Blazers intrested in Demtris Nicols?

[hasoos]

According to Hoopshype the Blazers are interested in Demtris Nichols, who played in the NBDL last year.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=demetris_nichols

Anybody seen him play much?

Several other teams are interested as well, it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

[Nikolokolus]

According to Hoopshype the Blazers are interested in Demtris Nichols, who played in the NBDL last year.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=demetris_nichols

Anybody seen him play much?

Several other teams are interested as well, it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

I know he was pretty good at Syracuse, and we drafted him in the second round in 2007 ... do we still have any rights to him?

 

[hasoos]

I know he was pretty good at Syracuse, and we drafted him in the second round in 2007 ... do we still have any rights to him?

No he played a short stint for NY last year.

 

[Nikolokolus]

No he played a short stint for NY last year.

Yeah I just looked up the 2007 draft on draftexpress.com.

My only question about our supposed interest is what the hell do we need another young wing for? I wonder if this means Travis or Martell should be looking for new apartment in a month or two, and he'd basically just be some emergency depth in case of injury?

 

[Mediocre Man]

I know he was pretty good at Syracuse, and we drafted him in the second round in 2007 ... do we still have any rights to him?

We traded his rights on draft night to the Knicks, I believe, as part of the Zach Randolph trade.

He was thought to be one of the best shooters in the draft.

 

[hasoos]

Yeah I just looked up the 2007 draft on draftexpress.com.

My only question about our supposed interest is what the hell do we need another young wing for? I wonder if this means Travis or Martell should be looking for new apartment in a month or two, and he'd basically just be some emergency depth in case of injury?

Yea that is interesting. Hell we don't even know if Martell will even make it back to play. I hope he does, but you never know, and management definitly knows more about the medical reports than we do. I think it will actuall all depend on if they go get a backup PF banger type or not. If they do, there is no reason to keep Travis anymore. He is a tweener that ends up matched up at backup PF to try and take advantage of an offensive mismatch, but the rest of the game ends up suffering.

 

[Reep]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The New York Knicks are interested in signing former Syracuse star Demetris Nichols again.

But they are also just one of seven NBA teams courting Nichols who has spent the last two days working out for the Indiana Pacers.

According to Nichols' agent Bill Neff, the Pacers are one of four teams he will be visiting over the next few months.

Nichols will workout for Oklahoma City next week, with the Memphis Grizzlies next month, and the Toronto Raptors in July.

The Blazers and Jazz have also expressed interest in gaining the services of Nichols, who spent 10-days with the Knicks and most of the season in the D-League last year.

Hard to tell how much interest they really have.

 

[SodaPopinski]

Less unproven youth, please ...

-Pop

 

[J_Ray]

^ Can I get a link Reef?

 

[hasoos]

Less unproven youth, please ...

-Pop

I view D-Leaguers a little different than unproven youth. Most of the players out of the D-League have to work pretty hard to get into the league, and the players that make it tend to have excellent work ethics. Look at guys like Eddie House. The same was when teams were calling up players from the CBA and other lesser leagues. Guys like Mario Elie. I wouldn't kick them off the team for eating crackers.

 

[hasoos]

^ Can I get a link Reef?

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStories.asp?lc=NBA&c=1&TEAM_ID=&PLAYER_ID=&hd=20090514#STORY_18812

Hoopsworld, hoopshype, draftexpress. They are all your friends for basketball reading!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Less unproven youth, please ...

-Pop

When it comes to rounding out roster spots 11-14? I'll absolutely take some cheap, fringe NBA players to round out the roster as long as they have a little bit of talent -- and Nicholas can shoot the rock by all accounts.

Now when it comes to filling in roster spots 7-10 (or maybe even a couple of starting spots) I agree this team needs some veteran help in the worst way, but we shouldn't turn our noses up just because a player of interest is 'youngish' (24 isn't exactly a fresh faced one-and-done college prospect coming out of the draft).

 

[SodaPopinski]

When it comes to rounding out roster spots 11-14? I'll absolutely take some cheap, fringe NBA players to round out the roster as long as they have a little bit of talent -- and Nicholas can shoot the rock by all accounts.

Now when it comes to filling in roster spots 7-10 (or maybe even a couple of starting spots) I agree this team needs some veteran help in the worst way, but we shouldn't turn our noses up just because a player of interest is 'youngish' (24 isn't exactly a fresh faced one-and-done college prospect coming out of the draft).

I see where you're coming from, but I'd rather see us bolster our wing depth with a lock-down defender and add a banger to spell LaMarcus at the PF spot. I'm not as concerned about the PG spot as others on this board are, but I'd be okay with a change there as well. All this other stuff just seems like window-dressing and doesn't seem to address the issues this team has.

