Marion is such a fucking cancer it's not even funny. There's a reason he's been on 3 teams in the last 3 years.
Meh. Marion isn't the player he used to be. I wonder if he still check his stats at half-time like he did in Phoenix?
I'm actually fine with not upgrading what we have. We have a good core, use what we have and get more experience and play smarter. Sign some backup PFs. I don't really think we need that much of an upgrade at the point...unless Harris or CP3 become available somehow.
For what the Blazers need, Odom would be a much better fit, IMHO. A few observations of why: Odom has better shot selection and nearly 10% better fg% Much stronger rebounder/banger Style of defense is what the Blazers need Lots of double/doubles - well rounded Yes, he has a few areas of improvement and concern - but he would be a lot better compliment to the Blazer team than Hedo.
Fuck Marion. Odom would be a good choice, but he's a Queensbridge guy just like Artest and LA can't afford to let him walk. I'd like Ramon Sessions, but I get the distinct impression Milwaukee will probably drag their feet on deciding whether or not to match which ties up your available cap room for the duration, leaving you high and dry if they finally retain him At this point I think It's gotta be Andre Miller for about 7 million a year for at least 3 years and possibly a backup 4 acquired through trade or the remainder of the cap room. I don't see many other free agents out there that are going to be all that attainable or desirable
Odom > Hedo but I still don't think he would be a good fit here. He's very inconsistent, disappears at times and doesn't contribute. I just don't think he's a complete player.
Plan B. You don't have to sign a free agent, you know. With $9M in cap space, KP could trade a future 2nd for a guy with a $9M salary. Look at the salaries on S2 or wherever to see who might fit. Of course the other team has to want to get rid of such a player.
I don't think signing him is a possibility anyway. You can't offer him significantly more than the MLE and Milwaukee cleared the salary space to match that. I think it is 100% that they will. My interest would be in talking to Milwaukee about a sign-and-trade. I'd give up Bayless or Rudy to acquire him. Outlaw also. Since they did draft Brandon Jennings, they may be willing to deal Sessions if they got some value back.
Maybe my recollection of the CBA is wrong, you're saying Milwaukee would only have to match the MLE part of the first year and not the entire value of the contract including the balloon raises in years 3+? Well fuck that then, they'd match the MLE on him for sure. As for the idea of a trade, I'd be on board with what you propose ... but it's hard for me to imagine KP trading away Rudy and Bayless. I'm not saying he's too in love with them, but it just doesn't feel like a KP trade
Would it be worth making a play for Kidd just to fuck with Dallas? They've offered him $8M a year for 3 years, though... I hope Pritchard doesn't feel like he has to sign just SOMEBODY to make it look like he's doing something. If it doesn't fit, you must pass on it.
I doubt he's going to go into panic mode, if there are still players out there that he wants I'm guessing we'll see a market value offer (or slightly above) otherwise, expect movement in the trade market ... I hope
They have to match the whole thing, but the "balloon raises" can only be 8% of the first year, right? I'm just saying, Portland can't go in and offer a 5 year / $52 million deal or anything, even if they wanted to. They have to offer something starting at the MLE, even if it has raises later. I think Milwaukee would certainly match that. And I hope you're wrong about Pritchard. I'd certainly like to believe that he's more flexible about trading the guys he's acquired. I'm not really sure I believe the meme that Pritchard simply refuses to trade "his guys."
Boy, this sure is deflating. My targets now (in order of guys I like most, first): Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Ramon Sessions, Kirk Hinrich, Marvin Williams. Get either one or two players on this list, and I'm going back into "KP = God" mode. Edit: Add Battier and Childress to the end of that list as well.
As much as I like Batum, I'd start Odom. He's a good defender, a better scorer and passer than Batum and a slightly better rebounder. Basically, at this stage in their respective careers, Odom is better at everything except maybe defense and the difference there isn't much (though Batum can defend more positions).
Turkoglu was plan B I think. One would assume KP tried to mve Raef at the deadline, but got too greedy.
