Free Agency

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Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Does it matter Fez?

I mean really? This team is a lottery\middling team for the next upteen years anyway....

Most crucial draft and the blazers totally fubar'd it...
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

They definitely have A LOT of holes to fill.

Backup PG
Starting SG
Backup SF (Possible starting SF as well?)
Backup PF (Hickson likely out)
Starting C
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Interesting quotes from Olshey on Hecht's blog:



LINK

Looking at the free agent list, I think Jameer Nelson would be a great fit as a guy who can start at point guard to begin the season, but do so in a mentorship role, understanding that he'd be (hopefully) overtaken by Lillard before the year ended. As for a center, I believe Chris Kaman was mentioned earlier in this thread, and I think he'd fit that role well too. That would be a decent 15-man roster:

Nelson/Lillard/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Hickson/Freeland
Kaman/Leonard/Thomas

I think that team would have a shot on any given night.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

They definitely have A LOT of holes to fill.

Backup PG
Starting SG
Backup SF (Possible starting SF as well?)
Backup PF (Hickson likely out)
Starting C

Backup PG: Its gonna be Smith, might as well swallow that pill now
Starting SG: Dunno all the hate on Wes. until we trade him he is our starting SG and he is a good defender but a streaky as hell shooter. We can defiantly upgrade this spot if a deal comes along, but I don't see this as something were going to do
Backup SF: Hell if I know, is Babbit gonna step up and suddenly become good probably not, Claver might be something but no one knows how good he is but thats our most likely scenario next year
Backup PF: Most likely Freeland
Starting C: Please god not Spencer Hawes for 10m a year.
I guess what i'm saying is
Lillard/Nolan
Wes/Ewill/Barton
Batum/Babbit/Claver
LA/Freeland
???/Meyers/
We also have Shawn Williams/Thomas under contract so we have some money but only 2 roster spots until we do a trade. What are the best players and most important positions to fill. From what I gather aside from Starting Center it seems like whoever is the best player we can get were signing.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Still have no go to scorer that can break his man down 1v1 when POR needs a basket....

Nor does this team have that #2 or #3 guy to pair up wth LA...

What a pathetic waste of a opportunity by POR...This is one of THE worst organizations in professional sports right now....

Seriously, I dare any of you with a brain to convince me that this team can compete and beat OKC?

POR mgmt and ownership is just flat out horrible....I'd fire Olshey tonight if I was convinced he actually made the picks....

and the sooner that that piece of garbage Buchanan is sent packing the better....
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Looking at the free agent list, I think Jameer Nelson would be a great fit as a guy who can start at point guard to begin the season, but do so in a mentorship role, understanding that he'd be (hopefully) overtaken by Lillard before the year ended. As for a center, I believe Chris Kaman was mentioned earlier in this thread, and I think he'd fit that role well too. That would be a decent 15-man roster:

Nelson/Lillard/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Hickson/Freeland
Kaman/Leonard/Thomas

I think that team would have a shot on any given night.

Kaman would be really, really nice. But I'm not big on Nelson, honestly. Don't think he could take a back seat role very well.

Kidd, Billups, Andre.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

My preliminary decision post draft if I was in charge is to target Nash and Hawes in free agency. We should have the cap room to bring in both. Give Nash a 2 year deal but be careful with giving Hawes large dollar years down the road. Another option instead of Hawes is Carl Landry. Consider keeping open some cap room for amnesty bids or lopsided trades.

I think Nash could be a great veteran to mix with the young Lillard for 2 years. Even if Lillard is a stud PG he will need a lot of help running the team for his first few seasons. Billups and Nash himself were bench players for years before they excelled at PG. Nash learned a lot playing behind Jason Kidd in Phoenix.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Kaman is a broken down piece of garbage...no thanks...
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I think you've got to identify THE one young available player (via trade or FA) that you want as another *piece* and overpay for them to ensure you're able to capitalize on our cap space (and it must be done BEFORE Batum signs an offer somewhere).

Whether that's OJ Mayo, George Hill, Jeremy Lin, Landry Fields, Javale McGee, Illyasova, Asik... find the guy you want and buy him before you lose out on your opportunity to do so completely.

As a warning from a Grizzlies fan, I'd pray your team doesn't sign O.J. Mayo. He'll hurt your team more than he helps them. He's a selfish, poor decision maker, who can't run the point or finish at the rim consistently. At the end of the day, he's an average shooter and an average athlete who has just been coasting off of his high school reputation to this point. Some poor team will give him upwards of $8 mill this offseason; just hope it's not your team.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Still have no go to scorer that can break his man down 1v1 when POR needs a basket....

Nor does this team have that #2 or #3 guy to pair up wth LA...

What a pathetic waste of a opportunity by POR...This is one of THE worst organizations in professional sports right now....

Seriously, I dare any of you with a brain to convince me that this team can compete and beat OKC?

