriguez and/or Channing Frye involved in a trade before next season." How is that possible? Isn't Frye a free agent? And if Portland re-signed him, they couldn't trade him for something like six months, I thought.
He's a restricted free agent, so I think you're right, they either match offers on him, or renounce him. Frankly there's not a chance in hell they don't renounce him, his caphold is enormous at around 12 million bucks, which would wipe out any and all cap-space. Buh-bye Chan-man.
Same reason I have it. I find it funny that my subscription to ESPN the mag is way less than it costs to be an insider.
Becoming? ESPN Insider was originally Sportstalk.com. I worke for six years as an information gatherer for Sportstalk and ESPN doing nothing but going through newspapers around the country looking for rumors and inputting article links into a database. That's all they've ever been. Their "rumors" are just articles from other news outlets.
I understand it doesn't always work, and sometimes, guys fit better in some situations than others, but is a guy who is not the answer in Milwaukee really the answer in Portland? I dunno, could just be that I'm not a big fan of Sessions in general, so then they hype of him annoys me. I think if you're bringing in an outside PG, it needs to be someone that is an absolute upgrade over what you have. If you're bringing in a vet, a guy who isn't going to fight with Blake for the job. If he is on that level, it isn't worth it. And for a backup, or younger guy, somewhat the same. Is he starting for us out of the gate next year? Or is he a 15 minute a game guy, taking minutes allocated to Bayless or Sergio? Meh, just not a huge fan of his.
You should read the article, the general sense seems to be that they are unsure if they'll be able to retain him and/or Villenueva, it's not about fit or lack of talent, it's lack of money. Secondly, I'm guessing you're not a fan because you've seen him play twice this season? I highly recommend league-pass.
Both RFA and UFA players can be signed and immediately traded. It's called a sign and trade (S&T). The Bulls signed Jamal Crawford and traded him, and Eddie Curry too. They could have re-signed PJ Brown for just about any amount and used his contract as trade ballast.
Whoops. Yeah, I completely forgot about sign and trades ... who knows if Milwaukee would want to dance, but with the choice coming down to losing him for nothing or getting at least some value in return for Ramon Sessions it seems reasonable that they'd explore S&T options with him. I guess we'll see.
I have only seen him play about 5 times this season. He had one good game, and was ok in the others. I worry that his stats are inflated because he is on a bad team. Would he accept 4 million a year or is he looking for big money? One good year on a bad team to me isn't proving yourself for a big contract.
I hate that argument. By the same logic Brandon was a good player on a bad team two years ago and even last year. The fact of the matter is that when he's been on the court he's performed and done it efficiently. "Good stats on a bad team" labels are mostly reserved for chuckers and ball-hogs, not pass first point guards. With all of the PG problems the Blazers have had I've had my eye on him for awhile; I tried to watch as many Bucks games as I could, which ended up being about 20 (and I have friends and family from Green Bay, so we talk hoops a fair amount). Ramon Sessions is efficient, he sees the floor well, he has a great draw-foul rate and his mid-range game is solid. He's not a great defender and his 3-point shot is pretty dicey, but when I've watched him he just strikes me as a great fit for this team -- right age, unselfish, and talented. But aside from subjective assessments, his first two seasons in the league suggest he's already well on his way to becoming a consistent performer http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sessira01.html http://www.82games.com/0809/08MIL3.HTM That's the profile of a very good player, and somebody who is probably worth the full MLE at least (which is the most he can make in the first year of a new contract anyway due to the Gilbert Arenas provision)
Yeah, duh. Completely lost track of that. Oops. Anyway, while it's true that Frye could be re-signed and dealt away as salary ballast, there wouldn't be any point at any non-outrageous salary. Portland will be under the cap, so can do a lopsided trade, salary-wise. They don't need "salary ballast." Technically, Portland could sign Frye to a bigger salary than their cap space and use that as salary filler, but to be higher than their cap space, it would have to be in excess of, like, $8 million. I can't see any team wanting an $9+ million Frye for a year, even if it will expire at the end of the season. They'd still need to pay him that $9+ million for essentially nothing in basketball terms.
Yeah. To repeat something I said earlier this season, if I were to try to predict who will be the next Devin Harris (a good young point guard who made the jump to star-level), it would be Ramon Sessions. He's already good...he's young enough that he could become really good (like All-Star caliber).
A thing that is worth looking at when you look at good stats on bad teams numbers is to look at win% when the player is on the court vs. win percent when he is not. Sessions is in the good category - his team had a .415 season - but his team won 48.5% of the time he was on the court. This is either a player that was not playing enough - or a player that excelled in the 2nd unit of his team against the second unit of other teams. Since Sessions is not going to be brought as a first guard immediately in Portland - but as a likely backup to Blake while he continues to develop - he looks like a guy that would be good to have even if he only excels against backup unit - since our backup PG stunk. If he was just not played enough (would not surprise me with Skiles - he has a reputation as someone that hates playing younger players) - it is even better. Of the available free-agent PGs on the market - he is the one I covet the most - he might not be as good a player as Miller - but his age and window fit this team much better. Capt. Kirk might be an even better option - especially on defense - but he will require a trade and will probably cost more.
Until the trade deadline, a lot of people here posted like RLEC was worth a lot. But Frye at $9M wouldn't be? It would really boil down to whether a team would want Frye at all, IMO. But as it stands, the Blazers have a decent amount under the cap to absorb a biggish contract in trade. Frye would only make sense in an S&T scenario after a trade puts them over the cap. Look at players with a ~$12M contract for 2+ years and you'll see who might be available for a $9M expiring Frye contract via S&T.
LaFrentz was covered 80% by insurance and it would have been more than halfway through the season. Teams acquiring the RLEC would have been on the hook for less than 10% of his total salary. Anyone acquiring Frye in the off-season in a sign-and-trade would be on the hook for 100% of his salary. That's a huge difference.
