Jason Quick on the radio this AM, comments that POR needs to turn the page on Oden...says the team will not (should not?) give him a qualifying offer (arond $9mil). Really? Yeah, let's go through all of the bullshit that has been the Greg Oden injury circus parade, and then cap it off by letting him walk for NOTHING...let another team sign him and god forbid he blows up or even comes back as a respectable player on another team....to slap POR mgmt and fans in the face every time they see him with another jersey on.... No fucking way you let that happen... I don't know if he will ever play agin....He is only 22 years old however, plenty of years to come back, if he chooses to do so....To let him walk for nothing would be asinine at this point....This is exactly why Quick should stick to his fucking day job, and stop playing sunday morning GM....and another thing, so what if the qualifying offer is $9 million, it is not like this team will be under the cap anytime soon will it? You really think Paul Allen is going to flinch at paying $9 million for one year to see how this sad play finishes out? I don't....nor should he, the team has suffered long in regards to Oden, no reason not to suffer another year, the alternative is just not palatable...not to POR fans, and certainly not to POR mgmt... One more thing, I do believe that this team has to rebuild, start it over.... So what if you scrap your way into the playoffs as a 7th\8th seed to be playoff fodder?...big fucking deal.... This team has some players that would have value to other teams namely Camby, Przybilla (specifically his contract), Miller (same as Przybilla)...Use those players and contracts to stockpile as many young players and picks as you can...You don't get a do over here (see Raef LaFrentz)... What would you as fans ( or Allen as an owner) rather have? A team on the margin of the playoffs with ZERO chance of winning a title? Or a team that misses the playoffs for a few years (a distinct possibility to occur anyway) and rebuilds through draft\trades while starting this process over? That is big league sports people...if you aren't on your way up (building towards a title run), then you need to be in full rebuilding mode...The sooner the Blazers come to grip with that reality, as it certainly stands now...the closer they will get to actually competing (let alone winning) an NBA title.... Shouldn't this news regarding Oden, along with the news about Roy make it clear what POR needs to be focused on from here on out? I mean can anyone say Roy will live up to his max deal? More likely he is a max-priced shadow of his former self? and no team will take him, not until the last year of his mega contract.... Rebuild...There is not other viable (or realistic) alternative....
I agree with your sentiment. Cho is a genius, I have hope he will do the right thing, ignore the pundits and fragile Blazer fans, to look long term
So you want to rebuild, and while rebuilding, spend 9 million dollars one someone who will likely not play for us. And then you mock Quick for offering his opinion. Ok.
Nice post. In decision making, you don't make decisions in the heat of the moment if you help it. We have months to decide whether or not to offer the QO. There's no reason to make that decision now.
It's not like its a choice. Our plan was built on creaky knees. No plan survives first contact with the enemy, so we'll just have to adjust.
Eventually I think the team will have to rebuild, yes I didn't say $9 million a year for five years did I? I stated that you cover your bases and sign him to a 1yr qualifier of $9 million... This team is not going to miraculously get under the cap and dump all salary in 1 year....sorry, not going to happen... Having Roy at max alone, with his knees....makes him near untradeable IMO.... You give Oden the qualifier to protect yourself, see how the rehab goes, remember his 22 years old...and chances are if he does come back from it, positively, then you would likely be able to resign him for pretty cheap I would wager... Now if another team offers him a 4-5 year deal (highly unlikely IMO) well then that is another story.... This team as constructed is just not an NBA title contending team, and if you believe that is the case, and I do, then the sooner you start to move pieces around (Canby, Miller, Przybilla) around to rebuild, the better off the team will be... two seperate issues I was commenting on in my OP...
I agree we need to give Oden a QO and then match anything within reason that he gets as a RFA. I'm not so sure about the rebuilding part. I'd like to see how this season plays out. I don't want to dump contracts just for the sake of dumping them.
If we gave Wesley Matthews $35 million to play off our bench we can give Greg $9 million to see how one extra year goes.
I agree with the original post, and I also agree with tlong's post... especially the bolded part. Moving Miller/Camby/Joel can be moved FOR VALUE, rather than in an effort to save money, and I hope that they are. If we get rid of two or three of those guys, though, with Roy and Oden out, this team is going to be struggling big-time the rest of the year, so it becomes a rebuilding situation by default. Ed O.
Blaze, maxie, tlong, I'm with you. Greg is only 22 years old. I am not ready, as most fans and observers seem to be, to conclude he will never play again or that he will never play for the Blazers if he does. If Greg is going to play again, it may as well be for us, in whatever role he is capable. If there is ANY hope he will play basketball, and I think there is, I would lock him up with the QO for a year then see what happens.
The Blazers have to consider all options. The rebuilding (read "tanking") option is one to look at. That can easily be accomplished by taking Oden off the table (done), taking Roy off the table for the year, and trading a couple of players (i.e. Miller, Joel, Camby, Rudy) for future considerations and backups. No need to ask the remaining players (LaMarcus, Batum, Matthews, Johnson, etc) to do anything other than play hard. Mediocrity and losing sucks, but rebuilding with young players with "potential" is always exciting!
Quick is very bitter and upset this year. The Blazers have made a huge effort to plug all the media leaks from the KP era. It was a full 24 hours before we heard about Elliot Williams injury. And now this latest Oden saga was kept completely off of the radar until the Blazers announced it. Quick has had no scoops this year. Everything he has reported has been reported to him by the Blazers.
I don't think we will know enough after a year to make a better decision so i would not shell out 9 million dollars.
The smartest decision Al Davis has made in the past decade, was to cut JaMarcus Russell. Yes, he was THE #1 pick. Yes, he had some "potential". No, he was never going to be an NFL player. They kicked him to the curb, turned the page, however you want to phrase it - and the team got better! Even Quick couldn't miss that lesson.
Yea I know. My buddy is a Raiders fan and I told him about halfway through Russels first year he was going to have to hold on until management saw fit to cut him. Sometimes you just have to cut loose and move forward with a clean slate.
