95.5 reported a possible option on a deal

[Denny Crane]

Wow, I think this would be a slam dunk, KP all over it like white on rice kind of deal.

He's a career 12.7 PPG scorer and 37% 3pt shooter.

He's really tall, too, though he can play against smaller guys at either end. A front court of Prince/LMA/Oden is SOLID.

 

[Boob-No-More]

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.

Yep. it was just Gavin tossing out names at random and some Dertoit media honk saying yeah, he'd take the 24th, Rudy and Travis for Prince if it was offered. This isn't even a rumor, it's just two media types throwing around names on a slow sports day.

BNM

 

[Masbee]

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?

I would not trade Rudy in a package for Prince. Nor would I include Batum in a package for Prince.

We need Rudy and his outside shooting. We HAVE to keep at least one of Rudy or Blake long-term. Rudy his rookie season is already as good as Blake. Rudy only goes in a package for an awesome PG (Paul, Williams, Parker, Harris, Rose).

With Batum, we have a player that looks to have a fair chance of duplicating the career of Prince, and an outside shot of being better than Prince. I would not give up the shot of a better Prince than Prince, just to get the certainty of the current Prince.

That stated, I would not be adverse to trading Webster and Outlaw for Prince - though I very much doubt Detroit would be interested. I would also include this year's pick, and another future pick.

Having a one-two punch of Prince and Batum at the wing would be excellent. Don't know how long you could keep both of them (possibly as little as one year), but when needed, trade one.

 

[Natebishop3]

Detroit is the team that is desperate. They don't have much of a future. They got spanked in the first round. I don't see any reason to rush this. If we are in fact interested in Prince, I say wait them out.

 

[LittleAlex]

Why did he bother coming to Portland then? He had some rather large offers on the table to stay in Europe. He would not only be the starter on his team there, but arguably the best player both on his team AND in the league. And make more money than he will probably ever make in the NBA. If his true motivation was money and playing time, he would not be here right now.

To prove to himself and the rest of the league he could play in the NBA. Also, in order to play in the NBA, he had to come to Portland.

Once he proves he is an NBA player (which he has already accomplished IMHO), then he can look for a situation that will give him money and minutes. Portland will not be able to afford to keep him, nor will they be able to give him huge minutes. Why wouldn't he want to maximize his stay in the NBA? Rudy could start right now for a few teams in the league.

 

[RR7]

he could have very easily told Portland to trade his rights to another team, or he owuld take one of the large offers he had in Europe. Could have gone through the same thing Rubio is going through. He got 26 minutes per game as a rookie. He will most likely get somewhere between 25-30 minutes per night. Most likely closer to 30.
What do you mean maximize his stay? Staying in Portland probably maximizes his stay in the league mroe than playing 38 minutes a night, and he arguably has a better chance to win.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I do not want to trade Webster. Partly because I'm a fan, and partly because we are not likely to get much for him (Detroit would most likely not do the deal if it was him instead of Rudy) and we still don't know how good he is going to be. The guy is 22 and was showing improvement before his injury. Even if it is just pre season and training camp and rumors of his improvement (it is well documented he has one of the best work ethics, if not the best, on the team), we don't know how it will turn out. Basically I don't think we should do anything with him yet. He could be the perfect backup SF down the line.

 

[KingSpeed]

The facts are, Prince is an all star, .

The facts are Prince has never been an all star. Never.

 

[LittleAlex]

The facts are Prince has never been an all star. Never.

Are you implying Prince is not a good fit for Portland, or just pointing out a fact of his career? Since the starters are picked by fans, I don't think making the All-Star game is a very good yardstick.

He was selected for the Olympic team, though. That carries more weight with me then a popularity contest does.

 

[free_lafrentz]

I'd be willing to part with Rudy and Outlaw if it meant we could also somehow get Maxiell. Otherwise, I don't know if it is worth it at this point to go after an aging Prince.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I do not want to trade Webster. Partly because I'm a fan, and partly because we are not likely to get much for him (Detroit would most likely not do the deal if it was him instead of Rudy) and we still don't know how good he is going to be. The guy is 22 and was showing improvement before his injury. Even if it is just pre season and training camp and rumors of his improvement (it is well documented he has one of the best work ethics, if not the best, on the team), we don't know how it will turn out. Basically I don't think we should do anything with him yet. He could be the perfect backup SF down the line.

agree completely.

would rather lose him for nothing than NOT take the chance.

 

[KingSpeed]

Are you implying Prince is not a good fit for Portland, or just pointing out a fact of his career? Since the starters are picked by fans, I don't think making the All-Star game is a very good yardstick.

He was selected for the Olympic team, though. That carries more weight with me then a popularity contest does.

Just pointing out a fact.

 

[OddEnormous]

Are you implying Prince is not a good fit for Portland, or just pointing out a fact of his career? Since the starters are picked by fans, I don't think making the All-Star game is a very good yardstick.

Brandon Roy is a 2 time all star.

Make of that what you will

 

[OddEnormous]

I do not want to trade Webster. Partly because I'm a fan, and partly because we are not likely to get much for him (Detroit would most likely not do the deal if it was him instead of Rudy) and we still don't know how good he is going to be.

If your not willing to trade him, who the hell are you willing to trade?

*noted that you did include that we wouldn't get much for him. but you also included 2 other factors.

 

[rocketeer]

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.

i don't see this. prince is a significant upgrade over batum currently and i have a hard time seeing batum catch up to prince for another couple of years(if he ever gets there). i think you're overrating batum by quite a bit.

with that said, i wouldn't trade rudy, outlaw, and 24 for prince. rudy along with the rest is too much to give.

but i would do any combination of three of sergio, webster, outlaw, and 24 to get prince(and really probably even all 4 of them).