POR mgmt and ownership is just flat out horrible....I'd fire Olshey tonight if I was convinced he actually made the picks....

and the sooner that that piece of garbage Buchanan is sent packing the better....

if you thought they were going to come out of this draft and be able to compete with OKC then you've been hitting the bottle way too much. This is a team in re-build mode, whether they or the fans want to admit it or not. The FACT is not a single one of us have any clue how tonights picks will turn out. Most of us realize the guys chosen tonight now wear the Scarlet and Black, so let's see what they can do before we pass ultimate judgement upon them. You have chosen to call posters names and cry like a little baby, to each their own.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

...
 
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Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

If there was a good SG free agent prospect I would think of bringing them in instead of Nash, but Jason Terry doesn't excite me as much. I guess OJ Majo could be a possibility and would better fit our age timeline.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Hey man it is called reality...Now take off your Blazer underoos and start thinking like a fucking man....

i believe most of us are thinking like men but only one of us is acting like a child.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Yeah OJ Mayo is about it, but at the acquisition price he is about as risky as resigning batum for double digits...

But after tonight I have NO faith in POR mgmt....
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

How can I help you with that?

Go to bed, and sleep it off. I'm going out on a limb and saying the sun will rise tomorrow and things won't look nearly this bad.

OR keep acting like a 5 year old who had his toy taken away.

Guess it's up to you!
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Yeah OJ Mayo is about it, but at the acquisition price he is about as risky as resigning batum for double digits...

But after tonight I have NO faith in POR mgmt....

Trust me, there are very few redeeming qualities in O.J. Mayo as a player. There are a lot of better players out there who, if given Mayo's opportunities and touches, would have proved to be better players. Mayo's that guy who can be a streaky, capable scorer but will also frustrate the hell out of you with his selfishness. He gets a few good, easy looks, and all of a sudden he think's he's Michael Jordan out there --- taking threes with 22 seconds left on the shot clock in a close playoff game.

I remember when I was in high school, Mayo had a website promoting him at the age of 14, or something ridiculous like that. He benefited from the post-LeBron hype surrounding young prospects, and really, should be considered a bust more than anything at this point. Maybe a different environment can yield different results, but as a Grizz fan, I'm seeing the guy as addition by subtraction.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Backup PG: Its gonna be Smith, might as well swallow that pill now
Starting SG: Dunno all the hate on Wes. until we trade him he is our starting SG and he is a good defender but a streaky as hell shooter. We can defiantly upgrade this spot if a deal comes along, but I don't see this as something were going to do
Backup SF: Hell if I know, is Babbit gonna step up and suddenly become good probably not, Claver might be something but no one knows how good he is but thats our most likely scenario next year
Backup PF: Most likely Freeland
Starting C: Please god not Spencer Hawes for 10m a year.
I guess what i'm saying is
Lillard/Nolan
Wes/Ewill/Barton
Batum/Babbit/Claver
LA/Freeland
???/Meyers/
We also have Shawn Williams/Thomas under contract so we have some money but only 2 roster spots until we do a trade. What are the best players and most important positions to fill. From what I gather aside from Starting Center it seems like whoever is the best player we can get were signing.


Honestly, I go hard @ Hibbert/Eric Gordon, to open free agency. Very first move I make. Immediately offer them a large contract. Hope Olshey can sell them; if not...

Kidd/Lillard
Wes/Elliot/Barton
Batum/Babbit/Claver
LA/Freeland
Kaman/Meyers/Kurt Thomas/MAYBE Joel.

Try to throw together a trade package to S&T OJ Mayo, or try and sign Lou Williams.

Also, I'd love to try and get Matt Barnes, somehow.

Ideally,

(Kidd/Miller/Billups)/Kaman/Barnes/Mayo or Lou Williams, somehow.

I imagine Kidd/Miller/Billups 6 mill, Kaman 8.5 mill, 2 mill for Barnes. And then Mayo/Lou williams will probably command around 7-8, which means it would be more likely to do a trade. Elliot, cash, future picks, babbitt on a S&T. However, I believe Elliot can be a go to player if he can get healthy. So, that would leave us

Kidd/Miller/Billups - 5
Kaman - 8 (13 mill)
Barnes 2 mill (15 mill)

Makes Nolan, Claver, Babbitt, expendable. Try to shed cap for Freeland, I guess... not really sure,

But I think Kaman, and one of those PG's is attainable and VERY important.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I'd look at Omer Asik. The Bulls really want to keep him but with the new CBA they have to make A LOT of changes (Noah, Deng?) to make it work financially; they also want to sign Taj to a long-term deal as well. Omer is a young-ish vet (defensive minded) who can step in right away. A nice fit next to LMA.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Yeah OJ Mayo is about it, but at the acquisition price he is about as risky as resigning batum for double digits...

