I feel the biggest need was upgrading the back-up PG spot. Sergio was a disaster, and Bayless is not a PG.
Oh my mistake. That was in response to the need for a "big man" off the bench. I totally agree about the PG need more than anything.
Well, I didn't like the potential Turkuglu acquisition and I didn't like the potential Lee acquisition. I did like the Millsap signing and I think Andre Miller will work out well for us. I'm allowed to disagree with the Blazer Brain Trust. Our second unit needs defense and leadership. We have plenty of shooting.
We had talked about an acquisition that if we didn't make at the trade deadline, we would acquire that player in the summer, either via FA or a trade. I believe Andre Miller was that player and I believe we had a deal in place with Philly in case we signed someone else with our cap space. In other words, he was far down the FA acquistion list, but was high on our priority list.
Lee signing with the Blazers would have led to more moves IMO. Signing Miller with their cap space was low on the Blazers priority list because it doesn't give the team as many options with the remaining players. See: Sign Miller (as we have done), Now we have Miller, Blake and Bayless at the point. We could look to move Blake, except that Bayless was a disaster at the point during summer league - not ready to be a backup. As well, Blake is the best 3pt shooter. Moving him, considering his modest trade value, seems likely to be unhelpful. Now we have Aldridge, Outlaw, Howard and Cunningham at the 4 spot. I don't want to see a lot of Howard and Cunningham. We have no other options at the 4 spot, so trading Outlaw is not a good idea right now. So, we are "stuck" with Blake and Outlaw, both in contract years, who won't have much if any trade value after this summer. We have Oden and Joel at center. Can't trade Joel as the next best true big on the roster is Howard. Bayless has little trade value until he proves he belongs. Webster has no value until he proves he is worth his contract. Roy/Aldridge/Oden are untouchable. That leaves Rudy as the player who A) has decent trade value and B) the Blazers could work around losing. Rudy and Travis for backup PF? Rudy and Travis for a young PG? The downside of this is that the Blazers like Rudy, he is on a cheap contract for 3 more years, and if he blows up this year his trade value could skyrocket. They are real reluctant to make this move. Now, if either Milsap or Lee were obtained: Blazers are thin at PG. Blazers have Lee (or Milsap), Aldridge, Oden, Joel and Travis as players that deserve big minutes. Seems bad. It is not. Joel is coming off his best season and has good trade value as a starting caliber Center who won't rock any team's boat by taking shots from an established star. So, now the Blazers have Joel as trade bait. Outlaw as well as a big rotation of Aldridge/Oden/Lee (or Milsap) is what would work well anyway. Blake if PGs are coming back. Rudy for a star. That is a lot for KP to work with. Miller was still floating out there. A sign and trade with Philly might have worked out. So, Miller AND Lee was within easy reach, with the possibility for even more. Lee screwed it up because he couldn't see into the future and couldn't figure out the obvious (ie, that Outlaw and Joel would be gone within one year if he came on board).
I'm not sure. 28m/4 years is great value, but it would have massively eaten into their cap space in 2010, they possibly wouldn't even have been able to offer one max deal. I don't think Walsh would have screwed that 3 year plan just for David Lee.
Possibly, but I'm guessing that Lee wanted more flexibility next summer. The fact that the Knicks are giving him a one/$7 million deal instead of just the QO tells me that the Knicks do value him and will likely keep him next summer. In other words, I don't think the "fit" issue was Lee's problem. I think it was more the money being offered, and once the Knicks said they would give him "one year" of the Blazer offer, it made sense for him to take that year and try it all over as a UFA next summer. If the Blazers were serious about getting Lee, they would have given him a Hedo-type offer to mull over. Perhaps part of the low-ball offer was to force the Knicks into an early decision, but once Lee declined, the point was moot.
