Do we need a vet PG or a vet SG??? Who if any of them??? I am trying to think of players who could legitimately help us. I do not think G. Wallace would help us much more then our current roster. I am starting to think we need to off Blake, Sergio AND Outlaw to get either a good vet PG or a good vet SG. But who?! I am looking at PG's in the league who we maybe could get... and no one looks good to me. Billups looks good, but there is no way we could get him now. So then I shift to SG. Nothing much there either!!! What to do?!??!!!1 The best name I could come up with... Michael Redd. This is the best trade idea I could come up with. http://www.realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=4809534 Blake, Sergio, Outlaw and Raef for Redd and Ridnour. Roy\Ridnour\Bayless Redd\Rudy Batum\Webster LMA\Frye\Ike Oden\Joel\Randolph I am not too worried about Ridnour getting PT. His contract expires next year anyways. BUT, he is\was a decent PG at one point in time. Def not a bad backup to Roy and mentor to Bayless. Redd gives us a top notch scorer\shooter to take some pressure off of Roy and another shooter to kick out to. We clear up some roster space. Bucks get a chance to rebuild with Raefs money. I doubt they would do it. But I am bored at work. Enjoy tearing this apart
You think shooting guard is this team's point of weakness with Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez? And, YES, Gerald Wallace would be a huge upgrade for this team at the small forward.
Well I don't think we need a shooting guard, I think that we need a PG but I cannot think of any good one. So I moved Roy to starting PG and Redd to SG. And I honestly don't think Wallace would be that much better then Batum. I would rather play and develop Batum then play Wallace. But I am a pretty big Batum homer. I just don't think we need someone like Wallace. Every position does not need to be All Star caliber. We have a bunch of guys who are close to AS caliber. We gotta have a couple role players who will do the small dirty work like Batum... and not care of he doesn't get any shots.
A vet SG is the LAST thing we need! We either stand pat or go for a PG or SF. A vet "quality" PG would be ideal but there is really no one available that works - this topic has been beaten to death. So why not go for an SF like Wallace who is IMO a very good fit at age 26. We trade some combo of TO, Webs, Frye and Sergio and Raef and/or picks, in 1-2 yrs we prune the SF position of Wallace/Webs/Batum.
We don't need a vet, other than the several vets we already have. When KP and Nate mention getting a vet, they are specifically speaking of Kobe, and nobody else but Kobe, and it makes me puke to think about it. We don't need a vet. We need a coach.
I'm not saying we need an all-star at every position ... and here's the rub, Wallace is not an all-star caliber player, he's probably a borderline all-star, but what he does bring is a heavy dose of interior toughness, perimeter defense and an elite ability to get to the rim and foul line, an area where this current team is woefully deficient. As for a bunch of guys on this team being all-star caliber, I don't see it. We probably have 2 all-star caliber players right now (Brandon and Lamarcus) with 2 or 3 guys with an unknown level of potential -- Rudy looks legit so far, but we've only seen him in a handful of games, Oden's health is a huge question mark longterm, and Bayless is an elite athlete, but has a looooong way to go before you could even begin to put him in the conversation. The only concern I have with Wallace is the number of concussions he's sustained and his ability to play a full season, so that would definitely be something to pause and think about if you were KP considering a deal to get him.
IMO, Jason Kidd would be a good fit. I would not trade for him as his contract expires at the end of the season, but if you could sign him to a 3 year deal worth 18-21 mil, i would be ok with that.
Supposedly Kidd turned down coming here more than once. I would rather wait till the off season and sign Nash.
I've been opposed to Marion in the past, but now he's an expiring contract and he could help us consolidate. This works: EITHER: 1. Miami trades Shawn Marion to us for Blake, Outlaw and LaFrentz OR: 2. Same except with Frye instead of Outlaw OR: 3. Miami adds Marcus Banks and we add Ike Diogo to either of the above. I like 1: yes we give up our LaFrentz chip, but Marion's contract is even larger and also expires at the end of the year. We would have to give up a forward, and Miami would probably like Outlaw best, because they've got Beasley and Haslem at PF. Marion could play both SF and PF for us. If we did 2, it makes less sense for Miami (unless they play Channing at C, where currently I think Haslem is starting) and although we get to keep Outlaw, we have a glut. In both cases, I'm happy giving up Blake, and I think Miami would like a stable vet, even though Chalmers is doing well for them at PG. Miami would like option 3 best, I think, because Banks is overpaid and his contract is 4 years long. 3 would be a compromise on Portland's part. Marion could audition for us, and if we don't want to keep him, we get boffo cap room. That would mean giving up Blake and Outlaw/Frye for nothing, but we are pretty stocked. I'm not unconvinced that Joel Freeland couldn't give us a lot of Outlaw's qualities. And I'm tired of Blake. Let's force Nate's hand into playing more fun guards (either Spaniard, Bayless if we're keeping him) more, especially as I don't see us having a realistic shot at anything big this year.
Here are my git r dun trades for the new era of destruction the Blazers will be inflicting on the league http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...~976~255&teams=6~6~9~9~6~22~10~22~9&te=&cash= Add in a first to Dallas and I think all teams do it. Gives Houston a back up big to Yao, and Scola. Plus Harrington isd expiring Dallas gets younger, deeper, and still gets a quality vet PG GS gets rid of a disgruntled player and adds an up tempo PG, and an athletic forward that would both flourish under Nellie Portland gets a veteran PG and defense SF.
Didn't that talk come up with the Devin Harris trade last year? I wonder if the Olympics experience w/ nate helped or hinder his perspective.
MM - You would want to lose Martell Webster, Sergio Rodriguez, and Travis Outlaw for possibly just Shane Battier? What if Jason Kidd doesn't re-up with us. According to reports he has vetoed trades to come in here in the past.
You wouldn't rather go after players that are under contract at least past this season? Too risky. It's like giving away talent so that you can rent a quality player for half a season.
Just not sure Kidd is the answer especially considering his age and the contract he'll want. Also don't like his domestic abuse charges he's had over the last couple of years.
I love Batum, and still think Wallace would be a massive upgrade on Batum. Wallace is a very good case scenario for what Batum could become; Batum is definitely not at that level right now. One could potentially make the argument that Batum is near Wallace defensively (though I think Wallace is more consistent), but Batum isn't anywhere close to Wallace on offense. The Blazers could use someone with the ability to get to the rim and finish or draw fouls. I think Batum backing up Wallace would be an excellent situation. In fact, considering Batum's apparent defensive versatility, it would be interesting to see lineups that incude Batum in the backcourt, defending the 1 or 2.
