He lost me when he said "our coaches did a tremendous job" Nate can absolutely hold a team together through tough times, but can't coach a lick when it matters
My initial thoughts: 1. Bigs: Camby looked old in this series. Some of that may be he's still coming back from the knee surgery, but you can't deny the age factor. The Blazers can't go into next season with just Aldridge, Camby and a recovering Oden as their only rotation big men. Chris Johnson is an end of the bench guy. Joel Freeland? He's worth a look. The draft? Not likely we're going to get more than a bench player at the position the Blazers will be drafting without trading up. Free agency? Not going to get much with an MLE spot. I see this as Cho's most defining off-season move. What to do with Oden? Should the Blazers consider Aldridge as a prime candidate for center of the future and get a legitimate starting PF to pair with him? Camby's going to be on an ending contract next season. How does that factor in? More questions than answers here. 2. Small Forward: The starting position belongs to Gerald Wallace. Batum had a largely forgettable playoffs after a solid regular season, but he still lacks the confidence and drive he needs to have. He's also probably the Blazers best trade chip and the acquisition of Wallace makes him expendable. Babbit? Yeah, work in progress. Maybe and eternity of work in progress. 3. Shooting Guard: Brandon had his moments, one unforgettable, but he's a huge question mark. Will his knees let him do more than play a backup role going forward and, if so, for how long? What will the new CBA offer in the way of an amnesty clause? Could Brandon and his contract be dumped? Matthews had some great games, showed some hustle and solid D, and established himself as a streaky 3-point threat, but he has some holes in his game. It's only his second year, so I think he has room for some major improvement. Elliot Williams should be able to start playing basketball soon. It will be interesting to see what he brings to the table. Rudy? I think this year's playoffs and his inability to hit the 3 say all that needs to be said. Time for him to head back to Europe, IMHO. 4. Point Guard: Andre Miller has slowly become a favorite player for me. No doubt the Blazers pick up his option. There's also no doubt that he's 35 years old and slow, particularly on defense. His ending contract could be a valuable trading chip at the deadline next season. Patty and Armon? Perennial Backups. Koponen? Not likely. Cho has to make a move here. There were options rumored to be available at the deadline this season if the Blazers had been willing to part with Batum. My guess is that's the hard decision that will have to be made to secure the Blazers future. Biggest Unknown: The CBA battle and what it will do for roster moves and a potential lockout. Last: Rich, please find us a consistent 3-point shooter. It's going to be a very interesting off-season. It's
The most cost effective way to add talent is through the draft. Since the LMA/Roy draft, the Blazers have sucked donkey kong in that department. Ironic, since the Blazers have a major asset in an owner who will open his wallet to buy extra picks.
No one is playing until the All Star break, if they play at all next year. This is going to be a LOOOOONG lockout.
maybe and maybe not, unless the appellate court changes the recent NFL ruling then I think the NBA players may follow the course of their NFL brethren - no lockout
Blake is untouchable. The Lakers are 4-1 with him available in the playoffs, he's shooting 58% from 3-pt, and he has an Ortg of 129 with a Drtg of 107. EDIT - I forgot to include BLANKY's stellar 1.47 PER/Usage ratio in Round One. Sure could have used a back-up PG like that against Dallas...
Yeah, but he obviously didn't mean the word "run" literally, as reporters saw him running on a treadmill like a week after that. He may have meant "run" as participating in live practices, where he'd be running up and down the court playing basketball.
It's been established that you're right...that is what Greg meant but the haters always spin it badly.
Yes, by which time Oden will have missed all of training camp and will have just been cleared to run up and down the court. Assuming he actually plays at all, it wouldn't be until January or so before he got comfortable on the floor. But I would assume Oden won't play one more second of basketball ever were I planning for the team's future.
I agree with almost all of this. I like the thoughts of signing Landry, Crawford, or Richardson if they're available. Batum improved again this season, so I would just dump him. Now, if he brought back a proven PG, then I could part with him.
To be honest, I think this team is in for a dip next season (the one after the lockout): Dre is likely gone, Camby looks close to done, Greg coming back is no sure thing, Roy might be bought out his contract if the new CBA has an amnesty clause, Rudy probably wants to return to Europe (and even if he doesn't he should be gone after three straight Houdini acts in the playoffs). All that leaves us with is Armon or Patty at the point (blech), Williams and Matthews at the two which is OK I guess, Batum and Wallace at the three is good (Babbit looks like a total bust), but LMA and Chris Johnson as our only two players over 6'10" that you can say for sure will ready to go day one ... ugh. Cho has his work cut out for him.
Say we still view Greg as the future at Center I'd look a few bigs that are starting caliber so the team could bring back Greg slowly. Chris Kaman is entering the final year of his deal ($12m) Shooting? I'd look first at bringing over Victor Claver, who shot 40% from three before his injury, and maybe make a pitch for Jamal Crawford.
