I think you're misreading what people are saying about playing Felton, and the reasons they don't want Felton to play.
I don't think anybody is saying play Flynn and Smith to make the team better this year, but it would more about gathering intelligence on them and seeing if either guy can produce (or at least show signs of improvement as they go) before they have to make a decision on either guy this summer or look at their options in the draft or free agency. The team should be doing all it can to set the chess pieces for the next match instead of trying to wiggle itself out of check ... so to speak.
I don't think it's some mega super secret plan. Flynn is small potatoes, obviously. This is more along the lines of a little scheme to swap picks 28 and 29 for pick 26. It's not that big of a deal that requires careful coordination or major risk or really has much likely upside or downside. It's a minor move to try to maximize what little opportunity is there. It's just a pretty unusual strategy, is all. Like putting ketchup on your eggs.
I've seen enough of Flynn and Smith to have gathered intelligence on them... they suck. Smith is on a cheap guaranteed contract, so he'll either be back or traded. Jonny was trade filler and is likely to be out of the league after his contract runs it's course this season. If for some reason Portland wanted Flynn back next year, he's due a qualifying offer of 5.7M I'm hardly a Raymond Felton fan but I'm pretty sure he'll be getting minutes on an NBA team next year. If the goal is to get the vets to tune out and totally tank for the lotto, then by all means PDX should gather more intelligence on Jonny & Nolan. STOMP
Stomp, hits the nail on the head. Not closing the door on Flynn, but highly doubt he's worth 5.7MIL. STOMP
Is he due a qualifying offer? I thought he was a unrestricted free agent because Houston did not pick up his option last fall. If you have actually seen Flynn play lately then I will trust your judegment, but I have not seen enough of him to know for sure if he sucks. I really want to see him for myself. (And for several games with decent minutes.)
my Flynn exposure was while he was with the Wolves, and obviously I was not impressed at all. Minnesota badly needed PG play, but his mentality was that of a shooter who unfortunately couldn't shoot. Honestly he looked Luke Babbitt lost on both ends of the court. Size-wise his predraft measurements (height length weight) were almost identical to Felton's. On the positive, he has a nice smile and says the right things to the press. As far as his contract situation, I'm just going off of Storyteller's salary link so STOMP
I think Flynn being a starting quality point guard is probably a long-shot at this point, but I'm not sure I'd use his time in Minny under Rambis as a great barometer; more damning to me is Daryl Morey cutting bait and not even picking up his 4th year option. That said, there's literally nothing to lose by playing him 15 minutes a night and seeing what he can do ... except that the Blazers would have to put up with a seriously pissed off Felton if his minutes got cut and he can't compile some stats in the last half of this season as he heads to his contract year. I don't know if they really want to deal with that.
I wonder if Morey's not picking up his 4th year option had more to do with Lowry and Dragic being proven good guards and giving Flynn a chance to be a good player where he'll get an opportunity.
Wait, the Blazers were rebuilding in summer 2011, and you now want them to rebuild again? This guy...
