I heard that rumor as well, btu it seems awfully hard to believe. From paying 2 first rounders WITH VC to, half a year later trading him for a good young player like Courtney Lee and expirings? I'm much more inclined to believe they were asking for Rudy in the deal.
Absolutely not. VC isn't what we need and you will see with the Magic this year he isn't going to be as good a Hedo for the them. They won't win as many games or get back to the finals with VC. Plus he has a terrible contract that only the top 2-3 players in the league should get.
+1 Ed O I was saying this last year when it was trade deadline time. We need somebody to take a load off of Roy on the perimeter. If it keeps up at this rate Roy will be Dwayne Waded and end up on IR with a buttload of injuries from trying to carry the team too much. I can tell you right now that Houston series would have been much different if Ron Artest and Shane Battier had to worry about Vince Carter out there as well. Plus, you know that Vince would have shown up for the playoffs. He always does. He loves to play in the spotlight. We would have had 20 points every night, instead of Travis Outlaw's near doughnut.
Ah yes, the infamous link? retort. I could post a link where Jason Quick says we traded for DJ Augustine. I could post a link where KP calls Raef Lafrentz's expiring contract one of the best trade chips in history. I could post a link where George Bush Sr. said no new taxes. The fact of the matter is some people might know some people, who might know some things. I do believe, however, somewhere there is an actual written report on this deal saying that.
Carter would've definitely got us out of the first round. The whole point of the NBA is to advance in the playoffs and try to contend, so by that definition we already missed the boat. Carter is a better player than Hedo, and his contract will be shorter going forward. If we wind up with Hedo, then the mistake is compounded. If, however, we use that cap space to somehow land a serious upgrade at PG and SF, then how you view our failure to acquire him will have to be completely re-analyzed. That's often the case with trades, isn't it? The first year it can be a disaster, the second year brilliant, and over 5 years look like a disaster again. Just look at the careers of guys like Shareef Abdur Rahim, Caron Butler, Damon Stoudamire, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Scottie Pippen.....they've all been in deals that seemed lopsided one way, then lopsided the exact opposite direction within a few years.
Also I forgot to talk about timing. Vince Carter would have had just enough of his career left so that Batum could play behind him and develope. Right now, Batum doesn't have to work that hard to be starting SF, he is SF by default. A guy like Vince would push him, with about 2 to 3 years probably left in his career, it would be perfect. Batum would be ready just about the time Vince left.
In other words, you are basing your opinion on rumors, and as pointed out in this thread, why suddenly did Vince Carter's trade value increase between the end of the year and the trade deadline. I'm not sure how that makes the rumor accurate, and I don't think it is accurate.
How in the world is the expiring contracts of three scrubs "increased value" over Raef Lafrentz? Lafrentz would have saved the team millions had it traded for him.
The Nets are saving millions after the season, and with a much better FA class in 2010. Plus they get Lee, who is on a rookie contract for 3 more years. If Thorn DID offer VC + two 1st round picks for an expiring contract, he should be fired for incompetency considering what he ended up getting for Carter after the season.
I felt mostly the same way. I liked Vince more than Richard Jefferson, who I had no interest in. Vince is that explosive 3rd scorer we needed. There is no doubt about that. But the other points you make are valid too and I worried about them.
Yes, I would say Portland missed the boat on VC. Actually, screwed the pooch is more like it. I heard some rumor that I refuse to believe where Portland didn't trade of Devin Harris because they would have had to give up Outlaw. However, this Carter thing sort of makes that a bit more believable.
Blazers haven't missed the boat yet, IMO . . . but the boat leaves this summer. Most to all of the Blazers moves have been done with the foresight of having cap space this summer (a lot of the explanation of the Zach for Frye trade was about cap flexibility this summerand the Blake and Outlaw signing was doen with cap flexibility). So a lot of planning was put into having cap flexibility for this one summer and they passed on a lot of deals to have this flexibility this summer. For better of for worse, this is the summer the Blazers have been planning for for two years and this is the summer they their move.
