Per Eggers: Blazers looking to move up in draft, take point guard

Yeah, it had nothing to do with Roy's knees and everything to do with Bayless.

If only the world was just black & white.

 

Or making shit up to make the front office look better

 

If you think Cho traded Bayless then fine

If you think Miller and PA have made good basketball decisions then fine

If you think Nate and his playoff record is good then fine

If you think getting 1 good game out Roy for every 4 he plays then fine

I love Aldridge, Batum, Wallace and Oden when he plays. I like everyone else, but I'm not married to them like a lot of people in here seem to be. The Blazers, who I love, need to be better to win a title. If that means trading away someone I like then do it.

PA was stupid to hire Cho in the first place, but firing him after only 10 months is equally as stupid.

 

But can Kemba Walker dominate Summer League like Bayless?

Exactly which is the team that is in position to draft Walker and will give us the pick? He's not going 1 or 2. It's possible that Utah, the team that preferred Deron Williams to Chris Paul, could take him over Brandon Knight at 3. And there's no way he falls to Detroit at 8. So:

3. Utah [has Devin Harris, doesn't like him, so needs PG - likely to take Knight]
4. Cleveland [will this pick actually be Minnesota? Maybe we can get it by getting in the Cavs-Wolves trade]
5. Toronto [Bayless > Walker, right, so they don't need a PG...]
6. Washington [they need everything EXCEPT PG. Would they be interested in Batum?]
7. Sacramento [who knows? They supposedly fell in love with Knight, and, as was obvious to everybody, Tyreke Evans is not a PG. But Marcus Thornton played really well for them, so who do they need? Another team that might like Batum.]

Trade suggestions? I don't see any of these going for Andre Miller. Batum, perhaps, but then they could take a risk on Jan Vesely, who is very similar.
Best hope? Geoff Petrie gives us the #7 for a conditional second-round pick, gets himself fired, then is hired as our new GM in a covertly prearranged deal.

(I'm torn on Walker: I've never liked waterbugs, but Walker has balls of steel and these days the NBA is a lot kinder on tiny folk (see Barea, J.J.). On the other other hand, didn't Johnny Flynn used to be this player?)

 

yes Flynn was, and his rookie year was very good but an injury and the triangle offense killed him this year. I view Flynn like I did Conley a few years ago when he could have been had cheap and few here wanted him, a good talent who needs some time. Well there are never any guarantees that Flynn will blossom like Conley did, but you have to take chances in this business and "buying cheap" and taking a chance on a guy who does have talent IMO makes sense. I mean if it only costs us Rudy and change why the hell not?

 

TOR fans discussing possible trade ideas: http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1117019

They seem to think Batum for the pick is decent. Nic is my fav player, but that is enticing.

 

Batum for #5 would be a great trade for Portland.....Assuming the guy the brass wants is there, and assuming they pick someone who can actually play.

 

Interesting, I realize they like us are only fans but several are amenable for Batum for the 5, some want the 21st as well, some say just straight up. Hmmmm, either Walker, Knight, or Kanter could be available at that the 5.

 

I think Kanter (4) and Knight (3) will both be gone by 5.

 

a question we should ask if we really considered this trade and went after Kemba - is he rally a better PG prospect then Flynn who could likely be had much, much cheaper. Flynn had a very good first yr and then this yr with his injury and the triangle was a disaster - I think it's a reasonable question to ask as I believe Kemba is somewhat similar to Flynn coming out of college (correct me if that assumption is wrong)?

 

Kanter has bad knees, so I hope he is gone.

Walker is a damn good PG

 

I didn't watch Flynn in college much. The guy Kemba reminds me of is Jameer Nelson. But Kemba seems to have that clutch gene, and really good leadership skills. I don't like Flynn after watching his last two years in the NBA. Even his rookie year wasn't anything to write home about. Minny should have taken Curry. And his hip injury apparently might be chronic.

 

Honestly, we could use both. Batum for Kemba and Rudy for Flynn. If I had to chose, like you I'd take the less expensive Rudy for Flynn deal.

 

the other choice is try to get Flynn for Rudy and and change and then beef up the front line and possibly use Batum or Wallace to do that - go for a big like Bismack or someone else at the 6 or 7 to 10 spot using Batum or Wallace?

 

We aren't trading Wallace.

No. freakin. way.

 

I really think LA had it from the time Roy went down and the time we got Wallace. Other than that he was pretty much the softy we know.

 

I'd love to see POR get Kemba Walker. I don't think the comparisons b\t him and Bayless are accurate at all.....

 

I'm glad we traded Bayless for the NO pick, it was good value then and I think it would be good value today.

I would like to undo the Bayless for Jack trade. Jack would be a valuable combo guard off the bench for us. At the time I thought the Jack trade was fine because we had Rudy coming over which would cause playing time issues. I liked the idea of taking a gamble on a Bayless talent. Bayless never came close to living up to the potential I thought he could have. He's a poor man's Ben Gordon without the long rang jumper.

 

Weird Casey Holdhal comes out blasting this and then alleges that it was Geoff Petrie who leaked this?

http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2011/...es-geoff-petrie-started-portland-kemba-walker

Honestly, this sounds to me like one of two things, either 1) Eggers actually got a scoop on the Blazers and once again in ham handed fashion they are trying to discredit it as a rumour....or 2) Holdhal just completely flipped out and started reaching for some pretty far fetched conclusions....

Either way, a really bad decision by Holdhal to post what he did....

and furthermore, his post trying to discredit the rumour makes ZERO sense, particularly if POR traded with TOR and got another veteran PG back (like Calderon)....or used the MLE on a guy like TJ Ford or possibly Aaron Brooks (restricted)....

What a weird series of events...

and BTW if any POR mgmt types ARE reading message boards then they might want to think about how reactions like this don't quell a rumour they spark it....If by any chance this was close to the truth, then the best way to handle it would have been by NOT reacting to it, ya think? maybe?