OT Minnesota progressing on contract buyout with former No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett.

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Wow. That I did not expect. He did fade rather for Canada after a hot-ish start, but still. As I said elsewhere, I would not be at all surprised to see us pick him up (Jay Triano connection). Trouble is, we're crowded with similar talent at forward.
 
Dumb, IMO

He may not have #1 overall stats, but he doubled his PER from year 1 to 2. If he continues to improve he'll be a solid average NBA player
 
We've got 17 players on the roster now. If we pick up Bennett, we'll have to let 3 guys go before the season starts. Who goes?
- Mike Miller (presumed we'll buy him out.)
- Phil Pressey (it'll be Pressey or Frazier.)
- Chris Kaman

- Cliff Alexander
- Luis Montero
- Tim Frazier

Tough call. I guess If we pick up another Big like Bennett, It comes down to Chris Kaman or Cliff Alexander. I guess I'd prefer roll the dice on another young Big, than have Kaman mentoring on the bench.
 
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Future Blazer

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I wouldn't want him unless you think he can play the three. Too many good prospects already on the team.

But, if you did like him then I wouldn't hesitate to cut Pressy and Frazier (Miller will be gone). Neither one is going to see rotation minutes except for garbage and you can pickup a backup PG easily if something happens. If either Dame or CJ goes down then you want to be on the tank train anyway. Play Montero at PG.
 
Bennett is owed $5,803,560 in 2015-16. Team option in 2016-17 at $7,318,289. Qualifying offer of $9,513,776 in 2017-18. Ouch.

The $5.8M won't make a dent in this years team salary. Bennett's option for next year would need to be picked up by 11-2-15. That doesn't give us much time to make a 'long term' decision.

The Blazers are looking at having around $30M of cap space next summer. As we found out this summer, it's not very easy to spend all of that money. With the top free agents going for $15M - $20M, is Bennett worth taking up $7.3M (out of the $30M) of cap space next summer?
 
Makes me wonder if Bennett is a slow starter, similar to how Leonard started slow?

Meyers was worse his second season than his rookie season, and looked like a lost cause and a wasted draft pick. It was not until the end of his third season before Meyers started to blossom.

If Bennett does not have any issues Triano would know about or suspect, I would pick him up.
 
42N8Bounce said:
We've got 17 players on the roster now. If we pick up Bennett, we'll have to let 3 guys go before the season starts. Who goes?
- Mike Miller (presumed we'll buy him out.)
- Phil Pressey (it'll be Pressy or Frazier.)
- Chris Kaman

- Cliff Alexander
- Luis Montero
- Tim Frazier

Tough call. I guess If we pick up another Big like Bennett, It comes down to Chris Kaman or Cliff Alexander. I guess I'd prefer roll the dice on another young Big, than have Kaman mentoring on the bench.
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great post. If we pick him up, my guess is Pressey, Montero, and Miller are gone.
 
I just don't think Bennett is worth it. He's a man without a position. I think he looked okay for Canada because they were playing him at C, and you can get away with that kind of shit when you're playing in the FIBA Americas, but...
 
Blazers Roy said:
ahem...
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Well, I'm sure they have more information than we do on him. I still don't see where he would fit in given all the bigs they picked up. Can't see him passing up Vonleh, Davis or Leonard for PF minutes and it doesn't sound like he is able to play SF.

If you didn't already have Davis I could see him making sense maybe as a quick scorer off the bench or small ball PF. Just not sure how you develop him with everyone else on the roster. Now, if you could figure out a way to trade one of the other bigs for Barnes . . .
 
I'm a little worried, though. The only way a player agrees to a buyout is if he knows another team is going to snap him up. Otherwise he loses money. And who's he been talking to all summer but Jay Triano.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
I'm a little worried, though. The only way a player agrees to a buyout is if he knows another team is going to snap him up. Otherwise he loses money. And who's he been talking to all summer but Jay Triano.
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If Blazers picked him up, how long before they could flip him if they wanted too? He could be a free asset.

We should also remember that Blazers may already have a good idea of what Montero and Alexander bring. If they aren't impressed with either, then it could open up some more roster spots. If Triano has some good info on him and NO pulls the trigger then I would look at this as another valuable piece to work with. It would give them more flexibility in trades for the future.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
I just don't think Bennett is worth it. He's a man without a position. I think he looked okay for Canada because they were playing him at C, and you can get away with that kind of shit when you're playing in the FIBA Americas, but...
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. Could he ever touch the level of Z-Bo? That's what I want to know.
 
Given his $ constraints & the guys that make up our team, the only way we should pick Bennett up is to help facilitate a trade for someone else who wants to roll the dice on him & then we CAN get something/some1 that we want out of the deal BUT there should be no scenario where he ever becomes an actual Blazer.
 
Davis is probably going to get most of his minutes at C, not PF.

Right now, it appears Alexander is the end of the bench project big. If Bennett is worth the gamble, give him Alexander’s roster spot.
 
