Chris Sheridan gets a few Blazer questions...

[MIXUM]

Paley (Wellington, NZ)

In the west this year, the 6-8 playoff spot is up for grabs by like 4 teams, how do you see the west bottom half of the playoff spot round off to be?
Chris Sheridan (2:57 PM)

Right now I would say Memphis and New Orleans will get Nos. 7 and 8 over Phoenix and Portland.


Nick (Portland)

Is there any interest at all around the league for Brandon Roy, or is he essentially untradeable?
Chris Sheridan (2:31 PM)

He is No. 1 on my untradeable list.


Mark (New Haven)

What do you see the Blazers doing, fire sale or making a run at an impact players?
Chris Sheridan (2:45 PM)

Thats the million dollar question around the league and in Portland. From what I hear, Cho doesn't have the kind of trading skills to pull off moves to fix Portland in the short term. Its anyones guess at this point.



AND ESPN POWER RANKINGS have the Blazers at 14 with the Suns at 11 and Hornets at 12. Thats kinda crazy the suns are so high. that is Marc Steins Power rankings. Also Hollinger has us as the 9th seed on playoff odds with houston being 8th... but by a slim margin. NBA.com has us steady at 15 with the suns at 14. We define mediocre.

 

[Mediocre Man]

From what I hear, Cho doesn't have the kind of trading skills to pull off moves to fix Portland in the short term.

Wow. That pretty much says it all right there.

 

[MIXUM]

yeah i almost gagged when i saw it.

oh and just saw this from nbc....

14. Blazers (14-14). There are going to be some trades to shake up this roster in the next two months. But is Andre Miller really a guy they are going to sell?

 

[andalusian]

Wow. That pretty much says it all right there.

Well, I guess we will find out. They sold him as the guy that did the big Gary Payton for Ray Allen trade way back in the days. We will find out if this was another PR story or they knew what they were doing.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Wow. That pretty much says it all right there.

Definitely. But I ask myself, "who does?"

Cho's kind of in a situation where it is nigh impossible to succeed given his starting position and end goal. Never mind that short term success (8th seed playoff appearance) would likely preclude long-term progress (rebuild through the draft).

Roy is like a toxic asset from the housing bubble: we know he's worth less than we paid for him, but until we see him play long term we won't know how much less. Same with Oden. As a GM, you can't make any plans involving these guys giving you value, because that's setting a budget without knowing your income.

The assets you have left, the ones with trade value, are the exact players who are keeping you afloat right now. Afloat of course is a relative term, since .500 is not where you really want to be; you either want to be much better or much worse.

Plus, how many of those assets do you keep? We could trade everyone on the team save Roy and Oden, get back plenty of picks and scrubs, and be god-awful, but do you want to be first against the wall in front of a firing squad because you managed to trade the only good thing fans have? If you think the media is hostile now, just wait until you trade LaMarcus, Matthews or Batum.

Basically, no matter what moves (or lack of moves) Cho makes this season, he will probably become a pariah and fired. He cannot win. KP managed the second biggest fart and run of all time (the biggest being Nash's fart and run in 2005), which has left Cho holding the bag so to speak.

Perhaps, in a less hostile environment (internally and externally), Cho could succeed precisely because of this. I've taken over already-failed projects before and hobbled them to shore, and didn't receive the blame. My first project management job was exactly that: client is incensed at the product, which is late, and the project manager has just left for Tibet to "find himself". Thanks a lot, jerkwad. I tried some things, smiled and nodded, and generally buggered on as best I could (since I had no PM experience, just youthful enthusiasm). In the end, the client was still pissed, the product was still late, and I wasn't fired.

But anyway, the environment surrounding the Blazers is hostile. The fans were sold a bill of goods; the media wants to tear the team down from within, and the other GM's smell the blood in the water. There's no way to get fair value for the expiring contracts, and it would take very skilled hands to get value for the players nobody wants to trade (Aldridge, Matthews, Batum). So it comes back to: who could possibly be amazing enough at the GM job to "git'r done" ?

