Free Agency

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Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Losing Hickson would just mean we need to find someone else. I say Keep him and Batum and try to get even two good players in the back-court, maybe Lou Williams or Eric Maynor or Landry Fields. I don't see any big star coming and someone like Eric Gordon, even if he agrees to come, might not be worth giving up on Hickson and maybe two other 2nd-tier players like the ones listed above.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I like Eric Gordon as much as the next guy, but people need to understand this: he will not sign with POR.

Gordon, who was the centerpiece of the Clippers' package, found the proceedings of that week distasteful and Olshey, in particular, disingenuous.

"He literally called a meeting to say that nobody was going to leave, that he loved the team." Gordon said. "He said it a couple of times. Then with a change like that? You really can't trust what the person says or does."

To make matters worse, the deal couldn't become official until Kaman arrived in New Orleans, and he wasn't a first-flight-out kind of guy. While the Clippers held an event that drew a raucous crowd at the California Science Center, Olshey was staring at his phone waiting for the official word from the league. Finally, late on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 17, the news came.
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He hates Olshey. And to be honest, with Lillard as our PGOTF, I'm not sure he is the best fit next to him. Lillard is a big-time slasher and we need to surround him and LA with shooters. While EG is a great scorer, I think putting an absolute sniper next to Lillard, Batum, and LA will make us very hard to guard.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Blazer Freak said:
I like Eric Gordon as much as the next guy, but people need to understand this: he will not sign with POR.



He hates Olshey. And to be honest, with Lillard as our PGOTF, I'm not sure he is the best fit next to him. Lillard is a big-time slasher and we need to surround him and LA with shooters. While EG is a great scorer, I think putting an absolute sniper next to Lillard, Batum, and LA will make us very hard to guard.
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Yes, Yes, Yes. But how funny, money and maybe even a toxic has a way of changing someones feelings.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

PapaG said:
So Batum is supposed to sign an offer sheet for considerably less money just so the Blazers can spend more money on someone else?
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I have no idea what you're even talking about or referring to.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

noknobs said:
I have no idea what you're even talking about or referring to.
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Ha yeah that confused the hell out of me to. Was it an inside joke? Or the ramblings of a drunk senile old man.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

I just don't see any chance NO let's Gordon walk. Same with Hibbert. Maybe we follow a Hibbert offer with a big George Hill offer thinking Indy won't pay big for both.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

EG's comments are pretty strong IMO. If we make a play, I suspect any interest he'd have in us would be to drive up his price, and that's it. I'd still expect NO to match, too.

Are there any 2/3's available that can shoot, and occasionally slash, and fairly young? Someone to be a key piece in a 3-guard rotation with Lillard and Wes? Or can fill the 3 and shift Batum to the 2, at times?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

BLAZINGGIANTS said:
Are there any 2/3's available that can shoot, and occasionally slash, and fairly young? Someone to be a key piece in a 3-guard rotation with Lillard and Wes? Or can fill the 3 and shift Batum to the 2, at times?
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Jeff Green or Lou Williams are both UFA. There just isn't much.

Can 6'4 Dragic or 6'3 Lillard play big minutes at the 2 if they were on the same roster? The NBA seems to be moving towards a more skilled small ball league.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine
RT @NBAonESPN: Source: Deron Williams to meet with Nets and Mavs on Monday -

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine
RT @MazzESPN: Also Bucher reports Kidd will pick whatever team D-Will picks and back him up ... Nets or Mavs
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

yuyuza1 said:
KG getting a 3yr, 34mil deal from BOS.
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Garnett is selfish. He's made enough money in his career. He should take the veteran minimum, and let Boston use the other $9+m on other players.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

noknobs said:
I have no idea what you're even talking about or referring to.
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I was under the impression that some of you think Batum's agent should work with Portland in order to give Portland more cap space to work with. How that helps Batum financially baffles me. Batum should take the first high money offer he gets; if he doesn't I assume that money will go elsewhere, and the finite amount of money available to FAs will diminish for Batum.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Draco said:
Ha yeah that confused the hell out of me to. Was it an inside joke? Or the ramblings of a drunk senile old man.
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Well, since I'm not 40 yet, and I'm not drunk, try again.

I did assume that your rant about Batum's agent making Nic less attractive to be the ramblings of an idiot, though, or an inside joke. :)
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Draco said:
Jeff Green or Lou Williams are both UFA. There just isn't much.

Can 6'4 Dragic or 6'3 Lillard play big minutes at the 2 if they were on the same roster? The NBA seems to be moving towards a more skilled small ball league.
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I think this is a good free agency to lay low, not enough good talent and too many teams with a lot of capspace. We ain't winnin anything next yr anyway, lets offer perhaps a few one-yr contracts and keep some of our powder dry for potential lopsided capspace trades or perhaps an amnesty pickup.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Hmm, I wonder if we can make this workout for both parties -- The Hornets are one of the teams eyeing Batum.

Gordon for Batum in a S&T? is that even possible?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Again, why Gordon? Injury prone SG that will command 10+ per season
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

PapaG said:
I was under the impression that some of you think Batum's agent should work with Portland in order to give Portland more cap space to work with. How that helps Batum financially baffles me. Batum should take the first high money offer he gets; if he doesn't I assume that money will go elsewhere, and the finite amount of money available to FAs will diminish for Batum.
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Well I don't know what everyone else thinks, but you quoted ME and said:

PapaG said:
So Batum is supposed to sign an offer sheet for considerably less money just so the Blazers can spend more money on someone else?
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Why you'd assume I think that is beyond me. And why you seem to be under the impression that that would be Batum's only other option is also beyond me.

