If the Blazer team plane were to happen to crash with everyone being killed on board the Blazers would be given the first pick in the draft for the next 3 years. Now if we could arrange for LMA to be home with an injury when this happened we might be on to something.
I didn't say he would wake up, but that's where it has to start ... Nate's been an NBA coach for 12 years, if he hasn't solved the problem by now ... what's that saying about insanity and doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Fine, they can play some defense ... but these guards almost definitely can't play effectively on offense. That is highly unlikely to suddenly correct itself in any meaningful amount of games (at least soon enough to get them a home playoff series). It's time to blow it up, give the younglings like Williams, Babbitt, Nolan Smith and maybe even Armon Johnson some burn to see if any of them are worth a damn, get as high of a draft position as you can and hope that you can remake this team into something that compliments Aldridge and Batum moving forward. For the record I'm not saying Nate deserves a pass, I lost faith in him quite awhile ago of him being anything other than an above average motivator and a below average tactician or Xs and Os guy. It's probably time for a new voice, but it's mandatory that this team gets an infusion of talent.
Patterns over time are created. all but 1 of Nates teams was either eliminated in the 1st round or didn't make the playoffs. All but 1 of his teams were slow. All but 1 of hsi teams had predictable offense. He basically told one of the best PG's to play in the NBA (and arguably one of the better players to play, ever, for the Sonics) to suck it. He tried to tell Andre Miller that Steve Blake was a better player. He's misused Batum, Wallace, Matthews, Crawford, Felton, LaMarcus, anyone who is a rookie and not named Brandon, Rudy, Sergio, Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless, and had Jarrett Jack off the bench (love that joke). The patterns all point their fingers to one man, and he's not a player.
Yes but think of all the years of breathless excitement and expectations as we wait for them to recover from injuries.
My point is, he's never actually had to deal with the problem. Thanks to Brandon Roy, it's been hiding in the back of the closet. And Now, Finally, he's forced to solve it. Your right about the HCA. But not only can we play some defense, we can shut down the best scorers in the league on the road (Durant, Dirk). And If we can slowly correct our offense by any meaningful amount and score 6/10 pts more a game, it would make all the difference in the World.
So how about this trade idea? http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6okw9wy For the Lakers, they get a stud young player and a bunch of cap relief. For the Blazers, it resolves the Wallace/Batum logjam and gives them a solid front line for the next few years of Aldridge, a re-signed Wallace, and Gasol. Obviously, Blake isn't the answer at PG, but he's a holding action who's familiar with Nate and the Blazers and, at a bare minimum, isn't going to make some of the dumb-ass turnovers that Felton has been committing. I don't know if the Lakers would see it as enough for Gasol, but it's pretty clear that they want to get younger.
So I don't understand.... we trade Batum and get back Pau Gasol? Why would we want Gasol? And why would we want to help the Lakers?
Assuming the franchise is unwilling to either make moves for the future, or do something about Nate, their options are pretty limited. The best I can come up with, is to sign Arenas (or even Iverson), plug them into Crawford's current role, and pray.
Primarily because Camby is going to be 38 this year and Gasol is 32 and can still play. Also, I don't think that the Blazers can afford to keep both Wallace and Batum at the 3 spot. As for the Lakers, they're still going to be screwed by cap constraints until Kobe's contract is up.
OK, you want a serious idea. My plan... 1) Change coaches. I like Nate but we need a new voice and some new ideas. 2) Keep LA, Batum and Wallace (PF/C, SG, SF) and make wholesale personnel changes. 3) A team is really 7 players deep. Get a new PG, bench shooter and either C or PF depending on who we can get and play LA at the other of the two positions.
I agree with #1 and #3... but I don't see any way that Wallace is on this team after this season. I think the team will scrap much of the current roster and try to build around Aldridge and Batum. EWill might be part of that nucleus as well. We need a new point guard, a real point guard, and a decent prospect at center. Is Batum a two or a three? I'd still like to see us make a run at Eric Gordon and Deron Williams. We could potentially make two max offers this offseason if Crawford and Wallace both leave. I would love to see those two players on our team. Deron Gordon Batum Aldridge ??
Deron is beyond a pipe dream. The pipe dream of Steve Nash even thinks Deron Williams is a crazy assed pipe dream.
I don't know... why would he want to stay in NJ? Who else has cap space that would be able to pair him with an All-Star big man in his 20s? If we could somehow snag someone like Gordon, and if we had enough cap space left over, he might be willing to listen. I think Williams wants to win, and if we were able to sell him on playing with Aldridge and building something great, I don't think it's completely impossible.
Why would he want to go to Dallas? They don't have much of a future there. Dirk is starting to show his age, Terry is old, Kidd is old, Marion is old, Carter is old.... who is actually young on that team?
Look at Dallas' roster and tell me if you'd want to go there as a young star point guard Dirk Nowitzki - 33 Jason Terry -34 Jason Kidd - 38 Vince Carter - 35 Shawn Marion - 33 Lamar Odom - 32 Brian Cardinal - 34 Brendan Haywood - 32 Here are the guys under 30 years old - Rodrigue Beaubois - 23 Yi Jianlian - 24 Dominique Jones - 23 Ian Mahinmi - 25 Delonte West - 28 Sean Williams - 25 Brandan Wright - 24 Their best player under 30 is a point guard.... that doesn't bode well. Their second best player is Delonte West..... that REALLY doesn't bode well. If you were Deron Williams, would you rather be looking at a future starting lineup with Aldridge, Batum, and Wesley Mathews or would you rather be starting with Yi, Brandon Wright, and Delonte West?
