95.5 reported a possible option on a deal

[Peaceman]

Maybe this has already been brought up. Gavin was saying that there was a report that Portland could get Tayshaun Prince for the 24th pick, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez. I would put a link but I didn't catch the who conversation. Would you pull the trigger of that deal?

I personally would. Tayshaun can shoot the 3, play great defense, bring the ball up court, can post a smaller player down low (something none of our PG, SG or Sf can do). Rudy is the biggest lossing piece, but we get a great vet who is still young, can still use the free agent market to get another good addition. Martel hopefully can fill the gap Rudy leaves us. I think this would improve our defense a ton. With Princes and Roys ball handling ability, you could see Batum playing with both of them for periods of time and our defense would be long, and and exceptional. What do you think?

 

[Further]

I would hate to lose Rudy, but this would make sense. Prince is a Legit SF, not a PF or SG masking as a SF. He is also a great third option, good shooter to spread the floor, and a great defender.

 

[Sinobas]

if we're going to be giving up Rudy, I'd rather go for a bigger impact player, like Iggy.

We can sign a pretty decent SF with our cap space this offseason, without giving up Rudy. It's hard to say when Batum will become as good, or surpass Prince (if he ever does). But if we could take Rudy out of that deal, and replace him with Webster, Blake or Sergio, I'd do it. Then we use our cap space on Andre Miller.

 

[Wheels]

F them.. Rudy is out of the deal.. they want Webster with him.. and 3 million.. fine.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I like Rudy a lot ... but damn, that would be tough to pass up.

He's a guy who can play a little bit of point forward, he'd be the perfect mentor for Nic, and he'd be a legit veteran presence with tons of playoff experience.

Yeah, I think I'd do it.

Blake/Bayless
Roy/Webster
Tay/Nic
LMA/<???>
Greg/Przy

That's still a pretty good lineup.

 

[hasoos]

The thing I would be most concerned about is does Prince have any gas left in his tank. I think he does, but I think that things were bad in Detroit this year, and nobody really wanted to play for that team when it was all said and done. Prince needs a fresh start, and the opportunity to not have to play out of position (such as playing PG as he was in Detroit a lot due to lack of production there.)

I love Rudy, and what he brings. I think that by trading him, we would lose some of what we had gained last year, but would gain at SF by quite a bit provided Prince still has gas in the tank.

The facts are, Prince is an all star, all defensive player, and was a member of the olympic team. The guys we would be sending out have done none of that. We sure would miss Rudy's shooting though.

 

[THE HCP]

HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!! Rudy is the real deal! If we give up Travis AND Rudy, we better be getting back a better player then Prince! Now Travis the pick and Serg or Frye yes, but not The Spanish Fly!

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Without a doubt.

 

[hasoos]

Add Jason Maxiell, we'd give them Martell, and it's a go for me. We would sign Anthony Parker (UFA) to backup Roy.

Fuck no. Anthony Parker, one of the worst shooting guards in the league. You know they call it shooting guard for a reason right? Because they are going to shoot a lot. The dude was under 40% last season from the field.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Yeah Anthony Parker is terrible.

 

[BlazersBlood]

I'm probably over-valuing both Rudy and Batum, but I think if we were going to dump Travis and trade Rudy, we'd be able to net a better player than Prince. In the long run, I don't think Prince will be an upgrade over Nic, so if we are trading Rudy and Outlaw I hope we'd be targeting a PG.

 

[Mediocre Man]

LOl you do it and run your ass away before the ink is dry on that deal.

I love Rudy and all, but Prince is one of the premiere defensive SF in the game, and has championship experience, and at some point Rudy is not going to be happy playing behind Roy. Do it and run KP

 

[Mediocre Man]

HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!! Rudy is the real deal! If we give up Travis AND Rudy, we better be getting back a better player then Prince! Now Travis the pick and Serg or Frye yes, but not The Spanish Fly!

Prince is a pretty damn good player HCP....Don't you think? Great 3rd option scorer that is a great defender.

