Blazers Edge Podcast, Last Minute Trades and More

[Chris Craig]

On the latest Blazers Edge podcast Phil and Dave went over a list of players that the Blazers might go after before the season starts to better the roster. While I agreed with a few, most were veterans who wouldn't fit with our mold, some were guys we don't have the assets to get, while others I just found myself saying NO!
They seemed to really be waiving their "magic wands". Still there were a few that caught my eye. Here is the list

Roy Hibbert
Hassan Whiteside
Julius Randle
Luol Deng
Ryan Anderson
Eric Gordan
Iman Shumpert
Harrison Barnes
Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson
Rajon Rondo
Demar Derozan
Al Jefferson

Whiteside, Randle, Anderson and Derozan stand out to me into this list as players who would fit our current roster. I know Derozan's name has been thrown out there in a lot of posts this offseason. But at this point he is probably ungettable for the Blazers. What do you guys think about this list? Should the Blazers try to make a move if it makes sense before the season? Can they with the assets they have? We are sitting on Miller hoping for a trade to come along. Seems like teams are just gonna wait it out till we waive him. What other players besides those on this list should the Blazers be looking at/ would fit with our current young team?

 

[Boob-No-More]

We are sitting on Miller hoping for a trade to come along. Seems like teams are just gonna wait it out till we waive him.

More likely, nobody wants him even if he's free. Did you see Miller play last year? Have you checked his stats? When the best you can do is a PER = 4.6 playing next to LeBron, you're pretty much done.

BNM

 

[Pinwheel1]

Yeah this list is weak IMO:

Rondo and Hibbert? They haven't even played a game yet for their new team.
Randle....the Lakers love him and he would be a duplication of Vonleh
Eric Gordon.....an expensive duplication of CJ
Ryan Anderson....a duplication of Meyers
Deng...does not fit in age wise, but he does fill a need
Joakim Noah...ending contract, would he resign with a young team? Very doubtful

Obviously Barnes would be nice, but GS loves him. He would not come cheap.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Yeah this list is weak IMO:

Rondo and Hibbert? They haven't even played a game yet for their new team.
Randle....the Lakers love him and he would be a duplication of Vonleh
Eric Gordon.....a much older, injury prone, much more expensive duplication of CJ
Ryan Anderson....an older, more expensive, less athletic duplication of Meyers
Deng...does not fit in age wise, but he does fill a need
Joakim Noah...ending contract, would he resign with a young team? Very doubtful

Obviously Barnes would be nice, but GS loves him. He would not come cheap.

Good summary. See my comments above...

Plus, there is no way I want that head case Rondo anywhere near my young players.

BNM

 

[Blazer4ever]

I don't want any of these players. Well, to be more precise, the players I would want on this list (Noah, Deng, Al Jefferon, Gibson) we aren't getting.

 

[Natebishop3]

Noah has dropped off significantly in the last year. I don't want him.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Unless we also get LeBron, I don't want anyone on this list over 25 years old. We're not in win now mode. Adding vets that will take PT away from our young guys doesn't make sense.

BNM

 

[BigGameDamian]

Unless we also get LeBron, I don't want anyone on this list over 25 years old. We're not in win now mode. Adding vets that will take PT away from our young guys doesn't make sense.

BNM

I don't think thats the way Neil Olshey sees it though.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I don't think thats the way Neil Olshey sees it though.

Why, what has he done/said to make you believe otherwise? Because so far I don't remember him going after anyone over 26 so far this off season other than Henderson, and my guess since Hendo only has 1 year left on his contract, Vonleh was the target in that trade.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Unless we also get LeBron, I don't want anyone on this list over 25 years old. We're not in win now mode. Adding vets that will take PT away from our young guys doesn't make sense.

BNM

Whiteside and Barnes are the only interesting names I see, and I don't see either of them being available.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I don't think thats the way Neil Olshey sees it though.

Why not? He got rid of our four oldest starters, Blake, Wright, etc., and brought in a bunch of young guys. The exception was Mike Miller, but he'll likely be waived and was part of the deal to land 2019 and 2020 second round picks (now that's what I call a youth movement). Who on that list over 25 do you think Olshey will go after and why?

BNM

 

[0-Our!]

