Gortat

[KeepOnRollin]

Adding Gortat tops us out at "Denver Nuggets" - pretender, not contender.

I wouldn't say tops out because you have to get to that level before you can pass it.

 

[Boise Blazer]

I think Gortat makes sense but question are 1) Would Olshey see that as a long term solution and moving the needle and if not 2) is he willing to do a good short term solution in hopes of finding a better situation down the road. We are not going to be to a championship contender next season so what does that meant to Olshey and the decisions he makes

 

[DaLincolnJones]

I didn't realize how big Gortat is. He is pretty quick down the court, so I was kind of thinking 6"10 and 240 or so. They guy is 6'11" barefoot, 7+ in shoes, with a 7'3.5" wing span and 255 lbs. That's a pretty solid build. His rebounding was down last year, but he had been trending up and Phoenix was a mess last year.

almost convinced that he may be the best option. It would be nice to see a big in the center that was not undersized, played SOME D and could still put up some numbers

 

[magnifier661]

almost convinced that he may be the best option. It would be nice to see a big in the center that was not undersized, played SOME D and could still put up some numbers

And gortat has a good mid range shot to boot. Defenses can't sag off him to help on Lillard. Pick your poison Aldridge or gortat off the pop. Either one can deliver that mid range drain if you are stupid enough to try and trap Lillard.

Also, gortat sets a mean pick! Lillard could get a huge boost in efficiency if he has a step on his man on every position.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

And gortat has a good mid range shot to boot. Defenses can't sag off him to help on Lillard. Pick your poison Aldridge or gortat off the pop. Either one can deliver that mid range drain if you are stupid enough to try and trap Lillard.

Also, gortat sets a mean pick! Lillard could get a huge boost in efficiency if he has a step on his man on every position.

see..this is the same "can you imagine..." hopefull thinking that changed my 06 pre draft opinion from Durrant to GO...

yeah..Gortat would be a good fit..

 

[RR7]

I think Gortat makes sense but question are 1) Would Olshey see that as a long term solution and moving the needle and if not 2) is he willing to do a good short term solution in hopes of finding a better situation down the road. We are not going to be to a championship contender next season so what does that meant to Olshey and the decisions he makes

I think as long as the somewhat short term solution(10 for Gortat) isn't jeopardizing the franchise long term, then it is ok. I'm assuming they are still high on Leonard, which makes it seem unlikely that they would draft another project C with 10. Long term, the team has decent options at the 1(Lillard), 3(Batum) and the 5(Leonard, potentially). If it was trading Leonard and 10, then I see it as sacrificing long term for short term. If it was trading Batum for a C upgrade, the same. But in a weak draft, moving a late lotto pick for an above averaged C, I wouldn't htink is making a big long term sacrifice.

 

[Ed O]

Right, instead we're in shittier draft pick territory. I think there's a good chance (of course that's all it is - a chance) that whoever we pick at #10 will be worth more and have a better impact on the team in 2-3 years than Gortat would. So we're selling our future in order to not be a contender?
If our "window" is now we may as well blow the whole thing up and start over.

This is how I feel, too. I don't think that the team is very good if we add Gortat, and I don't see it getting a lot better in the years after adding Gortat.

If we could acquire him just for cap space? Maybe. But giving up a draft pick to claw our way into high-mediocre rather than low-mediocre doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Ed O.

 

[Sinobas]

Adding Gortat tops us out at "Denver Nuggets" - pretender, not contender.

Yeah, I think we should hold out for LeBron James.

 

[Sinobas]

Gortat is a good center, a position that was our biggest weakness last year. So it would be a good move for the Blazers. If we re-sign Maynor and get one more bench guy, I'd expect us to be a playoff team.

 

[Reep]

This is how I feel, too. I don't think that the team is very good if we add Gortat, and I don't see it getting a lot better in the years after adding Gortat.

If we could acquire him just for cap space? Maybe. But giving up a draft pick to claw our way into high-mediocre rather than low-mediocre doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Ed O.

I agree too, but if Gortat is the best you can do, and he isn't good enough, then don't you trade Aldridge?

