Unless by some mircale, we can somehow get a very good, young to mid-career PG (and those are very rare), I hope we keep Miller through the end of this season - and pickup his option for next season, too.
Sure, he's almost 35, but he's playing great ball this season. His advanced stats (PER, AST%, etc.) are actually above his career averages. He is not yet showing any signs of declining performance. His game does not rely on athleticism, and he has proven to be very durable.
LaMarcus Aldridge deserves a ton of credit for the hard work he put in over the summer to improve his low post game. However, it's no coincidence his production really started to take off when the Blazers offense started running through Miller instead of Roy. LaMarcus got off to a very slow start this season - posting numbers well below his career averages - until mid-December when Roy went on the inactive list. Since then, LaMarcus has been dominant. But, he wouldn't be able to take advantage of his improved low post game without a PG who knows how to feed the low post. That's one of Andre Miller's biggest assets - he knows when, where and how to get the ball into the post. Take that away, and I see LaMarcus regressing - not all the way to his former self, but not as dominant as he's been lately.
I'd also like to see Oden and Miller play together for a season. Back at the beginning of the 2009-10 season, Oden and Miller seemed to be devloping some chemistry. Unfortunately, they rarely got to play together in games. Back then, Blake was starting and Nate ALWAYS pulled Oden at the 6 minute mark - sooner if he picked up two quick fouls. Miller didn't usually enter the game until around the 9 minute mark. So, in the few games before Oden's injury, Miller and Oden usually only played together a couple minutes per game. Just like he's helped with Aldridge's development, Miller feeding the ball into Oden on the low block would do miracles for Oden's game. Oden has the basic tools to be a dominant low post scorer, but he lacks two things - experience and confidence. Miller feeding him in the low post will help overcome both of those issue.
Just look how much Aldridge's confidence has increased over the last two months. He's now knocking down big shots in the 4th quarter with the game on the line on a regular basis - and smiling while he's doing it likes it's as easy as can be. That's something that did not exist during Aldridge's first 4 years in the league. I don't want to give Miller too much credit, but he's certainly helped accelerate Aldridge's emergence as a go-to scorer. And once confidence it developed, it sticks. Aldridge has it now, and you can see it in the way he approaches the game. Oden lacks it, but Miller can help him develop it.
Unless you can somehow get one of the very rare younger PGs who make their big men better (Chris Paul), I would not look to move Miller. Even if Miller's individual performance starts to decline (and it isn't, yet), his ability to feed the low post is something this team is going to need to get to the next level.
Let's be honest, a heathly, productive, confident Oden is our best shot at a title. Without Oden, adding a young, project PGOTF isn't going to get us any closer to a championship - in fact, it will be a big step backwards short term, and may not help much long term either.
If Oden can come back next year, and Roy can be a reasonably productive 6th man for the next couple years, I think we have about a two year window to make a serious title run. Look at it this way. This current roster without Oden, Roy and Camby is on pace to win 50 games and be a 5th/6th seed. I know it's a big if, but if we can add Roy, in a reduced role, Oden as a starter and Camby as a back-up, this team could still contend for a title a title for a year, or two. It will take things lining up perfectly, like they did back in 1977, but I really think it's our best shot at a title.
Blowing things up will set the team back at least five years, and even then there is no guantee what you end up rebuilding will be any better than what we have now. How long did it take Orlando to rebuild between Shaq and Dwight? And, they still don't have a title. How long has it taken Chicago to rebuild post-MJ? Who was the last team to win a championship by building through the draft? Not the Lakers, not the Celtics, not the Pistons. I think you have to go back to the 1999 Spurs - who lucked out and got Duncan and had David Robinson coming back from an injury that got them in the lottery in the first place. Most champions are made by starting with a decent base - which we have now, and adding veteran pieces through trades and free agency. I'd rather take that approcah than blowing things up and completely starting over.
BNM
