Awfully quiet on the NEIL OLSHEY front

[Blazinaway]

I gotta believe he's working hard behind the scenes and my gut feel is he will do a trade to bolster our bigs before the deadline. This team has proven it it a lot closer that almost anyone thought and a "win now" mode should be in play IMO. Calm before the storm IMO

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I gotta believe he's working hard behind the scenes and my gut feel is he will do a trade to bolster out bigs before the deadline. This team has proven it it a lot closer that almost anyone thought and a "win now" mode should be in play IMO. Calm before the storm IMO

Hard to make a big move without sending out a current starter.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Well it won't be Asik. No way Houston helps us out, nor do they need what we have to offer.

 

[Blazinaway]

agree it won't be Asik, but a Hawes or Amir Johnson is gettable IMO

 

[Samuel]

I'm guessing we'll get a guy more in the Eric Maynor vein... a player who has fallen out of the rotation or fallen out of favor because a teammate has won a backup job.

We saw with Robin Lopez that there are guys under the radar out there who don't fit for one reason or another, and GMs feel the need to move them to clear salary or for other reasons. Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't think the bigs are the problem right now. I like Robinson and Freeland. We need better decision making from our bench, and that lands squarely on Mo. I'm also tired of only seeing the starting five together for like 15 minutes a game. That's fucking ridiculous. Last night we still saw Mo in the game with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. I want to see our starters at the end of the game.

We need a Patrick Beverly. We need someone we can bring in and shut someone down. Maybe we should go after a Tony Allen. I want a stopper that can get physical on defense without getting stupid touch fouls. We have really poor perimeter defense and it's leading to a lot of cheap fouls on our bigs and easy buckets in the paint. I don't think the problem is our bigs. How many times do we see a guy drive into the lane and when the bigs rotate to try to help out he just dishes for an easy bucket.

 

[Samuel]

I don't think the bigs are the problem right now. I like Robinson and Freeland. We need better decision making from our bench, and that lands squarely on Mo. I'm also tired of only seeing the starting five together for like 15 minutes a game. That's fucking ridiculous. Last night we still saw Mo in the game with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. I want to see our starters at the end of the game.

We need a Patrick Beverly. We need someone we can bring in and shut someone down. Maybe we should go after a Tony Allen. I want a stopper that can get physical on defense without getting stupid touch fouls. We have really poor perimeter defense and it's leading to a lot of cheap fouls on our bigs and easy buckets in the paint. I don't think the problem is our bigs. How many times do we see a guy drive into the lane and when the bigs rotate to try to help out he just dishes for an easy bucket.

Agreed. I think CJ's return means we don't need Mo's skillset quite as much. Before we needed a guy who could come in, generate his own shot, and move the ball around. CJ can create his own shot and is at worst an average ball handler, now we just need a ball handler at PG who can D up and bring energy on that end of the floor.

 

[shamelessblazer]

Shumpert is pretty versatile. His shot is very up and down, but if he's not needing to create so much and plays w/in an offensive he might be in a better position to succeed.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I think Blazers biggest need is a vet big man/center. Freeland is a pleasnat surprise this year, but isn't doing anything special. I know the Lopez love around here and hate to say anything because of that, but the center position is the weakest position on the Blazer roster.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I gotta believe he's working hard behind the scenes and my gut feel is he will do a trade to bolster our bigs before the deadline. This team has proven it it a lot closer that almost anyone thought and a "win now" mode should be in play IMO. Calm before the storm IMO

He's the man with the "Golden Gut"

 

[BrianFromWA]

I kind of wish WAS would take Mo and Dorell for Webster.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I gotta believe he's working hard behind the scenes and my gut feel is he will do a trade to bolster our bigs before the deadline. This team has proven it it a lot closer that almost anyone thought and a "win now" mode should be in play IMO. Calm before the storm IMO

We should trade Jermaine O'Neal for Dale Davis.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

If anyone were to get traded, it'd be a consolidation trade on the deep bench. Think teams that are tanking and looking to free cap space or something like that. I'd love to be trading partners with the Orlando Magic, there are a few guys that would be great here. Aaron Afflalo, Big Baby Davis, etc. Hawes would be a great target as well.

Larry Sanders is supposedly on the block too. They want draft picks though and I saw a tweet that OKC is one of the teams that could do it with salaries, picks, youth too.

 

[Natebishop3]

I think Blazers biggest need is a vet big man/center. Freeland is a pleasnat surprise this year, but isn't doing anything special. I know the Lopez love around here and hate to say anything because of that, but the center position is the weakest position on the Blazer roster.

