If Nic goes down, you will be glad that we have Rudy. Keep him, he isn't a distraction in the locker room (he doesn't really talk to anybody anyway).
I agree! The only way I would trade Rudy to accommodate his desire to play more, is to, as with any player. upgrade the team. Some have said that his play in FIBA has somehow diminished his value. His only real detraction's are his lack of strong man-on-man defense and his turn overs that Nate hates so much. Look at his stats for these last five games. Good shooting % and very good rebounding for a guard. His shooting is much better than Nico's for the same period.
My point is you can make any situation say what you want if you only include what you want for information and cherry pick that information. Basketball is a team game, and the bodies coming to join a team mean a lot more. For instance, you talk about Channing Frye and what some other players who came in brought to the team. But then I can point out that was Brandon Roy's first year where he was the focus instead of Zbo. It was a combination of Zbo being moved and Roy becoming the focus that was important for the team improving. The NBA has a history of teams improving when the main guys on a team are replaced with better main guys. That is just the way it works. Out with the old, in with the new. It's a pattern repeated yearly. It's also interesting how as time passes so many people on this board forget exactly how bad Zbo was for this team and city. It wasn't all about his play folks. It was about speeding down Broadway in a hummer with some guy smoking weed. It was about being brought to trial for tying up a hooker in a downtown Portland motel and not letting her leave. It was about lying and saying he felt ill and then going to the strip club and getting caught when he should have been with the team. Time makes bad memories fade. But they are still there if you bother to think back and dredge them up.
Except he isn't contributing. The guy did zero in the playoffs. He didn't shoot, he didn't drive, he didn't play defense.... he was just.... there. The whole reason we went out and signed Wes Matthews was because Rudy couldn't be counted on to contribute. Period.
I think Rudy is past the point of no return on increasing his trade value. He is not gonna get any time over Matthews now. Bringing him back to rot on the bench is pointless and could actually worsen his trade value. I'm surprised Rudy didn't wait til after the Worlds to demand a trade, because it would have been his best chance to increase his trade value and get this ass traded out of town.
This cancels out the teams rumored to be after him as the drafts picks of their own are all likely late first rounders.
"on a team with no shooters" Huh? Granted, shooting isn't exactly a strength of our at PG, but isn't it safe to say that Roy, Batum and LA are legit shooting threats from just about everywhere on the floor?
Seems the latest report about the Knicks offers was 2 second round picks for Rudy. Yeah, Cho sure is asking for too much, not accepting that. What a jack ass.
I'm livid. I mean I'm standing beside myself with apoplectic rage ... well not standing per se ... and I guess not enraged either ... but I'm definitely sitting, and mildly "harrumphing."
Take this with a grain of salt, because this is the same dude who has been spreading all the rumors that he is now claiming as false. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baske...n-will-soon-reach-a-boil-1.2264853?print=true
Alan Hahn and Frank Isola are some of the biggest bullshitters out there. You can take this with a bag of salt.
I'm not sure I like Randolph for Portland, but his production and contract IMO make him a nice addition to the Joel/Millier deadline deal next February that brings back Chris Paul.
What exactly is it that you don't like about Randolph? Is it that he butted heads with Don "ALANON" Nelson, or that he blocks 1.5 shots per game (in 22 minutes) and has Marcus Camby like potential and is only 20 years old?
Well supposedly the two second round picks are still on the table, hence the "take it or leave it" quote in the story.
He's limited offensively, he's not efficient on offense, and someone will overpay for him in two years. I didn't say he didn't have value, just not what Portland needs at this point, IMO. Plus, saying he has the potential of Camby is a reach, IMO.
