I keep reading people saying this and it makes me wonder everytime, did they watch any Blazer games and actually pay attention other then the Spurs series?
Almost every Blazer game possible. Aldridge is a pathetic defensive player. I'm pretty sure (no joke) that I could do a better job on defense than he does. Doesn't come to help, almost never even lifts his hands above his head, gets almost no blocks, doesn't box-out at all (as a PF!), gets most of his rebounds because RoLo boxed out for him, you could see RoLo was afraid to come out on Parker cause he couldn't trust LaMarcus to have his back OR box-out. With Lillard and Lamarcus each playing 40mpg and with a coach who doesn't know how to teach defense, we can't be a good defensive team.
Absolutely. But there is something to be said about voicing your opinion if you believe strongly. Maybe.
Bollocks. He's made significant measurable improvements each and every off season since he was in high school. Why all the sudden would that stop?
Ok, ok, so u all don't freak out: I would rather get Exum without giving up LaMarcus, La is a good offensive player with a natural ability to play outside as a PF, also to go inside. He's also a decent one-on-one defender as long as he has RoLo behind him. But, he's one of the worst team-defenders on the team, he doesn't show any effort or understanding on defense. If the question is "would you trade LA for Exum?" I would and I think it takes until mid-season for you to acknowledge it would have been a good trade.
Sure. It's a free country/forum. I definitely don't think it's out of line or as preposterous to suggest trading Aldridge as some do. Some comments, though...
You don't believe it, I do. I would be fine with keeping LA. I think we should see for what he is - one of the better offensive PFs, a borderline All-Star, not an MVP candidate, not even our MVP. He needs to vastly improve his defensive awareness (like Freeland did last summer, like T-Rob did during the season) for him to deserve the high-praise he's getting and for the team to make the next step to becoming real contenders.
Dame was 22 his rookie year, so a lot more mature, and was an anomaly in terms of immediate impact. And I really question if he was better than LA his rookie year (much less, now). When was the last time you saw an 18 year old international player become an MVP candidate his rookie year? Come on, man. You're predicting this guy to be one of the best players ever. Just step back and thing about that
I want to trade Lamarcus mostly because I don't think we can win big with two defensive liabilities on the court for 40 minutes. Exum is the guy I would personaly take #1 and I think he would be a very good player, probably soon. I also don't hate the idea of giving more minutes to T-Rob, Claver or Freeland, also think a guy like Varejao wouldn't give us LA's offense but would be better defensively and on the boards. Lets say it's Lamarcus for Exum, Varejao. You make it sound like a crazy idea and I'm not sure we wouldn't be better even right away.
Supposedly Stotts is an offensive genius, so it shouldn't be hard for him to work up a new offense. But, since I don't actually believe that Stotts is a genius I won't resort to that as my answer. Our offense is built around a PF who shoots 18' jumpers. Here's a list of forwards (why NBA.com won't break it down by PF/SF I don't know) who shot >100 shots from 15-18', sorted by FG% - David West is #2 on the list, and Pau and Boozer are only a couple percentage points worse than LMA: http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerSh...Position=F&sortField=FG_PCT5ft4&sortOrder=DES So, in short, our offense as it stands is flawed. David West would be better for our team on both ends of the court. Boozer might not be as good at either end, but the drop-off wouldn't be dramatic. Besides, he was just a name to add to the list - I've never particularly cared for him, but I suspect he'd be fine as a stop-gap. Admittedly I haven't seen him play in a couple years. And yes - West and Pau are better defenders than LMA. Boozer is probably a better help-defender but a worse man-defender. Regardless - LMA's defense is not a reason to keep him. Also, your making a very dangerous assumption that we can only improve upon our win total from last season. Keeping LMA does not assure us of an equal or better record next season. I actually think - without a major upgrade - we will come up short next season. We had incredible luck this season with a hot start that was bolstered by some shaky wins, along with one of the healthiest rosters in recent memory. We greatly exceeded expectations and it was a monstrously successful season, but we were still only 6 losses away from the lottery. Thinking that we're a lock for 2nd-round or better next season is a mistake - a lot of things broke our way last season. Will that happen again next season? Will we improve enough that we won't need to rely on some lucky breaks? Maybe, maybe not.
I think Wiggins is the best prospect, then Exum. I would like to clarify that I'd still be optimistic if we didn't make this trade. Lamarcus is not a bad player to have even if I think he's overrated by some of you. I think an LA for Exum/Varejao trade makes a lot of sense even if I understand it's a very risky move. If we don't make such a trade I would want us to make just minor changes if at all, unless there's something we can't refuse.
I also would like Aldridge to work hard this summer on improving his defense. He needs to make some major changes in his game defensively if he wants to even just be average. I think if he and Lillard don't improve defensively and keep playing so many minutes we have no chance of being good defensively even with Batum, Rolo. If he doesn't improve his defense I hope T-Rob, Freeland and Claver start eating Into his playing time.
That is the thousandth time I have read that! Congratulations! You are a new inductee into our little The S2 Truth Club.
Maybe a couple overrate him, but to be fair I think most just find the need to defend him against those who make idiotic comments. (Not talking about you) We know he is not ideal. 99% of all players have major flaws. Hell Clyde had major flaws and he is a Hall of Famer! The bottom line is LMA is damn good, and he likes playing here. So trading him for someone not as good irritates some people, because they know the LMA's of the world do not come around very often. No matter what his fucking PER says. Nobody has seen Exum play against NBA talent. So although I think he will be good, I agree it is a major risk.
