Here are the players I don't want to trade and the players I don't mind trading: These players I would only trade for LeBron 1. Greg Oden 2. LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Rudy Fernandez 4. Jerryd Bayless 5. Brandon Roy Barely willing to trade them 6. Peteri Koponen 7. Martell Webster 8. Channing Frye 9. Sergio Rodriguez I'd like to keep them too, but will trade them for a good offer 10. Travis Outlaw 11. Ike Diogu 12. Nicolas Batum 13. Trailblazers' 2009 First Round Draft Pick They already have expiring contract but can be traded if a larger expiring contract is the easiest way to trade Joel Przybilla for an expiring contract 14. Raef LaFrentz 15. Steve Blake Yes, but only if we get a C with an expiring contract to replace him 16. Joel Przybilla Does he still have "potential"? Can we do what the Knicks did with Weis? 17. Nedzad Sinanovic I love his name, not excited about anything else about him at this point 18. Joel Freeland If we can throw them in a trade for an expiring contract, great, if we can get value for them by themselves, great 19. Knicks' 2009 Second Round Draft Pick 20. Clippers' 2009 Second Round Draft Pick 21. Nuggets' 2009 Second Round Draft Pick 22. Trailblazers' 2009 Second Round Draft Pick 23. Marcelo Nicola 24. Federico Kammerichs 25. Doron Sheffer
You is crazy Gambitnut. The guys that I would say are near untouchable or are untouchable are Oden, Roy, Rudy, Bayless, and LMA. The guys I would like to hold onto are Blake, Przybilla, Webster, and Frye. The guys I wouldn't mind packaging for a trade would be Outlaw, Sergio, Diogu, and LaFrentz. Batum doesn't make the list because I have no idea what kind of player he is or will be. Koponen doesn't factor in because he's not even really on the team. Freeland is... Who? lol
Oden and Roy are nearly untouchable. Aldridge is a step down... I could see him being movable although it would take a lot. The rest are definitely available. I'm a huge fan of many of the other guys, but if we're able to get young potential (or current) studs through consolidation trades, I'd be all for it. Few of our players, though, seem to have maxed in terms of value at this point. Outlaw maybe. Frye perhaps. But Webster and Rudy and Bayless? They are so young and/or inexperienced at the NBA level that I think they can show a lot more and garner a lot more value if they get to mature more, so trading them now for anything but a premium would be a mistake. Ed O.
Greg Oden is the only player I'd deem untouchable. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge I would be willing to trade, but it would take pretty huge returns. They are almost certainly untradeable, because the players I'd want back are ones who are likely untouchable to their teams. I value Brandon Roy higher of the two. Jerryd Bayless and Rudy Fernandez are both in the "blue chip prospect" category. They are tradeable, but would require other excellent talents in return, like a Danny Granger or Josh Smith type of player. I am not right now evaluating whether they are identical in value to those players (I could imagine Portland adding more to their side of the trade) but the point is they are definitely tradeable, however I'd want a lot back. Travis Outlaw is very tradeable to me. It's hard to describe what I'd want back for him. I think he has a fair amount of value, but Portland probably can't leverage his full value themselves. So I'd want a decent return, but not a star. A solid, young starter-quality player or prospect with starter upside would be sufficient. I consider Outlaw the primary trading chip on the team and would be willing to package him with a Bayless or Fernandez for a young, star-level talent (Granger, say...). Everyone else falls into the "mix-and-match" category. If other teams are interested and there's a trade that makes sense, go for it. They're of varying value, but none are likely core players or key championship-level support players.
This is OT, Minstrel, but I'm glad to see that you've been listening to a little Teenage Fanclub. Excellent work. Ed O.
Oh yes, I've been listening to them for years. I have all their albums except The King, which is extremely hard to find. They're one of my favourite bands of all-time. It's a bit mind-boggling to me that they never had any hits...they made some of the most hooky pop I've heard.