 

[Minstrel]

I'm probably over-valuing both Rudy and Batum, but I think if we were going to dump Travis and trade Rudy, we'd be able to net a better player than Prince. In the long run, I don't think Prince will be an upgrade over Nic, so if we are trading Rudy and Outlaw I hope we'd be targeting a PG.

My opinion, too. Prince is currently better than Batum, but not by a huge amount and not for long, in my opinion. I wouldn't give up the pick, Outlaw and Rudy for a short-term, mild improvement.

Someone as good as Prince at point guard? Sure. I am a big believer in Bayless' talent, but I think he's further away than Batum. I just don't think that, with Batum on the team, small forward is a position where Portland can upgrade enough to offset losing all those resources without bringing in a legitimate star in his prime.

 

[Reep]

I would love to see more value brought back, or Rudy not going. However, the reality is that Rudy does play the same position as Roy. If we had a real SF along with Batum Roy would never see minutes there, which means Rudy would get very little at SG. Prince would be the best SF in the league to train Batum, and likely wouldn't have to play a lot of minutes.

The 24th pick is really not worth that much. So this is really Rudy+Outlaw for Prince. I think that is fair and would fit well in so many ways.

In the back of your mind you have to also wonder if Rudy will stay in Portland long term or bolt for Spain at some point. It especially makes sense if you are shipping Sergio out too.

Some things to consider though:
Prince just turned 29
Prince got lit up by LeBron (who doesn't), but dropped from 14 PPG down to less that 4 PPG during the Cleveland series. His assists and rebounds also dropped by almost half. Trading Rudy and Outlaw for a SF who gives you 4 pts, 3.5 reb and 1 asst in the playoffs, and can't slow down LeBron doesn't sound that great all the sudden. I think Batum could have done better than that.

 

[bobf]

Hell no. Webster yes. Rudy no. Batum will be better than TP in 2-3 years.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Prince is a pretty damn good player HCP....Don't you think? Great 3rd option scorer that is a great defender.

What has Prince ever done to warrant being a great 3rd option scorer? Was it his career 12 points per game? Because I project Rudy to average more than that and Travis already gets that. Prince is no 3rd option on offense, please. Greg Oden has to be the third option, if he isn't look for Pritchard to scold McMillan. I don't do this deal, Prince is an obvious upgrade at the starting 3, but I wouldn't be giving up Rudy in any deal for Prince, it would have to be someone more enticing than that.

 

[Mediocre Man]

What has Prince ever done to warrant being a great 3rd option scorer? Was it his career 12 points per game? Because I project Rudy to average more than that and Travis already gets that. Prince is no 3rd option on offense, please. Greg Oden has to be the third option, if he isn't look for Pritchard to scold McMillan. I don't do this deal, Prince is an obvious upgrade at the starting 3, but I wouldn't be giving up Rudy in any deal for Prince, it would have to be someone more enticing than that.

What Prince has done to warrant it is be it.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

What Prince has done to warrant it is be it.

You get Prince to be a good complimentary player that plays excellent defense, not be your 3rd option on offense. That is just preposterous. I would probably give Martell, Outlaw, and the pick for Prince but not Rudy or Batum involved.

 

[Mediocre Man]

You get Prince to be a good complimentary player that plays excellent defense, not be your 3rd option on offense. That is just preposterous. I would probably give Martell, Outlaw, and the pick for Prince but not Rudy or Batum involved.

What the fuck has Martell ever showed to be considered? Prince is twice the complete player Outlaw will ever be as well. Great, great trade if it's real

 

[Sheldon Shape]

What the fuck has Martell ever showed to be considered? Prince is twice the complete player Outlaw will ever be as well. Great, great trade if it's real

I don't know if you read my post right. I was proposing we give them Martell and additional scraps to leave Rudy out of the deal. I wouldn't give Rudy up to get Prince, same with Batum. Joe Dumars wants to rebuild with some young talent obviously, Martell and Outlaw are good parts along with a draft pick or two. Shoot, we can even throw them the rights to Kopo or Freeland if necessary.

