First, thank you for trying to get this thread on track, seems like there could have been some interesting discussion. As it is, I doubt anyone will ever read my post since why would they wade through all the shit to get there? I agree with you that it's highly unlikely we trade with Utah, which removes one player who might be an upgrade to Miller. I think San Antonio wants to trade Parker for a pick to acquire their new franchise center, Jonas Valanciunas, so I don't see us getting him. As for the rest of them; if Milwaukee is trying to trade Jennings already, that's a big red flag for me. Monta Ellis I think I would try that experiment. The rest, i don't think any of them will ever be as good as Miller, so I am really wondering about the veracity of this rumor. What about Louis Williams? I think he at least has the potential to be better than Miller; especially at defense. Miller/Camby for Brand/Williams?
I like Louis Williams, although he has always seemed to me to be mopre of a SG than a PG, good call on that though... I like the idea of Calderon, IF POR could find a way to get the #5 pick with it as well.... Nelson it appears is on the move somewhere, and so would it would appear Felton will be too, not sure either of them makes POR that much better though.
I hate all four of the guys you just mentioned. Lou Williams is absolute shit. Dude is Juan Brixon-lite.
Another name would be Eric Maynor, who I like, but I find it hard to believe OKC would trade him to a division rival...
I was so excited to see the title of this thread and that it was also 6 pages long. That usually means something's catching fire. Unfortunately, it's just another thread PapaG forced to be about himself.
w_maxey wendell maxey on draft day trading block for blazers according to sources: miller, fernandez and #21 & #51. team aware may have to part with batum though.
Miller, Fernandez, 21 and 51? Apparently the Blazers aren't serious about competing for a title if that's all they plan to give up to "improve" the roster
I don't know how we could move much of anything else and still expect to remain competitive. Moving Miller is super-risky unless we have a PG that's at least his equal to plug in. As fun as it would be to see Portland make big moves, I don't think that the roster is in a position to be able to do so. We don't have great depth and we have almost no young players that are of any value to other teams. I expect a quiet night tomorrow for the Blazers. Ed O.
Then perhaps... It is time to rebuild. Yes I know no one wants to hear or see that, myself included, but if we are in no position to upgrade/add much needed depth at some positions, and this team as is, is not good enough to win a title, perhaps it is time to start rebuilding. The only way we can somehow contend is if Oden can stay healthy, dominate, and of course stay in town once his contract is up. Otherwise, we need to rebuild. Aldridge is a nice number 1 option, but we need more then just him, Wallace, and Miller.
You overlooked the part about the Blazers recognizing that they may have to part with Batum. The immediate cap relief afforded by Miller's non-guaranteed contract, coupled with Batum's talent plus a rookie or two is a pretty sweet package.
They really need to include Camby with their other tradeable assets. If they want to trade for players in their prime, they need to be willing to take on bad contracts too, which might require sending out more salary than just Miller.
Ok lets rebuild. But hmm, what does that mean exactly? I think of rebuilding as a major shift of the key pieces of the roster. The team removes most of their top current contributors which sacrifices short term success but puts the team in a position of acquiring young talent that will contribute in the distant future. So obviously we would need to dump Miller/Camby immediately. Then trade Wallace for a couple of late first round picks. Then flip Oden for whatever we could get, probably a below average starter or a pick towards the end of the lottery. So we’d be left with LaMarcus, Wesley and Batum along with Roy’s toxic contract. But we’d have a bunch of young marginal draft picks. We still wouldn’t be bad enough to draft the top5 superstars entering the draft. To do that we would need a complete rebuild which starts with shipping out LaMarcus. Or maybe we can try to make a series of small incremental improvements like Dallas did? Get a healthy playoff run out of an oft injured center (Chandler). Pickup a former all-star that falls out of favor in the league (Marion). Have some bench players overachieve (Barea). Have an old veteran find the fountain of youth for a final season (Kidd) We can entertain the rebuilding idea when we own our own draft picks and don’t have toxic contracts on the books. Otherwise I think hoping we luck into a good starter or get a healthy season from Oden are far more likely to get this team close to contention.
I'm not sure what you think would make them serious about improving the roster. If they trade away LaMarcus would they be serious?
Asshole. Hopefully, since he is a Blazer employee, they told him to shut it until after the draft. As for the word trying? They fucking better be aggressive, or this team is 1 round and out again
