I do not assume the Blazers can't beat the Heat. Of course they can. Doesn't mean they will, but I hope we get a chance to find out. Sure we could trade Nico or Wes, but unless you are getting a bona fide all star, you'd be crazy to trade Batum. This team is a unit and Batum is integral to that. I cannot get over how undervalued Batum is by posters on this board. I'd rather use Mo's money on someone else, frankly. Wright is a shocking disappointment. Other than our starters, I don't know that we have any valued pieces to trade besides TRob and CJ. I'd keep TRob. I'd rather not trade CJ, but he and everyone else on the bench is expendable.
Nic is a top 5 SF. Can't really upgrade unless we get LeBron, Durant, George, or Melo and even Melo is debatable for this team...
Realistically every starter we have (with the possible exception of Aldridge) could be upgraded. But realistically this would not happen. (The only borderline possibility would be if Chicago totally imploded (say, Rose retires and/or Thibs leaves) and Noah wanted out. But he's not such a huge improvement over Robin as I would once have thought. And besides, they have amazing chemistry. I would be perfectly happy, though, with a totally new bench. Mo is a great guy and a huge lockerroom presence, but he drives me insane with his tunnel vision and atrocious defense. TRob is good for some highlights, but brain-wise he's a non-rapey Ruben Patterson. Freeland is leagues better than last season, but still undersized and underathletic. CJ might have value to someone, and might develop, but at the moment he's a poor man's Mo. Will is awesome, but totally out of control, which only bad teams can tolerate, and Meyers is just a wasted pick. I'll be sorry to see Claver go, and I genuinely believe he could be good in the right situation, but it's clear Stotts doesn't value him (and his shot is broken), so it's best that we part ways. Oh yeah, I forgot Dorrell Wright. Oh look, I just did it again. It's so easy to do! What do we need? DEFENSE, above all else, as well as a true, pass-first PG, preferably large enough to guard 2Gs when playing alongside Lillard. I really wanted Shaun Livingston last year, but I doubt the Nets will let him go now. Can't think of any others off the top of my head. I also really wanted us to draft Gorgui Dieng, and wouldn't he be the perfect backup big? But no, we went with CJ, and I don't think Minny would be keen to swap now. Are there any mid-30's ish vets who might be ready to sign on for a playoff run?
Would be great! However, depending on the coaching hire I think he ends up a Laker. If not that then a Mav or a Sun. I think it would be cool if we could pick up Tony Allen and either Vince Carter/Shawn Marion/Paul Pierce. The defense and hustle off the bench would be crazy... but it would limit the growth of CJ and Barton.
I would love to nab Pau with the MLE, but he'll probably get more from some crap team that wants to overspend. Sign and trade for Melo
completely ignored your post as soon as you brought up Jamal Crawford. Who said before the season started that last offseason was the first time in his career he worked on his game in the offseason. Who is a cancer. Who puts up wild prayer shots. Who sure can go for 15 points. but he can also clank every shot off. Oh lets not forget when we had Crawford after nate was fired and the blazers played the clippers. Crawford was heard on the broadcast saying. "i want to play for you guys, I want to be a clipper." smh.
Larry Sanders - Backup for LMA and Lopez, could be had on the cheap but making it work money wise would be tricky. As we all know, the Playoffs are all about defense and Larry has proved that he is capable of shutting down the paint. Avery Bradley - RFA (iirc) and when healthy was looking like a Tony Allen-esque on-ball defender. Luol Deng - I know we don't have the money/cap but he's a 6th man on a championship team at SF/PF.
Don't think we should look at trading Batum under ANY circumstances. We might find a player with better stats but our starting five are good together as any in the league right now. Let's focus on the three or four bench players we need to have a complete team.
We need a better version of Mo and we need a veteran big man like a Jermaine O'Neal. I think if you add those two pieces to our bench, we're set next season. It's conceivable that CJ develops into that "better Mo," but at this juncture I don't know if we can wait to find out.
Okay, I've put on my shit shield, but do you know what I think we need? A defensive-oriented backup point guard that can hit the three. My choice? Patrick Beverley. Seriously, I think he'd thrive in that role behind Dame.
I wanted a veteran big like we had in Juan Howard, someone who can come in cold and eat up lots of minutes at PF/C in case of injury or foul trouble. Guy like T-rob or Freeland you have to be scared if they are going to have "young guy mistakes". I would love to keep T-rob around to develop and use that veteran as a "just in case". Getting an upgrade from Mo would be awesome. I rather upgrade at the backup PG than backup SG because it lets Lillard "rest" as our backup SG by not having to handle the ball the entire game. Lets him play more minutes at a higher level. Also, with Batum and Lillard, you have your back 2 guards, plus you have CJ and Barton that can fill that roll in a pinch, and may develop into more. Upgrading Wright would be another plus. Again, a guy who can play some PF if he has to and isn't as over matched as Wright was. Stotts tried to use Wright as the veteran "big" I described above, as he got the start over t-rob when LMA was down and even in this series he was our backup PF at times.
Honestly, he is a guy everyone hates unless he is on your team. So if he became a Blazer everyone would like him.
To take the next step I would say we need one more guard who can play behind and along side of Damian. So I guess i agree with those who say a better version of Mo. Don't get me wrong, Mo has been huge for us, but a back up PG who can attack the basket and be a lock down defender would be huge. A pipe dream maybe, but that's what I want. But I would not trade a starter to get him.