But after tonight I have NO faith in POR mgmt....

Lou Williams?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I think this team is in love with Lillard, and will bring in a solid vet for him to learn from. So my choice is Billups. We also need some bigs, so Hawes and Alabi

Assuming they don't re-sign Hickson, which is a mistake, IMO

Lillard/Billups/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Freeland
Hawes/Leonard/Alabi/Thomas
 
Starting C: Please god not Spencer Hawes for 10m a year.

I'd be okay with adding him at about half that rate... I see him as a borderline starter deserving average-ish pay. I'd be more interested in bring back Przy (for even less) if getting further removed from his knee injury has him feeling better and if he's in better shape then last year. Last season it seemed he was toting around 20 pounds he didn't need

STOMP
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

This blog has some interesting quotes from Olshey: http://blogs.trailblazers.com/Publi...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

"it’s not going to stop us from being very aggressive this year. But what you’re not going to see is adding the five, six, seven million dollar moderate upgrade. We’re not going to do that. That’s not going to get us to a championship caliber organization, where you spend money just because you happen to have it.

... we’re going to be very aggressive for guys that we think are impact players that move the needle for this organization and if we get them we’ve really accelerated our curve and if they’re not there we’re not going to go for moderate upgrades."

"I’ll say this, if we don’t get the right guys this off-season, guys that are going to grow with this organization and fit into our vision, then we’ll have no problem deferring the cap room into 2013-14 and having that flexibility once there’s fewer teams with room."

Well, how many high impact UFA's are there this year? Deron Williams, Goran Dragic? Who else? Does he mean they'll be aggressive going after restricted agents; that's a strategy that very rarely succeeds when talking about impact players.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I think this team is in love with Lillard, and will bring in a solid vet for him to learn from. So my choice is Billups. We also need some bigs, so Hawes and Alabi

Assuming they don't re-sign Hickson, which is a mistake, IMO

Lillard/Billups/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Freeland
Hawes/Leonard/Alabi/Thomas

who's the guy from Dallas? he could be a solid backup big - is it Mahimi?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I think this team is in love with Lillard, and will bring in a solid vet for him to learn from. So my choice is Billups. We also need some bigs, so Hawes and Alabi

Assuming they don't re-sign Hickson, which is a mistake, IMO

Lillard/Billups/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Freeland
Hawes/Leonard/Alabi/Thomas

Billups will want to play on a winner. I think we could get Andre Miller back though. How about coaxing Damon out of retirement? :grin:
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

i
I think this team is in love with Lillard, and will bring in a solid vet for him to learn from. So my choice is Billups. We also need some bigs, so Hawes and Alabi

Assuming they don't re-sign Hickson, which is a mistake, IMO

Lillard/Billups/Smith
Matthews/Williams/Barton
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Freeland
Hawes/Leonard/Alabi/Thomas

if we can get Hickson for 3-4 mil per yr for 3-4 yrs I think we should do it, not sure what he will fetch though
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Billups will want to play on a winner. I think we could get Andre Miller back though. How about coaxing Damon out of retirement? :grin:

Billups may want that, but he also has a great relationship with Olshey. I was speaking in terms a player like him, and not necessarily him
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

This blog has some interesting quotes from Olshey: http://blogs.trailblazers.com/Publi...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

"it’s not going to stop us from being very aggressive this year. But what you’re not going to see is adding the five, six, seven million dollar moderate upgrade. We’re not going to do that. That’s not going to get us to a championship caliber organization, where you spend money just because you happen to have it.

... we’re going to be very aggressive for guys that we think are impact players that move the needle for this organization and if we get them we’ve really accelerated our curve and if they’re not there we’re not going to go for moderate upgrades."

"I’ll say this, if we don’t get the right guys this off-season, guys that are going to grow with this organization and fit into our vision, then we’ll have no problem deferring the cap room into 2013-14 and having that flexibility once there’s fewer teams with room."

Well, how many high impact UFA's are there this year? Deron Williams, Goran Dragic? Who else? Does he mean they'll be aggressive going after restricted agents; that's a strategy that very rarely succeeds when talking about impact players.

Yes that was interesting. At least he has a plan. It will be very interesting to see who he goes after right from the beginning.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I mentioned possible amnestied playesr on another thread, having some available capspace for amnestied players I think is a good idea, with the new CbA there could yet be a few decent and cheap pickups from the amnesty side of things, when can a will teams likely amnesyt guys - July 1?

does anyone have a "probable" amnesty list?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I mentioned possible amnestied playesr on another thread, having some available capspace for amnestied players I think is a good idea, with the new CbA there could yet be a few decent and cheap pickups from the amnesty side of things, when can a will teams likely amnesyt guys - July 1?

does anyone have a "probable" amnesty list?

Marvin Williams
Tyrus Thomas
Brendan Haywood
Bird Man
Salmons
Calderon
 

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