Little news first: - Doesn't like Hinrich idea. Makes twice as much as Blake but isn't twice the player Blake is. - Wouldn't be surprised if Portland does nothing big tomorrow. Bigger news: - Met with Aldrige at his house today and Aldridge said he loves Portland/franchise/fans and would like to get an extension done before next season. Just wants it out of the way. - Fine with Roy getting a max contract and him not.
Yes and Yes!!! Get it done, KP. LMA kicks ass and wants to win, doesn't he? Willing to potentially give up a max to win in P-town. I had assumed LMA as a max player. This is big new from Quick, even if it only saves $2-4 million/per off of any LMA deal.
Yeah I just saw that. Great news! I missed the part about Kirk though. Did he really say Kirk isn't half the player as Blake?!?!??!?! Wow~!
Al Jefferson did not get the max - so this is indeed good news. I think LMA will be a better player than Al-Jeff when all is said and done - because he cares about defense - but at this point in the game - Al-Jeff is a better offensive player. Sounds reasonable.
For years Quick has been a poor analyst His opinions aren't worth much. 1) Blake - coming off a career year - is currently a bargain at his rate. This is Blake's last year. Either Blake reverts to his career norms - in which case his rate isn't a big bargain anymore - or he has another good year - in which case keeping him will require paying him a lot more money. The point of Quick bringing up a one year (ie temporary) issue is lost on me. Really - what the hell is the point? 2) There is no such thing as a linear relationship of salary to production. You often have to pay a lot more to upgrade from an average player to an above average player. Supply and demand. Hinrich doesn't have to be twice as good as Blake to be earning the "right" amount. Quick needs to stick to reporting. Ok. But why? Of course he does. Negotiations and waiting is stressful. Most NBA players are very anxious to get that first real big payday. Done right, it will set them and their families up for life. That is a big load on a young man's shoulders. This is excellent news. I have been a little worried about this. Paying Roy, Oden AND LaMarcus all MAX contracts would limit the number of other quality veterans the team could carry in about two or three years. If LaMarcus takes a bit less, that gives the GM a bit of room to work with for the rest of the roster.
LMA is set up no matter what. My take was that he loves PDX and doesn't want to mortgage championships for a few million/per. Oden is a long way from receiving a MAX contract from anyone in the NBA.
Main point is Hinrich isn't a huge upgrade over Blake, and he makes twice as much. I agree. Hinrich isn't the answer and I would be a little disappointed if Hinrich is the starting PG for the Blazers next season.
Absolutely 100% bang on. I wanted to respond the same way but you did it much better than I ever could have. That's a very strange comment for him to make.
What is given up for Hinrich isn't considered in any deal I've seen rumored. Does an upgrade of Hinrich over Blake offset the loss of Outlaw's production off of the bench? What about back-up PG and PF?
I see you didn't point to Quick's comments about Hinrich. Smart man you are. I wouldn't want to point to him as evidence.
