OT: And The Butler Plot Thickens ...

wizards owner just died.

 

No, but I'm pretty sure he makes his wife check under the bed and in the closet.

Chris Wallace and his wife climb into bed. He turns off the light.

KP: "Hello Chris. Why haven't you been taking my calls?"

Wallace: "Damnit honey, I thought I told you to check in the closet!"

Wife: "I did!"

Chris Wallace turns on the light.

Kevin Pritchard steps out from behind the curtain.

KP: "Chris I will trade you Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw for...."

Chris Wallace runs out of the room screaming.

KP: "You can't hide from me forever Chris."

 

Agreed. The team needs to consider "selling high" on Rudy. IMHO that would be the Blazers' most realistic chance to swing a deal for an above average SF. (FWIW, Deng would be high on my list as well)

 

Anybody think Rudy, Miller and Mills for Battier and Lowry would get the Rocket's attention? I can never quite tell if a proposed trade seems all that realistic when I type it out. I can only go off of my gut feeling that I think the Blazers are giving up some pretty hard to part with assets, except that each team gets a productive if declining player and an intriguing youngster in return ... and each fills a hole in their lineup.

Somehow I think Adelman and Morey would absolutely love Rudy's game, would like a solid savvy veteran to backup their young point (or lead for a couple of years as the case may be?) and something tells me Nate would appreciate Lowry and Battier's on ball and perimeter defense to help offset the team's fairly porous perimeter.

Blazers end up with:
Blake/Lowry (I think Lowry would soak up a lot of minutes however)
Roy/Bayless
Battier/Webster/(Batum)
LMA/Dante/(Outlaw)
Greg/Przy

Rockets end up with:
Brooks/Miller (or maybe vice versa?)
Rudy/Ariza/(T-Mac)
Ariza/Budinger
Scola/Landry
Hayes/Andersen/(Yao)

Does this pass the sniff test?

 

i thin rudy has alot of value going to a team that is going to start him. he could instantly be a star on the right team, like new york.

 

You're killing me dude. I'd rep you but apparently I must spread some reputation around.

 

Not even close.

Sad that you would think so.

 

My asking was mostly a rhetorical question to see how homer-ish the fans are... Both players are bitching about having to reduce their role for the supposed betterment of the team. I see very little difference other than the Blazers having a lot more overall talent to fall back on while sorting the mess out.

 

You made a horrible error. It's right there in blake and white...whoops I mean black and white. No I guess I did mean Blake. Can't we like just give them Blake you know for a sack of half eaten peanuts? I'd rather keep Mills as he at least isn't hurting us being in a cast and all.

PG Lowry/Bayless
SG Roy/Bayless/Battier
SF Battier/Webster (Batum when he returns)
PF LMA/Cunningham
C Oden/Przybilla

I would also try and get a PF out of the Rockets while you're at it considering they have like 5,000 of them.

I haven't trade checked it but how about Rudy/Outlaw/Blake/Miller for Battier/Lowry/backup PF. I wonder if the Rockets would part with Hayes if we gave the Przybilla instead of Miller. I definitely like the looks of

PG Miller/Lowry
SG Roy/Bayless
SF Battier/Webster (Batum when he returns)
PF LMA/Hayes/Cunningham
C Oden/LMA/Hayes

 

I don't think I'd trade for Battier because he's 31. Butler will be 30 in March. Deng, for example is only 24. Doesn't mean he's got to be the guy to target, but I look at this team and think, basically, you can't hang onto all those "asset" players forever without it getting prohibitively expensive. So you have basically one chance to get a guy who's going to be a long-term starter. Because of that, I think you want to get a guy who's around the same age as your other key pieces. Battier's a hell of a player, but he's only going to be a hell of a player for a couple years.

In short, aim high.

Regarding Deng, I'm not sure the Bulls would trade him, and I'm not sold on him as a wonderful fit for anyone because of his injury history. Did you all know his contract isn't fully insured? That's one reason I want him traded from my Bulls while his value is high. But I'm not scared enough that I'd trade him for nothing either. It's a tough spot to be in. Bottom line is I'd want Rudy + expiring contracts from the Blazers.

