Blazers sold on Bayless as PG of the future

I don't see how Buchanan's words give the impression that a trade up for a targeted player is "likely". How does discussing trading up make a trade up "likely"?

 

We don't need a true point guard. We already have one in Blake and Roy will be handling the ball when Bayless is in for the most part.

We need a scoring PG. Which Bayless is.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, because I don't really know. I did read a few years ago this really interesting article that stated the exact opposition. There is something instinctually within some people that allows them to primarily facilitate/orchestrate for others. I've been trying for the past year to find that damn article but it must have been taken off whichever server was home at that time.

Jason Kidd. Steve Nash. Magic Johnson. Scottie Pippen. They had that same similar quality. Some, it just doesn't come naturally for. I don't know maybe that's just bullshit.

It's an intriguing thought though. When at this highest level of play, if a person put in the role of quarterback hesitates for even a moment longer than another person with this innate ability to help others succeed, are they going to be less successful in that role?

 

Kirk Hinrich is signed for ~$9 million/per year over the next 3 years. If Hinrich is brought over, I would hope that it would be as a starter for those 3 years. $9 million is a lot of cash to have tied up for a back-up PG, especially considering that Oden will be needing a new contract before the 3rd year of Hinrich's contract.

 

Whether or not we have Bayless shouldn't stop us from getting the best player we possible can, even if that player is a point guard. Otherwise this just reminds me of the time when we placed our trust in Telfair when we had the opportunity to draft CP3.

 

If anything having Bayless should give us an opportunity for taking the highest risk /reward option.

 

Outside of Rubio, and possibly Jennings, there are not many other high ceiling PGs in this draft, and neither of these two are available for Portland unless it wants to sell the farm for a top draft pick. Bayless has just as much potential to be a star as guys like Flynn, Curry, etc, so why not stick with what you got?

 

If he were brought in, I think we'd all agree he would be the starter this season. Ultimately we're talking about Hinrich's second-to-last and last contract year. Second to last, he'd be making $9M; the last, $8M. I agree that's a lot for a backup. But Joel will be making almost $7M next year and $7.5M the next. So it's not completely inconsistent with Pritchard's approach with a different, yet equally important position.

Personally, I feel championship teams should overpay for the first big man and point guard off the bench. These positions are just so integral with championship aspirations.

I haven't looked but I would guess that the Lakers and Celtics have had to do this. Maybe not though.

 

And what is a point guard in the modern no hand check NBA? What kind of guard do you want next to Roy who is a Combo guard with excellent vision and virtually unparalleled decision making?

Is Tony Parker a PG?

Is Aaron Brooks a PG?

Is Calderon a PG?

Is Steve Nash a PG?

Is Devin Harris a PG?

Is Chris Paul a PG?

All of those players have radically different styles of play. Some of them look to distribute and some of them look to create their own shot and dish when the defense collapses. Bayless could potentially be the ideal back court mate for Roy. He needs to work on his passing and 3 pt shot he also needs to work on his team defense and dial down the intensity on his man to man. Other then that he has all the physical tools (quickness +, athleticism +++ and strength +++) to be an ideal back court mate for Roy. We want Roy making the decisions in crunch time and even in most sets. If Bayless can run the Pick and Roll, penetrate and dish and hit the open three all he really has to do is look to push the ball and if nothing is there hand it to Roy to make decisions.

 

Well not exactly. LA is paying Odom, a reserve, $14M this season. But that's about the only glaring rich-contract reserve.

 

Agreed. Seems like 8-9 man rotations are the most sucessfull so pay the people who the play most and fill in the rest.

 

Yeah, that one made me laugh out loud. I liked JJ, but tossing the ball to nobody was one of his signature moves. The other was stepping out of bounds with the ball.

 

Boston's not a good example either. Well. Nevermind then.

 

I know Oden's not slated to play in Summer League, but I wonder if Bayless will encourage him to play to continue what they've got going on. They're both supposed to play against Team USA as well. I don't think Oden has to prove himself there, but it would be interesting to see them both working together in more competitive environments than practice.

 

I wonder if playing for the US National Team overlaps the Summer League though.

 

Doesnt look like it.

Game Date Opponent Time
1 7/13 Toronto Raptors 5 p.m
2 7/15 Houston Rockets 7 p.m.
3 7/17 Denver Nuggets 7:30 p.m.
4 7/18 San Antonio Spurs 7:30 p.m.
5 7/19 D-League All-Stars 7 p.m.

"The July USA Basketball Men's National Team Program mini-camp will include a team meeting July 22, practice sessions on July 23 and July 24, and the camp will be capped by a Blue-White intra-squad game on Saturday, July 25, at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. Game time and ticket information will be announced at a later date."

 

Point guards are over rated, I say run 5 combo forward/centers and just play keep away like you did with your kid sister... evenly space a team of five 7 footers down the court and fire bucket relay for dunks. Follow Al Davis' method of always drafting the fastest guy, we just need to always take the tallest guy!

 

I was referring to the "spirit" of drafting BPA, not necessarily weighing what our chances of drafting, say, Rubio were. But the bottom line is that if you're KP and you view a player in the draft as an upgrade on your existing player, you take him. And this applies to all our players, not just Bayless.

 

In JJ's defense he did toss the ball to other people often. Unfortunately they were on the opposing team.

 

Interesting. I hope he does then play with Bayless in Vegas. It would be a fantastic way to see how they play together in a 5-on-5 setting. I hope the Blazers wouldn't reveal this sort of move though. It would make it really distracting. Kinda cool if we were all just surprised.