denver trading their best big man would kind of defeat the purpose for them i think i'm assuming they want to move nene to PF and bring K-mart off the bench.
First, I don't think that it's anywhere near a given that Joel will opt out. There are so many quality free agents on the market next summer that teams with cap space are much more likely to want to spend their money elsewhere. Second, I don't think that there's any team that will need him more than the Blazers do given Oden's injury history. My bet is that KP works out an extension that moves Joel's option year to a time when he's more likely to get a big final contract. Denver has no big men to give us and that's what the Blazers need. I call no deal on Joel.
I'm glad someone caught that. btw, I think Joel realizes who he is, and what this economy is getting people. A 30 year old low offense, decent defense center, isn't going to get as much $$ as people think.
lots of FA's in 2010, but few (or possibly none) that would compete with what joel has to offer for the price - talking about a highly experienced defensive specialist center who doesn't care about touches, isn't a massive liability at the FT line, and has been one of the best 2-3 rebounders in the entire league over the past few years in terms of rate. there are several teams that will have cap space and could be looking for just that type of player to compliment the offensive players they already have (OKC, sac, miami etc). if he opts out i don't think he'll have any trouble finding a long term deal. several teams could use his services just as much as the blazers. i hope we offer him a long extension, but at this point i don't trust our brass not to lowball him. that would be now. he's 30.
Because they've lowballed... who, exactly? When was the last time that the Blazers underpaid someone, or lost someone to another team as a result of making a low offer? Seems to me it would make more sense to worry about us overpaying Joel. barfo
I could see trading Joel if we were making another move for a center like Gortat, however, I don't think we'll be helping a division rival anytime soon.
Przybilla actually makes less sense on our team than he would on dozens of others. He's fairly rare among decent NBA centers--he really only can play one position. Most centers can play at least some power forward. Not Joel. Even with Oden's injury history, you have to figure Greg will play a lot of games for us over his career. Ideally we'd have a backup center who could play major minutes at PF. Somebody like Milsap or Okafor or Okur would be a much nicer fit on this team than Pryzbilla. A guy like that would be insurance for both Oden and Aldridge, and when both are healthy you can still run him for 30 mpg by backing up both. If Oden ever lives up to his potential (just in terms of health, few fouls and endurance) Joel is only going to get about 13 mpg. I'm definitely not averse to re-signing Pryzybilla. A great backup center is hard to find. We just happen to have one of the few teams where an extra 4/5 is more desirable than another true center.
Keep in mind Joel is a $7 million guy, you'd never get the type of player you mentioned for that price. I'd rather keep Pryz - the toughness he brings you can't measure in statistics. I loved that foul on Shaq the other night. Almost jammed his eye out! When Joel left that game, Verejao & Lebron scored at will around the basket.
Well, that's kind of the idea of doing a consolidation trade. You take a pretty good player, couple him with some other assets, and get an even better player. Then you pay that better player more because he's better. Yeah, well my idea isn't to replace Joel with a complete non-factor on defense. But I'd just prefer somebody more versatile for this particular team. I'm a huge fan of Joel. I love his toughness and aggression. I'll be a fan of his until he retires. But I'm a Blazer fan first and foremost, and he seems like a perfect candidate for a consolidation trade somewhere down the road.
Sure. We could finally go with a four guard lineup and I suppose maybe let LaMarcus stay in as a center I kid of course. I wanted Lawson during the draft, and I can't believe that Denver's offer couldn't have been bettered by the Blazers. If the rumors of Denver coveting Joel are true, the only way I see some trade getting done is some kind of complicated 3 or 4 team deal where the Blazers end up with a big man and a small forward of some kind. Whatever happens it would be complex enough that there would be almost no way to predict how it goes down or that it would even be possible. My goals if we're giving up Joel (and presumably one or more of our 4 point guards) would be to get Ty and try to draw in Orlando and see if they'd be willing to part with Gortat, It might also be worth trying to peel seldom used Renaldo Balkman off of Denver too (if they are really that desperate to get Joel).
Crazy trade why not go after Bosh. He's what we hope LMA turns out to be, so trade LMA,and some combination of Miller/ Rudy and Webster for resigned Bosh...gives a consistent scorer/rebounder/hustle player who can play some center.
Canzano's tweet was about a "deal coming soon" - as in before the trade deadline. Bosh is not a free agent, yet. So, he can't be re-signed until next July. If you trade for him now, you run the rsik of losing him to free agency next summer. Do you want to give up Aldridge, Miller/Rudy and Webster to rent Bosh for half a season. Yes, we would hold his Bird rights, but so does Toronto. Bosh is rumored to want to play in a warmer climate, with another superstar on a contenting team (i.e. Miami with D-Wade). Also, Aldridge is BYC. So, that makes this trade impossible. unless a LOT more players, or additional teams (at least one significantly under the cap) are involved. BNM
Yup his poison pill contract makes him next to impossible to move unless you involve a third team with enough cap room to help absorb the difference in his rookie scale contract and the average of his contract which comes out to around 6 million dollars. Besides, I don't think LMA is a problem, ever since Oden went down he's been playing like an all-star.
