There's nobody on this team that I would consider untouchable. Even Aldridge, with his medical problems, should be available for trade. We need to start over. New management. New coach. New team. I would keep Batum unless the right deal was on the table, and possibly Wesley, but Felton, Wallace, Oden, and Aldridge could all be had for the right price. We need another Brandon Roy. We need a franchise player. I'm not sure Aldridge is that guy, therefore he should be available.
I think that going forward we're going to be attractive to a specific subset of player that can keep us competitive. If we wanted to be the Oakland A's we would find undervalued players like Matthews and spin him off when he becomes "valued" or "overvalued" for young, undervalued players and draft picks while getting cheaper. I don't know that that's viable going forward, and it's risky. But I think that if we are able to sign good, undervalued players to less-than-reasonable long-term contracts (like LMA and Matthews) as the core of the team, and bring in a revolving door of good-to-great high-paid players (like Crash) that you CAN spin off if a good deal comes along. All that to say, I think we should keep LMA and Wes b/c they're locked up for very reasonable terms for a long time. I think that Nic is going to be pricey, and if there's a chance to trade him this year for some rookie-contract talent and draft picks then that's a place to "spin". If Crash can get us an expiring contract back plus an asset (1st or rookie contract talent) then that should be looked at. Camby should be looked to move to a contender who'll give us a crap expiring and any asset, or just keep him and let his contract expire. Showcase some of the young'uns.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cdtrnbt and http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=brxt4w9 I would try to get a pick from Philly too. Wall/Smith/Johnson Wesley/Turner/Williams Batum/Rashard Lewis Nocioni/Thomas McGee/Oden Nice young core of Wall, Batum, Turner, McGee, and maybe Oden.
I like the idea of adding Evan Turner though. He hasn't done well in Philly so far, so maybe we could get him relatively cheap?
LMAO at Roy being a blown draft pick. I got some others... Batum, Robinson, Drexler, Porter, Kersey, Sabas, Wells, Aldridge, Oneal. Yeah we've been really terrible with our pick selection.
You really wanna play this game? Our first round picks have missed far more than hit. Robinson and Kersey both second rounders. Unless you are referring to James, then he goes in my list
Then why the fuck would we want to rebuild with first round picks. And to say the least, it further proves that this method will not work. Obviously Portland has done just fine without having the luxury of first round picks; since how you graciously put it; we blown more than won on. Rebuild via trades and stay competitive.
You have to. If you can't draft then a team like Portland has no chance. FA's aren't beating down our door to come here, and trading is harder than it was in the Trader Bob era. Rebuilding through trades sounds great, but it's a lot harder to add high end pieces than it used to be
I did not say Roy was a blown pick... but after 5 years we have nothing but 4 more years of debt We just do not have good luck
But it can be done. In fact, the more "competitive" you are; the better chance you land those free-agents. During the Whitsett years; we were able to land Smith and Pippen because we looked like a team just needing a player like them to get over the hump. So when you fail miserably; than why would anyone want to come or stay for that matter? The best bet is to try and stay as competitive as you can. Chicago had a terrible 15 years before they got lucky enough to get a player like Rose. Why would we want to follow their lead?
Well honestly who's fault it that? Rumors reported that we knew about his knees before signing the deal. Basically we agreed to give him that much, even knowing that his career would be short. But man oh man, he gave us some great fucking years! If we had to do that draft 1000 times over and over again; I would want it no other way.
That roster is horrible. I'd rather keep Aldridge and Wes and just let all our free agents walk in the summer. Rashard Lewis is going to be amnesty cut no way Paul Allen spends $45 million to add him.
I think you are misunderstanding me then. I don't believe we need to try and rebuild via draft. It's like you keep posting things that validate my argument.
The difference is we already had a strong team with assets to get those guys. LOL except Smith. I will never understand that deal. We also had a GM who was a fantastic talent evaluater
