My Opinion: No moves. Play out the season.

I totally agree. It might have to wait until closer to the deadline when teams will be more "eager" to deal, but I think something has got to give.

 

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I don't think the playoffs are out of the question. There continues to be a lot of bad teams in this league, and a lot of decent/good teams that don't have much inside.

 

I would make a move only if we can get a fairly young, very good big man back. I can't think of any centers in the entire league that we would want that we could get. So I'm thinking of power forwards, with Aldridge playing more as a center.

I'm thinking David Lee.

Trades that would work salary-wise and might be acceptable to both teams:

1. Lee and Milicic for Miller, Outlaw, Pendergraph and Howard.

New York would do this if they thought that Miller and Outlaw would work great in their system. They might not want to take Miller because he has another year after this but for some reason they don't have to take nearly as much salary back as they give out on this trade so maybe it doesn't hurt them much.

2. Lee and Curry for Miller, Outlaw, Webster, Pendergraph and Howard.

I think this is a little more salary neutral for them since Curry's contract is so big.

3. Lee and milicic for Blake, Outlaw Webster and Pendergraph.

This is if they like Blake better than Miller, they would have to take back Webster's three years but the trade is unbalanced so they take back a lot less salary on a one year basis.

Of course we could throw in a first round draft pick on any of these trades and probably would need to, and our pick is getting more valuable as we lose players.

 

I agree about making no movies. In fact, I now want to keep Andre Miller. I've been a big proponent of trading Miller but at this point, I think we need his scoring. And he's getting used to playing with these guys. I say we just play out the season. Despite all the injuries, we still have a lot of talent left on the team. That's how deep we were when the season began.

Go Blazers!!

Believe Harder.

 

Didn't you bet that we'd miss the playoffs last year? Your comfort level with hypocricy is quite remarkable.

 

I did it for you!

 

Agree 1,000,000%.

 

If there was ever a time for the coaching staff to allow the team to push the pace it is now.

Miller is a more then capable up-tempo point guard.

I just hope that is what they do.

 

Its safe to say we are the New York Mets from this past baseball season. We had huge expectations and lost half the team to injuries. You can only fix so many holes. Eventually... you just have no answer. mets didnt make a trade... we wont either.


season over.

 

Some people are TV actors. Some people are movie stars. The Blazers are movie stars. I say, yes movies.

 

Forget it - the Knicks aren't trading Lee. He's one of their better players, and they think they are going to make the playoffs this season. But more importantly, he's an expiring contract. Everybody knows the Knicks want cap space for this off season. Plus, it would be very risky obtaining Lee with his Free Agency Looming. I don't know what the odds of him resigned here would be, but I would imagine not so good.

 

You are probably right; but the Knicks might like to get something for him before they lose him for nothing. There were rumors that the Blazers would have made him an offer this summer except his agent told them he didnt think he would get enough playing time in Portland. In our current situation I think he could anticipate a lot of playing time for years. If the Knicks think they have a good chance at Chris Bosch, they might think it would be good to add a couple players (Miller and Outlaw) who they think will fit their system. And I don't think these trades would hurt their cap space that much.

So, yes it is unlikely but I think he is the kind of player we should be pursuing, somebody who would benefit us over the long run, and of course we would need some reassurance that he would stay in Portland.

 

This is a tough call.

You have to presume you'll get back Oden & Joel for next year. So, signing a long-term contract (or trading for one) on a center is probably a bad idea.

On the other hand, you do have 2 expirings (Blake & Outlaw) which is attractive to other teams. Do you use that for a decent front-man w/o a long-term contract?

 

Hell we don't even know if Joel will be able to come back. This same injury has finished other players careers before.

 

I'd have to agree; neither of those guys was really that durable in the past and now they both have new and serious injuries. I think we have to find a fairly young big.

 

Here's another try: Lee and Jeffries for Miller, Outlaw and Pendergraph and we throw in our first round pick if we can get assurance from Lee's agent that he'll sign here longterm.

I actually like this one the best; Jeffries is long and can guard small and power forwards, averages over two steals and a block a game.

This is almost salary neutral for NY and gives them more flexibility going forward. They only do this if they really like Miller and Outlaw and are pretty sure Lee won't resign with them.

 

Jeffires blows ass in all other sections of the game besides defense though. That trade is not worth it IMO. You have to take David Lee's stats with a grain of salt too, he is in a running system that inflates his stats. In a half court system, he would be much more of a "meh" player.

 

I don't want any trades aimed at helping this season, if it significantly affects the future (trading someone like Batum, Bayless or Rudy)...unless the trade will also help into the future. It's not important to do a little bit better this season, in terms of record. It's important to get all the ducks lined up for next season and beyond. So if a good consolidation trade, that makes sense in a "next year" context, comes along...I'd do it, even if it means decimating depth this year even further. I want Bayless (and Batum and Rudy when they're back) to play big minutes, to make their roles next year much less ambiguous. Use this season as fodder for next season...forget record and do things that will help next year's team. By that I don't mean tank and try to lose...I'll still be happy when they win games. But winning games this year shouldn't be the focus of coaching or GM moves.