Anyway, I'd rather go with someone a little more proven. Thomas reminds me of Channing Frye a year ago. Not in terms of playing style, but in that he's a young, unproven power forward with the "upside" label and not much in the way of accomplishment. I'd rather fill out that spot with a more proven player who you can rely on in the playoffs to give you a quality 15 minutes when Aldridge needs a break. I'm more interested in a middle-aged Robert Horry type, than I am a younger Channing Frye type. Thomas has played in 17 playoff games, averaged 7 points, 4.5 boards and 41% shooting. (To his credit, he did average 3 blocks/game in the playoffs this year.) If we want to roll the dice in the playoffs next year on whether our backup 4 will be good or not, we might as well just keep Outlaw and/or Frye.
That's quite a stretch. I'm not altogether sure that TT is capable of signing anything. I heard he misspelled "X" on his tax return...
Please - Thomas might not be the smartest apple in the barrel - but he just can not be stupider than the nanny stopper... If anything, Thomas makes Ruben look like Stephen Hawking athletically...
That would be sweet if Thomas started doing all of his press conferences talking through a voice modulator...
I never thought about this. Having a birdman type of big, like Tyrus, is just what we need off the bench. However, in the article it says Chicago is looking to package Tyrus for a big ugrade at PF or Center. If they move Noah to PF, that's an upgrade, IMO. So would we trade Przybilla? I think KP would slap me for such a thought.
TT improved quite a bit this last year. However, I don't think Birdman or TT are good enough at inside scoring. Ideally, the Blazers can get someone who is really an inside scoring threat. That acts as counterpoint to LMA in the normal rotation and also allows for time playing with LMA when the Blazers want to go smaller. It also keeps an inside scoring threat going, even if this PF is matched with Przybilla. TT and Birdman are both good, but I think the Blazers should really be going for a backup PF who fits really well. I think a decent backup PF is not that difficult to find, even a year a two from now, and I don't think TT (or Birdman) is that much better than the average decent backup PF, for the way that the Blazers would use him.
I don't think you want a player who is content as a backup. I do think you want a player who will except being the backup. I would rather have a guy who is going to work like crazy to take the starters job then a guy who is willing to coast.
I wonder what the OKC Thunder fans woud say about the fact most Blazer fans would rather have Oden over Durant?
Personally I'd rather get McDyess at 34 years of age to play backup, he's tougher mentally, he's got a gaggle of playoff experience, he's a better rebounder and would be a welcome addition to a team looking to add some proven toughness at the backup 4, but only needing fifteen to twenty minutes of production per game (which is probably better for him anyway since he's no spring chicken). I don't dislike Thomas, but I don't see this being the right situation for him (young guys in the last year of rookie scale deals don't exactly thrive when they're only getting 10-15 minutes a night.)
probably the same thing we would be saying if we had Durant over Oden, we'd be laughing at the other team, calling him a bust. Its only natural to defend your own guys.
