Yeah, I think if they part with him, it will be as part of FA sign and trade, not a salary dump to clear more space.
You mean a sign and trade when his rookie deal expires? Beasley is only in the second year of his rookie scale deal. In any case, I agree that it's unlikely they dump him for just cap relief ... and if Miami did dump him for just cap relief that would probably be a big enough red flag for KP to pass on him (as if the drugs and other shenanigans haven't already made that impossible).
I think by sign and trade, he meant signing someone like Bosh, say, and trading them Beasley for Bosh, or Lebron, etc.
Exactly what I meant. I think the plan for them is to line up the FAs, supposedly they will almost have enough space for 2 max deals with Beasley on their payroll, so once the first big fish commits to them, the original team can sign and trade him (for example Lebron) for Beasley rather than getting nothing, and then that way Miami will have freed more space for additional free agents. Makes a hell of a lot more sense than dumping Beasley. Who knows how the 2010 FA season will unfold... worst case scenario, they'd have to spend their money on second-tier guys like Johnson -- makes more sense to hold onto Beasley on the cheap in that case.
Ah gotcha. I fully agree that this makes a whole lot more sense. There's no way they are going to give up a second year second overall pick for reserves, they are going to want to get a high quality free agent, and the Raptors and Bosh seems like a very logical choice.
Well we just missed out on Stephen Jackson, because too many fans are afraid of getting a little bit of nastyness on the team will taint the team somehow. What did we miss out on because Blazer fans are too goody goody to have this guy on our team? Just a guy who averages 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assist per game from the SF position. Thats right. 4 times the assist that Travis Outlaw averages per game. More points per game. Some of you would bitch about his shooting percentage. He makes up for it by getting to the line a fair amount. This team could use some nastyness and vocal leadership on it. Stephen Jackson would have been fine here with the leadership in place. He has functioned well any place with strong leadership, including one run to the finals with the Spurs. But nope, Blazer fans are too goody goody to bring him on.
Hmm...I seem to have missed the mass email from Blazer management to all Blazer fans seeking our opinion on Stephen Jackson. Or was there a "Honk Once for S-Jax" billboard erected away from my commute that everyone else ignored? Damn--if only I had known that I might have actually had some influence on a Blazer personnel decision. Next time this opportunity comes around, would you be so kind as to PM me so that I don't miss my chance?
Yea I'll get right on that. You can make all the snarky remarks you want. You know as well as I do the reason the Blazer management doesn't get anybody with a nasty streak on this team was because of a few bad eggs that were on the team a few years ago, that the fans freaked out and threw a tantrum about. The real problem was that those players were not winners. You can do pretty much all the nasty shit off the court you want if you are winning games. That was the problem. Not so much what the players were doing off court themselves.
So, if (as you say) the real problem with Bonzi, Sheed, Zach, et al was that they weren't winning--or more specifically, that Blazers fans really didn't have a big problem with them until they stopped winning--then why are you blaming the lack of nastiness on Blazer fans being too "goody goody"? Wouldn't the logical conclusion be that the overabundance of nice guys stems from a management overreaction to fan dissatisfaction? If you want to shoot flaming arrows at someone for not being willing to pick up a player of questionable character, aim them a little higher than at the teeming masses.
Blake is not going to be traded. In fact, he will be resigned to a four or five year deal at the end of the season. Plus he will be the starter for the foreseeable future. There is absolutely no reason to believe otherwise. No one would ever be happier to be wrong then I would be if Blake got shipped. I just see no reason to believe Portland would do so. I think they see him as a starting PG on a championship team. After all, he is a winner. And clutch. And reliable. At least that's what the announcers tell me.
Definitly. If those guys would have been winnning, the fans here would have shut up and not gave a crap. Look at the Drexler era Blazers. Cliff Robinson punched a female cop. Nothing happened. The difference? The team that year won like 63 games.
My buddy who lives in Indiana was talking with a co-worker who is from Portland originally and a Blazers fan. My buddy says soemthing like "how are you ever going to compete with Steve Blake as your starting point guard" the Blazers fan replies "Steve Blake won a national championship in college don't you know." For some reason I get the feeling that this is exactly the kind of thought process that KP goes through when thinking about Blanky.
Better yet, 20 points 5 rebs 6.5 assists (last year). Never mind he put up those stats playing point forward in Nellie Ball, putting up 17 shots (41% FG)... I'm not saying he wouldn't be an upgrade in some respects, but he's a low percentage volume scorer who is used to having the ball in his hands. On a horrible contract. Just not worth it IMO.
Teams with strong leadership can handle having a couple of players with a nasty attitude on them. Look at the Lakers with Artest. Look at the Bulls with Jordan who had Rodman. You will also note, that Stephen Jackson has a championship ring, which he won with the San Antonio Spurs. So he has a history of being a piece on a championship team providing the leadership was there. You will also note that things didn't fall apart for him in Golden State until Baron Davis bailed. Baron was the leader of that ballclub, and when he left, the leadership void opened up, and Stephen Jackson became unhappy. The reason is Jackson is a follower. He is a good 2nd/3rd option for scoring. But he is not the main guy. He just needs to move to a team with strong leadership again, and he will be fine.
