Hopefully we don't need to either. They actually could have in the past though. We won't be able to in the future (if it comes to that). Obviously it isn't going to stop us from trying to win but you have to balance the salary to maintain flexibility so I could see losing Wes since we have CJ. I don't see Rolo leaving (we would never let him go without a replacement).
I would love for LA to get his contract extended this summer so that we are not left in limbo for a year. We could also extend the players we plan to build around like Wesley and Robin along with giving a long term contract to a player we sign with the MLE this summer. I do not think PA is going to have an issue playing the luxury tax as our window to be competitive is open now.
Are you saying they were significant? The Harden trade was a bust move that everyone agrees on. Kawhi isn't the "significant move" that I explained. George Hill was traded, but they received value in return. What you are actually proving is even teams close to luxury are still making moves.
Well most contending teams will have 2 max players. Having Batum at 12 mil, Lopez at 9-10 mil and Matthews at 8-9 mil isn't going to put us in Luxury tax, IMO.
As an example in say 4 years: LMA at 18 per year. Dame at 16 per year. Batum at 12 per year. Wes at 9 per year. Lopez at 9 per year. CJ at 3 per year. (in year 5 he would get 6 at least if we sign him) Rest of the bench at 6-7 total per year. That is 73-77 MIL total and you could go up or down a MIL each player. The cap is 58 MIL and if all goes well it would be 61 MIL in 4 years.
Your opinion about Aldridge (which I've taken the liberty of posting below, but can be viewed in depth by following this link and reading pages 6-10 of the thread) was that despite his stats he wasn't someone you'd want to go to war with (like Dirk) and that he didn't fit Lillard's "window" because they're a whopping five years apart. Quit rewriting history. You were wrong about him as well as the window, it happens, I'd move on. Just be honest about it.
LOL so much time and energy and you accomplished nothing. I have readily admitted this year in other threads that I never thought Aldridge could make this kind of jump at this stage of his career. I figured that we had seen what Aldridge was going to be, 21ish points and 8 or 9 boards per game and an All-Star. That's fine, but still a second fiddle. I never thought he could make the jump to an MVP candidate, I was wrong, and I have admitted that. What you thought you could achieve by linking a thread from a year ago is beyond me. If anything, it supports my point that most of us wanted to trade him because we didn't think the team was good enough to make the playoffs and that he would want out by the trade deadline. This was BEFORE Neil added Rolo, Mo, Dorell, etc. After he made those moves, I changed my opinion about Aldridge and about the team. If Neil wasn't such a good GM, I'm not so sure this team would be in the playoff hunt, and Aldridge would not be in Dame/Nic's window. I've readily admitted I was wrong about Aldridge as a player, but if this team was not where it currently is, I still think we'd be talking about him wanting out and he would have either been traded last summer or before the trade deadline. If we were 9th in the west, do you think LA would be talking about wanting to sign an extension?
That's pretty much how I remember it, too. Not just that LMA was a malcontent, but also that his game wasn't good enough to keep on board. There were basically a handful of posters who were shitting their pants all summer long about LMA. It got so tiresome.
Hoo boy... If the Blazers had followed your plan, the Blazers would be lucky to be 12th in the West, and we'd be worried about Lillard forcing his way out at some point. Just own your freaking out last summer. Only you believe your revisionist history. I'm sure dozens of other threads could be pulled up in which you were adamant about trading LMA before the season started.
Revisionist history? What more do you guys want? I admitted that I was wrong about Aldridge turning a corner and becoming an MVP level player. I admitted that I never thought the team could be this good, this soon. But if you want me to believe that you thought we were going to be a top three team IN THE LEAGUE, I would call you a liar. I don't remember anyone thinking we would be THIS good. Most people had us at 7th or 8th in the west with like 45-48 wins. I was one of the few that said they would be closer to 50+ and 5th-ish. I do not agree with the assertion that people still wanted to trade him (except for maybe MM) after Neil made his moves, so I'm not sure what you guys are trying to prove. After we added Rolo, Mo, and Dorell, I figured we were going for broke to make the playoffs and see how far Aldridge can take us. Go ahead and find the threads that prove otherwise.
Natebishop's backpedaling, revisionist history and lack of manning-up to own his guarantee is embarrassing and immature.
You're so caught up in trying to change your statements that you don't even remember what the original discussion was about. Or maybe you do, but won't admit it.
The original discussion was about BF talking about how people keep changing their predictions about Aldridge demanding a trade, but where has anyone talked about trading Aldridge in months? My point was that we haven't talked about trading him since before the draft, and maybe just right after the draft.
Bollocks. He said "please consider trading me if you're going to start from scratch." Olshey convinced him to wait and see that the plan wasn't going to be starting from scratch, and that Lamarcus would be surrounded by a competitive roster. He's now surrounded by a competitive roster, and to boot that roster is filled with people Lamarcus likes.
I'm not really sure what more you guys want. I admitted that Aldridge is better than I thought he would be, and that I was wrong about his ceiling. I've said that I hope we re-sign him. I've admitted that the team is way better than I ever thought they could be at this point in the development of Lillard, Batum, etc, but I also predicted they would be better than many of you did. The only point of my posts was to try to justify why I thought what I did, and explain why I thought he'd be gone.
