Portland trying to get PAUL MILLSAP!

Sorry Nik. Didn't mean to make a direct association or anything. Just reading posts immediately preceding yours..and including your post. (I should have quoted multiple posts, of course).

Nevertheless, and hoping my appology is accepted - I speak in generalities when I state my personal opinion of the idea of trading Pryz (at all) let alone for the sake of seeing Deng/Hinrich on our team!

What have either (Deng/Hinrich) shown us over the past two years?

I also believe that Battier is not a player to acquire for the future of this team. Maybe as "that last piece" to make a run for the title - but not as a player for years to come.

Gerald Wallace and Paul Millsap, on the other hand, make great sense to secure now. Especially if we are going to be capped out for years to come.

IF we could somehow land both Wallace and Millsap - I'd live with Blake/Bayless/Mills knowing full well we have Roy & Rudy that can take minutes at PG.


Again, sorry for making an association that you were for Deng/Hinrich - if you are indeed not so.

I'm sure hoping that we can see something happen between now and Monday! This speculation stuff, while fun, can drive us all crazy!

 

He did extremely well as a starter when Boozer was out with injury. He's small for his position, but his Defensive Rating is strong, plus he rebounds extremely well. His lack of size doesn't seem to hurt him much, though I do agree that it limits him to power forward.

That said, I feel Portland can shift Aldridge over to center for periods of the game. That effectively allows Millsap to back up both positions, without ever actually playing center. You have center/power forward units of Oden/Aldridge, Oden/Millsap and Aldridge/Millsap.

 

• 
  
  I'm guessing that Quick has this news only because the Blazer organization wants it out there. The question is why do they want it out there before they have even made an offer?

 

Exactly. Boozer was out for all of December and Millsap went off that month. He put up 18 ppg 12 rpg.

 

"Sir, when Bill and Lisa work together, their power of persuasion goes up five-fold..."

"Dave, I appreciate your Dungeons & Dragons approach to office management, but I left my twelve-sided dice at home. I'm just going to go talk to them." <leaves>

"...Good luck, fair wizard..."

 

I'll miss Frye, and Przybilla if we end up trading him, but this would be a very good signing. Was KP waiting to see if Boozer and Okur would opt out and planning this all along? I love the idea of making Utah decide how far over the luxury tax they want to go.

 

This whole thing is a not very obvious attempt to cow Utah into doing the Boozer trade that could net us a Gerald Wallace.

The Blazers don't really want Millsap if we could get a starting SF instead. But threatening to make the offer drives Utah to the table, since they want Millsap more than they want Boozer, and they don't want to pony up $9 million for Millsap.

For them, it is a simple problem: either

1: Deal Boozer for BIG cap relief, or
2: Keep Boozer *and* Millsap at an extravagant cost, or
3: Watch Millsap leave with nothing to show for him.

As long as KP makes the threat credible (he'll follow through with the bluff), then Utah has every reason to choose door 1, and voila! Portland has a Boozer we can trade for a Gerald Wallace or Caron Butler kind of talent. *That* is what the game is, folks. So don't get too worked up about how Millsap will find minutes here.

BTW, this explains why Millsap is willing to play the game as well. The most likely outcome is that Boozer gets traded, giving Millsap the starting role outright. The other outcome is that Millsap has turned an MLE into $9 million per year (whether he plays for Utah or Portland). He wins either way, so he says he is thrilled to play for Portland as a backup PF.

iWatas

 

Getting Millsap would allow us too suddenly have a valuable trading piece: Joel.

Then we can package a Joel/Blake/Webster/picks/money combo of some sort to make an upgrade at the point.

PG: Upgrade (like Kirk)/Bayless
SG: Roy/Rudy
SF: Nic/Outlaw
PF: LA/Millsap
C: Oden/Millsap/rookies

I like it. A Bayless, Rudy, Outlaw, Millsap 2nd unit is awesome

 

if it's true at all, more likely it's Millsap's agent who put it out there. Regardless of the situation, teams have little reason to tip their cards on roster moves to reporters.

STOMP

 

of course having 250lbs+ that he moves very well is good size for an inside banger. A 7'1.25 Wingspan, a 8'9.5 standing reach, good hops, and awesome hands are his other assets.

yup, I've made this same point several times... LaMarcus is a tremendous asset to the club.

STOMP

 

SLC radio this morning:

The local media and fans do not understand why he would come to portland to be a backup when he can start in Utah after this year. Some fans are calling him selfish for thinking only about the money. A three way with Boozer/chicago is being hoped for. The media does not think it will be matched if the offer really is toxic. One media guy (an ASU alum) even took a shot at the Ducks. (throwing in the obligatory Nike reference.) They think the Blazers should go for Lee or Miller and Millsap makes no sense with LMA playing 37 minutes a game.

Basically same stuff we have all said.

Edit: they are also taking shots at the "Golden Boy" (KP) for feeling the pressure from fans to spend Paul Allen's money.

 

Yes he is

 

Millsap wants to sign as big a contract as he can... dude is an American after all. Jazz management isn't going to come up with this offer on their own, thats just the way the dynamics of this sort of negotiation works. I won't be surprised at all if they choose to match.

STOMP

 

Apparently KP's been reading my posts and come to the conclusion that our biggest need is a backup PF. Great move. If this fails then go after Brandon Bass.

 

The whole point is to force Utah to do a 3-way with Boozer

 

I think so too.

If it doesn;t force them you still end up with Milsap. If it's true, it's a great plan. Then again Quick lately has been shooting into this air at most everything