Really? It didn't really sound that way. You said he can't pass, defend, or shoot. What strengths do you feel will generate trade value? Personally I think the verdict is still out on his shooting and defense. But this year is his last chance to shine as a Blazer. He has to put up or shut up. We will find out very soon.
As a scorer/slasher on an uptempo team as a combo guard I think eventually Bayless will end up a pretty good player, not a star, but a rotation regular. When I say he can't play defense, I mean I don't think he can play defense up to Nate McMillan's standard. On a team that doesn't value defense as highly or the style of grind it out possession basketball I think he'd fit in pretty nicely as a microwave guy off the bench. Like I said, I think he has some talent, I just don't think his strengths play all that well into what this team wants/needs.
All valid points. But I am also wondering if maybe this isn't a perfect team for him. Aside from a Don Nelson coached team or the knicks, who plays a style of offense that he would be successful as a small SG? Yes i know you said combo, but that still means SG sometimes. If he is going to make it anywhere he needs to play along side a BRoy or DWade. (Maybe Evans in Sac) Those are his best bets if he wants more than 12 minutes. So if I were him, I would work my ass off to stay and eventually get to play WITH Roy as opposed to when Roy is on the bench.
Just like it's really difficult to feature two front court players that work from the low block (Z-bo and Eddy Curry for instance) it's also difficult to have a backcourt with two slashers with middling 3 point percentages -- the same issue Dre' and Roy have -- in that neither player is really all that effective off the ball and needs the rock to create offense for themselves. Miller at least is an excellent passer so he can focus on at least trying to create looks for Roy and others. Bayless and Brandon together hasn't been used much, because J-Bay just isn't a reliable enough shooter and despite raising his percentages from dreadful to below average and until he demonstrates the ability to catch and shoot reliably I think it's fair to say that he's unlikely to ever be a viable starting "point" guard as long as Roy is here. So, "perfect situation?" I'm having trouble seeing it. I seriously doubt it's because of lack of work or effort that Bayless isn't the team's starting point guard, or even obvious heir apparent; sometimes guys just don't have the skillset to fit in -- or the circumstance that maximizes what they do best.
I guess one thing that I respect about J-Bay is that he is TRYING to pass. He really is. I just don't know if he has the court vision to ever be a great passer. I suspect he hates when people tell him he can't do something though, and that's why he's determined to pass the ball.
Bayless wants to play and wants a second contract, if he stays here the first is in doubt and the second could be jeopardized in terms of size. You are right however that we will see one way or another. For the team's sake I hope Jerryd has a monster breakout year, because it would alleviate some nagging questions about the point guard position long term if he can fill that role adequately. I'm simply saying I have my doubts and it might be in Jerryd's and the team's best interest to find him a new situation -- preferably trading him for somebody that can provide value and impact for the Blazers.
I guess I alluded to this above when I said I'm not sure how much Jerryd enjoys being a passer and a distributor. My suspicion is that he doesn't get his competitive fire going from dropping a sweet dime as much as he does cutting to the hoop, finishing and drawing an and-1 foul. You're right though, he does deserve respect for trying to modify his game and working as hard as we've heard he does.
Bayless is 22 years old. There's no rush for him to be pushed out the door. There is no reason this should be a "make or break" season. He's a young player and he's a hard worker and he's improving... and he's cheap. Even if he's not the best fit right now, there's very little reason to trade him merely because he's not a good fit right now. The Blazers should show patience and let the man continue to prove himself. Ed O.
I just see a lot of parallels between Bayless and Jermaine O'Neal. They were both dominant in the SL. They both are/were buried on deep benches. Both very young and very driven. Both inconsistent when given playing time. I would say that Bayless has shown more in his time here than O'Neal did during his tenure. I just don't want to give up on him when he's so young and so talented. I could see Bayless going somewhere and having a Devin Harris type breakout season.
I agree. I prefer to hang onto talented young players and see what develops down the line in terms of fit. Perhaps Roy will prove to be a true enough point guard for Bayless not to have to worry about distributing. Perhaps Bayless will distribute enough to work with Roy. Perhaps Batum will prove to be a good distributor, again allowing Bayless to just be a scorer on offense. Perhaps there will be a 6-for-1 trade where Portland lands Chris Paul and Bayless will be a part of it and we'll be glad Bayless was around as a trade asset. It's not possible to look ahead enough to be safe in jettisoning talent for the sake of fit. Talent for equal talent swapping in the name of better fit is fine. Portland right now has solid or better players for every position, so they can afford to take a wait-and-see approach to a talented prospect like Bayless who may not fit in perfectly right now.
The trouble is keeping people happy. We saw it with O'Neal after the 1999-2000 playoffs, and we're seeing it now with Rudy. I'm sure Whitsitt would have loved to have kept O'Neal on his roster, he wouldn't have given him a contract extension if he felt otherwise. O'Neal demanded a trade and Whitsitt accommodated him. He wanted an opportunity to go somewhere and start, and that wasn't going to happen with Sheed and Sabonis securely implanted in the starting lineup. Bayless on the other hand has a real shot at starting. Miller could be gone by the end of the season, and we really don't have any other point guards on the roster other than Johnson. He just needs to be patient and keep getting better.
Trouble with that is, they block other talented players from getting time. To see what develops with Bayless, we have to NOT see (we have to delay) what develops with Elliot Williams or Armon Johnson or Rudy Fernandez. Same thing about players denied playing time. That premise can easily lead to the opposite conclusion:
Bayless isn't taking minutes from Rudy. Williams clearly isn't ready for real PT. Johnson is a third stringer at best. I like the guy, but come on...
That is just so old-fashioned I want to vomit. Nowadays when a player wants to be traded, and will obviously be a problem, and you aren't going to give him time anyway, you take it as a challenge to your authority, and you threaten to keep him for 2 more years just to spite him. GMs are so much taller and better conditioned today than back when Whitsitt was Executive of the Year.
Right, because THAT's why the Blazers haven't traded Rudy. It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that they haven't gotten any decent offers for him and his value is in the toilet. Nooooo that's not it at all. Whitsitt got Dale Davis, who was fresh off an All-Star season, for O'Neal. At the time it was considered a major coup for the Blazers. Who has been offered for Rudy that you would consider a fair trade?
He sure did last year, playing the same position. We'll see about this year. The way they become ready is to get playing time, which is the whole point. When you give time to one young potentially good player, you delay another one (if you have more than one, and we do).
If Bayless was the backup shooting guard, who was the backup point guard? I think Bayless has earned his minutes. About the only thing Williams has proven at this level is that he can jump out of the gym. So could Qyntel Woods. Want to bring him back and give him another shot?
Supposedly two teams offered us mid-1st round picks before draft day. (Like about 15th.) If he takes off, we might get nothing. (He can just buy a plane ticket and leave if he gets frustrated enough. It won't take much to set him off. If he does, he'll just spend the rest of the season having his lawyers fight it out in the courts, preferably for him, European ones.)
