sigh ... I'm not crazy about giving up on him, but he clearly will not be happy or able to develop on this team with nothing but table scraps. He may never end up being a point guard, but I have a feeling that if he ends up in the right situation he could be a productive Vinnie Johnson type of player; I just don't see that ever happening with Rudy, Miller, Roy and Blake all players ahead of him on the depth chart. And just to be clear, I'm not calling this another Jermaine O'Neal situation, I just think this has to happen if Bayless intends to stick in the league at all; hopefully KP can get some value for him.
I think you're overstating the difficulty in Bayless emerging on the Blazers. I understand not being willing to phase Bayless in as the starter for a quasi-contender like Portland is...but with Miller in the fold, I see no problem with having Blake as the second-string point guard and Bayless as the third-string at the start of the season and phasing Bayless in as the backup over the course of the year. Blake provides the security in case Bayless busts or doesn't develop enough this year, but if he does develop, you just keep increasing his minutes until (ideally) he's getting nearly all the backup minutes at the 1. Then you let Blake walk as a free agent.
I feel like with Miller, Blake will be somewhat expendable. If we get good value for Bayless I think we can move him. But...if Miller plays 33 minutes a game and Bayless plays 17...isn't that enough for him to show his development on the court?
Or you trade Blake at the trade deadline to a team looking to cut salary, as he is an expiring contract. Teams are looking to cap space in 2010, even though the situation with the cap decreasing may make this next offseason less dynamic than originally thought.
Yeah, if Bayless is ready to be counted on for "big minutes" (15-18) by the trade deadline, then that's definitely an option, too.
That would be ideal, I'm just not sure being the 3rd string point guard is in Bayless' mental makeup for another year ... if he can beat Blake out for the backup spot, then great; Miller would be an ideal tutor to learn under (gym rat, workhorse, driver, savvy, "coach on the floor" type of guy). I do think that in two years they could be up shit creek without a paddle if they aren't able to develop or find some kind of heir apparent to Miller when he starts to slow down. If Bayless can accept that he needs more time to develop and can exhibit patience (and growth) then he'd be a pretty nice long run plan.
We do not need Steve Blake. Miller will get 30+ mpg, let Bayless develop as the backup. If it isn't working, heaven forbid we have Rudy to play the backup pg minutes.
Good post. Bayless has talent, but he's a full 'tweener' and I think the best he can hope for is to be a "valued player off the bench" for some team. Who knows, maybe for us some day.
I don't buy that we are trying to trade Bayless. I think it's just speculation because of how he played in SL. With Miller on board we have someone that will be able to mentor Bayless. I'm sure he won't like us signing Miller, but it is probably the best thing for him because he will have time to make the transition from SG to PG.
After the summer league he had THIS season, I think they already forgot he was MVP in '08. This year JB didn't make the All Summer League 1st team, or the 2nd team, or . . . even honorable mention.
This might be a major misstep by the front office. They nixed a trade for Hinrich because they didn't want to part with Bayless, then they go and trade him after getting Miller. Doesn't make sense. Hinrich by most accounts would have been a better fit here.
I don't buy it either. I think Blake is much more likely to be traded. Bayless is still a ways away from starter minutes, but I think he is ready right now for BU minutes and has a ton of talent that just needs to be molded into PG form. I know this sounds weird, but I was more encouraged this year by SL play than last year when he won MVP. Why? Because this year he was trying to completely change how he played in order to become the future PG the team needs, whereas last year he was just in it to score and look good. I would have been more encouraged if he was more of a ready product, but that is asking a shit load, for a player to completely change how they play and how they make their decisions on the court, and to transform immediately . This process will take time. He can play some minutes now, but I suspect it will take most of the season for him to truly start thinking in his new mind-frame and succeeding. I think of it like learning french. You take lessens, then go to france. You can speak, but poorly and because you have to translate everything into English in your head before you understand it. But after living in france for a year, all the sudden you realize you start to think in french without having to convert anything to English. Bayless just needs time to internalize everything he has learned.
Bayless will never get 17 MPG on this roster. That would be ludicrously unfair to the 5 so much more talented guards ahead of him. D League would be more likely this year. At least you can twitter him still.
I agree with all of this... and I will add that rumors that get reported are often extreme. One report might have said that the Blazers LOVED Bayless and that was the reason they wouldn't trade him, and now they are HEAVILY shopping him, according to another report. I would imagine that neither report is entirely accurate, and that Portland would have been willing (and remains willing) to trade JB if the right deal came along. It's almost impossible for me to believe that the acquisition of a 33 year-old PG would prompt them to suddenly try to dump the second-youngest guy on their roster. Ed O.
