JJ probably co-exists better with LMA than Faried as he is better suited to play "some" center. On the other hand Faried fits in better with Denver IMO since they have a 6' 10" SF playing on the outside in Gallanari.
The biggest difference is contract status going forward. I love Hickson but all things considered it would be nice to have Faried and his contract status. Especially since it is no gimmie at all that JJ is back next year.
I think there's a good chance he's back next year. Unless we do a sign-and-trade, I think he's a good guy, I think he fits our "window" and he's the kind of big that every team needs.
I am not a cap guru but a lot of people who are think there is little chance he is back because we are going to have to renounce his rights to get the cap space that Olshey keeps talking about.
Until Olshey does something really stupid I will give him the benefit of the doubt. So far h has made sound decisions. He has almost 4 more months to evaluate JJ and how he fits in with his plan.
Passing on Faried was a 'wink-wink' incentive thrown in to make another deal happen, I can't remember which...
Sorry if I'm missing on the sarcasm, but we supposedly passed on Faried as part of the Felton deal. So, Denver fleeced us over twice on one deal.
I'll take Lillard and hickson over just faired and Wallace. I assume that we wouldn't make the deals we did to get jj and Lillard. So even though having farid would have been a huge plus; the karma police rewarded us with hickson and Lillard.
Sad but looks to be true. http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/12/blazers_rundown_after_passing_on_him_in_the_2011_d.html#incart_river
I think Portland will do everything in their power to keep him. The team is starting to gel with him being one of the anchors. We need players that can fit into what we already have. Hopefully they are veterans; since they will be able to transition without significant playing time in the process.
What do you consider within their power though? Hickson is going to ask for at least a 3 year 8 MIL (average per year) deal. Believe it or not I think he can get that somewhere else. So will we give it to him here? He is done taking 1 year contracts so we have to pony up and show him we really believe.
Yep, that is why I said at least. I don't see him settling for less and he really has no reason to. Someone will give him at least that even if POR doesn't want to.
No sarcasm, I brain farted and couldn't remember which deal it was, lol. If Brandon's knees hadn't failed him, passing on Faried to get Felton and drafting Smith would have looked like a brilliant move. Keep in mind that Felton was brought in because he fit better next to Brandon than Andre Miller did, and Smith's skill set looked to fit nicely beside Brandon, too. If Brandon had retired early in the summer instead of waiting until right before the season started, we'd probably have both Miller and Faried instead of Felton and Smith. If you want to be mad about not drafting Faried, be mad at Brandon Roy, not Chad Buchannon.
The rumor in Portland was that Larry Miller and Chad Buchanan promised the Nuggets front office that they would not draft Faried in order to make the trade for Raymond Felton happen. Joe Freeman disagrees. He should cite a quote or source for the following, not just "word is."
well, I don't know why teams promise to draft players at a certain selection in the draft. Actually I kind of do and it's to help scare other teams off with higher picks away from that player. I'm not a fan of this strategy and it seems like it gets more and more common each year. If the Blazers did indeed promise the pick to Faried and back out to take Nolan I don't fault Faried for disliking the Blazers. I wish this kind of strategy would stop.
