Vucevic is tailor made for Stotts, I'm coming around on the idea. His defense has improved and his rebounding would really shore up another weakness. Not sure who Orlando would want or what vuc' value even is.
Vuc can be our new LaMarcus. Bring him and then later bring a defensive\dirty work guy. Vuc for this year's pick (top 3 protected, unprotected next year)+Meyers +Aminu Noel for Crabbe+Cle 1st ... FUCK these trades suck.
This is where the Kings come in, because Orlando is evidently interested in Gay. That's a starting point for Vucevic, but obviously Sacramento doesn't need him but they probably would want a shooter like Crabbe or a young PF like Vonleh.
What's our record been at acquiring free agents or top talent via trade? Guys we didn't have to develop (e.g. Wes). I don't think the issue is strictly one for the Blazers. At least the core of the good teams are home grown.
I mean, we traded Sean Marks and a draft pick for Gerald Wallace. Then we traded Gerald Wallace for Damian Lillard. We traded Hollis-Jefferson for Plumlee.
Just curious: wasn't Hollis-Jefferson supposed to be a Defense powerhouse coming out of college? And how has he done since we traded him?
I hated that trade when it happened, but looks like Olshey got it right. Doubt RHJ will ever be as valuable as Plumlee, but he should be a solid rotational player. Good on defense, fouls a lot right now but that should improve with more experience. Still can't shoot.
Thinking about this, it more or less has to be a 3-team trade unless they are somehow keen on Turner or Crabbe - which I very much doubt. Plumlee would be a good prospect in that team but salaries won't match, they don't have a real need for Aminu or Davis to be completely honest and Leonard's value is very low. Noel seems easier to do (for Crabbe) than Vuc although I like Vuc's offensive threat. Maybe do as suggested and send someone to Sacramento so they give Magic Rudy Gay but he's just a 5-month loan. Then again if Magic can make playoffs this season this might be worth a shot, they will have a lot of extensions to do in the Summer anyway with Ibaka also coming to an end of his contract.
Remember that most teams are set at center, so getting equal value back may not happen for a team looking to move one.
OK. Neither were exactly a Chris Bosh or LeBron or Durant kind of guy. One who'd put you over the top.
So trading a 15th man for a borderline all-star wasn't a steal then? And Chris Bosh doesn't put you over the top
Great team defense is where it's at. Good to have two-way players, too. Don't want 4 on 5 at one end of the court. The Warriors built a contender around Curry, Green, and Thompson. Trade other pieces to build around the core, or select FAs that fit in. The Spurs built around Duncan, Leonard, Parker, Ginobili, and Green. Ditto. The exception is LeBron in Miami. He went back to Cleveland after they grew a nice core. Irving, Thompson, and Wiggins (Wiggins for Love), and Waiters. Caves paid a huge tax bill.
I think you must have forgotten how good Gerald Wallace was. He wasn't just 1st team All Defense the season before we got him. He was an All Star who averaged 18.2 ppg and 10 rpg. A guy who averages 18.2 ppg as the second option on a playoff team is not an offensive liability. Wallace was a TOTAL two-way player, exactly the kind of two-way player this team needs right now. Seriously, 1st team All Defense and 18.2 ppg. How is that not a two-way player? The problem was Nate McMillan had absolutely zero clue how to use Wallace and Batum together and, as a result, the performance of both players nosedived after the trade. He saw them as the same player and therefore redundant. Of course, that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Nate completely underutilized Batum's talent the entire time he coached him. He stuck Nic in the corner as a 19-year old rookie and left him there for 4 years. With Roy injured most of the season, under a more astute coach, Nic could have seen some time at SG, utilizing his playmaking ability to create shots for Wallace, but never in a million years would Nate have considered that. The previous year he refused to have Nic post up Steve Nash in the PHO series because he didn't think Nic could handle the responsibility. Nic's ast/g jumped from 1.4 to 4.9 the first year after Nate was replaced by Stotts and he currently averages 5.8 ast/g as the starting SG in CHO. In the end, Sean Marks for Gerald Wallace was a steal, even if Nate misused Wallace. He still had enough value to land us the 6th pick in the draft that got us Lillard. So, unless you think Sean Marks would have gotten us the 6th pick, that trade was a huge steal. BNM
I liked it when we got him, but I don't think he lived up to expectations. Regardless of excuses. Hence my warning that past performance on another team doesn't guarantee you get what you expect. No more all NBA defense teams. No more 18 PPG. 3 point drop in PER. He helped us win 48 and 28 games. I'm sure Brooklyn was thrilled to give up an early first for him. They got burned. The steal aspect of the Marks deal is another straw man.
