I talked my girl, or your mom....same thing, and she said it was more like an underacievement. Again, only up for a few minutes.
I never thought that Sergio was bad, and while I DO think that Frye was horrible, we're going to be replacing him with mediocre four year college seniors that we got in the second round... I don't think that's anything approaching an upgrade, personally. Our team is still young and still very talented. Hedo should give us a slight bump but he won't really be contributing that much to the excitement I feel about this team (which is Roy-, Oden-, and Aldridge-driven). Ed O.
I don't think KP is done making moves either. I don't think we go into the season with Hedo, Nicolas, Travis and Martell on the team. Someone's going to be gone.
As of today, the off-season grade is sitting at a "B" in my opinion. We now need to package up two of the following players to go get a point guard for our future OR trade all four and get both a PG and a true banger PF: Outlaw / Rudy Blake / Bayless The "A" will be handed out IF and ONLY IF we get something good: My list looks like this: PG = Harris / Flynn / Rubio / Sessions / Nash / Little Nate [I'm excluding Hinrich / Miller] PF = Lee / Maxiel / Bass / Jaimison [I'm excluding Thomas et al] Then KP gets an "A"
We still need a PG, imo. Either a vet, or a up and coming star like Sessions. One thing that is interesting about Hedo, though, is that he knows how to play with a big man. He played with Dwight for a while, hopefully this will benefit Greg (at least on offense, because it won't on D). Anyway, I don't hate the Hedo signing, I would have just liked to go after a PG rather than an older SF who doesn't play the D i'd like at the 3. But its possible he was the best player available by a good amount, and we may not be done. We will see. Can't judge until training camp, imo.
Sessions is still my hope. Once Milwaukee cut ties with Villanueva and extended a QO to Sessions, it was clear they weren't going to let him be signed away. That's fine...but they might trade him, since that still means not losing him for nothing. They did draft Brandon Jennings, so it's not exactly as if they've committed the franchise to Sessions. But in any case, I am certainly hoping for a deal that cuts away some of the small forwards and brings back a good point guard. That would make this a great off-season. As it stands right now, it's a decent one.
Sessions would be amazing. We need someone that will just set people up now, with all the weapons we have on offense (we have 3 options as good as any team in the NBA, possibly the best 3 options on one team). Harris is obviously my #1, but I think working a Bayless/Outlaw/1st trade for a re-signed Ramon Sessions would be sexy and equal an epic win of an off-season.
I still don't get the Sessions love. Outside this board, I've never read anywhere or seen that Sessions is this big-time cornerstone-type PG. He's a solid starter I guess, but nothing to get all that excited about that would turn us into legit contenders.
His production at such a young age suggests a special talent. If he were in his prime now, he'd merely be an above average point guard. Nice but not exciting. Being an above average point guard at ages 21 and 22 is extremely impressive and makes him a high-caliber prospect (in addition to already being an above average player). Also, when he took over as a starter, he had some huge games, in both assists and points. So, he doesn't just seem like a player who does well against back-ups.
I think Hedo might play more time at backup 4 than the two draft picks unless they prove they can earn those minutes. Of course, I'd prefer for us to just sign a veteran instead, or acquire one in a trade that nets us Miller/Hinrich.
So how comes there hasn't been too much of a demand for him? I've rarely heard his name as a player other teams really want. I know the Bucks have extended their QO to him so they can match, but you'd think a young 20-something year old stud PG project would be in high demand. I don't doubt he's a good player who'll be around for awhile, but just not this must-have player. Oh well, just my thoughts I guess.
Well, the same things could have been said (and were) about Devin Harris prior to last season. Last off-season, I said I'd trade Rudy Fernandez for Devin Harris and most people said that would be a silly trade for Portland...Harris was an okay talent, but Rudy could be special. You have to identify these types of players before they blow up and indisputably prove themselves impact players. Once they do that, they become too pricey to acquire or close to impossible. I'm not saying Sessions is certainly the next Devin Harris, but I've been saying all season that I think he's the best candidate to be the next Harris (in terms of a somewhat well-regarded but still under-the-radar point guard who turns into a star). I think his numbers suggest a player with a bright prime ahead of him and watching him doesn't make the numbers look crazy, in my opinion. So he's a player that I'd definitely buy into now. There's certainly some risk...but at worst, I think, you have a young above-average point guard because that's what he is right now. At best, you have a young star point guard.
If you can't see the value that Hedo brings to Portland, I don't know what to say to you. This team is much more potent with an extra scoring option like Turkoglu.
Turkoglu is an improvement over what we have, but he's not THAT big of an improvement. The development of Oden and Bayless will be more important this year, IMO, than Hidayet. Ed O.
