We know there's likely still interest from our side in him. We know that the Bobcats wanted Batum if Wallace were moved. Do any of you see another player that we have that would interest them instead? Rudy Fernandez? How do you feel now about adding Wallace and having Batum back him up?
I'm a huge fan of Wallace. He's still surprisingly young, a great defender, a strong rebounder for his position and a very adept slasher. His three-point shooting is adequate but not a strength. My concern with him is that he's injury-prone and, with Batum's emergence, small forward isn't a huge need. A Wallace-level talent at point guard would make a much larger impact. That said, Wallace and Batum would make Portland's small forward position a major strength. Also, he can slide over to shooting guard defensively and even has the strength to give spot minutes at power forward against certain match-ups. So, I'd be pretty interested in acquiring him. If all it cost Portland was money/cap space, I'd be thrilled. If Portland had to give up Rudy, I'd be less certain of acquiring him but still probably willing to pull the trigger. But I think Ramon Sessions should be a higher priority.
Any way you see we could get both Sessions and Wallace? I like Wallace and he may be a distant relative? His color is different though. Ha gatorpops
If Charlotte wants to shed salary, an Outlaw, Blake and Rudy deal might work. They could choose to get out of the deals with Outlaw and Blake immediately, saving them about $8 million, and pick up a good, cheap young player in Rudy. I think that would be approximately salary neutral for Portland, since cap figures have assumed Blake and Outlaw being kept. Portland would then have around the same cap space to go after Sessions, either as an outright signing or a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee.
Yup. We need to find a balance. Years ago we had nothing but slashers and athletes. Now we've got too many jumpshooters. Really we need only 1 slasher/penetrator from either the wing, or preferably at the point. With a combo of Rudy, Blake, or Webster from the bench (whomever is left after some moves), we'll be able to be flexible enough to get match up advantages when we choose.
I like both individually, I'm not sure I like both added to the Blazers roster however -- that would be two projected starters with a pretty dicey 3 point shot which seems like it could make the starting rotation a little anemic in situations where they really wanted to space the floor. My guess is that if they were to add Sessions they'd be pretty committed to having a wing who can shoot and if they got Wallace the same would be true for whatever point guard was on the floor.
Any of these combos would be sufficient enough on offense: Sessions Roy Rudy/Webster Aldridge Oden Blake Roy Wallace Aldridge Oden Roy Rudy/Webster Wallace Aldridge Oden Sessions Rudy/Webster Wallace Aldridge Oden
exactly.. thats why I think that Blake and Webster cancel eachother out in the starting lineup. If we have Webster as a SF then we need a guy like Bayless manning the 1. but if we have a PG like Blake, then a 3 like Wallace would be good.. but both would be a bad bad thing IMO.