 

[number 10]

My opinion, too. Prince is currently better than Batum, but not by a huge amount and not for long, in my opinion. I wouldn't give up the pick, Outlaw and Rudy for a short-term, mild improvement.

Someone as good as Prince at point guard? Sure. I am a big believer in Bayless' talent, but I think he's further away than Batum. I just don't think that, with Batum on the team, small forward is a position where Portland can upgrade enough to offset losing all those resources without bringing in a legitimate star in his prime.

exactly what I was going to post. There isn't that big a difference between Batum and Prince, and it's reasonable to expect that the gap will be closed in the near (1-2 years) future. On the other hand, the difference between Steve Blake and what a package including Rudy, Outlaw, and a pick could bring in at PG is much larger. Calderon would likely be available for that, Jason Terry, Conley, and Sessions definitely would. Pretty much any PG aside from Paul, Parker, Rondo, D. Williams, D. Harris, and Rose.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

You do this yesterday if it's on the table. I love Rudy but he's not the solution at the 3 or the 1.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I don't know if you read my post right. I was proposing we give them Martell and additional scraps to leave Rudy out of the deal. I wouldn't give Rudy up to get Prince, same with Batum. Joe Dumars wants to rebuild with some young talent obviously, Martell and Outlaw are good parts along with a draft pick or two. Shoot, we can even throw them the rights to Kopo or Freeland if necessary.

If I were Detroit I wouldn't trade Prince for Webs, Outlaw and #24.

That's just me though. I have a higher opinion of his game than you seem to. We are talking about an NBA champion, a gold medalist and a 4 time all NBA second team defensive player.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Did you not see that awesome quarter against the Jazz when Martell score 24 points? Or hows 'bout that incredible pre-season game against a terrible defensive Kings team? Yeah, just ignore the many many many times that Martell sucked and you'd think he's great, too!

/sarcasm

Haha. I actually think he might be ok, but so far he has been nothing more than inconsistant

 

[hasoos]

Did you pull that stats out of your ass? ESPN and NBA websites are just a few clicks away. Check your facts first, dude. Parker was 43% from the field along with 39% from 3-point range. He's also a 82% free throw shooter. Those are about the exact numbers Rudy had. His career numbers aren't bad, either: .45 FG%, .42 3P, .82 FT%. For a backup SG, he'd be pretty good.

No I was looking at his 3 point percentage as his FG%. He is at .426 last year, which I still consider a bad volume shooter. You can't necessarily go with career numbers. When players are going to the end of their career, you are better off taking their numbers from previous years than averages. Are you going to tell me that you wold expect a Ray Allen to step in and score like his career average even though he is as old as dirt? It won't happen. The same with Parker.

By the way, those numbers, are about the same as Martell Webster had the last year he played. So why bring in a guy on the way down, when you have a guy on the way up already putting up those numbers as long as he is healthy.

 

[Natebishop3]

More would have to be included for this trade to happen imo.

However, if it happened, I would do the following.

*Sign Andre Miller
*Sign Von Wafer

Miller/Bayless
Roy/Wafer
Prince/Batum/Webster
Aldridge/rookie power forward
Oden/Przybilla

That's not a bad lineup.

 

[Mediocre Man]

More would have to be included for this trade to happen imo.

However, if it happened, I would do the following.

*Sign Andre Miller
*Sign Von Wafer

Miller/Bayless
Roy/Wafer
Prince/Batum/Webster
Aldridge/rookie power forward
Oden/Przybilla

That's not a bad lineup.

Great lineup Nate, but I am not sure Wafer gets away from Houston.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

*Sign Von Wafer

Even after he got kicked off the bench during the Playoffs?

I say fuck him, his attitude, and lack of work ethic.

 

[SodaPopinski]

By the way, this was not a reported deal on the table. Terry Foster from the Detroit News was on in the 6 o'clock hour, and Gavin asked him if that package would get it done. That is all.

-Pop