Whoever it takes to get the best player available for this team. Seriously, I don't see any point in designating anyone from this team as "must trade". They all have their strengths and flaws. The bottom line is, the person coming in is more important than the person going out.
Outlaw was growing on me during the season but since his no show in the playoffs I think we badly need to trade him for upgrade. Luol Deng anyone?
The history of injuries is a little worrisome and the size of his contract isn't great, but assuming he was healthy and productive, he's tempting.
The Blazer I would trade first is the one that will bring the biggest return. If the Wizards will give you Butler for Batum - you do it. If someone wants to give you Gerald Wallace and want Batum - you say "no thank you". It is really not different and has never been - the ones that need to go are the ones that are required to go in a deal that makes the team better. If you can make a deal only by giving Bayless instead of Sergio for a clear upgrade for the team - you do it - if you can not - you do not. It's that simple.
The thread probably would have been more accurately titled if it said "name the Blazers player you value least."
True, but my first intention was a fans instant gut feeling of the players whole output during the regular and playoff run and to me Outlaw was the scapegoat. His defense is awful and as it shows as players drive right by him as they go to the basket.
I guess it depends on who we bring in. But I cant see Sergio and Frye returning. They might leave on their own or force a trade. They both have more to offer than the Blazers can allow. Frye could probably be a heavy rotation player on a mediocre or bad team. I dont think Travis will leave because we wont get equal or superior value. He might not leave, but his role will never be as big as it was the past few seasons. Somebody will evolve(Oden, Rudy, Batum, Bayless?) as our steady 3rd scorer. Since he isnt a lockdown defender and doesnt rebound well...what unique skill set does he offer that would demand a critical role? He also didnt really improve over last season, other than polishing what he already did well(a contrast to his previous efforts). I've never heard him praised as a gym rat or tireless off-season worker, so how much can we expect he'll add new facets to his game? He may have plateaued. I think he'll probably play a somewhat similar role to Frye by the end of next year, provided Webster and Batum continue their development and we acquire a stronger backup 4.
I sure wish someone would get back to me about this 16M of capspace figure... is this the number they could free up under next year's cap or is it NateBishop3 optimistically speculating what might be? 16 Large could very conceivably turn their Blake and Travis pumpkin into an Andre Miller and Josh Childress golden chariot in this economy. STOMP
Yes this is a reasonable approximation of the available cap space they'll have this summer IF they renounce their rights to Channing, and choose not to exercise team options on Blake and Travis (and of course the usual suspects like Ruffin, Shavlik and Raef go away) Where it gets tricky is if we draft players who will occupy cap space or lose so many players that we end up with unfilled roster spots (and their attendant cap-holds) below the league minimum of 12 when July 1st rolls around. But as a general rule, assuming the cap figure stays fairly static this year -- which it probably will, since league revenue didn't drop that much, if at all -- there could be up to around 14-16 million to sign free agents, or otherwise perform lopsided trades this summer. In all likelihood I can't see KP just letting Blake and Trav walk away just for the cap room, unless he had a target he just had to have and that was the only way to do it. It's probably far more likely to see sign and trades done with those two.
my guestimation puts 16M on the optimistic side by several million, but thats just my guess. I wasn't sure whether the official figures had been released setting the salary cap... but obviously they haven't 16M to burn in this market seems like it might buy a whole lot STOMP
well we don't know yet how much space they have, but Miles is due 9M next season so it would be that much more. STOMP
