"Really though, I'm kind of tired of talking about trading for new point guards as long as Steve Blake is still here; Nate has shown almost no inclination to sit his ass down even though he's playing at or below replacement player level -- in short, what's the fucking point?" How true and how sad a statement it is. With Both MCIdiot and Roy apparently favoring Blakey so much WTF is about all we can say.
Well here's an idea that nets Conley at minimal cost to us: This trade works on ESPN trade checker and solves a few of our problems in one trade. Memphis Out: H. Haddadi (Center, expendable with Thabeet and Gasol) M. Conley Jr. (PG) M. Jaric (PG/SG) Memphis In: J. Bayless (PG/SG to pair with Mayo) T. Outlaw (They are then free to trade Rudy Gay to another team) S. Blake J. Pendergraph Portland Out: J. Bayless T. Outlaw S. Blake J. Pendergraph Portland In: Portland In: H. Haddadi (Center) M. Conley Jr. (PG) M. Jaric (nets us Adrianna Lima as a sight in the Rose Garden) That would leave Portland with the following lineup. PG: Miller/Conley SG: Roy/Rudy/Jaric (Frankly, I would rather see his wife on the floor he's in the trade for a Mem salary dump) SF: Webster/Roy/Batum (when he returns) PF: LMA/Cunningham C: Oden/Przybilla/H. Haddadi That's a very well rounded team. Conley would be the better fit to start IMO due to 3pt range and PG defense. However, Nate would likely go with Miller if that was OK with General Manager and Team Owner Brandon Roy. Joking aside, we also pick up Haddadi who would be an acceptable backup to Oden in the event we trade Joel or he opts to terminate his contract this summer. This trade frees up Joel as trade bait as well. If you don't like this trade you could go for Hinrich and Deng. Hinrich is like Blake +++ you can check out this trade I suggested in another thread: You will notice Blake and Outlaw go in both trades...If you go for the first trade you could make an additional trade for depth at the 3 or 4 by trading Joel with the assumption that he walks next summer.
I hate to say it, but it may be time to revisit the notion of trading for Hinrich. Obviously, Blake would have to be included in the deal, or "Captain Kirk" would never get to see the floor. On offense, he would bring the same ugly, pointless game as Blake - but he would be a tremendous upgrade on defense.
Out of all possibilities he would probably fit with Roy the best. But I disagree, offensively, I think Kirk is more polished than Blake. And he would be better in this offense than Blake.
Hmmm .... eh ... meh. As far as trade ideas go it's probably not horrible, Haddadi probably projects to being about as useful as Pendergraph, Jaric is about as useful an NBA guard as my blue heeler -- which makes the Blake for Jaric swap close to fair, but Conley has some pretty substantial red flags (seriously backsliding from merely average his third season in). I'm having a hard time getting excited about it, even though it's probably an OK deal; it just feels awfully "lateral" to me or at least it seems to possess serious backfire potential.
Conley has the same problem Blake does - playing much worse than last year. Blake was a little better than Conley last year. Still is, even though relative to all the other PGs they've both slid way down the list. Blakey, we could say last year was his career year and he'll now revert to the mean. Conley, last year he was a rookie. [Edit: whoops, I guess this is year three] Maybe he's just no damn good? I'd rather keep Blake, if it weren't for the lock he has on the starting spot. As it is, I think KP needs to apply the Jarrett Jack solution. barfo
Well, this is a thread about Conley interest. I feel Conley is a victim of circumstance much like Jerryd, but for different reasons. Conley is stuck with some of the worst ball hogs in the league (Mayo, Gay, Randolph) and is soon to be stuck behind Tinsley. He has quickness, court vision and 3pt shooting, he simply is beaten down being stuck in Memphis (who wouldn't be?!?!?). Getting rid of Blake and Outlaw alone makes this trade worth it. Haddadi is definitely better then 'Graph as a Center prospect. I'm begining to think the Hinrich and Deng deal might be the way to go.