From a Blazers perspective, I'd be looking at other younger SFs. Jeff Green? Iguodala (high price tag, I'm sure)? Rudy Gay?

 

I would love that deal and I think it helps both teams. Let's do it!

 

The Blazers seem to have a pretty good small forward wing defender hanging around on the IR in Nic Batum. I'm super high on him because of his length, upside, and pretty efficient scoring when he started last year. Presumably he'll be back by around March after his torn labrum. Longterm I'd be looking at starting Battier for the next couple of years, with Batum learning from the master and taking over the starting gig as Battier heads off to the glue factory.

Deng's price tag and injury history make me a little leery (OK, a lot leery!) but skill-wise I'd love to have him. He can play power forward in small lineups (which Nate likes to use a lot) he's got a pretty good midrange game, seems to be an OK defender and I love his rebounding for his position.

Otherwise of the rest of those guys, I suppose I'd be most interested in Jeff Green if only because he can pay flex forward and shoots pretty well from three (a skill necessary for a Nate McMillan small forward), Gay is going to be a restricted free agent and seems to think he's worth a huge payday and Iggy's lack of shooting from range would make him a less than an ideal fit.

As for the Rudy + expiring contracts I'd probably do it, I'm just not sure my team's GM would; Regardless, the Blazers have 1.4 million in cap room so the combo of Rudy, Blake and Outlaw would work just fine in the trade checker. Outlaw is on the shelf probably for the bulk of the season, but you'd get at least one useful role player in Blake and Rudy would be the shooting guard with range your team seems to be desperate for.

 

I'd certainly do Rudy/Blake/Outlaw for Deng. Of course, it's not my money, so it's easy for me to commit the Blazers to the big contract. But since I don't think the team will have any more chances to add an impact or possible impact player, I think it's fine from a franchise health point of view. It's just a question of whether Allen is willing to pay Deng's contract in addition to the large contracts of Roy, Aldridge and, eventually, Oden.

I wouldn't blame him if it was too much to swallow.

 

Yeah, with PA's health very much in question and the Vulcans apparently interested in getting this team into the black (and his primary heir, his sister) I somehow think the Spurs model is going to extend to the management of the cap and not just KP's methods of talent evaluation/team building.

I somehow get the feeling we're about to embark on the "Roy, Aldridge, Oden and cheap/old roleplayers" tour.

 

Man.... that would really suck.

 

Yes. If I were GM of the Bulls, I'd make that trade. It creates an extra $10M of cap space for us next year, and gives us a potential long-run starter at our 2 guard spot. We move Salmons to the 3 and remain competitive this year, not losing so much that we can't attract good free agents.

For the Blazers, I'd pull the trigger too. Deng's injury probability is the only risk I see, but it's somewhat minimized by the Blazers depth and by Paul Allen's willingness to spend his way out of trouble should the need arise. Not saying that's an infinite willingness, but there's a lot more from him than from Jerry Reinsdorf (a fact that makes Deng that much more dangerous as a Bull, because a non-productive big salary hurts more when you won't increase your spending to compensate). So the Blazers can afford to look at it simply from a basketball perspective. And from that perspective, Deng is a good defender, has a nice complementary offensive game, is a team player, a great guy off the court, and is the right age. He's also effective in smaller lineups playing the 4. He's a hell of a rebounder.

A team of
Miller, Bayless
Roy, Webster
Deng, Batum
Aldridge
Oden, Przybilla

Gives you a really solid looking 9 man rotation with room for growth for years to come.

 

You mean, Dwyane Wade?

I love Rudy and all, but if only he could be happy being a sparkplug off the bench, I think that's the ideal role for him. I would be amazed if somebody that slight could play mega minutes in the league. Every team with a SG of average NBA size would immediately target him.

Why can't you just give us Deng for Outlaw, Blake and Webster or Bayless? You don't want Rudy, trust me.

 

+1, I think Battier would fit well BECAUSE of his age, I'm not looking to add another huge payday guy or give up on Batum yet.