Casey, did you ever go to Oregon state university job fairs while you worked for the Oregonian? I could have sworn I saw you and talked to you there 6-8 years ago
Casey, what road game usually attracts the biggest number of Blazer fans? Seems like DC must be near the top.
Casey -- do the Players seem to trust Adam Silver more than David Stern? Have you noticed anything different in your interactions with the team under Silver's regime?
Casey -- the Blazers have had mixed results with international players, but most of the experiences have ended poorly. Patty Mills, Rudy Fernandez, Claver, Monia, Khryappa, Kopponen, etc. Do you think Freeland is happy with his role on the team? In your opinion do the Blazers have a poor reputation with international players?
Alright, I'm on the plane and the wifi is all warmed up, so I'll start answering your questions to the best of my ability now.
I know Wes wants to re-sign (he's a starter on a playoff team and has the freedom to take basically any shot that he likes) and I assume the team wants him to as well. It's hard to tell what Portland's threshold is w/r/t what they're willing to offer in free agency, but you would think a number between 10 and 12 million a year for four years would satisfy both parties. Obviously if another team has Wes as a FA target and drops a huge contact on his lap, that metric changes. I think you could say the same about Afflalo, though you assume it can't be Afflalo AND Matthews. Some, Amin Elhassan at ESPN for one, has opined that Afflalo probably gets a few million less per year on the open market than Matthews, but again, good luck predicting what teams are going to do in free agency, especially with the specter of the cap going up precipitously in 2016. (Best case scenario would probably be Matthews re-signing and Afflalo waiting to become a free agent until 2016, as he has the option of doing, though it's hard to tell were Afflalo is w/r/t that decision) And while I suppose anything is possible, the it seems like it's probably either one or the other, but not both. It could be done (or at least I'm pretty sure it could) but that probably pushes Portland well into the luxury tax.
