So was TRob brought here to be LMA's replacement?

Reminds me of when they brought Matthews over because they obviously knew Roy was about to go down.

Once TRob has a 12/15 game off the bench in a game in which LaMarcus struggled to stay in the game with foul trouble, I expect the chorus of "Trade Aldridge, Star TRob!" to ring out throughout this messageboard. And if Aldridge misses a game and TRob gives us a 17/17 game, goodnigh!. Everyone on this board will be proposing trades for Aldridge.

That's how I think this will go down.

Start of 2014-15 season, starting lineup is

PG Damian Lillard
SG Bradley Beal
SF Nic Batum
PF Thomas Robinsom
C Robin Lopez

 

That's all we're getting for Aldridge? Brad Beal?

 

Beal is better than the garbage that many were proposing a month ago.

 

We couldn't because the contracts don't even come close to matching. I wouldn't mind beal though. He's gonna be a stud! I'm sure we could get a couple picks and maybe another player.

 

Ariza, beal and a protected 3 first rounder wouldn't be bad for Aldridge.

 

Lopez replaced Hickson
TRob is replacing last year's back up PF, of which were pretty much all stretch 4's.

So no, IMO he was not brought in to replace LMA.

 

Are you aware of the meaning of sacrilege?

 

Dude I am a full on Aldridge homer. There isn't a deal for Aldridge that I'm okay with. But if he's gonna get traded; I wanted a wing.

 

Just checking. Good answer.

 

For the record, Matthews was brought in to be Brandon Roy's backup. His pay reflects it.

That being said, one of the reasons we brought in Robinson because if he blows up it allows us to trade LA without much downside. That being said, Aldridge is arguably the best PF in the league, and it's unlikely Robinson will ever approach that level.

 

That's debatable. If Robinson blows up, he'll be eligible to sign an extension the same year LMA's contract expires. If Robinson is playing at an All-Star level, then that cap space will be gone.

 

the cycle continues

 

I hate when I leave an assumption out of a post. Allow me to restate: I meant to add the idea that if LA wants to leave, right now we're stupped. If Robinson steps up and becomes serviceable, he allows us to mitigate the damage of having to trade LA.

Also, if Robinson does blow up, we'll have his Bird Rights. As has been pointed out, pretty much every max or near max player seems to re-sign at least once with their current team.

However the above is likely moot. Unless Robinson develops a David-West-like touch in his midrange game, he's not that player.

 

Maybe, but I think he was brought in because he was a low risk, high reward kind of pickup

 

If TRob got an extension it won't take effect until a year after Aldridge's contract is up so we would have the cap room for one season.

 

Yes and no. The extension would still matter in terms of cap space the following year, in terms of being over the cap. That's basically what I was getting at when I posted it. IF Robinson blows up, then he can either get that extension, or the Blazers go to RFA with him the following year. Either way, you're paying a lot of money for the PF, so the decision would need to be made prior to Robinson's 4th season. I think it's a moot point, regardless, since Robinson will never have the game of LMA.

 

Bradley Beal would be interesting but I don't know if the Wiz break up the young Wall/Beal/Porter trio even for Aldridge. Maybe if we gave them Matthews but then I think we would need more picks like three; in 2014, 2016, 2018. Or maybe two picks but rights to swap picks in a bunch of other drafts.