Seriously. Why do I keep seeing threads about attaining Chris Paul, Deron, Carmelo, and other absolutely unattainable players? These guys are only untouchable if the trade doesn't involve LeBron, Wade, or Dwight. Yeah, teams are trying to save money, but does anyone really think a poor Hornets team is going to give away the best PG of this generation to save an extra buck just because of the economy? That would take at LEAST one of our big three, if not two. We already have 3 potential superstars, and 3 more potential all-stars/excellent role players (Rudy, Bayless, Batum). Do we really need a bonafide player at every position twice? I already have trouble believing Oden and Aldridge will be fine staying here in Portlandas as second/third options when they could very well be first options on other teams. We really don't have any missing pieces. We were the 2nd youngest team in the NBA and somehow tied for 2nd best record in the West. Our window is gonna be open for another 10 years, and obviously were going to get better simply from years of development and experience. Sure there are spots we could upgrade, but they're far from priorities. As long as we keep our main core in tact, we're going to be consistent contenders every year from this point on. Shaq said it best: we don't need anything. An Andre Miller, Sessions, or Hinrich would just be gravy. If Oden develops into half the player he was hyped to be, that should alone be all we need. And honestly, his disappointing rookie season hasn't changed my mind about his potential at all. His ceiling is still as high as ever in my opinion.
Our missing piece is a PG that plays like a PG: getting the big players the ball for dunks and the small players the ball for open 3's; and hopefully stopping his counterpart from doing the same. I don't have the numbers on hand to back it up, but imho the upgrade from Blake to Paul is much better for us than the downgrade from, say, LMA to David Lee. Or LMA to Nick Collison, for that matter. There's a couple of reasons you don't see a lot of "LBJ Pipedreams", but you do see a lot of Chris Paul pipedreams. One is that Paul has talked in the past about how he'd like to play with Roy and may be angling for a trade here (pure speculation on my part). Two is that the last time George Shinn had a 24y/o multiple-time All-Star PG averaging close to 20/10 and financial difficulties, he traded him for an injured Dale Davis and an ineffective Speedy Claxton. That's why.
I think a lot of them are jokes. I wouldn't say this forum is "full" of posts like that, but there has been a bit more of them lately. And yes, some are serious.
Well, you know, some say, and there is a good argument, that the Blazers need another piece, not necessarily a superstar, but a pass first point guard or an enforcer type. But the ones you talk of, who are so sure that every superstar in the NBA will end up in Portland, well, all I can say is, some people fantasize about sex, others fantasize about NBA players. And some about both!
I think these types of "Pipe dreams" are all over many message boards and probably always will be. It's what fans do in their spare time. I would love to see a team of LBJ/Paul/Roy...is it going to happen?...NO! But it is fun to talk about. I would rather talk/dream about things that can possibly happen to our team to make us better and I agree with your points about our team being good and only getting better as we get more experience and time together. I have to believe that Oden will be better this year. With that said, I do believe we need to add a veteran to this team that has been through the war so to speak. And if we do, it should probably be at PG. Is that Nash or Kidd, I am not sure but I hope KP can bring in someone that will help.
How about spending Paul Allen's money on research to somehow give Michael Jordan the fountain of youth, and turn him into 25-year-old MJ. He'd be a great backcourt mate for Brandon.
1. I haven't seen any post about Carmello, where did that come from? 2. Paul, yep there have been tons of those thread. If is pretty obvious most folks are still lamenting over the pick of Martell Webseter over him. Can you blame them? 3. Williams, maybe a few, but it has been a long time since I have seen him mentioned here. He was passed on too. Lamentation is a bitch.
this is the same forum that has a poll on "would you trade rudy for johny flynn?" are you f'ing kidding me. welcome to the internets, where everyone can have as many pipedreams as they want.
I saw someone mention that the Mello would be perfect for Portland. Obviously the trade mentioned was so one sided it was sad. To the original posters comments about the team being fine they way it is: Portland needs an average defensive starting Point Guard who can push the ball a bit and a banger backup power forward. They don't need CP3, D-Will or the like. Rudy, Batum and Bayless are potential all-stars in the way every NBA player is. If they can address the multitude of holes in their respective games, they would be all-stars. The chances of that happening are the same for every other player in the NBA. Very, very low.
Posts about pipe dreams of Bayless and Batum becoming allstars are just as bad. Could they become allstars? Sure. Is it likely? No, it's very unlikely. No different than the pipe dreams about trading for Paul, Melo, etc.
No different than any player on the Bulls roster ever becoming an All-Star. Cause besides Rose, none of them will ever be All-Stars. If you dont like Blazers posts you have your own board to go back to.
So, according to the OP, we have 3 potential "superstars" and 3 other potential "all-stars". Wow. No offense, but that is a bigger fantasy than trading Outlaw for LeBron!
There's a difference between saying someone like Ben Gordon, who was considered a borderline allstar twice in his career already, and Nicolas Batum (5.4 PPG) and Jerryd Bayless (4.3 PPG). I don't think anyone mentions any Bulls outside of Rose and Gordon having a tangible chance of being an allstar. Maybe James Johnson if he shows something....Luol Deng used to get that talk...2 years ago...when he was a borderline allstar. No one is talking up our guys averaging 5.4 PPG and 4.3 PPG as potential allstars. That description would have fit Tim Thomas (5.8 PPG) and Thabo Sefolosha (4.5 PPG) last year....neither of which is on the team right now.
Agreed. You have have Brandon Roy, who is already a superstar. LaMarcus Aldridge, who has the potential to be an allstar. Greg Oden has potential to be a superstar, but who could end up not even being an allstar....and him reaching superstar status seems unlikely, but allstar status still seems tangible. Rudy Fernandez has allstar potential. That's the only guys with any realistic shot of being allstars on the current roster.
Anyway, I think if the Blazers can get a point guard, or even if they just let this thing bake they'll be fine. Is your SF situation ok? If you could get Hedo for 8 million a year that seems pretty solid, would it be terrible though that you overpaid a bit?
