With Oden, Roy, LMA and (hopefully) traded SF du jour, does anyone think that a full MLE won't entice a PG to come play with us this summer? Whether Bibby, Sessions, etc (I'll look at the FA list later)...seriously, do we NEED cap room for someone like that? And if it's a matching situation, don't you think that Blake/Outlaw/TE (not in combination) can entice, say, MIL to give Sessions to us?
I wouldn't be surprised if he's just burned out. He's been on the beat for a long time. Bring over Hendrickson!
We are 5-3 in our last 8 games - this is a 0.625 record which is virtually identical (actually a tiny bit higher) than our record for the entire year... Is it a great team? No. But it is a good team - even if it had to win some ugly games.
Obviously no one wants KP to make a bad trade, but IF some of the deals mentioned are for real and KP didn't pull the trigger then he failed. Like not trading for Wallace because they wanted Batum and RLEC. IF that is true, then KP needs to have his head examined. I don't really know what has been offered for what. I do believe there has been way too much smoke for there not be a fire somewhere.
You could be right, and the rumors could be false, but on the other hand you could be wrong. You should just say, "we don't know if those rumors were true or not." Pointing to KP's track record, career longevity, and/or information does not make the rumors and more true or false I'm not ready to forsake KP, but at the same time I do get the feeling that he has been a victim of his own success.
Ugly games against really, really bad teams. The record would be 4 and 4 if not for a timely injury to CP3. It likely would be 3 and 5 if the Knicks had used their foul to give instead of letting B-Roy roll to the hoop. Though successful teams need a little luck, counting on it time and again is not the hallmark of a playoff bound team. My point is that Portland is in the easiest part of their season and they aren't pulling away from the pack. That is worrisome to me, and should be to everyone else. To be honest, they don't even look like they are having any fun out there right now. Something is wrong with the team right now. I am not sure what it is. Maybe after the trade deadline guys spirits will pick up again.
Yes. I'm much less worried about us making the playoffs this year than I am in us simply missing an opportunity to cash in our assets for the most value we can get. Of course, it's speculation as to what will be available in the future, so I can't even be worried cleanly Ed O.
I don't know - I am actually of a different mind. I love the fact that Portland, despite playing bad - was able to win at or above their season-long percentage. I just think that as much as they want to say it - the entire trade-deadline issue is a big deal for a bunch of young kids like the ones we have playing - and I am certain that they will get hot again before the season is done. If these kids are able to win at 0.625 playing bad - I am pretty excited to see them when they finally get hot. If there is a good deal there - you do it. If not - you do not trade in order to make a trade. G.Wallace - love him - but given his past fragility and the maturity Batum plays with - I would not do a Wallace deal where Batum is included. If they must have another SF in the deal - give them Webster. VC - Love it as a fleece. Anything over it is questionable. RJeff - if we cann get Sessions or at least Alexander - sure. If they want Rudy/Batum - no way in hell. Since these are the deals that are out there mostly - I think KP is right to drive a hard bargain. It's that simple.
I think you're building my argument into a straw man to knock down. I NEVER trumpeted KP's track record/longevity or insinuated that he was somehow more intelligent than anyone on this board. You seem to feel that I did. What I DID say was that KP knows the full details of the offers on the table, and is not a total n00b when it comes to professionally evaluating these offers. Neither of these things could be said with confidence about the posters who were so quick to label inaction as a total failure. Bringing up the Pau trade as evidence that you are better at evaluating trades than actual GMs is completely beside the point -- that was a known trade that actually happened, not a rumored trade offer that may or may not happen. World of difference. Information doesn't make rumors true or false, eh? Interesting.
I would agree if it happened in isolated cases, but what we have here is a trend. Further, it is the defense that is failing Portland, which is far more troubling then if the offense went south and Portland was able to crank up the D to weather the storm.
Huh. Interesting point, I guess. I don't agree. Besides, the Blazers can easily swing a Wallace deal without Batum going. So why even fret over it? I think the holdup is that 1) Wallace is brittle; 2) This is a buyer's market, so why pay full price?; 3) Wallace is actually a bit of an unknown in that he has never played on a winning team and may or may not be able to play excellent team basketball. Batum, on the other hand, is nothing if not a 5 on 5 type player, and has shown much more game at 19 than Wallace did. How many 19 years old are contributors to 50 win teams? Not a good idea to give that up too soon.
Was that said before or after Miles went back on the books? If it was before, then that was a time when KP may have had the green light to take most or all of RLEC salary back in long money. Let us assume Allen previously approved flipping up to $15 million of our expirings into long money. Miles goes back on the books. $15mil - $9 mil = $6mil. Ooops. Not enough for ANY of the players in the rumour mill. Without authorization to pass on ALL (or even more) of the RLEC savings onto another team, then RLEC is no longer the "best" expiring in history. Unfortunately, we don't know the details. But, I have to assume that the Blazers do not have as much of a green light to take long money back as they did before Miles went back on the books.
