As they Stand (some thoughts about the Blazers)

From a salary point of view, we traded Webster for Matthews + Babbitt.

Think of Babbitt as the throw-in.

 

But don't you think he will be a liability on the defensive end? Marty was a pretty good one on one defender.

 

What would lead you to believe that Brandon doesn't want to play with Miller?

 

Babbitt is NOTHING like Nic Batum. You couldn't pick 2 more opposite players if you tried.

 

Word. Nic was super passive on offense in Summer League, but did rebound well and defended well and those two attributes carried over to training camp and the regular season. Babbitt on the other hand is a scorer with almost no defensive "intangibles" -- he doesn't have a good stance, he doesn't seem to be completely aware of how to contest or how to close out, etc. -- Babbitt biggest talent is his ability to shoot and score and he's not really getting that done against the best competition and athletes he's ever faced.

 

Wait...what?

You think we will the same number of games with or without Oden, Joel, Batum, Camby (and Roy for quite a few games)?

Weird.

 

I hope so. He sure is sucking in the summer league.

 

Here's how I would place it:

PG: Miller, Mills, Johnson
SG: Roy, Rudy, Matthews, Bayless, Williams
SF: Batum, Cunningham, Babbitt
PF: LA, Pendy
C: Oden, Camby, Godzilla

 

Re: Babbitt: I'd really like it if all of the possessions that are going to Pendergraph on the block were instead given to Babbitt. I don't think we start out 0-10 against the Clippers if we hadn't been trying to get Pendergraph to score against DeAndre Jordan, and having him block Jeff's shot FIVE TIMES. This team should either be scoring in transition or giving it to Babbitt just to see what happens. Hell, they've been running Mills off screens - can't they do the same for Babbitt?

 

I presume Babbitt will start out as the #3 SF. That translates into 3,819 butt splinters from the bench his first year.

 

His measurables suggest he's quite athletic. He may not have played a highly athletic game in college, but neither did Roy...which led Roy to be undervalued in the draft, it seems. It's good to know that Babbitt does have explosive athleticism in reserve though. If he learns to use it to his advantage in the NBA, he could very well be a steal where he was drafted.

 

One of the hurdles this team is facing, is that Roy sometimes seems to think he is on the same level with Kobe/LeBron/Wade. Self confidence is a wonderful thing....up to a point. Somebody needs to give Roy a reality check, and I'm afraid Nate isn't that guy.

 

Really? You would place Rudy and Mills that highly in the rotation nevermind the fact that Rudy doesn't want to be here plus the fact that they just paid Matthews the full MLE and Mills is a turnover machine.

But hey, who doesn't need 4 backup shooting guards, that's going to be fun

If anything I think you've just perfectly illustrated just how imbalanced this roster really is and how ripe it is for a major consolidation trade -- let's pray to god they're able to get something together sooner rather than later.

 

But it really works for the Wolves!

 

You are right on but I believe whether people think he is a "true" PG or not, Bayless is the back up point guard!

 

Is the green typing something new that I didn't get the memo about?

 

Glad to see all the reasonable criticism of Roy. He's the best player we've had since the Glide. That said his ego is larger then his game. If Roy is interested in being a true leader he needs to work with other players (Oden) and be willing to work on the only holes in his game.

His three ball needs work in certain situations and most importantly he needs to turn it up SEVERAL notches on defense. The guy could be all NBA third or second team on defense if he just applied the effort. He has had some of the most brilliant steals I've ever seen (usually after a TO or mistake on his part). He's also had some godlike clutch blocks against the likes of Joe Johnson and Carmello. I believe his biggest problem on defense is he is too tired from his offensive efforts.

This in turn goes back to a willingness to share the ball/glory on offense. If Roy learns to trust and work with Oden the sky is the limit for this team. He needs to develop a Kobe and Shaq attitude. Feed the big man and create when nothing else is available. If Roy wasn't so burnt out from ISO's I think his defensive effort might dramatically improve.

Until his defense improves he has no business comparing himself to LeBron or Kobe because he only brings half what they do. His offense I think is comparable. His defense not so much.

 

I'm not looking at it like a fantasy team.

Roy doesn't like to play with Miller

Miller wants to get Oden involved, but Roy....and Nate for that matter, want him rebounding and defending

Aldridge isn't good enough to be a number 2 scorer on a very good team

We are extremely thin at the 3

Rudy will be bitching all year about playing time and not wanting to be in Portland

In reality we are thin at the 5 also because both Oden and Camby are injury prone, and Joel won't be back until MAYBE December.

This will come to a surprise to many, but I don't think Nate can coach a full team. I don't think he can handle the personalities.

 

Hmmm, you raise some valid concerns, but I do think that's a little bit of a worst case scenario for every variable. I'd expect some of those concerns to be true or become factors, but not everything.

In any case whomever takes the GM job is going to have his work cut out for him -- some really big decisions (and some minor ones) are going to need to be made before training camp, or the deadline at the latest.

Needs:
At least a real backup point guard (or longer term solution to Miller preferably).
A backup power forward if Cunningham and Pendergraph can't cut it.
Another proven shooter (James Jones?) to backup Nic in the event Babbitt isn't ready to contribute
Finding Rudy a new home without getting nothing in return
Clearing the logjam at backup shooting guard
Potentially moving Bayless before he rots on the bench and loses all value and becomes disgruntled because of a lack of a role

There's more, but those seem to be the most pressing problems or biggest questions I can think of.