Is this the suckiest set of FAs ever? (Anthony Davis has opted out but will re-sign with the Lakers) Good timing for Fred Vanvleet, I guess
This is the same group of FA that Portland spent a tone of money on in 2016. Turner, Crabbe, and Meyers are all FA too. There are some mid-low tier roll players that would be good. Players like Noel or Ennis come to mind. (or Cousins - coming off an injury)
As we do in every FA window, let's ask who the best Blazers FA signing has been. Anybody? Brian Grant would probably be my choice.
I believe this is a first..... a current NBA player that I have never heard of......WTF is Christian Wood?!?!
Not the playoffs. With his luck, the Suns will trade him mid-season just as they look guaranteed to make the playoffs.
And you call yourself an NBA fan.... Learn the game, then post! I was advocating to bring him in when he was still in the G-League (over 2 years ago). http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/su...tuesday-7-00-pm-pdt-espn.333364/#post-4501201
BG for sure. Strickland and Elie in 92 were incredible pick-ups. Side note: The 92-93 Blazers were loaded. It's unfortunate that injuries derailed another Finals run because it was probably the deepest squad we had thanks to those two acquisitions. Kenny Anderson in 96. He only played a year and a half with the team before being moved for Damon Stoudamire, but he was an All-Star in 94. Joel Przybilla in 2004. Although he was a former lottery pick, Przybilla was not a big name to sign with the Trail Blazers but his production was solid. Andre Miller in 2009. Thankfully we dodged Hedo! Wesley Matthews in 2010. Incredible pick-up. Factor in his defense, shooting, and intensity with how well he was loved by the fans and Wes could be the best FA ever signed by Portland. Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu in 2015. Great value and each played their role well. Seth Curry in 2018. While he only played a season in Portland, his impact was greatly missed this past year. His ability to shoot and defend at the lead guard level was only getting better with each passing game. He damn near won us Game 2 of the WCF. Carmelo Anthony in 2019. Easily the biggest name to ever sign with the Trail Blazers, although it did come later in his soon-t0-be HOF career. I only went back to 1990 when I looked through the list of FA signings, but what stands out to me is of all those players listed only two were former All-Stars (three if you count Detlef in 99 as well). None of the players listed ever became an All-Star in Portland either. It further cements the thought Portland doesn't attract MAX-level talent but does have a history of finding solid role players. Factoring in team performance and where the franchise was at the time, I would say that Rod Strickland was the "biggest" free agent to sign in Portland. The Blazers were coming off of a historic three-year run which included two Finals appearances and Strickland, a starter on a very good San Antonio team, chose Portland even though he knew he was initially start out as a 6th Man. Factoring in player performance and overall impact after signing with the team, Brian Grant, Wesley Matthews, and Rod Strickland are my top free agent signings of the past 30 years.
Grant is the one that sticks out but we were really sneaky with how we got Wes, so I like the Wes move the best. Obviously Rod Strickland and Kenny Anderson were also big contributors. At the point in his career where we got him Kenny Anderson might be the biggest name we ever signed, he was still pretty young and was just a couple of seasons removed from being an all-star. Obviously Melo is the biggest name to ever have signed here but he signed under different circumstances.
