TRADE Brewin: CHAR waives 2 players

Totally agree that Pryz-Oden combo is awesome for us, we don't have to rush Greg along and with his injury history we NEED Pryz. No way KP will mess with this, simply NO way.

 

I hate to bring this up, but while Zach Randolph was signed to a large contract, it wasn't a max contract. Andrei Kirilenko and Pau Gasol were signed to max deals that year, not Zach. Furthermore, 30% of his contract was deferred to annual payments in years 7-16. On a NPV basis, his contract was built to mirror Richard Jefferson's.--six years, $77MM. A max deal from that year would have been 6 years, $92MM.

 

Why not Blake-Frye-Outlaw?
It opens up minutes for Sergio, Rudy, Webster, and Batum, and all three of those guys are LB guys. It also improves our defense a lot and we become a much more zone-based team.

 

How are they Larry Brown guys? None of them play much defense, Outlaw's basketball IQ isn't terribly high and Frye is not a very tough big man. I'm sure he'd appreciate Frye's attitude and Blake's effort and lack of mental errors, but I wouldn't say that, as a whole, they're players Brown would particularly appreciate.

I don't think Charlotte would be at all interested in that package. Outlaw is the only valuable player, and he's significantly worse than Wallace. Blake and Frye are marginal pieces and it doesn't seem to save Charlotte much money.

 

so is the trade not brewin any more?

 

My bad. I admit fault. Everybody happy?

I still don't think Zach was worth that contract for what he ended up delivering, and that the Blazers were lucky to dump him while Thomas was still running the Knicks. I say that in part because of Zach's injury-hobbled seasons in Portland even further limited his effectiveness, FWIW. He is a very good offensive player and rebounder, however. I'd never take that away from Zach.


As for Brandon Bass...

 

Monty Williams said on the radio that the talk about Travis' low basketball IQ is laughable.

So, exactly why or how does Travis have a low basketball IQ? I keep seeing this opinion used in supposedly factual arguments against him, but I want to know what it is that makes him such a basketball moron.

 

I'm not sure that he's a basketball moron, but his decision-making doesn't seem all that great. He takes ill-advised shots, doesn't pass to the right person or makes poor decisions on defense about when to leave his man. He's improved, though. He just doesn't seem like the "heady" type of player that Larry Brown is supposed to like.

 

Thanks for clarifying that, but then is it fair to say that Outlaw's basketball IQ is improving? He is passing and assisting these days. Heck, against GS, he had as many assists as Blake, Sergio, and Bayless combined.

I just don't like seeing this tactic used in a merit argument. It's so subjective and unless one is an insider, seems like an insult.

 

At one time, I thought he played quite out of control. Talented but didn't know what he was doing. He's improved steadily, to the point where I don't expect particularly bad things to happen when he handles the ball (and I expect some impressive scoring plays). So yeah, he's improved a lot and still is. His passing has improved this year, pretty clearly.

Coming into this season, I didn't think he could be a very viable starter due to being something of a ball-stopper. This year, though, he seems to fit into offensive flow better and I could see him as a starter. I think he'd be a better starter than Webster, though Outlaw can actually be an asset off the bench, whereas I'm not sure Webster can be. I don't really see where Webster fits in when he gets back. I'd rather Batum or Outlaw start, with the other coming off the bench (Outlaw brings scoring, Batum brings a defensive stopper).

Well, there are a number of subjective aspects to basketball analysis. Defense, court vision, decision-making. Hard to get around that. I can understand it being a frustrating thing in that a person can throw it out and there's really no way to prove it or disprove it. Honestly, I don't have it in for anyone on the team. I may be wrong in any of my evaluations, but they're based on what I see.

 

Frankly, the more we debate, the more I see that what you say above is in line with my thinking. Additionally, if we aren't here for some subjective thought, why are we here? Although one could argue that everything is subjective, by definition.

My take a week ago was that KP is realizing that Martell is not needed on the current roster. I stand by that statement, although I was flamed for it. It is only my opinion.

 

Yeah, I don't know what Pritchard is thinking, but I don't really know what Webster's role will be when he returns. I actually hope another team will find him interesting in trade. The more I watch Outlaw this year, the more I want him to stay with the Blazers. He's a pretty silly luxury to have coming off the bench. As a pure scorer, he's probably as good as most team's second or third options.

Of course, Przybilla is also a pretty great luxury to have off the bench once Oden takes over the starting role. As will be Blake, once he becomes the reserve. The team is building an amazing bench concurrently with a great starting unit.

 

After the way we played last night and with Webster waiting in the wings, I don't think KP will be looking to shake up the roster.

 

I didn't say he would be looking to shape up the roster. I have posted that I think that KP is wondering where Webster fits into this line-up right now.

And Webster body language on the bench showed me a player who is wondering this himself (this is a subjective opinion, for the record).

 

Seems I'm a little late to the debate, but I have to throw my 2 pennies in anyway.

Go back and look at last season as a whole. Jones and Frye were in their first Blazer training camp. Travis has spent his entire career here. Jones and Frye stepped right in and grasped Nate's offensive schemes - and Jones at least grasped the defensive scheme. As well as Travis played last year, there were still stretches when he looked lost on the court. There were even more stretches where he seemed to have acute tunnel vision.

When it comes to the Travis/Webster debate, I have made it clear I am pro-Travis. I appreciate the positive things he brings to this team. At the same time, there is no denying that he struggles to "get it" sometimes. He doesn't appear to be lazy - so there has to be something else wrong there.

Ironically, I would say Webster has much the same flaw....people just don't bring it up as much.

 

As long as Travis keeps up this fairly recent rebounding (5.2/game) and defensive minded game (as limited as his defensive awareness seems to be at times) I think he's rounding into exactly the kind of player we're going to wish we had if they end up shipping him off. I wonder who else besides Brandon (maybe Rudy in time) will show a reliable ability to get their shot off whenever they want. Hell he's already averaging 3.2 three point attempts per game and hitting at pretty goddamn good rate ... enough to almost make you wonder if Martell hasn't become really superfluous in the past 3 weeks?

 

Travis is certainly changing my mind. He could be this teams longterm backup at PF and some SF.

I think with the way Outlaw and Batum are playing, Webster will be on his way out.

 

Bayless seems to have the potential. Aldridge might, since he'll be playing the high post, so harder to double him to take the ball out of his hands (like low post players can be).

Unless Webster can show more talents than shooting open jumpers, he'll be obsolete around players who can both shoot and bring other positive qualities.

 

Nice anecdote. Show me the video and then we can judge this latest criticism of Outlaw, "insignificant" as you claim it to be. You noticed it. Expand on it.