-Pop

 

[Minstrel]

All this other stuff just seems like window-dressing and doesn't seem to address the issues this team has.

I agree, but every move the team makes doesn't need to be a Solution. Some moves are just made around the edges. Good teams are built through both big moves and little moves.

Now, if something like this were the only move Pritchard made, I'd be a bit more concerned.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Less unproven youth, please ...

-Pop

No shit.

Please no more unproven guys. Our roster is loaded with young guys who are still unproven. Let's try and bring in somoene that is a proven winner

 

[SodaPopinski]

To further my point ... look at the remaining teams in the playoffs and their collective playoff experience. Organic growth is great and I think it has its merits, but at some point you have to bring in some vets who know what it takes to win in the playoffs.

-Pop

 

[Mediocre Man]

To further my point ... look at the remaining teams in the playoffs and their collective playoff experience. Organic growth is great and I think it has its merits, but at some point you have to bring in some vets who know what it takes to win in the playoffs.

-Pop

I am not sure a lot of people believe this, but the easiest part of building a title contender is what KP just did. The hardest part is letting go of some of the fringe players for experienced role players. Fine tuning is definately the harder part. I will be interested to see if KP is as good as everyone thinks he is.

Like a defensive football team that bends but doesn't break. Every offensive coordinator in the league can get from the 20 to the 20 easily, but getting from the 20 to the goal line is the hardest part, and that's truly what seperates the good coordinators from the great ones.

KP has yet to show that he is willing to take a risk and trade someone "important" to the roster

 

[Nikolokolus]

I am not sure a lot of people believe this, but the easiest part of building a title contender is what KP just did. The hardest part is letting go of some of the fringe players for experienced role players. Fine tuning is definately the harder part. I will be interested to see if KP is as good as everyone thinks he is.

Like a defensive football team that bends but doesn't break. Every offensive coordinator in the league can get from the 20 to the 20 easily, but getting from the 20 to the goal line is the hardest part, and that's truly what seperates the good coordinators from the great ones.

KP has yet to show that he is willing to take a risk and trade someone "important" to the roster

You make some great points in here. This off-season will largely demonstrate if KP has the stones to make the cold-blooded choices about the roster that every really good GM has to be willing to make. I'm equal parts curious and nervous to see if he's just a collector of "nice young talent" or if he's really willing to pay the price (giving up guys that he's picked) to surround the core with the right mix of talent and proven experience that every team with championship aspirations needs.

 

[hasoos]

I am not sure a lot of people believe this, but the easiest part of building a title contender is what KP just did. The hardest part is letting go of some of the fringe players for experienced role players. Fine tuning is definately the harder part. I will be interested to see if KP is as good as everyone thinks he is.

Like a defensive football team that bends but doesn't break. Every offensive coordinator in the league can get from the 20 to the 20 easily, but getting from the 20 to the goal line is the hardest part, and that's truly what seperates the good coordinators from the great ones.

KP has yet to show that he is willing to take a risk and trade someone "important" to the roster

Yea and that is what scares the living shit out of me, and why I have quit listening to his interviews. KP say's all the right things so that if a player stays on board, they won't be pissed about what he said. He is politically correct so to speak. But his lack of moves on the team besides drafting guys scares the hell out of me, especially when he passes up using the RLEC golden ticket while we had it. That enough makes me wonder if he is too loyal to the guys that are here, too close to them. Maybe there were no good deals on the table. Maybe he is too loyal to the guys who are here.

Does KP have any record of making trades besides for draft picks? Nope.

Does KP have a good record of picking up talent deep in the draft? Only if they are European. He has missed many good late round prospects, some as late as #57 in the draft. But then again, so did 28 other NBA teams multiple times. Who knows, maybe at that point you are just getting lucky.

I guess the thing that bothers me the most is he says we will "evaluate the team after this point". Every time he says that, nothing happens even though the team has holes. The same holes it had when he evaluated it the last time.

 

[Minstrel]

Yea and that is what scares the living shit out of me, and why I have quit listening to his interviews. KP say's all the right things so that if a player stays on board, they won't be pissed about what he said. He is politically correct so to speak. But his lack of moves on the team besides drafting guys scares the hell out of me, especially when he passes up using the RLEC golden ticket while we had it. That enough makes me wonder if he is too loyal to the guys that are here, too close to them. Maybe there were no good deals on the table. Maybe he is too loyal to the guys who are here.

Does KP have any record of making trades besides for draft picks? Nope.

Until now, Pritchard had only gone through the rebuilding stage. Shouldn't we at least give him some time in this new reality of gearing up for a title run before we start examining records?

Does KP have a good record of picking up talent deep in the draft? Only if they are European. He has missed many good late round prospects, some as late as #57 in the draft.

