There have been a bunch of interesting clues dropped lately that may foreshadow what strategy the team has going into the summer. Many of them have come from Buchanan, who may not be running the show soon. But we all know that Paul Allen pulls the strings and, if this is the plan, it's likely their strategy regardless of who the GM is. 1.) First of all, in the exit interviews, Batum said that he's been told by the Blazers that they are planning on matching any offer sheet he would sign. 2.) Also at the exit interviews, Buchanan said that they will be looking for a new starting point guard and a new starting center. 3.) Buchanan said that he wants the PG to be about the same age as the rest of our "core". 4.) On Courtside Monday night Buchanan explained that a big reason why they didn't sign Batum back before the deadline was that they knew his cap hold, being less than any contract he would have signed, would free up some more money to spend on free agents. He said that we can sign new players to our team up to the cap limit, and then go over the cap to re-sign Batum to his new deal. 5.) Also on Courtside, Buchanan said that both of our draft picks are very much available for trade. He reiterated that they are committed to finding a new starting center and point guard. This tells me that the Blazers are very much looking to "reload", not "rebuild". Of particular interest to me is that they they are willing to go over the cap. If true, this certainly speaks to Allen's commitment to the team, and would give us a nice boost in free agency. It's especially impressive considering that they are likely going to have to pay Batum more this summer than they would have before the deadline, but are willing to do so to increase our cap room. I really think the Blazers will make at least one move on draft day. I bet they will either try and acquire their new point guard or (more likely) their new center then, or use a pick as bait to shed even more salary to set them up to sign two free agents.
His single post has been more informative and generally readable than that entire month's worth of threads, too.
Agreed. He's getting up there in years, we don't want to be paying him after he's too old to run up and down the court. barfo
If the Blazers max Deron Williams, what is the amount that would come off the cap? Anyone know? As for maxing out Batum once they have signed the free agents they want. I hope he cooperates with them as they go through the process. He can sign an offer sheet and if that offer runs out before the Blazers have their free agents signed, they lose him. Or if he signs the offer sheet before they sign their free agents, he may force their hand to use their cap on him. Making the total impact of the free agent money less.
The exit interviews were 6 days ago and courtside was 3 days ago. There has been a little talk about the exit interviews around here, but I don't recall much, if anything, about the courtside show. Either way, I think we should be encouraging well thought out posts in the off-season, not the opposite! In any event, another one to add to the list was Buchanan saying they are looking for a defensive minded coach. I forgot that one.
The only player on the free agent market worthy of a reload is Deron Williams. If we don't get him, we need to changes course.
It's a helluva lot easier to say you want to "reload" vs. actually making the moves that it would take to quickly turn this team around from it's current trajectory. I'm very dubious about the guys running this show actually having a fair assessment of the roster and just how far away they really are ... and just how difficult it could be to get a quality point guard and a center just by trading some decent to fair lotto picks. I guess we'll see what happens.
He also stated they're working on a Freeland contract to bring him over. ALOT, to gain or lose this summer.
Remember, cap space can be used for trades too. Of course, you don't have to give anything BUT cap space to get a FA, whereas nobody just trades you a good player for NOTHING (unless they're on a REALLY TERRIBLE contract and are old or have other problems, or they belong to a team to whom cap space is super-valuable because they know they're a top FA destination - so Amare' would almost certainly be available for cap space alone) but just because Deron Williams is clearly the most attractive FA out there doesn't mean that he's the only very good player who's gettable. Others might include Iguodala (not an area of need, but an awesome defender) and possibly Rondo, although he would almost certainly cost both picks and possibly Batum too. (Also: if a team other than the Nets ends up with Williams, it'll almost certainly be by sign-and-trade rather than direct signing, because that both allows the FA to get paid more and the team that loses him to get something out of it. Unless they killed that in the new CBA?)
I wouldn't be too upset with Dragic though. I remember watching him play in Phoenix and at times you didn't realize Nash wasn't on the court. He's not Deron, but he could end up being a top seven PG in the league. I think he'd be a lot better than Marshall--who I like.
I think the summer clues are that there is no mention of the Blazers drafting Marshall in any of the mocks. I am praying that if we do draft someone it is Marshall.
Dragic and McGee. And Budenholzer. There's no way our heros at One Center Court can do better than that.
