Have to trade Wallace now, or risk losing him or Nic this summer

Nice trades dude.

 

No, the question is, are we a contending team?

 

I think we are a playoff team. We'll play enough home games, and enough weak road ones to make that so, I believe. I think you'd follow up with, does moving Wallace kill that chance, and is it still worth it?

 

No we're not, unless things change drastically. I think there's a chance that Felton and Crawford start playing like they can, but at this point I don't know if it's worth it. I still think we should be building for two years down the road. Aldridge is establishing himself as a star and all we need to do is add a couple pieces.

If we let Felton, Wallace, Camby, Crawford, etc go... we MIGHT have enough money to offer max deals to Deron and Gordon.

 

I am asking out of curiosity, do we have enough players to let go to be able to sign 2 max players or almost max contracts? Who would be left?

 

LA, Wes, Luke, Elliot, Nolan, Kurt. And Nic when we match his offer. And we'd have the vet min, BAE, and whatever picks we make.

We aren't getting Dwight and Deron, however.

 

This team is going to need some talent around Aldridge next year. A lot more talent.

Wesley and Nic are not those guys, and the team still needs a PG.

 

I cant imagine getting both Howard and Deron but I would like to hope for a chance at Deron and another very good or near max player kind of like Gordon. Still unlikely, i just wondered how much we would have to gut the team to do it.

 

To expand, you basically need someone to replace Gerald. As much as other people want to believe, I really don't see Batum as that guy at all.

The difference for the Blazers right now seems to be Gerald. Gerlad plays great, Blazers blow people out. Gerald suffers (or doesn't play), lose to Detroit.

This team obviously needs a 2nd option after LaMarcus after Gerald leaves, and that person isn't currently on the roster.

 

I love the idea of Gordon, but he's got injury problems.

So far in his career, he's missed 4, 20, 26, and 16 games already this year.

 

I wouldn't say playing in 80% of possible games is injury history.

 

75%. So a guy who averages missing 1/4th of the season DOESN'T have an injury history? That's more games on average than Brandon was missing his first 4 seasons, and I don't think anyone would have a problem with saying he had an injury history.

 

Brandon played through so much pain. Gordon apparently is the opposite according to some of his fans. Regardless, it's something to be cognizant of before throwing a max at him.

 

Who said anything about Dwight? I'm saying make max offers to Deron and Gordon.

 

And Babbitt plays backup 3?

Nate- I swear a couple weeks ago you wanted to trade for Nash and go for the title this year. I'm still in favor that. Nash has one final title run in him with the right pieces around him. Batum, Matthews, and especially Aldridge are those right pieces. Even though it would only be for a year or two, you guys would LOVE Nash. FINALLY, a guard who can SHOOT. And Nic and Aldridge would get so many easy baskets. YES to Nash.

 

As Eric says (and as I said in the other thread) you trade for Nash TO MAKE LIFE BETTER. Suddenly the team would be fun to watch! Suddenly we wouldn't have to watch another bonehead Felton turnover and bricked three. Aldridge would be in seventh heaven.

 

I would rather have the team suck and get some draft picks that could be used to move up in the draft or take guys that will help our future. I don't think this team will contend and I don't think Nash puts them over the top.

 

I disagree with the premise of the OP. Both of these guys play multiple positions which is a large part of why it's okay to have a decent chunk of the overall salary tied up in these two.

STOMP

 

For a team without a legit starting C or a PG, typing up most of the caproom on a SG/SF (when we already have a starting caliber SG), and a SF/PF (when we already have a all star caliber PF) is not a very smart decision. The money would be better used going after guys who fill positions of need (unless you find a really high level talent that can replace guys like Wes/LA).

 

If we can get Crash or Batum on reasonable contracts where they have more value to the team on the court then the cost of their contracts we should consider keeping both of them. While in a vacuum I agree with your premise that we need a C or PG more then wings, I think it’s likely we can’t get the same quality of player at those position as Batum or Gerald will provide. Kwame Brown signed a contract for $7 million, even though we need a center would you rather have him on the roster or Gerald for a couple more million? I’d rather keep the clearly above average Gerald and fill in roster holes with Kurt Thomas/Craig Smith minimum players as opposed to overpaying a mediocre player just because it’s a desperate position of need for our team.

Will we have any good options in free agency or trade at acquiring a starting PG or starting Center? Maybe we do, but maybe not. Now if we can renounce Gerald in order to sing a stud like Deron Williams obviously we do it. If we can trade Batum to bring in Hibbert obviously we do it. But next season would you rather sign a mediocre PG like Baron Davis, Chauncy Billups, 39 year old Steve Nash, or keep both Batum and Gerald?

Just as Lebron and Wade negate a few of each others strengths yes I think we aren’t maximizing Gerald or Batum individually when they play on the same team. But having two above average players at one position is a benefit to the team, and we should only break the pair up if it allows us to significantly upgrade the team at another position.