I just want to point out that Robin Lopez has the highest offensive rating in the league according to basketball-reference. Our team plays much better with Rolo on the floor, and Freeland is definitely a huge step down from Lopez. We need one more solid big, I guess, and then have a three man rotation with LA, Rolo, and ??? player.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Yeah, I think we need a veteran big guy off the bench that can score. Would help tremendously.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't know how anyone could trade for Sanders. Dude has the poison pill which makes him damn near impossible to trade.

 

[BigGameDamian]

agree it won't be Asik, but a Hawes or Amir Johnson is gettable IMO

I like Amir Johnson a lot!

 

[BigGameDamian]

Work off of this. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lmngqkc

 

[Stevenson]

Anyone who thinks we are going to make a mid-season trade is crazy. With this record? With this chemistry?

No way. No way in hell.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Work off of this. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lmngqkc

Please don't use the trade machine anymore.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Anyone who thinks we are going to make a mid-season trade is crazy. With this record? With this chemistry?

No way. No way in hell.

Consolidating a few of the deep bench scrubs to teams trying to tank and clear cap room won't affect chemistry all that much.

Any rotation players? forget it, not going to happen.

 

[Natebishop3]

Anyone who thinks we are going to make a mid-season trade is crazy. With this record? With this chemistry?

No way. No way in hell.

Like I said in the Joe Freeman trade, I don't think Neil is actively looking for trades, but if one came along that was too good to pass up, I think he pulls the trigger.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Work off of this. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lmngqkc

LOL at you STILL trying to trade Matthews for Ross!

 

[riverman]

One of the things I really like about Neil is that he won't talk about it until it's done. If he makes any move at all, it will probably be something low key because we don't have much to trade and he's not taking rotation players out of a winning formula anytime soon. Trading guys that aren't playing for guys who won't play isn't going to change much.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Success is never guaranteed. When a team is on a roll, they need to go all in to win.

Not gonna happen.

Beyond the starting 5, the team has no assets to work with. No pick, no cap space, nobody on the bench another team is hot to acquire.

 

[Strenuus]

I would really like Seraphin from Washington. I think he could be sneaky good. And I would think he would come relatively cheap.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I just want to point out that Robin Lopez has the highest offensive rating in the league according to basketball-reference. Our team plays much better with Rolo on the floor, and Freeland is definitely a huge step down from Lopez. We need one more solid big, I guess, and then have a three man rotation with LA, Rolo, and ??? player.

It's Fropez's defense I have issues with . . . but I am loving what he brings to the team

 

[Schilly]

I am all for trading to bolster.... But this team is not just built for today it's also built to grow. If we were going to trade I wouldn't activiely be looking to move any of our starters Plus, Mo WIlliams, Robinson, Freeland, McCollum and Leonard.

No before people all get up in arms about my list I want to point out that trading Leonard or Robinson at this point is jumping the gun a bit. Both guys have loads of physical tools that you just don't find everyday, you wait them each out one more season and see if the "get it". As far as Mo and Freeland are concerned they are the stability of the bench. Mo is the reason Damian can take a break, CJ hasn't shown to me that he is a PG, so Mo isn't easy to walk away from... And don't tell me Earl Watson. Freeland I would consider if it was a really good deal for a really solid backup 5.

I wouldn't remotely touch the starters they play too well together. Yeah sure there are better players at each position, but you roll some pretty big dice if you talk about trading anyone of those 5 for an upgrade on paper.

 

[TBpup]

From the little snippets being bantered about, NeO (much like this last summer) is still shopping at the Rack. Given that he has little room to the Lux Tax and not Draft picks at his disposal, I'm not sure what his other options are.

I've yet to be told a starters name has come up so that leaves young players on rookie contracts or older players on very reasonable contracts. The thing is, what would any combination of Leonard, Freeland, Robinson, Wright, Barton, McCollum, Watson and Williams bring back?

The bench certainly needs help and maybe young lottery picks on rookie contracts can entice a trade that brings back more of an instant contributor versus someone who might develop down the road. If the time is now, make a move.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I am all for trading to bolster.... But this team is not just built for today it's also built to grow. If we were going to trade I wouldn't activiely be looking to move any of our starters Plus, Mo WIlliams, Robinson, Freeland, McCollum and Leonard.

Your first sentence kills your whole argument. We have seen first hand that the whole "wait till next year" approach is a lie.