well, I guess the Blazers weren't buying the 'Zach-on-QO-is-trade-chip' argument. By the way, I don't think he'd be a 7M QO. He'd be about a 5.5M QO because he didn't have the minutes last year to qualify for the full QO. That would have been a dangerous speculation because Zach could have accepted the QO and with tax, Portland could have paid him around 14M dollars to sit on the bench all year. Added to the 2 previous seasons, that could have seen Portland pay Zach 23M to sit on the bench for 3 seasons I think this was a case when 'don't-throw-good-money-after-bad' informed the decision
Fans don't get the full medical report so I don't have enough info to know whether it's likely he'll ever be right again. The upside is that if right, he's a much better option then Nurk at getting switched out on guards on high pick and rolls which is the primary goal of most of the today's offenses. Teams just hunt for the guy that they want to go at and run pick and rolls until they get their desired matchup. Of course as Neil has constructed the team, Portland has multiple guys that teams are more then happy to go at and their only winning hope is to outgun the opposition, but I digress. Listen to the doctors, proceed accordingly. STOMP
A 7 footer with multiple breaks in the same place of foot/ankle. This is a no brainer. He's at least out for another season. No QO is just a simple decision. Not good not bad. Just obvious.
I highly doubt any NBA team will sign him until he is healthy and ready to play on the court, and we're at the least 6 months from that. It's not like he has #1 pick Greg Oden upside. He has role player upside. Even Oden didn't work out for Miami on a vet minimum contract. Illguaskas is about the only example of a chronicly injured big that became a good role player again. Those other teams would rather use a roster spot on someone who could improve in the next few months or a young player with the potential ceiling of a top starter.
Still think signing him to a prove it deal, if his other options don't work out, is viable. Then if he's healthy by playoff time, he potentially would be a very valuable addition.
I suppose Zach on a minimum contract...a 1 year deal...wouldn't be any worse than Blevins on a 1 year deal but I'd wonder at this point if Zach's doctor(s) have given him a fairly pessimistic prognosis for having an NBA career
He is like an egg. Another body part will be injured as he watches TV, eating pop corn. Get rid of him.
From Jason Quick’s article in The Athletic: “The first two surgeries were by Porter, who has done work with the Indianapolis Colts. He put in one plate and five screws in the first surgery and added two more screws in the second surgery. The June surgery was done by O’Malley, who is the team orthopedist for the Brooklyn Nets and Team USA basketball. He removed scar tissue and the seven screws and plate from the previous surgeries. O’Malley then put in a smaller plate and three screws. Bone grafts were done to fill the holes from the previous screws. “Just looking at my ankle after taking it out of the wrap and the splint — the swelling, the sutures and all that stuff — it’s the best it has looked out of the past two surgeries, by far,” Collins said. “And the pain level and my range of motion, already just two weeks out, is already better than it was with the other two. It’s just been much more manageable.” Added Bartelstein: “The good news is we could not be more confident we got it right this time and it will be healed. The doctors are extremely confident he is going to be right. Everyone is feeling like we are going to get a great result.”
