Houston, to go along with Harden, Lin and Parsons. And whatever they can get for Asik? Also, for more money, I believe. Clippers can also make some moves to free space to add him to Blake and CP3. But really, I agree that we have a team tailor made for him to slot right in and instantly make us a top3 seed.
You had mentioned in another post in a thread that I made that you wanted to package our pick with Meyers Leonard and or without JJ Hickson?
I'm not sure if "excited" is the right word, but interested and apprehensive probably covers it. I think Olshey is going to have a tough time selling Portland to any of the upper tier free agents and he's probably going to have to overpay, but I'm not sure if he's going to have enough ammo in his clip. We'll see. At the very least there's an opportunity here to make significant changes and I have a feeling that aside from a few core guys, the roster could look very different on the first day of training camp.
Harden is better than anyone on our team right now, for sure, but Lin isn't even close to Dame or Aldridge in terms of talent. Houston would have to add another star to reach the "big three" status. Maybe they could convince CP3 to do a sign and trade to Houston from LA. Lin and filler for Paul. Then they'd have Paul, Harden, and Howard. That would be a crazy good team.
I forgot he was on the Nuggets. Maybe sign him for the MLE, at best, or the vet minimum, at the least?
Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider) ranks the top 30 free agents in the 2013 class based on how much he would pay them. Portland Trail Blazers forward/center J.J. Hickson ranks No. 15. Blazers guard Eric Maynor ranks No. 30. http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/4/1...c-j-j-hickson-worth-30-million-in-free-agency They are guessing Hickson will get about a 30 million dollar contract (assuming over 4 years)
If he gets that, then congratulations! He worked hard for those numbers. Unfortunately like so many have said this season, that is well over our price tag for a bench PF/C
It's well over his price tag for what he contributes in terms of W/L, too. If a team has $8m/yr to pay him, they had better get used to his limitations rather quickly. I like what JJ has done with the Blazers, but after watching him for over a season, his weaknesses have not improved one bit. I actually think his defense has gotten worse, if that was possible. For a guy who can explode off the floor, he really should block some more weak side shots, but he seems content to box out his man and hope for a miss and a rebound.
