I was as frustrated as anyone watching today's game- but two things have somewhat comforted me. One- we weren't going to win it all this year and Two- we have enough money to sign Artest next year and to get the great defender on our side. We also need to trade for Heinrich, however you spell his name. I think we can get him for Blake, our trade exception and our #1 pick. Imagine this lineup: Heinrich/Sergio/Bayless Roy/Rudy Artest/Batum/Webster Aldridge/Outlaw Oden/Pryzbilla We'd have two veteran defenders to throw at Kobe/D Williams/Chris Paul next year.
If we are going to upgrade a position, I think it should be PG, but it better be a clear upgrade. Batum has a ton of potential and Webster still should get another look at SF.
I'm hoping the best for Webster, but so far he's shown that he's injury prone and at 40% shooter. I have serious doubts he's a difference maker in terms of getting to a championship.
FUCK that!! Ron Artest is the last fucking player I want anywhere near this team. The guy is a grade-a top shelf asshole of epic proportions. No fucking way I want that jackass and his history of on-court and off-court problems anywhere within a hundred mile radius of this team!
If we can get Andre Miller, Ramon Session or Raymond Felton this summer I'd be happy to start Webster. But if we are stuck with Blake as the #1 PG we need to really get some scoring punch fromt he SF position with Batum off the bench.
I agree. All 3 players you mention have major negatives, but they are all upgrades over Blake. Andre Miller would make players like GO and Webster much better.
NO to Artest, Yes to Captain Kirk. Although, I was just looking at the bulls roster and trying to figure out what they would want in a trade and I don't think we would make good trading partners. I think they would love Joel, but that is too much to give up for Kirk. They have a glut of wings, so I don't think we could package Outlaw or any of our wings. I would love to hear some ideas.
How about Antonio Mcdyess? He's played his heart out in Detroit the last couple of years and would be a great vet backup for LMA. No one would want to mess with Pryz, Mcdyess, Oden, and LMA (especially with another year of maturity on LMA and Oden).
He would be a great backup, but I do worry that he is truly on his last legs. But if the coaching staff felt that he had a couple more years in him, he would be a sweet backup. One of the hard parts of building our roster is that the strength of it is our youth, but that is also the weakness. We need to add some vets like Mcdyess, but without supplanting our youth. They would need to be willing to take a back seat, and I think AM might actually be the right type for that. I feel that we have great youth ready to grow and be special at SG (roy, rudy), SF (Batum, perhaps Webster), PF (Aldridge), and C (Oden). all these players need to get a lot of burn to build our championship contender. At PG, Bayless might be one we could add to the list, but I am still unsure. This is why the area that I would most like to add some Vet leadership is at the PG spot. They would have a big effect from that spot without killing the strength of this group. The BU PF spot would be good for an upgrade with a Vet, but with LMA playing 35mpg, it is not quite as important. I think I am rambling.
Another way to go would be to trade Aldridge in a package for Bosch and Calderon. Or we could sign Boozer with the 9 million or so under the cap, then trade Aldridge, Bayless and our trade exception for Devin Harris. Leaving us with Devin Harris, Roy, Webster, Boozer and Oden. Boozer can definitely score on the post. Harris can defend the 1.
Ok, you got me there! My thought was that if we are going to keep Blake, we should go after a guy who can create, finish at the rim, and defend. That way if we get in a bad matchup, we can go to our strength, whoever that may be. We did that with Damon and Greg Anthony. And while Damon hated it, I thought having the luxury of bringing a lockdown defender at the point was huge.
We're not looking to sellout half of our team, we're looking to consolidate some of our expendable young talent and picks for 1 or 2 vet pieces. Expendable and of some value: Sergio, Webster, Outlaw, Blake, Channing, Bayless. Picks: #24, 3 second rounders. So whatever that gets you...I would think a S&T with a free agent is in order this offseason. You know, it's too bad San Antonio isn't ready to jump ship. We could actually throw a ton of young talent and picks to, at least attempt, lure Parker if SA was in total rebuild mode...
artest is dumber than outlaw. i don't want the rockets to bring him back. he just can't be relied on at all. i don't understand the love for andre miller and ramon sessions. neither guy has an outside shot. neither guy would be an above average starting pg. either guy would be a marginal upgrade over blake at best. i just don't see it. i would be disappointed if the blazers acquire either player.
At this point I struggle to find any better PG options in Free Agency this summer. That's why there is any kind of love attraction there. If I could have my way I would trade for Devin Harris, Tony Parker, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo or CP3. But we all know that isn't happening.
