I think it could definitely work, and I think at some points the blazers can even run with a Oden/Millsap/LA at the 5/4/3. It enables us to have great rebounding and LA outside with his smooth jumper. Definitely plausible.
First, Milsap is possibly the best young free agent left on the board. Compared to Lee he isn't as good a scorer, but he is a better defender, proven in the Western Conference, and not demanding to start. The Blazers may have a sense that NY would match on Lee, thus he is already unavailable. Think of the attempt to obtain Milsap as drafting the BPA on the board regardless of position. In the case of Milsap's position, we do have a need for a "banger" backup 4. Few are better fit for that description than Milsap. Brandon Roy has said, "we need a banger". He didn't say, "we need a point guard", or "we need a small forward". If we succeed in obtaining Milsap, then the Blazers can feel comfortable making big for small trades. Suddenly Joel is available to other teams. Trading Outlaw (our current backup 4) is no longer an issue. If Utah were to match, then they have a payroll that is too high. This forces them to look to trade Boozer under pressure. The Blazers are in a perfect position to be the salary dump in a 3 team deal for Boozer. If that were to happen, we get a useful player out of the transaction. The Blazers are forcing Utah's hand. "Either give us Milsap or cooperate on a 3 team deal to get us something else we want." Unless Utah can quickly pull a rabbit out of their hat, they have tough decisions.
You did not address my post at all. why would you spend 10 mill a year on a player that cannot be on the floor during the final 8 minutes of a game? makes no sense.
According to many of your posts.. Oden wont be very good, and will probably be in foul trouble by then, so he wouldnt be on the floor, freeing up LMA to move the the 5.. and Millsap coming in at the 4. Honk
I agree that getting Millsap makes no sense. I will quote myself when questioning whether or not to sign Hedo a while back: We do NOT need to target a PF! The only way Millsap gets the minutes he deserves is by playing somebody out of position, or trading Joel (AND playing somebody out of position!) But why would that improve us?
Agree to that to an extent.. but also that is with Sergio as well last year.. not Bayless. Now while I dont expect Bayless to offer the assists and all that, there would be no reason why he cant offer Defense and Scoring, thus raising our production.
What part are you having trouble with??? Oden - Center LMA - PF Milsap PF/C... You cannot have one of those guys play SF.. just does not work. So when the game is on the line and we need our best players on the floor.. we will have a 10 mill player sitting next to Coach Mac-Mullan. sounds like a good idea to you?
Getting Milsap makes a ton of sense. It gives us the freedom to trade Pryzbilla or, even, Aldridge if the trade is good. Aldridge could bring back Devin Harris and more. Pryzbilla in a package might bring us Gerald Wallace. Additionally, getting him would weaken Utah.
Sure. Look at contenders over the years. Most of them have a player coming off the bench earning starter money. Now you are free to move on to your next negative point. I know you have them all lined up.
Yeah it sounds pretty sweet to me. I would love to have Millsap on the bench, so Oden or LMA can foul HARD if they need to or not worry about fouling out of the game in crunch time, because there is another body on the bench that can play for them. Sounds fucking great to me.
Aldridge could easily eat up some minutes at the 3. He has the lateral quickness to do it. I am convinced that the way to win NBA titles is by having imposing front lines. Millsap definitely helps in that regard.
Because, contrary to popular opinion, all the minutes in a game count equally. (The exceptions are blow-outs...and in those games, the minutes that don't matter are the last 8 minutes.) They do keep score in the first three quarters, you know. It makes absolutely no difference which 30-35 minutes of the game Millsap plays. If he's impacting that many minutes per game, he's justifying a top starter salary.
We already HAVE an imposing front line! And if Aldridge is "eating up minutes at the 3" - i.e., playing out of position, we're not using Batum (who is imposing in height and defense) AND we don't have either of our best two three point shooters (Martell or Outlaw) stretching the defense AND that means that Roy is playing the two which means fewer minutes for Rudy. I was all in favor of bringing in McDyess: he's a seasoned vet, he can play fewer minutes but make them count, and he backs up BOTH the 4 and the 5 (and would play the 5 better than LaMarcus). But Millsap can't do that. This is like signing Brian Grant when we already had Rasheed. It couldn't last, because one of them had to start and it ended up being Rasheed, and we had either to lose Brian outright (which we should've done) or trading him for Shawn Kemp and bringing the world down around our ears. It also smacks of desperation. Why all that maneuvering on draft day to get Pendergraph if he's never ever going to get minutes? (Millsap is young enough to play for ten more years.) Why not get Sergio Llull or some project center instead?
Folks, it's real simple. A)We really need a new PG. B) We aren't getting one. I don't know why Blake has lifetime tenure, and I am past the point of caring. If this team is to improve, it will have to come from the other 4 positions. Actually, I have reached the conclusion that the story is bogus anyway - so why worry about it?
I thought--and still think--that drafting Pendergraph and Cunningham where we did was not wise. Now that we have their rights, of course, I hope that they're more successful in the NBA than I'm thinking they will be. Irrespective of my hopes for them, the team should not base ANY future moves on them. Millsap is a proven defender/rebounder/18 PER guy that can help this team either off the bench or if there's an injury... Pendergraph and Cunningham are barely relevant. Ed O.