On the latest Blazers Edge podcast Phil and Dave went over a list of players that the Blazers might go after before the season starts to better the roster. While I agreed with a few, most were veterans who wouldn't fit with our mold, some were guys we don't have the assets to get, while others I just found myself saying NO!
They seemed to really be waiving their "magic wands". Still there were a few that caught my eye. Here is the list

Roy Hibbert
Hassan Whiteside
Julius Randle
Luol Deng
Ryan Anderson
Eric Gordan
Iman Shumpert
Harrison Barnes
Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson
Rajon Rondo
Demar Derozan
Al Jefferson

Whiteside, Randle, Anderson and Derozan stand out to me into this list as players who would fit our current roster. I know Derozan's name has been thrown out there in a lot of posts this offseason. But at this point he is probably ungettable for the Blazers. What do you guys think about this list? Should the Blazers try to make a move if it makes sense before the season? Can they with the assets they have? We are sitting on Miller hoping for a trade to come along. Seems like teams are just gonna wait it out till we waive him. What other players besides those on this list should the Blazers be looking at/ would fit with our current young team?

On this list, there are only 3 players (Anderson, Gibson, Derozan) that I think could be Blazers (i.e. chemistry on/off court w/ playing style/personality) & I would only take (notice I say "take" not "want") them if they were cheap; making a "fair" trade for any of these 3... & I say no way, don't want/won't take any of them. Really, there's only 1 scenario that would make sense for trying to get any of these 3 & that's IF we were close to winning it all (do I have to tell any1 we're not even close?). Noah's the only other guy that could fit but I don't think he could provide enough benefit no matter how cheap he was.

Whiteside, he's a force/good player & fun to watch but he's not a player I would ever want as a Blazer; he's got a bad attitude/immature (has major difficulty controlling his emotions), he'll pout & be a bad influence on/off court.

So in summation, not wanting to play the what if this or that game, just gonna say I hate the list & none of those players should be considered.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I don't think thats the way Neil Olshey sees it though.

If you don't think this. Please explain your reasoning? Otherwise your thinking wont make sense to the rest of us who have watched the team morph overnight practically and there is a VERY CLEAR trend that NO is OBVIOUSLY following.

I think everyone sees it that way but you maybe?

 

[BlazerWookee]

If you don't think this. Please explain your reasoning? Otherwise your thinking wont make sense to the rest of us who have watched the team morph overnight practically and there is a VERY CLEAR trend that NO is OBVIOUSLY following.

I think everyone sees it that way but you maybe?

"Reasoning," lol...

 

[BigGameDamian]

Why, what has he done/said to make you believe otherwise? Because so far I don't remember him going after anyone over 25 so far this off season other than Henderson, and my guess since Hendo only has 1 year left on his contract, Vonleh was the target in that trade.

Ed Davis is 26 Just like Demar Derozan.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Ed Davis is 26 Just like Demar Derozan.

OK, you got us there. Ed Davis turned 26 less than a month before the Blazers signed him. The acquisition of the elderly Davis is clearly an indication that Olshey thinks we are in win now mode. That's probably why he went hard after Mike Miller and retained Kaman, too. With all this veteran leadership, we are clearly poised for a deep playoff run.

BNM

 

[Blazers Roy]

I would be shocked if Paul Allen will agree to sign Whiteside, no way in hell imo.

I don't see how Barnes can stay with the Warriors tho, they already pay almost-max money to 3-4 guys. How can they offer Barnes the max without losing all of their bench+Bogut when Ezeli is due to a fat extension as well?
I can definitely see old dog Olshey creeping on those 2 cats

 

[BigGameDamian]

The 2 players that blow my skirt up the most from that list are Demar Derozan & Harrison Barnes. I think both these players would be considered needle movers.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

If we're willing to pay, Barnes is the only guy on the list that pops my cork. Whiteside is intriguing but I still think we have the 5 covered with Plumlee. Barnes could be a real key addition to what we already have. Personally I like John Henson fit wise, but I dont think Milwaukee would give him up. February could be very interesting...

 

[Blazers Roy]

If we're willing to pay, Barnes is the only guy on the list that pops my cork. Whiteside is intriguing but I still think we have the 5 covered with Plumlee. Barnes could be a real key addition to what we already have. Personally I like John Henson fit wise, but I dont think Milwaukee would give him up. February could be very interesting...

You cereal bro?
Plumlee is a nice vanilla flavored center like Robin. He is a nice,wholesome player for your family to watch and enjoy together, Whiteside on the other hand is a wild animal! he made Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson cry when he blocked them a million times last year, he made big scary centers like DeAndre Jordan his personal bitches.

If he shows consistency and the guy with the round glasses approves then we should definitely bag him.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I don't know why more Blazers fans don't fancy Demar Derozen? The guy may not be the franchise guy that the Raptors were hoping for but we've already got that that guy in Damion Lillard. I think either Barnes or Derozen would fit on this team very nice!

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Next summer is a big one for free agency. I see Neil doing the RoLo thing again. We'll take a very good player another team is dumping in the hopes of signing a bigger fish. So, it's really too early unless Neil actually gets the moon.

