The Hornets just traded an exp. contract for a 25 y/o double-double machine and a 1st round draft pick. We had a bigger exp. contract in which most of it was covered by insurance and did nothing. With the cap we gained from letting RLEC expire we acquired a 33 year old PG. I love having Miller here but we could have had something much more significant if we used the contract instead of letting it expire.
Let me restate it, since people seem to be confused: The Hornets moved a short contract (although according to Storyteller, he has an option year so is not an expiring contract) for Okafor, who has averaged 10+ points and 10+ rebounds a game each of his five NBA seasons (although he's 26, and will be 27 in September... not 25). If the Thunder were able to get so much for a short contract, did Portland mess up by getting nothing for a seemingly FAR superior contract in the RLEC? Ed O.
Yes. KP missed the boat. but in my usual posting methods: No, if RLEC wasn't traded, there were zero options available at the time.
Difference is RLEC was injured, and Chandler can still play, though. And play fairly decently. It's not JUST an expiring, or short term contract.
oh man, if we were able to get Okafor + Crash + ????? in a package for RLEC and Joel....love Joel. but damn that would have been epic.
Exactly. The only way to know if KP missed the boat with RLEC is to know what deals were actually made available to him at that time. If somebody can show us some link that indicates KP passed on Okafor for RLEC, then, yeah, he blew it. Unfortunately, we always seem to be playing games with hypothetical trades and then using those hypotheticals to claim that KP missed the boat. IMHO, that's bull.
It's just that he hasn't always been the most well-received guy in the world. Ya know? Culture is everything here!
I still to this day am not sure if KP missed the boat, or just got on the wrong boat. There have been a lot of stories about trades he tried to make happen (Shaq) which he may have held out too long for. We will probably never know unless somebody with a source straightens it out later, but I hardly see the value of that right now. The Blazers are where they are, and they have to deal with it. That is reality.
IF you don't know whether the boat was the Queen Mary or the Titanic, how can you say if you're upset or happy about missing it?
I'm upset because the mere hype of everyone talking about how valuable RELC's contract was is greatly overstated. Not. Valuable. Whatsoever.
I would have been thrilled to have Okafor, but IDK if we still could have picked up Andre Miller had we used our cap space in a RLEC trade for Okafor. I mostly bemoan the idea that we could have had Wallace or Butler....but I really don't know for a fact if this is true. I am happy with the Blazers lineup as it stands, though- we have strengthened our hand at the point, which was weak. Having Webster back is almost like a free agent pickup at the 3 spot- at least there is hope that he or Batum can cover the lion's share of the minutes there. I'm not as concerned at the backup 4 spot- I think one of our 2nd rounders can cover whatever time that Outlaw doesn't take. I'm thrilled with the idea of an improved Roy, Aldridge and Oden. The heart of our team is strong and hopefully is getting stronger. As it stands, I'd say we're the third best team in the west after LA and San Antonio with Denver nipping at our heals.
