I had been waffling on whether Hinrich was still the perfect fit for this team at PG. I thought that Kirk went through a stretch where he wasn't able to hit the side of a barn from outside. I checked his stats again and really it was just two games where he went 0 for 3 back to back. The other games he was more than steady. In total, he was 8 for 19 in 7 games. I realize it's a small sample size, but it's an indication that Kirk's shooting percentages are more in line with his 42% 3-pt shooting from two years ago than the 35% last season. The main aspect I love about Kirk is his toughness. Dude is not afraid of anyone. Portland would become a match up nightmare for any team not named the Lakers. I really hope this happens.
As I have said..there are a lot of players in the league that should give half their paycheck to Mike D'Antoni and his uptempo system which inflates their stats. If I was going to become a free agent, and wanted a fat paycheck coming up, he is the one guy I would want to be in his playing rotation. Stats go up. Paycheck goes up.
Do you have any examples of this? Boris Diaw, maybe? I can't think of (m)any Suns players that left and signed for bigger deals than they deserved. Joe Johnson got a massive deal, but he's an awesome player, and I don't think the Suns' system had anything to do with it. Presumably NBA teams are savvy enough to account for pace when they look at statistics. Ed O.
Jason Terry IMO doesn't defend PGs as well as I'd like. Plus he's nearing the end of his prime, isn't he?
Hmm... yeah. Sorry, not convinced. Joe Johnson is a solid all-star, maybe a MVP-level player. Tim Thomas signed for the MLE and has started in over half the games in 2+ years for the Clippers... while putting up a similar PER. QRich signed a big deal after being with the Suns, but was a better player statistically at age 23 with the Clippers than he was at 24 with the Suns. Eddie House signed a 1 year, $1.4m deal with the Nets after playing for the Suns. Ed O.
And if Portland clears enough space in 2010? There's not a more attractive team in the league for him--Roy, Aldridge, Oden. We need a SF. If we got LeBron, any of us could play the point. Of course it's not going to happen, but it's always nice to dream.
"Now starting at point guard for your Portland Trailblazers from Portland Community College 5'10" 250'ish pound Talman!!" (disclaimer--I didn't go to PCC and those aren't my vitals---made up solely for comedic value).
As a Bulls fan, I can see why this deal has some merits. I'd probably do it if we can't get anything else for Kirk. Because in reality, what this deal is getting us is the ability to keep Gordon and Drew Gooden, both of whom are playing really well for us and seem to fit into the system we've got pretty well. It's a little bit hard to take to give up a quality starter for an expiring contract, but at the end of the day, that's what we need unless we can somehow get some surprisingly good offer from nowhere. I'd be moderately interested in hearing about other trades. I've pretty much run out of patience with Tyrus Thomas, but I'm not sure who/what I'd want in return. My belief, however, is that Nate McMillan would get tired of him pretty quick
Joe Johnson is the only player in this list that should even BE in the NBA. QRich may have had a better statistical year, but no one saw it. He was on TV and the nation media constantly as a Sun. Tim Thomas is a horrid player who would have been out of the league had it not been for his year in Pheonix. Eddie House is, well, Eddie House.
It's not exactly the same point, but there are definitely guys that looked a lot better under D'Antoni than they have anywhere else. Steve Nash went from top 5 PG to two-time MVP. Zach Randolph suddenly looks like he's worth his contract. Amare Stoudemire is averaging 23 ppg compared to last year's 25 ppg, despite playing 5 more mpg. None of these guys are getting overpaid as a result of playing under D'Antoni right now. (Nash and Amare have both been underpaid!) But I can definitely see how certain guys may get overvalued while playing for the guy down the road. QRich seems to be in that category. You have a good point about him, but it's one thing to put up numbers on the Clippers, and it's another to put up numbers on a good playoff team.
Kirk was good but right now he's Steve Blake. I like Kirk, but I would think Raef's deal would land us someone better than a struggling Kirk Hinrich. Maybe if we could expand the deal to include Frye and Noah. Joakim is a good hustle player. He'd be a solid garbage man off the bench.
Randolph looked about as good in Portland prior to his injury, and was getting back to it prior to his trade to New York. I'd say last year was more the outlier than this year. Whether he's worth his contract, probably not due to the defensive issues. But he's always been a legitimate offense and rebounding star, talent-wise (though his injury derailed a stretch of seasons).
Well, he's shooting about 28% this year for starters. And let's just say it's not because guys are continually draped over him. Teams are daring him to shoot and he's just dreadful. That gets to the wider point that, probably, to be effective he's going to have to be a garbage man sort of player. But he thinks his shot's gonna come to him. He's one of the hardest players to figure out I've seen. I think the problem isn't IQ. I've seen him make plenty of smart plays on occasion. I think the problem is having his head in the game. A week or so ago he had a game where you could just see, from the opening announcements (he started) onward that he was either really pissed or just didn't want to be there. He stank it up. He didn't run, he didn't set screens, he didn't go to the right places. You could hear, through the tv, teammates yelling at him. At a couple points they were visibly lecturing him. It was brutal. And yet, I've seen the same guy run his ass off and make very impressive plays at other points. When he's on, he's a hell of a rebounder and shotblocker, and a net positive on the court. But I have no idea what it is that motivates him to have his good games, and clearly is coaches and teammates don't know either. After three years of this (and considerable reading up on him ahead of the draft), I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that he's just a moody, weird guy. If he commits to playing really hard, he could be a real bad ass, but I don't think it's gonna happen. If I suddenly grow to a healthy seven feet tall, I could be a hell of a basketball player. Except I'm 33 and I won't.
I don't see there being any way we could clear enough cap space in 2010 with Roy and Aldridge both coming up for contracts that summer. I just don't think it's possible.
I am no cap expert (and I may be WAY off) but I gathered from reading Coon's FAQ that the caphold on a rejected Qualifying Offer is 3 x the prior salary. If we did QO's for boy Roy and Aldridge that would mean the caphold for them would be about 30 Mill, 13.5 Mill in guaranteed salaries if you hold on to Freeland and Pet ko's rights (we may have to sign them to a contract sooner or later so give or take 1 or 2 mill there?). You waive Sergio, Frye, Outlaw, and Blake for cap space and don't resign anyone. All that together adds up to about 43 to 45 million. Pryz has a player option of 7.4 M and I don't know if he takes it or tests the FA. He could test, but it is a big class and he might be better off being a FA in 2011 (just not sure if there are teams with cap space then or not). If the stars align, and let's say the cap is like $63 Mill we could have almost $20 Mill in cap space and hold onto Rudy, Oden, LA, Roy, Bayless, Webster, Batum, Pet Ko and Freeland. We are really thin in the front court and this would rely on J Bay or Pet Ko being ready to lead the team. Don't know if that's enough $$$ for LBJ -- probably not -- but if Paul Allen wanted to he could also deal Webster for an expiring, or even waive one of LMA or Roy if LBJ is actually willing to come to PDX. Then again -- does LBJ really fit into this team? Would he really come here? Maybe another FA?
Dude... both Richardson and Thomas have been STARTERS all year (although it looks like QRich might go back to the bench when JJ gets healthy). Do you think the Clippers keep starting him because of what he did for a half of a season on the Suns two years ago? Eddie House helped the Celtics win a title, and is one of the best shooters in the NBA. I think it's silly to say those three guys don't belong in the NBA. Ed O.
