Could Rondo and Pierce make the Blazers a contender?

[Natebishop3]

Back to the original question: Does a 35 year old Pierce, LaMarcus and Rondo as your best three players make you competitive in a series with San Antonio, the Heat or OKC? I kind of doubt it.

Pass.

Don't forget about Batum!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Don't forget about Batum!

Oh, so this assumes we match and carry a huge luxury tax kind of roster going forward? Nice.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Taking on Pierce just isn't worth it.

 

[Natebishop3]

Taking on Pierce just isn't worth it.

And then convince Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to sign vet minimum deals to create the Celtics West!

Rondo
Allen
Pierce
Aldridge
Garnett

CHAMPIONSHIP BABY!

 

[South East]

Oh, so this assumes we match and carry a huge luxury tax kind of roster going forward? Nice.

It wouldn't be in lux tax. It's no different then what everyone is assuming the Blazers are gonna do now by using cap space then resigning Batum. What's better out there that the Blazers could get then Rondo and Pierce?

 

[South East]

Taking on Pierce just isn't worth it.

Do you think Portland should just keep the picks or is there better options out there to get better? Examples?

 

[Blaze01]

Yes keep the picks...

Not that Rondo and Pierce wouldn't be entertaining though....

 

[Nikolokolus]

]It wouldn't be in lux tax.[/B] It's no different then what everyone is assuming the Blazers are gonna do now by using cap space then resigning Batum. What's better out there that the Blazers could get then Rondo and Pierce?

Add up the salaries of Pierce, Rondo, LMA and Batum and that puts the team at:
Pierce: 16.7 this year and 15.3 the next (player option)
Rondo: 11 next, 11.9 the year after and 12.9 the year after that
LMA: 14 million this year, 15.1 and 16.2 the succeeding years
Batum: likely to be 8.5 on the low end and possibly as high as 10.5 on the high end ... for 4 years.

That's a helluva lot (about 51 to 53 million) of committed salary for 4 guys for the next couple of years and at least 9 other roster spots to fill (including a center which isn't ever cheap) ... so yeah, that is going to be a luxury tax team or at the very least a team that has zero flexibility with a group of players that probably pushes them back into the mix for a playoff spot, but probably doesn't push them to WCF contention, let alone finals contention.

In terms of bang for the buck, that doesn't excite me much

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Add up the salaries of Pierce, Rondo, LMA and Batum and that puts the team at:
Pierce: 16.7 this year and 15.3 the next (player option)
Rondo: 11 next, 11.9 the year after and 12.9 the year after that
LMA: 14 million this year, 15.1 and 16.2 the succeeding years
Batum: likely to be 8.5 on the low end and possibly as high as 10.5 on the high end ... for 4 years.

That's a helluva lot (about 51 to 53 million) of committed salary for 4 guys for the next couple of years and at least 9 other roster spots to fill (including a center which isn't ever cheap) ... so yeah, that is going to be a luxury tax team or at the very least a team that has zero flexibility with a group of players that probably pushes them back into the mix for a playoff spot, but probably doesn't push them to WCF contention, let alone finals contention.

In terms of bang for the buck, that doesn't excite me much

Our training staff would have Pierce playing like a 20yr old again.

 

[South East]

Add up the salaries of Pierce, Rondo, LMA and Batum and that puts the team at:
Pierce: 16.7 this year and 15.3 the next (player option)
Rondo: 11 next, 11.9 the year after and 12.9 the year after that
LMA: 14 million this year, 15.1 and 16.2 the succeeding years
Batum: likely to be 8.5 on the low end and possibly as high as 10.5 on the high end ... for 4 years.

That's a helluva lot (about 51 to 53 million) of committed salary for 4 guys for the next couple of years and at least 9 other roster spots to fill (including a center which isn't ever cheap) ... so yeah, that is going to be a luxury tax team or at the very least a team that has zero flexibility with a group of players that probably pushes them back into the mix for a playoff spot, but probably doesn't push them to WCF contention, let alone finals contention.

In terms of bang for the buck, that doesn't excite me much

Is there a better combination of players available? I think the worst thing Portland can do is get mediocre players either via trade or free agency. That will cause Portland to be in that perennial playoff contention area where they won't get significantly better by draft and will never be good enough to contend. I think if Portland wants to wait for these draft picks to develop that they should trade Aldridge for picks or younger players and start to build again. (no injury prone players this time around)

 

[LameR]

They wouldn't do it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Is there a better combination of players available? I think the worst thing Portland can do is get mediocre players either via trade or free agency. That will cause Portland to be in that perennial playoff contention area where they won't get significantly better by draft and will never be good enough to contend. I think if Portland wants to wait for these draft picks to develop that they should trade Aldridge for picks or younger players and start to build again. (no injury prone players this time around)

Honestly I think, the Blazers should go ahead and trade LaMarcus and S&T Batum and go for a full rebuild with this year's lotto picks as headliners and then try to be judicious with their cap-room and contracts and build a team through the draft for the next couple of years hopefully making smart, market conscious free agent acquisitions and trades to round out the holes in the roster as they go along.

That doesn't mean they have to get an itchy trigger finger and dump him for the first shitty package that gets dumped in their lap (Steve Francis and Channing Frye comes to mind) and I don't know if now is even the right time to trade LaMarcus, but I'd like to see the team keep an open mind about it

 

[South East]

Honestly I think, the Blazers should go ahead and trade LaMarcus and S&T Batum and go for a full rebuild with this year's lotto picks as headliners and then try to be judicious with their cap-room and contracts and build a team through the draft for the next couple of years hopefully making smart, market conscious free agent acquisitions and trades to round out the holes in the roster as they go along.

That doesn't mean they have to get an itchy trigger finger and dump him for the first shitty package that gets dumped in their lap (Steve Francis and Channing Frye comes to mind) and I don't know if now is even the right time to trade LaMarcus, but I'd like to see the team keep an open mind about it

Well I guess we agree on that! Aldridge is worth way more then Randolph was at that point. Everyone knew Portland wanted to trade him and he was a head case. Aldridge is none of those things on a great contract. Portland would get significantly more for him.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Do you think Portland should just keep the picks or is there better options out there to get better? Examples?

Keep the picks. This team is so far away from competing. Of the 15 players on the roster only two you can say are clear-cut starters.

We have to start building for the future.

The GM has to have a plan that's not so short sighted.

 

[South East]

Keep the picks. This team is so far away from competing. Of the 15 players on the roster only two you can say are clear-cut starters.

We have to start building for the future.

The GM has to have a plan that's not so short sighted.

Would you try to get better in free agency?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

It'll depend on Batum.

If they pay him $10m+ we're pretty limited as we have so many holes in this roster to fill with limited cap after Batum's combative agent gets what he wants.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Our training staff would have Pierce playing like a 20yr old again.

A 20yr old Oden?

 

[South East]

It'll depend on Batum.

If they pay him $10m+ we're pretty limited as we have so many holes in this roster to fill with limited cap after Batum's combative agent gets what he wants.

Well the hard part is they are gonna have to make these decisions well before Batum goes into free agency. If they are using draft picks then they need to make it before the draft happens.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Back to rondo and pierce.

Hypothetically if boston wanted a tear down, and we gave them wes, 6, 11, elliot, babbit, freeland whatever.Then I read storyteller talking about a room exception of 2.5 million we would have after spending our cap space, if rondo convinced kg to sign for two years at that Amount, sign joel and ring chasers to minimum, would we contend? I think so.

Unlikely but fun to think about.