If Wes is out for an extended time who should we fill our roster out with?

The way I see it is, we lost Wes but we gained Batum. We can weather this.

 

You don't replace 'Heart & Soul' but if there is any position the Blazers are able to absorb a loss, it is at SG.

Afflalo is probably more 'Wes-like' than any other player in the league and we are lucky enough to have him. Not the same, but a much better position to be in than 3 weeks ago and certainly a veteran with some playoff experience.

Allan Crabbe...7-0 as a starter. Good D, hits his 3's and doesn't dominate the ball. Was actually starting to attack the rim a bit as well.

CJ is going to have to step up. It looks like he has the ability but he's still a very undersized SG in a PG's body with very little PG skills.

Mike Rice's Alonzo Geeee! A very solid defender, 40+% from '3' the last two years in limited attempts and a dunking fool. Almost nothing between the arc and the rim though but his energy is infections.

That is a lot of depth to craft replacement minutes from. If in the process Nic continues to show up, they just might be able to keep this train rolling.

 

Wright has been shooting very well this season. You get no argument there from me.

 

This HAS to be the Batum we get the rest of the year. He needs to shift from looking to pass to looking score. So if his shot to pass ratio is 1 to 2 it needs to change to 2 to 1 if that makes sense

 

I don't think that there's much doubt that the Blazers' starters will be just fine if Afflalo is moved into the starting lineup, but the real issue is that doing that negates why he was acquired in the first place: to add scoring punch to the bench. I think Stotts will probably go ahead and start him, but I think he'll also have to make sure that he leaves a couple of starters on the court at all times. The other options available (CJ, Crabbe, Gee, Wright) will all get some burn, but I think that overall we're going to see a shorter rotation going forward.

 

He left after two games and right before he had to take a random drug test.

 

I stil;l think we have to bring in an insurance guy. Going into the playoffs with 13 healthy players is not a great idea. But you go get a vet. Nate Robinson is the perfect kind of fit as he can play the 1 or 2. In fact he was more effective than Blake is.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/source...s-intent-on-sitting-out-season-185736623.html

Ray Allen isn't walking through that door (but we already knew that).

 

Agreed

 

Man, Ray Ray woulda been sick. Even if he just gave us 15mpg with 5 ppg. Just having him as a threat beyond the 3pt line would have made a massive difference. Ugh

 

Looks like we tried but Ray is 39 and while he won't say the R word officially, he is done with the NBA.

Quote from article:

"Despite making a call to Allen, the Trail Blazers, according to Wojnarowski, are likely to rely on a combination of Afflalo, Gee, CJ McCollum and Allen Crabbe to fill in for Matthews rather than signing a free agent to their 15th roster spot."

 

Travis Outlaw is available.

 

If we get an injury/hardship exception for, we would technically have 2 roster spots open. But I don't know the rules for this exception or how likely it is for us to get one.

We already had an opening from our 2 for 3 trade.

 

if you mean the same I'm thinking of, you're only granted it if you have multiple injured players, dropping you below 11 or 10 maybe active players. Something like that. There's the financial one and the roster spot one.

 

I'm down for giving dorell more minutes too. Last year his finger injury affected his shot. This year he's shooting it much better, when he's not pump faking air.

 

What about Eric Maynor?

 

No, there's a disabled player exception. From the NBA Salary Cap FAQ:

Obviously, the ship has sailed on the trade option, but Olshey could sign a FA for up to half of Wes' salary.