How about: Bayless (local boy) and Webster (who would LOVE Phoenix like Channing Frye does) for Robin Lopez (new starting center!), Jared Dudley (who I've always liked), Goran Dragic and Jarron Collins (hey, we finally get him, unless we have to waive him) ?? I think Dudley would work better for us, and Martell, who is thriving next to Miller, would benefit from a running game, and I'd really like Lopez, who is getting zero time in a system that really doesn't suit him. This trade could be done just before we get Rudy back...
We'd need to cut two guys. Am assuming Mills, and then Cunningham, as the last two guys on the bench. I hate the deal personally. I like Robin, and would love to egt him, but not at the cost of Bayless. I think Bayless is better than anyone in that deal. Collins is worthless, Dragic is very mediocre, adn not worth the money. Lopez and Dudley for Martell and Bayless? No thank you.
I would rather have Pendy start than Lopez. Giving up Bayless and Webster for him would be a terrible move.
I get it if you don't like Dudley and Lopez, but they are (1) better for our needs (2) better players for our system than the two we'd be sending out Remember, even with all our injuries and current Blake illness, Bayless still deserved to come off the bench. And Blake will be back, very soon, Rudy shortly afterwards, and Mills looks like he could play point (certainly with Roy) better than Bayless. Meanwhile, Lopez is a LEGITIMATE center. Not a PF playing out of position, actual center. You know, those players both of which we lost to horrific knee injuries for AT LEAST the whole of this season? Lopez was seen as a better defender and rebounder than his brother in college, and almost certainly is so, if given the minutes. Meanwhile, Dudley is just an all-round baller. He's a better player than Martell in almost all aspects of the game, and most of all between his ears. The other two are waiver-fodder. Although one could be kept if Randolph is let go.
Not really. The only reason Dudleys career picked up was he went to PHX and the running system. He has thrived there. So how does that make him a fit here? Robin Lopez would fit anywhere they need a big in the middle who just bangs and rebounds. I don't see how that makes them a better fit here. Lopez would be nice to get through the year with, but that's all your getting. To do that you are sacrificing a guy I consider pretty talented.
I disagree. He always played well in limited minutes. It's just that they gave him more minutes. Contrast with Channing Frye whose minutes and production/minute shot up on going to Phoenix. A better fit than Martell. Martell has low skills for a wing - he is hopeless at creating and should never put it on the floor. But he can finish in transition and shoot open threes - so playing with Nash would be better for him. Dudley is not system-bound (I argue, against what you said) because he has more skills and is a smarter player. He's just not as athletic. Which is .... HERE! Observe what Kaman has done to us. Lopez is longer and heavier by far than anyone we've got filling it at C. Lopez is not getting minutes in Phoenix, for whatever reason. I suspect because he can't shoot from outside, which, as we see with Channing, is a prerequisite for the D'Antoni-ball that the Suns are still playing. Assuming that (a) both Joel and Greg come back fine from pretty nasty injuries (b) Joel is with us next year But of course, even if both happen, both those guys are foul-prone and a risk to play big minutes. I assume you mean Bayless (rather than Martell). Hey, I consider him talented too - at what he does. Which is score (sometimes). But Roy does that better at SG, and Miller is a better PG, and Blake and Roy are a more effective combo than Bayless and Roy. So that talent is wasting on the Blazers. Suppose you were compiling Team USA and you already had Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul and Deron Williams but no center (let's say Dwight Howard was out). Who would be the better pickup: Brandon Roy or (ugh) Andrew Bynum?
Lopez is a rent-a-center the this season. He is not a very good prospect anymore. As far as him being considered better than his bro, not really. There was a time near the draft when some were considering him better, but if I remember correctly, the majority of people, for most of their career thought Brook was better. Next year with Oden and hopefully Joel back, there should hopefully be no big need for a 3rd string C who can't even play PF. That would be 3 centers on the team that are C only. As far as this season, I actually have as much or more confidence in Pendy then I do in Robin. And as far as fitting the system, Bayless fits very well. I don't know that his skills will pan out, I hope they do, but this skillset fits well with the Blazers. A PG/SG to play along Roy who can guard the PG's of the league while sharing ball duties fits better than an unathletic big who can't score and doesn't even rebound well. I am not opposed to trading Bayless or just about any Blazer for the right pieces, but certainly not for a fourth the talent at a position that will be moot next season.
But that doesn't really fit, since we have Cs, they are just injured. It's like saying next season, Dwight and Bosh get hurt, but should be fine by the time the Olmpics are here. Would you cut Deron Williams to bring in another C.
The last thing Portland needs is to make a trade sending out fewer players then they bring in. Further, none of the players involved are all that great. This is a lateral move that would cause at least as many problems as it solves.
Obviously if a team already has 4 hall of fame level guards it doesn't need another guard and could use an all-star level center. Portland currently has one all-star caliber player total. Sending out 2 role players to bring in 4 role players is pointless.
Because Andre Miller and Brandon Roy are in front of him? PERHAPS, if one of those players got injured....
I've addressed this above. This assumes that BOTH Oden and Przybilla come back (Joel could still opt out, although it's pretty unlikely) and come back healthy enough to play well and many minutes. That's optimistic. "Any more"!? Wow. That was fast. I guess centers never get better after their rookie years, huh? Good thing nobody told Joel, or Bynum, or Marc Gasol, or Bogut, or... Try to read all the way to the end of the sentence. Crucial words: "at defense and rebounding". Nobody ever said he should be drafted first, or that he had his brother's offense. Haven't you heard? Pendergraph isn't a good prospect any more. Yikes! That doesn't speak well for Bayless then. Who are we talking about now, and why did we stop talking about Bayless? I hope you're right. But of course, PG/SG is a position that is "moot" this season.
