Back on track, I think those of you discounting "blowing it up" as turning us into MIN or SAC or something are forgetting about OKC and ATL have reinvented themselves in the last 3-5 years much like we did pre-injuries. I think Roy is here for the long haul, good or bad. Personally, I'd love it if he reinvented himself more like the 96 Jordan, where he didn't necessarily have the quicks or the hops, but he had guile and could post up anyone they'd put on him, or hit the 3. (Not saying, of course, that he's that talent level, but the same idea--unlike, say, Ricky Pierce or Vinnie Johnson) I think Wes' contract is a steal, especially locking up for 4 more years a guy who can put up 20ppg while playing D against the opponents' best player I like Batum a lot and think he'll be extended or matched as an RFA i don't think Mills, Dante, Babbit, Armon have much value even as fillers. So we keep them and decide if they can play. IF I was blowing up the team, I'd think about the following: Oden to Indy for whatever we can get. Foster's EC and a first? I'm thinking that Oden will take the QO and "play" here for a year before going to Indy for peanuts, where he'll become the next great Eastern Conference center. This saddens me, because I'd love to keep him here for years, but even if he took a 2yr veteran minimum in summer 2012, coupled with the QO it's like getting a 3yr, 12M deal, except he'd be guaranteed to be playing in front of his mom every home game. Trading him now gets him to Indy a year and a half quicker, and guarantees Oden for Indy. LMA, Andre, Camby, Przy on the block to teams that are a) in the playoff hunt, who have either underachieving (or not getting any run) young players and draft picks. Rudy somewhere (maybe in conjunction with the veterans above) where it's a big market (NYC, CHI, LAL). Maybe to LAL for something like Barnes and Caracter. Or to NYK for the Chandler+2 2nds platter. Or keep him...he seems to have a Sergio-esque rapport with Patty Cakes. I don't mind the way he's been playing recently. I'll think more about it, play with the trade machine some...
If you judge how good a team is by how often they win, we have fielded teams as good, and better, than the one we blew up 7 years ago.
I would be surprised if he would do this. Remember, he already left Indiana once when given the chance by going to Ohio State and Roy Hibbert is playing stellar basketball. The responses in this thread are killing me though. I will just leave it at that. For anyone thinking we do not need a rebuild, answer me this: 1. Do you think we have a shot at winning a title this year? With Roy not playing like an All-Star and Oden out, I say not a chance. 2. If there is a lockout, do you see there being much left in the tank for Andre, Marcus, or Joel starting in 2012-13? At their age, I say no. They might be 20 minutes a night at best for the first season and sharp dropoffs after that. 3. If Roy does not return to form and Oden makes a fresh start elsewhere, can we add the pieces via MLE and low in the draft that makes us contenders? Again, no. LMA is not a player we can build around. Wes is nice, but a future All-Star appearance not a given. Wake me when we stop talking about Batum's potential and talk about his production. We thought we had a powerful piece of lumber with Roy and Oden. Swinging for the fences, that bat broke on an infield fly. Our next trip to the plate should be with fresh wood.
Mix, I used to think this was all an act and based on your posts tonight, I think you have some serious emotional issues. With that said, If this team does go into rebuild mode, it will probably be a five year plan again. One thing we have learned from the past is this owner loves draft day and building through the draft. He had a lot of fun working with KP during the drafts. Now he has Cho who can fix up all the numbers for him, hand it to him so he can make the final decision. It's a scary thought but it makes sense. In the end, it is what it is. You can retool but the pieces to retool with here are broken in Roy and Oden. You can use pieces such as Batum and LA. But if you were to take those two pieces and move them for a player or two in a retool. The team is still probably three years away. Whatever is going to get done will take some time. You might as well embrace and accept it. It's part of life as a Blazer fan. The organization is filled with bad luck. When we thought we had gold it turned out to be fools gold. The organization just needs to do a better of job of building the team this next time. And preferably someone other than Paul Allen making the player personal decisions.
I thought you already accused me of a being a steroid junky in a past thread? I think it got personal when you said you'd trade your mortgage for my rent. I'm pretty sure when you were 24 you paid rent as well. Then again, for the past couple years you've been having major board meltdowns. Enough so that you had to change your handle and then flat out deny it to everyone until the very end. I try and talk sports in a civil manner and you decide to get personal. Your like the little kid that pushes buttons until he gets the right one, just to see the reaction.
The difference for me this time over last is that we are starting with much better personel. So cool, rebuild, retool, reup, redo I don't don't care what they call it, but do it.
I think a lot of things will get pushed back because of the impending lock out. Deals that might have happened won't get done if there is uncertainty surrounding the CBA. I hope I'm wrong though, and the Blazers move some expirings and good players for a very good or great player. One other thing. Why is that Ken Berger all of a sudden is credible? When he would say things anti blazers before he was a worthless piece of shit who knew nothing. What makes him different now? Is it because what he was saying before is more obvious now?
red hot rolling? what did i say to make you think this? did you notice the monkey brains, jockstrap, indiana jones posts or did you think i posted those?
I didn't bother to read this whole thread, but how can you post such a statement without providing a link?
I don't think that the doing it is in question, just the timing and the specific players involved. I takes two to tango and at least two to make a trade happen. It may take until the trading deadline for something to come together. Could be that it doesn't happen until next summer as well. If the Blazers start to figure things out and make a run, then I don't see much to be lost by waiting. Miller and Camby can be expiring contracts for next year. Joel could be moved in a sign and trade.
Whatever it takes to get teams into trade talks with us. Major changes for us would be one or two trades, IMO. Really? That's strange. I'm all about wins, the more the better. I don't live and die by the success of this team but I do get the most enjoyment out of the most wins. IF your the 8th seed your just a trade or two away from moving up, just look at OKC or DAL.
Also note that of the teams that have been able to retool, they did so with a HOFer. Dallas had Dirk, Miami had Wade for the latest revision, San Antonio had Tim Duncan, LA had Kobe, etc. My thinking is that you have to take the path of opportunity. If our scouts think that a player is being under-utilized by other teams and we can obtain that player by trading away an older player, do it. If the only way we can get a franchise player is by tanking, we have to do it.
One persons rebuild is another persons retool. I see a lot of over reaction to the words the writer chose. Getting rid of old players and getting some young blood is not a total rebuild. Have you ever seen the movie groundhog day? Are you the type of people that would just sit there every day experiencing the same thing and would do nothing about it, or are you the type of people that will try to change events to break the cycle? You can either sit back and watch the same train wreck happen over and over again, or you can do something about it. I see folks angry about this, yet I don't see any reason to fear it. This team isn't doing jack dick until it changes. Marcus Camby is still worth a lot to a playoff contender. Miller could be worth something to a team in the right situation that needs a PG like him. Joel could be useful somewhere. I can guarantee all of them would like to get a chance to compete for a ring before they go into the twilight of their careers. We are not going to be able to get them that ring before their career's end. Top it off with the fact that it is rather obvious Roy and Miller don't work well together. They get in each others way, and that is a sad fact. The time to end that experiement is over. Top it off with the fact that some folks are saying let their contracts expire for salary cap space, when we don't even know if there will be a collective bargaining agreement in place, or what the salary cap will be. Letting them walk if we have a hard cap could actually be smart. But it also might not be until we learn what the agreement is. So until then, ship them and bring back talent. I can see many teams valuing a Camby for solidifying their playoff run this year to battle the Bostons and LA's of the league. Teams like Orlando, who seem just a bit short on the front line to compete with those teams.
