Trades and the Blazers

I have to wonder the thoughts in the blazers front office. How far do they let the season go before deciding which way to go? I mean if we are a little over 500 by Jan 1st... will that make them want to go out and make a trade to improve,? Or what if the blazers are under 500... do they trade camby and miller? Or do they know now this isn't a playoff team? Very interesting stuff on teh fron office mind set going forward. Last year it seemed like the goal was playoffs no matter what. This year the feeling is hazy at best. Cant good a good read. However if guys like David Aldridge, Steve PAtterson, Jaynes, and Blazersedge seem to think the playoffs are unlikely.... you have to think the blazers front office feels somewhat the same.

It would be nice for just once for us to make a AL Jefferson, Pau Gasol, type deal. We have the picks and expiring contracts. It really comes down to front office since we never make those kinds of deals which says a lot. Everyone else gets better while we regress. Dont use camby for an example.... that was a bandaid tarde for a old player. Im talking bout trades that help for teh long haul like Jefferson.



Thoughts?

 

"Don't use Camby because it kills my argument"

That's how I read it.

 

camby was traded for 2 decent players

my argument and question is....

1. where are the front offices heads at? tank, improve, or neither.

2. why dont the blazers find a way to make al jefferson type trades?

 

With the new CBA coming up and with potential massive changes I would think they will precede cautiously. We may end up having to carry Roy's salary on a hard cap- and that will cost us dearly in the next 4 years. We also have to carefully reassess the players we need to keep under the premise Roy's career is for the most part over (with the exception of a few good stretches each season) and Oden will never be a full time player for us. We have to resign Batum (at least as much as we paid Matthews) and go forth accordingly. I'd be inclined to make no more than minor moves until the new CBA is in place.

 

My answers:
1.) The current horrific developments happened all of 6 days ago.
Until then the team didn't really know how bad things would be.
Up until then they had hope that B-Roy's knees wouldn't be that big a deal and Oden would return to form by January.
That being the case, they wanted to see what they had before deciding what needed to be done.

Right now I would say they are looking to improve instead of tanking.
Tanking isn't all that effective even in the best of drafts and next summer's may very well be the worst in history.
A ton of players are going to stay in school to avoid coming out in a lockout year.

2.) Portland doesn't make those kinds of deals these days because up until 6 days ago they didn't think they needed to.
You can disagree with this notion all you want but clearly they though they had a serious contender even if they didn't make a single move.
KP sure as shit did.

I imagine Cho sees it differently today then he did even a week ago.
If Oden ever returns to the team he won't be fully recovered until the 2012 season.
Roy will probably not ever return to his 2008 form.

The big problem until this season was that Portland's best players were usually worth more to Portland then they were to anyone else.
Batum, Rudy, Roy, LMA and Oden were cheap compared to their production.
That isn't the case today since LMA and B-Roy's contracts have kicked in.

In addition, Portland's best trade assets play at positions where Portland is extremely thin.
Camby would be great to trade but his backup is Shawn Marks.
Miller would be great to trade but his backup is a rookie.
To trade either player you would need to get a player back who can fill that roll.
Hopefully one who is actually better then what is out going.

That makes packaging them both up for a single guy very problematic.
Expecially if you are talking about a wing player like Melo or a post guy like Jefferson.

In addition to all of the above, Portland is simply not an attractive destination for NBA players.
If you were young, rich and African American would you want to live in the whitest NBA city that also has a shitty climate and no nightlife to speak of?
It is a rare player that plays here and wants to stay.
So Portland has to trade for guys who are at the begining of their contracts not near the end.
If they don't there is a big risk the player will walk when their contract is up.
Melo has already stated he wouldn't stay in Portland if we traded for him.

Another issue would be the relative rarity of players of even Jefferson's caliber.
There aren't a whole lot of them to go around and after the last couple of years they are getting concentrated on a handful of teams with everyone else on the outside looking in.


None of this makes such a deal impossible but it does make it improbable.

I don't envy Cho right now, that's for sure.

 

thats true but if utah can pull off that trade... im sure we can do a gasol type deal as well

otherwise we are fucked

 

I think they will procede catiously also. Who knows what in the hell the new CBA will look like

 

As hard as it is for me to respond seriously to a MIXUM thread, here are my thoughts:

The Blazers' first issue in the post-Oden microfracture #2 era is getting the league to approve an injured player exception. That will free them up to look at spending money on a free agent or for use in an unbalanced trade. I wouldn't be surprised to see them renew talks with Dampier, not because he's better than Joel, but because acquiring him would open up the possibility of using Joel's ending contract in a trade before the deadline. Miller's and Joel's ending contracts are the Blazers' best options to look at making a significant deal. I don't think they give up on this season until they see what Roy will be able to bring to the table in the next month or two. Obviously, with two of our "Big 3" that KP was building around significantly hobbled with knee issues, Cho is going to have to come up with a new game plan. Let's hope he can do it without totally dismantling the team and returning to lotteryville.

 

i think lotteryville is tough when you have roy, la, and batum.... i mean we are kind of like a football team with the ball at the 38 yard line on 4th and 2....

 

which is punting and which is going for it?

 

hahaha good question.... im thinking going for it.

lottery can take 5 years or in some cases 10. i like re-tooling while winning. see dallas.

 

Portland retooled while winning in the 80's and 90's.


What seemed to happen more times than not was mediocrity

 

The trouble with retooling is that you need a focal point to retool around (Dirk, Clyde, etc.) Right now the only two players that would worth making a focal point are huge question marks health-wise.