 

[RoyToy]

Cho can't even use Oden's $3.1M injury exception to find a better player than Sean Marks. There's something troubling about that. I saw him say the other day he might not even use it(11 days left). How long does it take to evaluate and find better players than Sean Marks? Why apply for it and then not use it?

He also said he doesn't know if they'll use the trade exception they got for Jerryd Bayless. I get that some will say it's all just GM speak, but I don't think Cho is bluffing here or anything. I think he literally doesn't know because he doesn't know what he wants to do.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Cho can't even use Oden's $3.1M injury exception to find a better player than Sean Marks. There's something troubling about that. I saw him say the other day he might not even use it(11 days left). How long does it take to evaluate and find better players than Sean Marks? Why apply for it and then not use it?

He also said he doesn't know if they'll use the trade exception they got for Jerryd Bayless. I get that some will say it's all just GM speak, but I don't think Cho is bluffing here or anything. I think he literally doesn't know because he doesn't know what he wants to do.

I hadn't heard about his comments about the injury and trade exceptions. I will say this, and only this in his and the teams defense. if they truly believe they aren't in possition to win this year, why spend the money?

 

[RoyToy]

You can't tell me they can't get some kind of use out of the injury exception.

Just thought of something interesting, though. Do the Blazers pocket the $3.1M if they don't use it? Or is it a use it or lose it type of deal?

 

[andalusian]

You can't tell me they can't get some kind of use out of the injury exception.

Just thought of something interesting, though. Do the Blazers pocket the $3.1M if they don't use it? Or is it a use it or lose it type of deal?

They get to "not pay someone the money" if they don't use it...

 

[RoyToy]

If they're that worried about spending the $3.1M then why bother applying for it?

The only rational I can think of is using it as part of a trade but some people have shot that down and say you can't do that.

 

[Mediocre Man]

You can't tell me they can't get some kind of use out of the injury exception.

Just thought of something interesting, though. Do the Blazers pocket the $3.1M if they don't use it? Or is it a use it or lose it type of deal?

They can absolutely get some use out of it, but that use will be someone a little better than Sean Marks. That player won't put us over the top. What we need is a player a little better than Brandon Roy to do that

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Wow. That pretty much says it all right there.

And pretty much what a lot of us here at S2 have been saying.

 

[Minstrel]

What players are available that cost $3.1 million or less and are desirable? You can't combine it with other exceptions, players or cash to bring back someone who costs more.

The exceptions aren't there to make a great, team-changing trade. They're notionally there for teams desperate, due to injury, for a live body. You can get a proven Sean Marks or some raw player from the NBADL who might better or worse than Sean Marks.

 

[RoyToy]

They can absolutely get some use out of it, but that use will be someone a little better than Sean Marks. That player won't put us over the top. What we need is a player a little better than Brandon Roy to do that

True, but that was never my argument.

 

[Mediocre Man]

What players are available that cost $3.1 million or less and are desirable? You can't combine it with other exceptions, players or cash to bring back someone who costs more.

The exceptions aren't there to make a great, team-changing trade. They're notionally there for teams desperate, due to injury, for a live body. You can get a proven Sean Marks or some raw player from the NBADL who might better or worse than Sean Marks.

The only thing I can think of that would help a team is to make 2 trades with the same team. A team over the cap that wants to shed salary? send the exception to them for a player, and then in a seperate trade send a player to them for another player to ballance out the trade

 

[Nikolokolus]

If they're that worried about spending the $3.1M then why bother applying for it?

The only rational I can think of is using it as part of a trade but some people have shot that down and say you can't do that.

Because the team in the luxury tax, that "measly" 3.1 million becomes 6.2 ... I don't care how loaded Paul Allen is, it's bad business to throw 6 million dollars in a burn barrel when spending that additional money isn't likely to do anything to truly impact your odds of getting to the playoffs.

