I think the whole "batum handles the ball and without him we suck" comments should be put to rest. When crabbe started and batum was out, the drop off wasn't much.
in my opinion we should not get rid of Batum. I agree he's a glue of the team. I agree also he's best court view, leading team in assists. What to do? Make him rest the wrist and whole body for a while, put him on a plane, land him somewhere in Cuba, Seychelles or other nice places, bring him back after a month or so, let him work hard with psychiatrist over his toughness and self confidence during the game and next season we will see new, brilliant Batum.
Problem is the next world championship is in Frqnce and they are featuring Batum. He is most definitely playing. That means another year of playing overseas and no rest.
Magnifier661: yes, that's the problem. I just checked that this year will be Eurobasket only. The other facts are right
besides all the other stuff one thing we need to think about is if we think he will re-sign with us the summer after next, I have my doubts that he wants to come back here - remember he wanted to go to Minny last time around. Anyway another reason to "possibly" move him is to get some value now as opposed to losing him and getting nothing.
And Indy has stated they want to play small next year. I'd take that deal on a heartbeat. I'd guess they would too, they'd probably love thinking about George and batum together
Prove it first and then we can put them to rest. I find it amusing that the two views of Batum seem to be: 1. He does nothing for us 2. Him sucking cost us the series Make up your mind. If he did nothing for us all along then his bad play wouldn't affect us.
I have made up my mind. Batum was good for us the past few years. This year he was atrocious. If you can bring back last years batum I'd love to have him. But it's ridiculous to not acknowledge that Wes was so much more important than batum on this team. We did fine without batum, not so without wes
Wait, who said I didn't acknowledge that? I've been trumpeting how valuable Wes is since he went down. Yes, Batum had a bad season. But then he had torn ligaments in his wrist. And Damian probably sucked worse since the All Star break.
For what it's worth Batum plans to change his offseason routine (It's a link to the Oregonian, so viewer beware.) **** Batum said the first change will be how he manages his time in the offseason. He said his late decision to join the French National team last summer ended up over-extending him. "Last year, I didn't manage my offseason well,'' Batum said. "I didn't plan to go with the national team last summer, and when I did, I had already made plans to make appearances and camps. I didn't rest.'' This summer, he said he will play for the French National Team, but he will rest before he reports in August. In the meantime, he will watch from afar at the restructuring of the Blazers' roster, which includes free agents such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez. "I'm one of the rare guys on contract,'' Batum said. "But I hope we get the same team back."
Not necessarily aimed at you. I'm just saying, it appears batum isn't that invaluable to our team, especially at his cost. Just read he plans on resting until august.though, so hopefully we get the good batum back
The drop off from what Batum gave us to what Crabbe did as a starter was huge. I think looking at team record when crabbe starts as a way to compare is a weak argument in favor of or against a player.
He is too busy assessing his offseason in eurotrashcamp. I used to love Batum, but once he announced he wouldn't take the summer off? He proved he does not hold loyalties to Portland even after the big contract he just got. Get rid of him. He is a fair weather player who doesn't want to improve himself for his team.
Interesting idea, Hibbert is on the last year of his deal as well, so there's really not much risk to it. Great insurance in case Lopez lands a huge contract, and if not, we have two good centers! Hibbert was once known as one of the top defensive centers in the league...something we could use.
Think how... for lack of a better word, quick Jason Quick would ruin that locker room with one tiny detail from Hibbert. He'd get destroyed here for minute things, and he's shown he's not great at handling those.
