You guys bring up good points, but If Theo Ratliff can come back after multiple knee injuries and average 2 blocks a game Joel can survive one major knee injury. His body is so strong I'm sure all his other ligaments will be strong enough to support the weaker ones. Przybilla the Vanilla Gorilla will not become extinct, Mark My Word
Greg . . . Joel . . . Marcus . . . . . that should ensure that we at least have one starting center for 82 games, right? OK maybe a second round draft pick on a center just to be safe . . .
I see two reasons to give up on Joel. 1. He won't be back until at least the All-star break. 2. We have weaknesses at other positions. You've gotta give something to get something.
marked 33, 71, 32, 17, 76, 56, 43, 77, 82, 30... those are the by year games played totals since he came into the league. If anything, dude's career could be characterized as constantly injured. His "strong body" has regularly failed him back in his 20's, why should we expect anything different in his 30's? STOMP
It also means you would have to be satisfied with a guy who is basically playing at a scrub level. Ratliff hasn't played well since his contract year in Portland. Is that really a marker for success?
Okay maybe I was over exaggerating a bit, but I still believe that if anyone can come back from this it's Joel. The man is hard. I think he can still be as good as Eric Dampier FWIW.
How so? It's a very valuable asset that could bring us another player who could help us even more. ECs are so valuable to teams that they can get you a very lopsided trade in terms of talent. What don't you understand?
Some teams do use EC's to obtain valuable players, this is true. But prior to the Camby deal, when was the last time Portland actually used one in that manner? Blazers management has a history of not using these "valuable" trade chips, so it seems silly for Blazer fans to ascribe them monumental value. They're only valuable if they're used.
I don't see how Portland's history of ECs has anything to do with their likelihood of using one in the future. What were the deals that they passed on? The rumors were that for the better players teams wanted Batum attached to RLEC... I'm glad they passed on that opportunity. Even though I like Gerald Wallace a lot, I'd feel sick right now if Batum was blowing up in Charlotte. What are the deals that they will be offered? The economy has changed since then and attendance/revenues have dropped so ECs that save club's $ are probably more valuable. If that translates into better deals that make sense from Portland's point of view, I'd expect them to pounce like they did with Camby. If not I'd expect them to stand pat. Portland can't make other teams offer them what they want. STOMP
Perhaps you missed it, but the original point was that EC's (ie, the significance thereof) are highly overrated on this board. Nothing you've stated above contradicts that point. In fact, your final sentence supports it. The fact that we may/may not have EC's is irrelevant if potential trading partners don't want to part with anything we want.
...and my comment about the economy sinking suggests that this time it may be different. My point is that they should continue to be opportunistic and only make moves that benefit them and that their past decisions not to trade RLEC or DSEC etc... doesn't have any bearing on whether they might choose to use JPEC. Of course some posters have gone overboard suggesting what might happen with past ECs... but then thats what we collectively do on most every subject STOMP