 

[0-Our!]

I don't know why more Blazers fans don't fancy Demar Derozen? The guy may not be the franchise guy that the Raptors were hoping for but we've already got that that guy in Damion Lillard. I think either Barnes or Derozen would fit on this team very nice!

Because... he's not as good as you think he is. He's not a bad player but the kind of $ or what you'd have to give up/what they would demand to get him, he's not worth it.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I don't know why more Blazers fans don't fancy Demar Derozen? The guy may not be the franchise guy that the Raptors were hoping for but we've already got that that guy in Damion Lillard. I think either Barnes or Derozen would fit on this team very nice!

You pretty much nailed with the five words in bold. He's NOT a franchise player, but wants to be paid like one. A couple snippets from that article:

"Rumours began flying last week that DeRozan will decline his player option at the end of the 2015-16 season and seek a max deal of around $25 million with the new salary cap.

The truth of the matter is DeRozan is a volume jump shooter who does not have a reliable three-point stroke. Most of his shot attempts come from the statistically dreadful midrange area, which will likely keep him in the low-to-mid 40 percent region."

I thought we were going in a different direction. Do we really want to replace LaMarcus Aldridge's midrange game with Demar Derozan's - at a starting salary of $25 million/year?

BNM

 

[Strenuus]

I don't know why more Blazers fans don't fancy Demar Derozen? The guy may not be the franchise guy that the Raptors were hoping for but we've already got that that guy in Damion Lillard. I think either Barnes or Derozen would fit on this team very nice!

DAMIAN.

HOLY CRAP IT'S IN YOUR SCREENAME FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

 

[0-Our!]

Personally I like John Henson fit wise, but I dont think Milwaukee would give him up. February could be very interesting...

Actually... I think they would give him up (this is also a contract yr. for him & I don't believe they want/will pay him so... they will try to get the most value for him in a trade because it's obvious to us & the rest of the league, guy's got talent); they just signed a guy named Monroe & he's gonna play center for them (mostly) not Henson. Henson's a pf/c, he & Monroe together won't play well together; Miles Plumlee (the brother from the same mother) actually is much better suited to play next to Monroe @ pf, that would leave Henson as a backup 5 & 4 (they like J. O'Bryant over there so Henson would be fighting for minutes @ the 4 w/ him & as backup 5 to Monroe, he won't see much time, they can get anyone to fill in @ the backup 5 & be fine); the farther away from the basket Henson (which he would be IF he played along side Monroe, which won't happen) is, the worse he is.

I've mentioned Henson several times before on Blazers websites (I've mentioned him before here in ripcitytwo also) past & present; I've always been a fan of his, he's not a world beater but guy's got talent (has some weaknesses too but he's definitely a dual position player worth having on you roster especially for rim protection). Also, Henson will get a raise in his next contract but he won't be crazy expensive; I think he's reached his potential (any improvements will be marginal) & everyone knows it.

 

[BigGameDamian]

You pretty much nailed with the five words in bold. He's NOT a franchise player, but wants to be paid like one. A couple snippets from that article:

"Rumours began flying last week that DeRozan will decline his player option at the end of the 2015-16 season and seek a max deal of around $25 million with the new salary cap.

The truth of the matter is DeRozan is a volume jump shooter who does not have a reliable three-point stroke. Most of his shot attempts come from the statistically dreadful midrange area, which will likely keep him in the low-to-mid 40 percent region."

I thought we were going in a different direction. Do we really want to replace LaMarcus Aldridge's midrange game with Demar Derozan's - at a starting salary of $25 million/year?

BNM

Wes Mathews wanted to be paid like one too and if not for his injury the Blazers probably would have.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

You pretty much nailed with the five words in bold. He's NOT a franchise player, but wants to be paid like one. A couple snippets from that article:

"Rumours began flying last week that DeRozan will decline his player option at the end of the 2015-16 season and seek a max deal of around $25 million with the new salary cap.

The truth of the matter is DeRozan is a volume jump shooter who does not have a reliable three-point stroke. Most of his shot attempts come from the statistically dreadful midrange area, which will likely keep him in the low-to-mid 40 percent region."

I thought we were going in a different direction. Do we really want to replace LaMarcus Aldridge's midrange game with Demar Derozan's - at a starting salary of $25 million/year?

BNM

Derozan > Matthews, Thompson, others who are going to GET PAID.
shrug.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Whiteside? He's not going anywhere.

Hibbert? Not this again.

This list is crap.

 

[jlprk]

On the latest Blazers Edge podcast Phil and Dave went over a list of players that the Blazers might go after before the season starts to better the roster.

Phil and Dave, whoever they are, put far less time into their lousy list than we did in this thread.