Grantland's "Summer Winners and Losers"

All three used us to get a bigger deal. We have to overpay to lure guys here

 

We offered Hibbert all we could, IND matched. We offered Milsap a huge "toxic" contract, Utah matched, 3 years ago. I wouldn't want him for what ATL paid this summer. SA can have Splitter for what they payed. He works in their system with a distributing first PG.

I really don't understand the argument that we can't sign free agents because they don't want to come here. Over the last 15 years plus we have had very little to no cap room. Is there a big name FA in the past 15 years that shunned us and signed for less with another team?

 

Superfly and platypus are right. In fact, we offered less than what other teams offered Crawford and he chose us. I still don't understand why fans think free agents wouldn't sign here? We just need to win and players will want to come.

 

Let's hope the answer to which big free agent would sign with another club for less money because they don't want to play in Ptd is not Lamarcus Aldridge.

 

MM is just being cranky.

 

Don't a good number of former NBAers wind up living in Portland after they retire? Saw Pryz at a sushi bar in Tualatin yesterday. I think they enjoy living in relative obscurity at this stage in life. Granted I can see how the younger NBAer can get annoyed by drooling fans when they are out on the town partying.

But really the fact is we just haven't had the cap room to go after the big names. Many equate this as them not wanting to come here.....cup holds no water.

 

When was the last time Portland was able to sign a tier 1 or 2 free agent?

 

If Indiana didn't match; that would be the last one, happened last season. Before that, Portland never had the cap space to sign a tier 1 or tier 2 player

 

When was the last time Portland was able to sign a tier 1 or 2 free agent?

 

When was the last time Portland had the cap space to sign one?

 

This year
Last year
The Andre Miller year

That is three in recent memory I can think of off the top of my head

 

Nope the Andre miller year, that was 8 mil. Hardly enough to get a tier 1 or tier 2 player. Last year, we made an offer for hibbert and he accepted, but we learned Indiana would match. This summer; we weren't going after a tier 1 or 2 player because we needed to build our bench.

 

Who is a top 1 or 2 that we could have signed this year and not shot our wad in order to fill all the holes on our squad?

We signed Batum and went hard at Hibbert last year, there was nothing left.

Again, we didn't have a ton of cap room in Miller's year. Didn't we give him 6 mil? Who was better at that price that turned us down?

 

8 million was hardly enough to land a tier 2 FA in 2009?


It's a simple question, mags. When was the last time Portland signed a tier 1 or 2 free agent

 

Damn, I'm always a couple minutes behind.....my hearts in it though

 

If you'll recall, there were several jokes around the forum and from the writers that Miller was plan M because no one else would come here

 

Yes, I heard them. It's the same jokers that say FA's won't come here now but refuse to listen to reason.

 

Listening to reason isn't the problem I am facing, it's arguing with two that wont. No big time free agents have come to Portland. How am I wrong?