Re: Fixing the Blazers Part 1 He won't be worth any of those salaries in any of those years. That money would be better spent on two players (maybe even three!), rather than one. OR spend it on a player who deserves that sort of money - but that'd be such a long shot to land that sort of player.
Re: Fixing the Blazers Part 1 well I think this is certainly a huge part of this discussion, will a 30-33 year old LMA be worth the money shown? or is it better to trade him, get value, and move on?
Will LA be worth that money in 4 years I am not sure, his style of play certainly seems to suggest that he can and should continue to be a 20 and 10 player in 4 years. I believe that if he adds a three point shot it will make that level far more sustainable. Additionally, the question is not whether LA will be worth 21 million as that amount is pretty much excessive for everyone not Durant and Lebron. The question is will Paul Allen be willing to pay the money it will cost to keep quality talent around LA for that 4 year window.
The question goes beyond that: will we be able to add additional talent around LMA while paying him $18M+? We won't be able to sign free agents. The only way we'll be able to change the roster is through trades. That means trading Lillard, Wes, Nic or Lopez OR hoping that CJ, Lenoard, or Robinson make significant improvements so they have trade value. Trading any of our starters would most likely be a lateral trade, IMO. So then it all comes down to CJ/Leonard/Robinson improving to the point where they turn us into a contender or become valuable enough to trade for someone who'll make us a contender. Essentially, I don't think there's any way to turn a roster built around LMA into a contender. He's too inefficient and takes up too much of the salary cap.
Basically the plan would come down to 2015, Portland has only 12.8 million in guaranteed money tied up that summer with Batum and Crabbe being under contract. The team will exercise its option on Lillard at 4.2 million bumping them up to 17. Resigning LA only puts them up to 34, that leaves them with what will be likely 30 million in cap space at that time to add some pieces or keep what they got. Key decisions will need to be made about Lopez, Matthews, Robinson and Leonard before the end of next season. Things become a lot easier if McCollum and Robinson develop that would give Portland a couple additional cheap contracts to work with and some depth. A core of Lillard, McCollum, Batum, Aldridge, Robinson and someone like Marc Gasol added in free agency would provide a solid foundation. Especially if Portland could find away to get someone like Lance Stephenson this summer.
So why wasn't this thread made earlyer in the season? Maybe it's just because we where winning. Is the team really playing that much different?
It is hard for people whether it be players or fans to accept advice when things are going well. Honestly, at the time I was trying to enjoy the team exceeding expectations but I was always cautious the team needed to make adjustments. Come on I was so concerned with the way this team defends that I suggested trading my two favorite Blazers in Lillard and Matthews for Conley and Allen. At a certain time just making the playoffs is no longer enough. This year getting there is an important step but the team will need to make some serious adjustments this summer in order to make sure they can take the next step towards winning a title.
Perhaps we could trade our entire team for Miami's entire team, fire stotts and hire spoulstra. Why Miami does it: because it helps them clear cap space Why blazers do it: so they can make a title run.
Question is this team 64-0? No they are not which means this team is not perfect and therefore there must be ways in which the team can improve. I analyzed and wrote two detailed sections offering advice on what I believe Lamarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum could do in order to help the team improve. Last I checked when someone is struggling that is usually a good time to reach out and offer them a hand. Discussing basketball on a basketball forum is the furthest thing from trolling there is, making a short off topic, non basketball related comment in the middle of a thread on the other hand seems like something different.
Read the thread and then offer your brilliant insight. I have certainly not suggested trading either Batum or Aldridge both of whom the thread is about, in fact I suggested that doing so would not be beneficial to the team. Will a trade come up in the conversation down the road it is possible but the purpose of this thread is to help the teams current players improve so that Portland can become a more serious title threat not to discuss tearing down the foundation of a team that has to this point exceeded most expectations.
That is completely reasonable and understandable. It was not easy for me to suggest that trade. Personally, I let my expectations get out of control, rather than being content with making the playoffs and improving next year, I wanted instant gratification. Generally speaking trading an all star in the middle of a rookie scale contract is a bad idea. Portland still needs better defense but they cannot sacrifice the core of the teams offensive identity to do so. Still love Mike Conley and Tony Allen though.
I like to talk and play basketball, I leave the front office crap to the front office. We need guys who want to win. They wanted to win early, they've lost the mojo. They just need the mojo back. It's not going to come from reading cmeese posts on s2. Someone on the team will emerge as a leader and fire up his teammates. My money is on rolo or lillard.
Since this kind of got buried when the threads merged here is Part II again Part II- Utilizing Nicolas Batum Poor Nicolas Batum, the guy just cannot catch a break. Under Nate, Batum was asked to be a 3 and D guy, work hard on defense and stand in the corner for spacing. Batum was actually pretty efficient in that role, but it was obvious to anyone who watched the Blazers that he had more in him than what Nate was getting out of him. In Stotts’ system, Batum has been asked to be more a facilitator playing a much more all around style of basketball. To his credit, Batum has taken to the role becoming a triple double threat and averaging over 5 assists per contest. Unfortunately, this new style of ball has hurt Batum as much as it has helped him. Nicolas needs to be more aggressive looking for his shot. He should be shooting around 15 times a game. Batum by aggressively looking for his shot will make his life as a secondary ball handler much easier, by attempting more shots Batum’s man will be forced to play up on him allowing Batum a better chance to beat the defender off the dribble, and it will pull his man out of the passing lane, making it easier for Batum to get the ball inside. Additionally, by shooting more Batum will feel less pressure to be the facilitator and that should cut down on several errant pass turnovers that Batum has become known for. Without the ball, Batum would be smart to make hard aggressive cuts to the basket; a few highlight worthy ally oops will back off his defender allowing Batum more open looks from the 3 point line. Portland should run hard double screens for Matthews and Batum both along the baseline. This should provide each additional opportunities to catch and shoot uncontested corner threes. Additionally, the extra movement will pull focus off of LA and Lopez, potentially allowing each a better shot at establishing position or cutting back door for lay ups or alley oops. Defensively, Stotts has done a pretty good job with Batum. Nicolas like LA struggles in team defense, he rotates late and then struggles to get back and close out on his man. In addition, when Batum plays off the ball he tends to fall asleep defensively at times becoming lazy and giving up some easy buckets. With his length and agility Batum is ideal for guarding the ball handler. Furthermore, Batum’s finesse style defense is much better suited for guarding SG and PG’s than it is for him guarding more physical SF’s. When Batum is not guarding the ball, allowing him to be more aggressive defensively would be beneficial with a wingspan of 7’3”-7’4” Batum is the perfect candidate to jump passing lanes. Portland needs to force more turnovers per game and letting Batum play a free safety style position off the ball might help the team achieve that. Nicolas Batum is the kind of well rounded player you can build around. The guy can do a little of everything on the court and for the most part he can do it well. He just needs to find the right balance in his game and when he does Portland should have a 3rd player worth all-star consideration.
