Our roster is a bit of a mess, and trying to figure out everyone's contract issues is confusing at times. Also, there is the decision of what to do with all the contracts. So, here is as good a place as any to discuss the 2012-2013 Blazers. Some info. Aldridge - signed through 2015 at 14-16mil per year Matthews - signed through 2015 @ 6.5-7.2mil per year Thomas - signed through next season at 1.4mil Babbit - signed for next year at 1.8mil and team option the following year Elliot Williams - signed next year @ 1.4mil, team option following year Nolan - signed next year 1.3mil, team option the next two seasons Crawford - player option next year @ 5.2mil but also Unrestricted. Shawne Williams - player option next year @ 3.1mil and Unrestricted Batum - RFA J.J. Hickson - RFA Felton - Unrestricted Thabeet - Unrestricted Jonny Flynn - Unrestricted Przybilla - Unrestricted Victor Claver - Unsigned Draft Pick Joel Freeland - Unsigned Draft Pick EDIT, I forgot Craig Smith who I believe is only under contract this year, and I have no idea what his contract is or where the Blazers sit. OK, I think that is everyone currently under the Blazers banner. What do you think will/should be done with these players?
The last tank lasted a lot more than 2 months. We tanked halfway through each season for a couple of years. I read some on this board saying that our talent level is awful. So will we tank in 2012-13, too?
I think this is a one season tank. I'm hopeful the Blazers can use their cap space and lotto picks to get quality help. The Blazers are really not that far from being decent, and the only player I worry about losing this offseason that I want to keep is Batum. I don't put too much stock in the Deron Williams sweepstakes, but hopefully the Blazers can somehow figure out the PG situation. This has been a constant weak spot for years and years. But I feel real good about SG, SF and PF. C needs addressing, but between the picks and cap space, I see this as an easier spot to improve than the PG. Also, I am looking forward to bringing over Freeland next year, and hopefully Przybilla re-ups.
If we're serious about a total rebuild -- everyone should be available. If we're re-tooling -- Keep: LaMarcus, Nicolas, Hickson.
I would like to see hickson back at a decent like 4 year 20m contract, Batum back at 4 year 35 mill, of course we gotta see the Vanilla Gorilla back in a Blazers uni. I'd rather see us end all our FA things very quickly, Sign DWill or wiff on him very early so we can sign Batum/Hickson quickly before teams panic and give them both Ben Gordan type contracts.
Aldridge, Hickson, Matthews, Flynn, Babbitt, Williams, Thomas (because of the contract, if we can trade him fine), Joel. Batum if you can sign him for 8 mill or less, but don't break the bank on a role player. Go for D. Will of course, then Rondo, heck even Andre Miller or Steve Nash is an upgrade. Despite what people want to say about Nash, he would help us out a lot, and would be better than what we have right now. Oh, and draft BPA if we don't trade it.
Only definite is Aldridge, he's the cornerstone of the franchise and unless you're getting another cornerstone you can't trade him. Guys you want to keep but not overpay for them: Hickson, Batum Guys who are good role players but expendable if the right upgrade came around: Wes Guys who are worth taking a low risk gamble on: E-Will (injury prone though), Babbit (one dimension), Thabeet (need big body out there). I don't think Crawford is getting more than $5m in the open market so I don't think he'll opt out, maybe i'm wrong but I just don't see him getting a lot of buzz. I don't mind him, even though most of you hate him. I like having his high FT% at least and his willingness to shoot. If he wants more, don't match. So basically we need after the above are taken into consideration: 1. Point Guard (we can easily fill backup PG with Nolan or E-Will or Flynn on the cheap) 2. Center 3. Backup Center 4. Upgrade SG
The thing with Crawford is that he's probably going to want to get one last multi-year deal; postponing that for another year just makes it less likely not more that he'll get the kind of money he's after. If he opts in and has another bad season then teams are going to start looking at his age and wondering if he's done. If he gets out of his deal and goes contract shopping teams can probably assume that he had a bad year because of all the turmoil that surrounded the team. My guess is that he lands with Minny or the Clippers for 3 years 12-13 million.
If its around $4m a year, its not a bad deal IMO. Anything higher is not really worth pursuing though.
lma wes batum elliot or nolan or flynn hickson babbitt pryz Draft or sign at least 5 superstars and we should be competitive again. First we need a GM with permission to run the Blazers as a basketball team, and a coach he's happy with.
