He can, as long as he can take one dribble first. I am hoping to see him show off an ability to catch and shoot during summer league since that is the skill he would most use in the current Blazer offense. If he can't do that then he is pretty much fucked.
Even if he is not good, this was a smart move imho. With all due respect to Webster - his production/pay ratio was not that great, especially for the 10-15 MPG he was expected to play in Portland going forward.
I was cutting his highlights last night for courtside and didn't see him camped in the corner hitting 3's. Maybe it was just their offense. But he will have to do that here when Greg/LA or BRoy have the rock. I just don't understand this move.
He was their best player and a guy who could do pretty much what he wanted offensively... why would they have him camped in the corner? He's a pure shooter. He'll be able to hit the open shots that no Blazer's been able to hit consistently in years. Ed O.
I understand he was there go to guy, I'm just saying he will have to curtail his game here. And if his strength isn't siitin in the coffin corner hitting 3's, then the trade was a mistake.
Because Martell sitting in the coffin corner was a consistent weapon? Have any of you watch Webster play the past six seasons? Most nights he was invisible on the court - we aren't losing anything here.
I have seen him play a few games here and there and this past season he actually became a decent defender. I have never seen the rookie play but until he proves to me that he is able to guard NBA SF's consistently, I think it was a bad trade.
But with a healthy Batum guarding the other team's star SF, I'm not all that concerned with how well our shooter off the bench can guard the other team's backup - particularly if, unilke Martell, the rookie can hit his shot more than once a week and not hang his head as he runs down the court after a miss.
It doesn't have to be his strength. He just has to be better at it than Webster. Martell was a better defender than Babbitt at this point, but I'll take the cheaper, younger Babbitt and cross my fingers he's the shooter that I think he is. Ed O.
This trade was not a mistake even if Babbit never becomes anything. Nic needs more minutes and paying Martell the MLE for his inconsistent production at 14 minutes per game is financial suicide.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I feel exactly the same way. More impact is going to be made through a consolidation trade than the addition of yet another solid but unspectacular piece in the middle of the rotation. If they do manage to get a really high impact guy by turning draft rights, picks and players into a single high impact guy (presumably a point guard) then I'd really like to see a solid veteran backup 4 added with the MLE (Craig Smith, Drew Gooden, Udonis Haslem, Amir Johnson, etc.) or maybe some wing depth (Raja Bell, Mike Miller, etc.)
8 million dollars in savings and not paying the luxury tax ... The trade is also a win because Nic presumably will play something like 35 minutes a night and Martell was about to become a very overpaid 12 minutes per game player.
I think you are mistaken by thinking that (a) Babbitt is taking a Webster's spot and (b) Babbitt shouldn't have minutes over Cunningham. Webster was extremely lucky that Batum was injured 3/4 of the season last year, otherwise he would not have started one game. Babbitt will be able to come in and immediately provide offense from the bench, something Webster would only be able to do every other game when he was having a "good" night. Webster is a career bench player. Secondly, Babbitt was the 16th overall pick, and many projected him to go higher. Cunningham (and Pendegraph) were second round picks for a reason. Babbitt is a significantly better player. I know you are tight with these guys buy you are over valuing Portland's players far too much.
Not to mention, whoever we sign with that 8 million you could say we got from this trade. Portland Outgoing: Webster Portland incoming: Babbitt Whoever we sign with the MLE
How do you say we got the MLE in the trade? We'd have had the MLE even if we didn't do the trade. barfo
So someone explain this for me? I keep hearing we saved 3+ million by waiving Gomes. I know we have 5+ million for the MLE. In some threads I see we have over 8 million to spend on a FA, but how can this be true?
Waiving Gomes puts Portland under the luxury tax threshold http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-trailblazers-gomes
