The Blazers will more than likely renounce Maynor to clear as much room as possible to land the center they so need and desire. So, with that being said, if he decides not to wait around for Olshey and takes an offer from another team, who would be the best viable back up PG for us?
I think Olshey and Maynor already have a wink-wink deal worked out. He is coming back. If I must answer the question though then these are the guys I would go after next: Livingston Watson Udrih Jack (probably not work mentioning - is going to get paid) Bynum A lot of the better PG's on this list http://www.hoopsworld.com/2013-nba-free-agents are restricted or have a QO so I won't list them.
I hope Maynor is back although i noticed as time went on that he does seem to take some bad shots a little more frequently that I would like and espeically with Lillard on the floor with him. And Im not sure if that is good that he is aggressive or bad. But he also distributes so well for a back up PG that I can live with the shots. With that said I would be happy with any of those others especially considering they would all be better than Price or Smith. My biggest thing would be that I want them to be ok with there back up role and embrace it. I dont know if some of them would. For the record I have always liked Udrih but Im not sure if his play has dropped off recently or not.
I suspect you might be right. And because I think it is unlikely we can find better once the smoke clears, I hope you are. No more Ronnie Prices, please.
Assuming that Olshey is able to pull off his pre-draft deal, it shouldn't be too hard to close that as soon as the moratorium is finished in July and then use the room mid-level exception to sign Maynor (assuming that he'll sign for $2.65M).
With Lillard being young and reliable, I think the backup PG spot is not a priority for the Blazers and they should look to fill that spot after they take care of the important positions. I like Maynor and think he is a good fit for with this team, but he is replaceable and Blazers shouldn't sacrifice cap space to retain him just to beat other teams to the punch, IMO.
I have thought like this before but then thought when is the last time we have had an even average backup PG? They actually aren't that easy to find. At least for us. Our backup PG situation has been a landmine for the last 5 plus years. With our team you always need to account for injury (knock on wood) to our starter as well.
I'm not worried about finding a decent backup PG. If there's one thing Olshey seems to know, it's point guards (Gordon, Bledsoe, Lillard are all his picks, as I recall)
Telling about the Chris Paul move is that he's not afraid of trading major players to get major players. I'm hopeful for summers in the Olshey regime.
If the role Maynor played for Stotts is any indication, we need a PG who can also play alongside Lillard. So it's more of a third guard than backup PG. I know that sounds dumb, but backup PGs can play as little as 12 mpg, whereas this role could be up to 20 mpg. Sort of like Danny Ainge in the Drexler-Porter days. I agree that Maynor will be renounced, but I'm not sure we can rely on a wink-wink deal to get him back, unless his value really is low around the league.
Agreed, Rasta; we need a combo guard in the Bayless/Jack mold (goddammit I hate saying that when we had both these cats).
Bayless seems to be doing okay for the Grizz but I still don't want him back. Jack, I would be very happy to. a) he's a better PG than Bayless b) he's a bigger and better defender than Bayless c) he's just an all-round much better player than Bayless. d) he's a better PERSON than Bayless, or at least, more of a good locker-room influence. Side note: is Aldridge the only Blazer left who played with Jack? Other side note: I don't like the term "combo-guard" just because it seems to be a label for the worst of both worlds - i.e., midget SGs who can't pass. Really, of course, it should be reserved for the best of both: PGs 6'4" and above who can shoot.
I think the place to find good back-up PGs is in Europe. Look at Pablo Prigioni and Brian Roberts this season. The best part is that they're happy to play for the minimum, because it's still more than they were earning in Europe. (Well, Prigioni was almost certainly earning more - he just wanted to prove that he could play in the NBA before he retired. Mission accomplished on that score.)
NAte Robinson Daniel Gibson Jarret jack Shaun Livingston DJ augustien Bayless Beno Udrih Maynor Those are all players who probably won't cost a lot that I wouldn't mind bringing in as the backup PG. There are a lot of lower level PG's this off season that aren't great but wont kill you. I don't think we will have to much of a problem finding a backup for Lillard.
