BLAZERS' SPENDING SPREE: TEAM BANKS ON FUTURE (Eggers)

I disagree with:

“They went to the tee thinking birdie, and didn’t get one,” he says. “They made par, and it’s time to go to the next tee. The important thing is, they didn’t make a bogey."

I think if they would have ONLY have kept their own free agents, or at least the ones they wanted to keep, then it would have been a par. But since they kept them and added two very good players, then it has to be better than par. I do think they got a birdie.
What they didn't get on that par 5, was an eagle or double eagle.

 

Wacky tobaccy in the funny $!!!

 

I love Kerry's articles. Hey @SlyPokerDog can you swing a meet and greet with him?

 

Well...they added two bench players for a combined price of 25 mil per year. And they kept 3 of their own bench players for a combined price of 38 million per year. We probably have the most expensive bench in NBA history.

They were going after an all-star calibur player.

 

Who cares if they come off the bench or start, they are still quality players that make the team better. If both ET and Ezeli start will that make a difference to you? Because they could.
When you add a player who was top 5 in the 6th man of the year voting, you are talking about a high caliber player.

 

God. What a refreshing article. Not one off base assessment or reckless opinion....
(mimes turning on a Central Air fan and putting sweaty head up to it. )

And the Alfred E. Newman and golf references are also perfect for me....

 

If you're implying Turner is overpaid, well, he isn't if you look at him compared to other high level 6th men.

Jamal Crawford won and got $15M a year this summer even though he's 36.
Enes Kanter got 3rd and is being paid a max contract (about $17M/yr)
Turner got 5th, and is getting $17.5M a year.
Ryan Anderson got 6th and is getting $20M a year
Tristan thompson at 10th got a max contract ($18Mish?)

So getting a 6th man of the year candidate at a fair price that helps fill some needs (3rd ball handler, wing defender) is a good move (birdie).

Getting a rim protector that has the potential to be a top level defender for $7M a year is a steal when you compare him to some other contracts signed for more:
Garrett Temple, Cole Aldrich, Jon Leuer, Mirza Teletovic, etc. Thats a good move. That's a birdie.

We probably have the best bench in the NBA. Ed Davis was 3rd in 6th man of the year voting behind Ryan Anderson and Enes Kanter, who will both start next year.

Therefore, Ed Davis could arguably be the best big off the bench in the NBA. Whichever of Crabbe/Turner comes off the bench will be a top 5 wing off the bench. That's not even getting into guys who were PLAYOFF starters last year who could come off the bench in Harkless and Plumlee. Yeah are bench is expensive, but our bench is really fucking good.

 

Wow, people making a lot out of me calling them bench players. Well, it just so happens that they were bench players. Turner averaged 28 mpg and Ezeli averaged 17. I think they both can be assets, we are talking about what Portland was aiming for (an all star callibur player or 2) vs what they landed.

 

You're just comparing his salary to other people over-paid players...though of the group, Kanter is most deserving of his contract since he's an elite scoring talent. Turner did get overpaid, no bones about it.

 

Who is we? The fans? Has Parson or Whiteside ever been an allstar? Did Neil even go after Howard or Durant? I assume he made some phone calls but I don't recall anyone on this board thinking our chances were good with either one. From the info we got that first day it looked like N.O was trying to meet with Whiteside, Parson's and ET. Turner was obviously high on the list being that he was offered by noon.

 

Well now that the cap went up everyone's overpayed based on the old cap. But based on the new cap and the contracts signed this summer, he's not

 

Going for birdie and ending up at par is a good analogy. They certainly could have had a bogey. If you are thinking in those terms, Durrant was a hole in one. Next tier eagle for the all star caliber players, then birdie for the nice role players

 

"we" is the people participating in this discussion, which is in reference to an article. Did you read the article? It mentions that the Blazes didn't get the top targets they were going after. And I actually said all-star caliber, but no need to argue over semantics...they were high performing starters and we got backups.

 

We probably will not see another summer like this for awhile. The issue is how much the cap increased at once. It went up 25 million giving everyone oodles of cap space. So the guys that happened to be FAs this year really lucked out. Once things even out, you won't be seeing guys like Crabbe and Turner get this kind of dough.

 

Yes I read the article and that is why I responded the way I did.

"Olshey made a run at big-ticket free agents Chandler Parsons and Al Horford, and perhaps also Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside, but went down swinging. The next move was to tie up the Blazers’ own free agents and add Turner and Ezeli to the mix."

I am not sure we did make a run a Horford, and although I wanted both Parson's and Whiteside, neither are anymore an all -star caliber player..... than Evan Turner is.
The starter vs bench player argument is ridiculous IMO when you consider Evan only averaged 1 less minute per game, but overall played more minutes than either Parson or Hassan because he stayed heathy. And we all know how important health is.

We needed help on D at the center position. Whiteside is a better shot blocker than Ezeli, but is he a better defender? I think that is debatable. And Ezeli came a lot cheaper which enabled us to get a second FA.

The only issue I have with the article is Kerry seems to be suggesting that because Turner was Neil's 3rd option, that he was at a much lower tier than the other 2 were. I think the difference between them is a lot closer. All three fill a need, just different ones.

Horford/Howard are a different story, but do we even know for sure that they were a target of Neil's since both will be 31 at the beginning of the season? I would have targeted them, but I am not the GM.