0-Our! said:
He's not, I like Alexander & want to see what he can do; Bennett= HUGE risk & Alexander= next to none
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Unless they have reason to believe that Alexander will never develop, I agree. Alexander is cheaper, bigger and longer and a much better rebounder/shot blocker. Bennett's only real value is he is a decent 3pt shooter (potentially).
 
With the minimum team salary rule, Bennett would not be any risk at all money/cap wise.

Bennett has 2 years of development time completed. This season, his third, should tell if he is going to blossom or not. = no risk.

I also like Alexander, but he needs 3 years, or more, of development time, just like Leonard did.

I thought Bennett and Alexander are about the same size, or did I miss something?

Alexander is the better defender, Bennett is the better scorer.

Bennett’s potential is higher than Alexander’s, and with a shorter time frame to make an impact.

I am happy with either player. Guess it all boils down to what Triano sees in Bennett. Debating between too many good prospects is a good problem for us to have.
 
oldfisherman said:
Guess it all boils down to what Triano sees in Bennett. Debating between too many good prospects is a good problem for us to have.
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IF we somehow get Bennett... & he turns out great... awesome! However, IF Bennett turns out to be doo-doo... Triano should b fired for leading us astray :wink:

I agree w/ u that "debating between too many good prospects is a good problem for us to have.:ygrin:"
 
Leonard, Vonleh, and Bennett, surely one of them would end up being a decent starting pf? Sure, bring him in, you can just decline his team option next summer if he sucks.
 
It seems like a no-lose situation. If he figures it out, we got him for cap room we had a ton of. He obviously has some relationship with Triano so low risk for potential high reward. If he doesn't work out, it cost nothing in a year of development anyhow. I agree with the 'Alexander needs 3 years and Bennett is going into his 3rd year' sentiment. His shot needs help but he can rebound an pass it a bit. Maybe getting waived turns the light on that this is a last chance.

Sometimes that works, often it doesn't but in this case, it costs basically nothing.
 
TBpup said:
It seems like a no-lose situation. If he figures it out, we got him for cap room we had a ton of. He obviously has some relationship with Triano so low risk for potential high reward. If he doesn't work out, it cost nothing in a year of development anyhow. I agree with the 'Alexander needs 3 years and Bennett is going into his 3rd year' sentiment. His shot needs help but he can rebound an pass it a bit. Maybe getting waived turns the light on that this is a last chance.

Sometimes that works, often it doesn't but in this case, it costs basically nothing.
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The-Corbomite-Maneuver-mr-spock-5479979-694-530.jpg

"Fascinating."

Sorry, I had to:tongue2:

I still like Alexander better:wink: BUT IF Bennett comes here for really next to nothing... I guess I'll welcome/support him; I don't like losing some of these guys that we've got assembled right now, the opportunity cost! This is like Sophies's Choice (well... sorta, probably not as dramatic/ impactful :dunno:).
 
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I'd say if Bennett was replacing Mike Miller and cheap...you have to pick him up. Alexander is not problem free himself.
 
riverman said:
I'd say if Bennett was replacing Mike Miller and cheap...you have to pick him up. Alexander is not problem free himself.
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Like 42N8Bounce posted:
42N8Bounce said:
We've got 17 players on the roster now. If we pick up Bennett, we'll have to let 3 guys go before the season starts. Who goes?
- Mike Miller (presumed we'll buy him out.)
- Phil Pressey (it'll be Pressey or Frazier.)
- Chris Kaman

- Cliff Alexander
- Luis Montero
- Tim Frazier

Tough call. I guess If we pick up another Big like Bennett, It comes down to Chris Kaman or Cliff Alexander. I guess I'd prefer roll the dice on another young Big, than have Kaman mentoring on the bench.
Click to expand...

Bennett wouldn't just be replacing Miller, IF we bring him in... we lose 3 vs. bringing in no one, then we just lose 2 (I think it'll be Frazier & Miller); I don't want it to come down to losing Alexander or Montero (we really don't know what we have in Montero yet, too early to get rid of him); so that would leave losing Miller, Frazier, & Kaman. I don't want to lose Kaman but... IF we have to/Neil decides for us... then I'm w/ 42N8Bounce on, "I guess I'd prefer roll the dice on another young Big, than have Kaman mentoring on the bench."

True & we all know this but I'm much more willing to have Alexander here (IF it were a case of having to decide between he & Bennett; IF we must, I think we can have both bc they bring different strengths) & if ppl compare the 2 (@ least currently), I like Alexander over Bennett because of the defense/toughness he can bring vs. Bennett's scoring; Bennett doesn't feel like a guy to me that will ever be all that great on defense; our team needs scoring but the defense Alexander can give us I think outweighs the offensive benefit Bennett brings; from defense is how our guys will manufacture some offense (Dame of course, is a little different:wink:). IF Bennett was offensively good & defensively could bring it... it'd b a different story.
 
Several un-verified reports claim the TWolves have not given up on Bennett; it is Bennett’s agent that is pushing for the buyout.

If true, Bennett’s agent must have another team interested in signing him, but that team is not whiling to trade any assets.

The reports also state that the agent is trying to get Bennett on a team where he has a chance to play more minutes. That does not sound like the Blazers.
 
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