 

[esperanzafleet6969]

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

why would the pistons ever want to do this... even without maxiell...

 

[Minstrel]

i don't see this. prince is a significant upgrade over batum currently and i have a hard time seeing batum catch up to prince for another couple of years(if he ever gets there). i think you're overrating batum by quite a bit.

Over the past four seasons, Prince has been a tick above average for a starter, around a 15.5 PER.

Batum had about a 13 PER, so a bit below average as a starter.

So in terms of measurable production, Prince is better but not hugely better. I think Batum can close that gap as soon as next season, considering that he's at the steepest part of his development curve.

That leaves defense, which is hard to quantify. Prince is a very good defender, but not as good as he was around 2005, when he was peaking defensively, in my opinion. Batum is also a very good defender in my estimation. I don't think there's a significant difference between them on defense.

As far as sketchy but "unbiased" evidence about defense, Prince has had about a 107-108 Defensive Rating for the past three seasons. Batum clocked in at a 108 Defensive Rating last season. Sample size issues, of course, so it's nothing conclusive. But it agrees with my observation.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I immediately wonder if Prince will do for the Blazers what Billups did for the Nuggets?

But I would think a Rudy package can bring more than a Prince type player.

 

[Masbee]

If you put any stock in PER, then check this out. Travis had a pretty brutal postseason, and is 20th in the list of SFs in the playoffs. But Prince isn't even on the list! And in case you object that the playoffs is too small a sample size, weirdly it's the same for the regular season. Prince looks a lot better by "EWA", but any stat that rewards Kevin Durant that much is suspicious to me.

He isn't on the list because his PER for the playoffs was a negative number!!!!

I have never seen that before. Daaaaaaammm. Scoll down to the bottom:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/2009.html

I wonder if Prince was hurt? He must have been.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Not a bad deal, but I'd rather just sign Hedo.
I actually proposed a Rudy for TP deal on the Pistons board on realgm last offseason..funny if this came to fruition.
I would give Rudy, 24, and ___ for TP, but the ___ will not be Outlaw, Bayless, or Batum.

 

[andalusian]

Webster's PER for this year was negative as well. We should swap our negatives for their... Give them both a fresh start

 

[sofa-king]

This was also a question in a hoopsworld chat. http://www.hoopsworld.com/Chat.asp?CHAT_TOPICS_ID=312 I hope that's not where the "peoples champ" gets his purported deals.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I live in Pistons country [a friend of mine worked for a while in a hardware store and sold Tayshaun a water heater - said he was very knowledgeable about them - a discerning customer - and incredibly freaky-looking close up] and I can tell you that people here have seriously soured on Prince. I think I remember some media type advocating trading him for Outlaw straight up because they were so fed up with his passivity on offense. (He didn't have that playing against us though... [Incidentally, click on that link to see some different opinions from some of those posted here, by some of the same posters])

Remember, Detroit is one of those teams supposedly looking at "lopsided trades". That would mean that they would want to take back less in salary than they give out. They won't be looking to take on players who will need/be likely to re-sign for more than they're currently being paid for. I say that if a trade for Prince were to happen, Travis and possibly Blake (because they've discovered that Rodney Stuckey is NOT a starting PG, or perhaps so they can neglect to pick up his option and thereby cut salary) would be it, along with possibly the rights to Freeland or players they can stash until they've made their supposed big FA signings. There is no way in hell Rudy is part of any such deal.

 

[Draco]

I like the idea of consolidating our talent by trading for Prince.

But I would push to move Bayless in place of Rudy.

 

[Sinobas]

Rudy isn't going to be on the team long term. He is going to want to start and get paid, neither of which is going to happen here. I love Rudy, but it really isn't in his best interest to stay with the team after his rookie contract is up.

Did he give any indication that he's upset with his playing time this season? If anything, he complained about playing too much, when he commented how grueling the NBA season is. Also, the guy has not proven that he's anything more than a backup yet. People are acting like is a foregone conclusion that he'll blow up into some kind of star who demands a max contract and starts bitching about playing time. He gave up money and a starting role to come here.

Manu has been happy as a 6th man in SA.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

"We could have Prince for.."

I have a feeling Detroit approached Portland with this offer.

 

[MARIS61]

Travis > Prince

Rudy > Prince

24th pick eventually > Prince (assuming KP does his usual homework)

Prince has got to be the most over-rated player in the history of the league, and would bring us nothing we don't already have even if we got him free.

Nobody on the Blazers would trade Rudy or Travis for Prince, let alone both of them.

 

[MARIS61]

The facts are Prince has never been an all star. Never.

Actually, it's much, much worse than that.

Prince plays in the East, and has never been an all star.

 

[barfo]

I know we are just discussing some random guy's random idea, but why would Rudy even be included? Don't the Pistons still have a guy named Rip at that position? Wouldn't they rather have, say, a big guy to replace Wallace & McDyess? Not that I'm offering any except Frye.

barfo

 

[LJ Ginger]

I am a huge Martell Webster fan! In fact he's my favorite Blazer! I see him having a very bright future in Portland. He gives us everything we need at the 3! He will be one of the best 3 pt shooters in NBA history when it's all said and done, book it! I think his perimeter d is already above average and can only get better. He has shown he can attack the rim...Needs to work on his handles; which it sounds like he had done last summer. He began working out in May last year only for an unfortunate injury from which he came back to early and paid for it. I think he can be a Glen Rice/Dale Ellis type but more capable at attacking the basket. We saw his one preseason game and the timing him and Rudy had in just that one game. I was thinking like some; a big season for Martell. Then bad news occurred, we all know the story...Bottomline is I would only give him up at this point in a deal for CP3. Now if he hasn't shown improvement this next season, I could understand a possibly trade scenario.