What is the relevance of the nationality? The point is to get talent where you draft, not to get it from American-born or European-born prospects.

Every GM misses many good late-round prospects. I don't see why anyone would knock Pritchard's drafting...that's where he's pretty much blown away the field in his tenure as GM.

It will definitely be interesting to see whether Pritchard has the ability to hone a talented roster into a focused, title contender. That's what Jerry West did when he traded Divac for Kobe Bryant, signed Shaq and traded Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones for Glen Rice. He dealt a lot of good players he had selected to organize the talent into more of a championship-oriented team. (Of course, it bears noting that one of those moves was trading a veteran, Divac, for a young player, Kobe. It's a matter of getting the right guys, even if they're young.)

 

[hasoos]

Until now, Pritchard had only gone through the rebuilding stage. Shouldn't we at least give him some time in this new reality of gearing up for a title run before we start examining records?



What is the relevance of the nationality? The point is to get talent where you draft, not to get it from American-born or European-born prospects.

Every GM misses many good late-round prospects. I don't see why anyone would knock Pritchard's drafting...that's where he's pretty much blown away the field in his tenure as GM.

It will definitely be interesting to see whether Pritchard has the ability to hone a talented roster into a focused, title contender. That's what Jerry West did when he traded Divac for Kobe Bryant, signed Shaq and traded Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones for Glen Rice. He dealt a lot of good players he had selected to organize the talent into more of a championship-oriented team. (Of course, it bears noting that one of those moves was trading a veteran, Divac, for a young player, Kobe. It's a matter of getting the right guys, even if they're young.)

Actually the relevance of nationality is quite important. European players often slide due to the fact they have contract buyouts that cause them to slide, to literally fall into someone's lap. This means it was an obvious player who slid because of economic reasons. Yes KP is good at scouting high level talent. He has done very good picking in the lottery. The facts are, most of these european guys would have gone much higher if there was not a contract buyout and or delay on them coming stateside to play. They were a no brainer and he had nothing to loose. But when it comes to picking players in the second round, he has missed the boat a lot. A ton.

Peterri Koponnen instead of Carl Landry, Marc Gasol, or Ramon Sessions anybody? Does that ring a bell?

See the pattern I see repeating is: Use late round picks on a european prospect and sometimes your dart will hit the dart board. So far he has 2 good ones (Rudy and Batum, although my opionion on Batum is still out.) and 2 that flat out stink in Sergio and Koponen.

 

[rocketeer]

To further my point ... look at the remaining teams in the playoffs and their collective playoff experience. Organic growth is great and I think it has its merits, but at some point you have to bring in some vets who know what it takes to win in the playoffs.

-Pop

playoff basketball is still just basketball. there isn't some special knowledge required to win in the playoffs that only vets have. playing in a 7 game series is different than playing a team 2-4 times spread out over a season because the team's become familiar with each other and are able to make vast adjustments game to game, but that really is the only difference.

 

[Minstrel]

Actually the relevance of nationality is quite important. European players often slide due to the fact they have contract buyouts that cause them to slide, to literally fall into someone's lap. This means it was an obvious player who slid because of economic reasons. Yes KP is good at scouting high level talent. He has done very good picking in the lottery. The facts are, most of these european guys would have gone much higher if there was not a contract buyout and or delay on them coming stateside to play. They were a no brainer and he had nothing to loose.

What about the teams picking directly ahead of Pritchard? They were obvious at 24 but not at 22 or 23? The idea that they were "obvious" is completely wrong. They fell because once their price tag was factored in, they were not obviously good values at those draft positions.

But when it comes to picking players in the second round, he has missed the boat a lot. A ton.

Like every GM in the history of the game.

See the pattern I see repeating is: Use late round picks on a european prospect and sometimes your dart will hit the dart board.

A 50% "good player" success rate for draft picks that late is fantastic. So you see a pattern of Pritchard adopting a smart strategy. Cool, I do too.

 

[santeesioux]

Why not just sign Ime Udoka then? He's a vet and a local fan favorite.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Why not just sign Ime Udoka then? He's a vet and a local fan favorite.

I thought about Ime, but I'm not sure what he'd bring to the team that they don't already have in terms of raw talent (Nicolas' defense is pretty close to on par or better than Ime's)? Sure, he's older and he's pretty tough, but where do you use him unless some serious paring down at the wing occurs, even even if you were to move one of Travis or Martell they would still be overloaded and facing a minute crunch (especially if you count Roy and Rudy).

My guess (hope?) is that they add a veteran backup 4 to the roster who can bang around a little bit and score from the block, and maybe add a veteran starting point guard like Andre Miller or Kirk Hinrich to help shepherd some of these youngins and take some heat off of B-Roy.

Bottom line: Ime would be a great addition if we didn't have Nic.