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If they could sign a guy like D-Will, which I think is a longshot at best or Nash, ever so lightly less of a longshot...then they could use thier 2 draft picks to fill holes...

Upgrade the SG thru the draft...either Beal or Lamb

Go after a big man....Sullinger, Henson, Zeller....I like Sullinger b\c I think his style of inside post play could mesh well with Aldridge....Re-sign Hickson (if you can)...and bring over Freeland....

Take a flyer on BPA guys in 2nd round (I think there wil be NBA claiber players available when POR picks 40/41...guys like Jae Crowder, Will Barton, Scot Machado, Hollis Thompson, Kris Joseph or CJ Leslie), I like Barton\Crowder to fill one of thse 2 remaining spots and then fill last spot with FA, preferably a PG, maybe a guy like Hinrich (preferably) or keep Flynn...

That would be best case scenario IMO...

PG Williams or Nash, Hinrich N.Smith
SG Matthews (will likely start but is better coming off the bench, could play some SF too), Beal or Lamb, E-Will
SF Batum, Babbitt, Barton or Crowder
PF Aldridge, Hickson, Freeland (He might be able to play some center as well in b\u role (behind Sullinger))
C Sullinger, Przybilla, K.Thomas

You have K.Thomas for 1 year, sign another veteran PG like Hinrich or keep Flynn

 

Not if u sign Batum after you get Williams. Batum's cap hold is around 5-6 mil; which still gives the blazers around 19 mil to toss at a free agent. Max is only 17 mil. Once you sign the free agent, and over cap, you can max Batum and hickson offers; even if you are over cap.

 

The issue is going to be whether someone offers Batum and Hickson a contract before Williams is offered. And that dollar figure is wrong

 

What dollar figure? Max is 30% of cap. Cap is 58 mil. 30% of 58 mil is around 17 mil. That is the max you can offer. Batum's cap hold is 1.5 times his QO, his qual is 3.8 mil; which is around 5-8 mil.

 

Portland won't have that much. You are forgetting two lottery pick holds, Freeland hold, Hickson hold. Read StoryTellers article on Blazers Edge

 

No I agree with you. I thought you were disagreeing about Batum hold and max amount.

 

It says we can have cap space in a range between $15mil and $20mil, and that includes Batum's cap hold.

If (obviously a very big if, and extremely unlikley) Deron Williams is handed a MAX offer on midnight by the Blazers and he signs within 72 hours, then we can keep Batum even if another team offers Batum a big deal on midnight (which I think is unlikely).

Because Deron is a legit MAX player and will get the $17mil from us or someone else, and because the $5mil cap hold for Batum is less than his current market value, we can make the most of our cap space this summer by the above.

If we renounce Batum to clear more cap space, then we are at $20 to $25mil.

Give $17mil to Deron and we have $3 to $8 left. Anything under $7mil in cap space and we wont be able to sign anyone interesting to go with LaMarcus and Deron (ie, no Ilyasova).

Maybe we could do Deron AND Batum.
I don't see Deron and Ilyasova as possible.

We would be better off trying for the Deron/Batum double slam, and then if happened, do a trade of Wes, lotto picks, euros, kitchen sink, etc. for a servicable big.

 

If we can hurry and sign Deron right when he's available; it won't matter about Batum or Hickson. We can sign them to anything, even if we are over cap. The trick is to make a plan immediately. Hopefully Aldridge talks with Williams and has him agree to take our offer immediately. If that happens, then we are home free. Williams, Batum, Aldridge, Hickson and Matthews is a solid starting line-up. We would still have a bench of Babbitt, Nolan Smith, E Will, Rhino, and Thomas. I would hope Blazers try and resign Flynn to a 2.5 mil per contract. Hopefully he takes it because I think he's a better back-up than Smith, IMO.

We would have two draft picks and hopefully one would be Drummond. Then I would try and package NJ's pick, Rhino, Thomas and Nolan Smith for a center.

 

Get/Keep:

D.Williams
L.Aldridge
N.Batum
E.Williams
J.Pryzbilla
J.Freeland
JJ.Hickson

Trading the two lottery picks will get us another HUGE piece to contend next year.

 

Isn't this what I said?

Only thing I didn't mention was Hickson. Why do you think Hickson and cap space doesn't matter? How do we have his bird rights?

 

We own his bird rights because we picked him up off of waivers. It's the Gilbert Arenas rule. I didn't quite understand your post. I thought you said something different. I apologize.

 

What is his cap hold?

Without his cap hold, we would have as little as $15mil in cap space this summer even if Crawford doesn't opt in.

If the team wants to make a MAX offer to Deron and keep the bird rights to Batum and JJ, they are going to have to make a move to shed more salary I think.

 

Could we trade the two picks for a SG like Eric Gordon? Or maybe get a PG/SG like curry? Pending how his ankle is.

 

I like Gordon and Curry; but both had injury problems. I worry about using our future for players that are good, but injuries will be an issue. What if Gordon only has 30-40 games a season? How terrible would that be?

 

Then you have E. will step in. Or Babbitt. Because I'm sure the great white hope will still be here too

 

i may be in the minority here, but i really dont think Nic is really worth more than 5-6M py, there have been flashes of brilliance but everyone seems to have them at somepoint.
i just hope management doesnt panic and overpay him and we're left with just the same NB we've seen.... im kinda over us committing major $ to 'potential' is just bullshit and never works for us

 

I agree, Nic has had a lot of time to distinguish himself, but he's just shown himself to be an average player. I also think we shold try to offload Wesley Matthews contract. Use Batum and Matthew's $ to get a star. Better to have a star and a scrub than 2 mediocre players.

 

If DWill signs early, then we should trade a 1st Round Pick and Matthews to OKC for Harden. Saves them money, gives them back a solid 6th man in Wes, and a low cost lotto pick for 4 years on the cheap.
It gives us one of the best SG's in the league and the best at getting to the line.
Then, re-sign Batum and Hickson and figure out someone for "post" next to Aldridge.