Would you give up Rudy to get David Lee?

Ugh, Alan Hahn is such a douche bag.

 

Also, I'd include the 2010 pick with Outlaw/Blake.

We are stacked with young talent/prospects at every position.

PG: Bayless/Koponen
SG: Rudy
SF: Batum/Claver/Webster
PF: Aldridge/Lee/Cunningham
C: Oden/Freeland/Pendergraph

 

Lee is pretty expendable so it won't bother me if we keep him or not. But I wouldn't be willing to trade Lee for Outlaw/Blake as he has way more value than that. For one, we're pretty good at SF with Chandler and Gallo. At PG, I'd rather re-sign Nate or give Toney Douglas minutes instead of having Blake.

Here are probably the only scenarios we'll trade Lee to Portland under:
-You give us Bayless without us taking on salary past 2010
-You give us Fernandez without us taking on salary past 2010
-You take Curry and/or Jeffries off our hands
-You give us a first rounder without us taking on salary

In short, Lee probably isn't going to Portland -at least not via sign-and-trade.

 

I'm concerned about both Lee and Rudy's level of future contentment with the Blazers.

Rudy's unhappiness this summer with the potential Turkaglu signing, to me, is a red flag. While initial reports seemed to be a bit blown out of proportion, I believe he did have some direct quotes which suggested some unhappiness. This makes me worried he's not as much of a team guy as we would like. Add this to the lack of minutes for a player of his talent, and I worry we aren't going to be able to re-sign him when the time comes.

Lee's situation isn't much different. I guess if it is a S&T, we could have him locked up longer, but if a guy isn't happy, it's not a great idea to hold him to his contract.

Long story short, I don't know that Rudy is going to be a Blazer long-term. I could see the relationship turning sour. So, as much as I love Rudy, I think that it makes sense to consider trade offers. I just don't think Lee is an offer that makes enough sense.

 

Lee doesn't have any loyalty issues. He said his first priority is staying with the Knicks. The only issue with that is our 2010 plan and re-signing Lee would interfere with that. Lee understandably wants to get paid so he is also pursuing other options S&T, etc.

 

I don't doubt that he hasn't had loyalty issues while with the Knicks. I am worried about Lee not being happy in Portland, with the limited minutes he would be likely to receive.

 

I'm down with these options. Lee could give us solid contributions towards a title this season. There could be some mutual benefit for both teams.

I do like the upside Bayless has but he's a wildcard, he might be good or he might suck; whereas we know Lee is very solid. Bayless would get opportunities in NY, whereas he'll be the 3rd PG here in Portland. Outlaw could be a valuable contributor under D'Antoni but if he doesn't fit they can let him walk.

I don't see us trading Blake, he is worth more to our team than anyone else.

I don't like the idea of giving up Rudy just to give a big contract to David Lee.

 

I think Bayless and Outlaw could both be solid guys over there, especially playing for Dantoni. I just really don't think Lee makes any sense here whatsoever, he can't play 3, isn't very versatile, gets his stats at an inflated pace on a team with no bigs. Here he'd be playing slower and with a lot of bigs, c'mon.

What if it were some type of three way deal? Lee has value, maybe

Outlaw/Bayless to NY
Lee/Blake to MEM (Blake played very well with AI previously)
Gasol/Conley to POR

Gasol could play spot minutes at 4 (we'd be really big but that's fine) and he'd be insurance incase Joel left after next year. Conley makes a lot of sense for us long-term as a good young guy who's friends with GO and can learn from Miller too. And Memphis just did draft another C who can't play well long-term with Gasol.

Miller/Conley
Roy/Fernandez
Webster/Batum
Aldridge/Gasol
Oden/Pryzbilla

/\ could be in championship contention next year. Maybe a little slow for a team, but almost everyone can pass really well and has high court IQ.

 

I wouldn't and I don't think he'd be happy coming off the bench anyway.

 

Ding, ding! We have a winner!

You might as well discuss trading Lee for Claver and Freeland - that one's not going to happen, either.

Outlaw+Blake+Fernandez for Lee does not work because of Lee's BYC status

Outlaw+Blake+draft pick for Lee does not work because of Lee's BYC status.

To make the trade, two things would have to happen:

1) Portland would have to agree to take one or two significant contracts back. Think KP is interested in Jeffries? Yeah, I don't either.

2) NY would have to agree to take one or two significant non-expiring contracts back. Agreeing to cut into their 2010 cap space. Do you see that happening? Neither do I.

 

The Knicks can't even make the playoffs in the East with Lee as a starter. The Blazers won 54 games in the West with Blake starting at PG and Outlaw being the primary scorer off of the bench. Plus, LMA is a much better all-around option than Lee and can score on more than just garbage points in a fast-paced offense.

 

About the only thing that WOULD make sense is doing a threeway trade, sending Lee somewhere else. I just don't see him coming off the bench. Who else would send us a couple nice pieces for Lee?

 

hell no.

The Willamette river will burn from angry blazer fans if they trade RUUUUUUUDDDYYYYYY!

 

Alan Hahn blocked me from Twitter. I mean, is this really worthy of being blocked?

 

How is the Knicks' inability to make the playoffs relevant? Lottery team or championship team, Lee is a better player than both Outlaw and Blake and is worth more money on the FA market than both. I don't want to hear Lee has inflated stats because he plays in a fast-paced offense. In a slow, Eddy Curry-centered offense Lee managed to average a double-double off the bench. There aren't too many players in NBA history who have done that.

I don't see why the Knicks would be interested in Travis Outlaw when we are stacked at both forward spots. Wilson Chandler, Gallo, Al Harrington, Jordan Hill, and (unfortunately) Jared Jeffries will all play both forward positions next season. Travis Outlaw wouldn’t be adding anything new to the team so I don’t know why we would be interested in him.

 

No.

 

OMG dude you can't post this kind of thing during the day! It's NSFW! I have to go home and change my pants after reading about that sweet, hot deal...oh no I did it again! Seriously post NSFW if you come up with a feasible trade that nets us Conley. It's the least you can do when you post that kind of tradeporn.

 

A good idea. If Memphis still had $6 million in cap room, it would even be workable. However, they don't.....