 

[RoyToy]

So don't apply for it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

So don't apply for it.

Well, it's always better to leave an option open if it's there, instead of ensuring you have no option at all. That's just stupid.

 

[RoyToy]

But if any option is not going to be worth it then in the end it's pretty much a waste of time. It's very Status Cho.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

But if any option is not going to be worth it then in the end it's pretty much a waste of time. It's very Status Cho.

I am agreeing with Nic. The chances of us using it is very low due to the luxury tax implications. To not even apply for it is just plain being lazy since you never know what deal in the future is going to be offered.

I thought the Bayless trade showed he will make a move and is not "letting the cake bake". I also think that if he had already made a big move, there would be just as many people complaining about it.

Bayless was not a point guard and there was little playing time for him with the addition of Wes. Has him being traded created more or less complaining?

 

[Nikolokolus]

But if any option is not going to be worth it then in the end it's pretty much a waste of time. It's very Status Cho.

Of course that's what you were going to say.

 

[RoyToy]

Well, if the shoe fits...

 

[Ed O]

But if any option is not going to be worth it then in the end it's pretty much a waste of time. It's very Status Cho.

Waste of time for whom?

What is the opportunity cost of applying for it?

How is the team possibly better off by NOT having applied for it?

I don't understand your point at all.

Ed O.

 

[RoyToy]

That's too bad.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Hey RoyToy, now that you've mastered the one string banjo, why don't you try two strings?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

In the west this year, the 6-8 playoff spot is up for grabs by like 4 teams, how do you see the west bottom half of the playoff spot round off to be?
Chris Sheridan (2:57 PM)
Right now I would say Memphis and New Orleans will get Nos. 7 and 8 over Phoenix and Portland.

New Orleans? Maybe. But Memphis? Really? And since when is Chris Sheridan expert on anything?

Nick (Portland)
Is there any interest at all around the league for Brandon Roy, or is he essentially untradeable?
Chris Sheridan (2:31 PM)
He is No. 1 on my untradeable list.

What, because all of the people above him just got traded?
And where's Joe Johnson then?

See, here's what I'd like to know about Roy: when did Roy's knees officially die? Was it when they got scoped just before the playoffs last year? If so, that seems like an amazingly small operation to destroy a career. And also if so, he's producing at a better than average clip this season when he plays. He's just not up to BRANDON ROY standards. But he's shown in the Phoenix game that he can produce once in a while. So yes, he's a toxic asset, but I betcha there's somebody in the league ready to take a chance on him. As Ric Bucher said - at least 6 teams have called about him. (If we believe Ric Bucher.)

Mark (New Haven)
What do you see the Blazers doing, fire sale or making a run at an impact players?
Chris Sheridan (2:45 PM)
Thats the million dollar question around the league and in Portland. From what I hear, Cho doesn't have the kind of trading skills to pull off moves to fix Portland in the short term. Its anyones guess at this point.

"Trading skills"? WTF? According to whom, and how would they know? He's never been a GM before, so how can they tell? Maybe he's a genius because he's convinced other GMs he's a rube.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Rasta: To hear Roy tell it (in Marc Stein's weekend dime piece the other day) they operated on his one "good" knee back in April and that he'd been compensating for his other gimpy knee for some time. Now with two bad knees, he's not able to compensate.

 

[RoyToy]

Hey RoyToy, now that you've mastered the one string banjo, why don't you try two strings?

Maybe one day.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I'd like to see some specifics from the critics; what feasible deals that work capwise and improve our team do you suggest?

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'm just going to throw this out there...

It was reported by Bucher that 7 or 8 teams have called about Roy. They obviously would trade for him if the price was low enough. By Sheridan's definition, that must mean that every other player in the league has 8 or 9 teams or more willing to trade for him. I don't see that.

At least one player on my "Untradable" list above B-Roy.
1) Yao Ming.