Incredibly nice guy.. Talked to him about a couple different things. He said LMA is good as gone and is suprised he is still here now. Thought the moda center was a terrible name. DUh Thought mo Williams was the steal of the summer. Thought if we had him we would have been much better last year.
Not saying that I disagree, but I'm wondering how close JJ and LMA really are. Is he going off of Aldridge at the end of last season, or more recent info? A lot has changed since the end of the season.
The thread about how the Blazers defend the PNR got me thinking what if the Blazers used the same scheme as New Orleans did with Lopez for JJ?
LaMarcus was probably 'good as gone' at the end of the season, hence JJ is surprised he's still here. With the changes the Blazers have made, who knows if it has changed LaMarcus' perspective any?
People can't have it both ways. When someone says anything, remotely, negative about the tam, people scream that they aren't connected to the team. Now an actual teammate says something people don't want to hear and they say the same thing. ANY player is more connected to his teammates than any announcer or beat writer. if Hickson really did say that, it holds more water than anything said previously
Don't disagree in the slightest, but at the same time. Hickson just came off arguably the best year of his career and the Blazers just said "meh" and let him roll elsewhere. Willing to bet there is a tad of bitterness there.
It's possible. On the other hand, they gave him a ton of minutes when another team WAIVED him and as a result he secured a $5M/yr. deal with the Nuggets. He should be grateful.
$5 mil was all he got? That's a very nice contract the Nuggets signed. I'm no huge fan of Hickson, but he's a serviceable PF even with all his defensive flaws.
Depends on your perspective. Brandon Roy made that last year I think. AK47 opted out and got less than that. I don't think there were a lot of big guys available this offseason. Dwight Howard, Robin Lopez, Pekovic, Oden come to mind, but JJ is not a Center. After Josh Smith, Millsap, David West, Hickson might be the next guy. Millsap and Smith changed teams. Millsap was twice as expensive and Smith was almost three times as expensive (and for more years). It's probably about where his value was. Who would you rather have? Millsap at 2 years, $19 mill, Smith at 4 years, $54 mill, or JJ at 1 year, $5 mill? I suppose it depends on which direction your team is headed and where you spend your money. I think I would take Smith's deal, then JJ's deal, and then Millsap's deal. Edit: Yeah, I kind of think JJ got screwed a bit here. He should get at least $6.5 or $7. Didn't the Nets pay that to Outlaw?
That's not what I'm saying though, is it? My point is that Hickson could be going off old information, which would have been concrete a few months ago, but might not be accurate now. I definitely think there was some discontent, and possibly Aldridge made it known that he wouldn't mind being traded, but that would have been in April. It is now August, our team has a completely new bench, and a starting center. How do we know that Aldridge hasn't changed his mind? We have no idea when Hickson and Aldridge spoke last. Do I think Aldridge wants out? I'm still leaning towards yes, but I also think he's probably happy with the moves that were made and if the team performs he might be convinced to stay.
Be honest: do you think he'll make any impact on their win/loss %? And he'll be earning FIVE MILLION DOLLARS. That's kind of insane.
I'd much rather have him than Joel Freeland at $3 million. $5 million is very reasonable for a rotational player with some positives and negative who would excel in a role off the bench. I don't think he necessarily helps the wins/losses of the Nuggets since they already have a garbage man PF and traded their starting center for a PF. That team has an idiot owner as the GM. But for a team that could use a big man off the bench Hickson has value and yes could be the difference in a number of wins over 82 games.