In THIS article, it's laid out pretty clearly. All I'm suggesting, and all Blazer management would like, is for Batum and his agent to not IMMEDIATELY sign the first reasonable offer that comes their way. This gives Portland a few more days to try to sign a FA to play with Batum. Once he signs an offer sheet we'd only have 3 days. CLEARLY if a team gives Batum a deadline to decide and no one else is offering him anything he would need to sign. No one is EVEN REMOTELY suggesting that he turn down more money to sign a lesser offer sheet.

However, Batum's agent seems intent on rushing to sign anything just out of spite to Portland. In my opinion, this isn't even in the best interest financially to Batum. Why not wait and see what other offers his client gets? Especially if doing so could help the team that Batum is very likely to be playing for next year?
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

The only halfway decent free agent I can see us having a chance at would be Ilyasova. Hibbert and Gordon are
(a) RFA and vital to their teams
(b) The only decent young players out there, so everybody will want them (supposedly the Suns are going hard after Gordon)

Our best FA will be Nicolas Batum, unless we lose him, in which case it will be nobody.

(NOLA might do Batum for Gordon. Would we want that?)
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

A promise to not retain Batum if NO doesn't retain Gordon? I'm fine with that. We can get Jeff Green to be our starter than. That would be pretty awesome.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Jeff Green is total blah. And that was before the heart surgery.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

noknobs said:
Well I don't know what everyone else thinks, but you quoted ME and said:



Why you'd assume I think that is beyond me. And why you seem to be under the impression that that would be Batum's only other option is also beyond me.

In THIS article, it's laid out pretty clearly. All I'm suggesting, and all Blazer management would like, is for Batum and his agent to not IMMEDIATELY sign the first reasonable offer that comes their way. This gives Portland a few more days to try to sign a FA to play with Batum. Once he signs an offer sheet we'd only have 3 days. CLEARLY if a team gives Batum a deadline to decide and no one else is offering him anything he would need to sign. No one is EVEN REMOTELY suggesting that he turn down more money to sign a lesser offer sheet.


However, Batum's agent seems intent on rushing to sign anything just out of spite to Portland. In my opinion, this isn't even in the best interest financially to Batum. Why not wait and see what other offers his client gets? Especially if doing so could help the team that Batum is very likely to be playing for next year?
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Yeah, and my point is that if Batum lets an offer sit without signing it, that the offer can be rescinded, and the team moves on to another target. Why would a team allow Batum and the Blazers a few extra days to tie up their own FA process by allowing Nic to 'consider' an offer for days until the Blazers can negotiate. I'm not even sure that's acceptable under the CBA, is it? If so, it would be a great way for a team and a player to fuck over another team by playing on a RFA offer, and then not even signing it once the player's team signs another player.

What if Batum gets a $12m/y offer from Toronto or Sacramento? Not only does that destroy the "Batum's agent has killed his market" argument that Draco offered, but it also emphasizes that the Blazers had an entire season to work with Nic on an extension that would be fair to both parties, and either chose not to do so (my opinion, since there was no GM), or that Batum never really wanted to come back to Portland. Why Portland fans think Nic should work with the Blazers, which may potentially harm his own value, isn't realistic to me, IMO.
 
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Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

PapaG said:
I was under the impression that some of you think Batum's agent should work with Portland in order to give Portland more cap space to work with. How that helps Batum financially baffles me. Batum should take the first high money offer he gets; if he doesn't I assume that money will go elsewhere, and the finite amount of money available to FAs will diminish for Batum.
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I think Batum should look for the best offer he can get. Yeah it would be stupid for him or his agent to not sign a good contract just to give the Blazers a few days of extra cap room.

But the rhetoric from his agent is overly emotional and very odd to me. This is nothing personal against Batum from the Blazers perspective, all NBA teams strategically use cap space first then focus on their own free agents when they have small cap holds. Batum's agent has been saying they won't speak to the Blazers and the team disrespected his client, I don't see any advantage for them to play this bitter victim card.

I suspect its an inexperienced agent that doesn't know how to get the best deal for his client.
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

PapaG said:
Yeah, and my point is that if Batum lets an offer sit without signing it, that the offer can be rescinded, and the team moves on to another target. Why would a team allow Batum and the Blazers a few extra days to tie up their own FA process by allowing Nic to 'consider' an offer for days until the Blazers can negotiate. I'm not even sure that's acceptable under the CBA, is it? If so, it would be a great way for a team and a player to fuck over another team by playing on a RFA offer, and then not even signing it once the player's team signs another player.
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I understand what you're saying, but is it really that uncommon for a player to take a few days on a life-changing decision? Or for an agent to see what else is available? If a team is willing to spend $11 million dollars a year on a guy, I think they can wait a day or two for a decision, and if they need an answer quickly then I'm sure that would be conveyed to Batum. Any team making an offer to Batum knows that it'll be 3 days before Portland chooses to match or not anyways.

And of course it's acceptable for a player to take a few days to decide under the new CBA...
 
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Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

...in no particular order, these players are the only FA's that I would want to see the Blazers sign:

  • Roy Hibbert
  • OJ Mayo
  • JaVale McGee
  • Ersan Ilyasova
  • Brook Lopez
  • Chris Kaman
  • Aaron Brooks
  • Spencer Hawes
  • DJ Augustin
  • Omer Asik
  • Gerald Green
  • Al Thornton
 
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency

Al Thornton, seriously?
 
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