I think there is a possibility that Gortat plus another wing could make the team very good down the road, but Lillard and Batum would really have to step up. Odds are that it won't be enough.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Gortat is a good center, a position that was our biggest weakness last year. So it would be a good move for the Blazers. If we re-sign Maynor and get one more bench guy, I'd expect us to be a playoff team.

This makes me wonder how Gortat and JJ would fit..I have to think JJ is going to be over priced...but I would like to see it before we let him go..

 

[DaLincolnJones]

I agree too, but if Gortat is the best you can do, and he isn't good enough, then don't you trade Aldridge?

I think there is a possibility that Gortat plus another wing could make the team very good down the road, but Lillard and Batum would really have to step up. Odds are that it won't be enough.

Funny... I thought the big problem was that we had no bench and zero D..I have a hard time putting it on Lillard or Nic, that they need to "step up"..

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Gortat is one of those "empty stats" players who can put up numbers but has negligible effect on actual results. These are called "Shareefs" in honor of Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Our biggest Shareef this past year was JJ. Fortunately, Dave on Blazers' Edge knows approximately zero. He is an odd little man who, I'm guessing, lives in his parents' basement.

 

[Reep]

Funny... I thought the big problem was that we had no bench and zero D..I have a hard time putting it on Lillard or Nic, that they need to "step up"..

Clearly, the team D needs to improve. What I was talking about was having three legitimate stars on the team. If Lillard, Aldridge and Batum are at, or close to All-star level, then you can afford to have a solid, but unspectacular center and SG. Otherwise forget it. And the main people that need to step up the D are Lillard, Batum and Leonard.

 

[blue9]

Gortat is a good center, a position that was our biggest weakness last year. So it would be a good move for the Blazers.

I don't see how giving up an asset in order to become a mid-pack team is a "good move". A much better move would be to NOT give up said asset and sign someone else who will have the same impact: Dalembert, Kaman, Pachulia, etc. That still puts us in the middle of the pack, but we get to retain the #10 pick which has a decent chance at becoming better than all the players named currently are, and certainly better than all of them will be in 2-3 years.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Clearly, the team D needs to improve. What I was talking about was having three legitimate stars on the team. If Lillard, Aldridge and Batum are at, or close to All-star level, then you can afford to have a solid, but unspectacular center and SG. Otherwise forget it. And the main people that need to step up the D are Lillard, Batum and Leonard.

not trying to pick nits..Lillard will be better..in fact, I expect him to make a serious run at the allstar game..Nic..well, I like his D..does he gamble? Yep! Is he fun as hell to watch catch up from behind, and erase a layup? HELL YEAH!! Just need more in the middle, and I thing JJ at Center was painfull to watch on D

 

[blazerboy30]

I don't see how giving up an asset in order to become a mid-pack team is a "good move".

Which players in the entire league would turn our current team into a legit championship contender next season?

Now, which of those players are realistically available?

 

[magnifier661]

Which players in the entire league would turn our current team into a legit championship contender next season?

Now, which of those players are realistically available?

Exactly

 

[e_blazer]

Which players in the entire league would turn our current team into a legit championship contender next season?

Now, which of those players are realistically available?

Agree completely. I really don't like this notion that if the Blazers can't become contenders this summer (and there's no realistic move they could make that would accomplish that), then they should just fold their hand, trade away Aldridge and rebuild. I'm a believer in incremental improvement. You do what you can to become better next year and then look to do the same thing again each year thereafter until you are a legitimate contender.

 

[santeesioux]

What if they traded the tenth pick for Gortat, and then got the Mavs pick to take on someone that fell? Would this be more palatable?

 

[Reep]

What if they traded the tenth pick for Gortat, and then got the Mavs pick to take on someone that fell? Would this be more palatable?

If you could do that, I'd rather trade the 13th for Gortat and keep the 10th.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

whoa..where did we get the 13th pick as well? I know I have not been reading everything, but I missed this..

 

[Reep]

whoa..where did we get the 13th pick as well? I know I have not been reading everything, but I missed this..

original question involved trading the 10th away and the acquiring the 13th from Dallas (paying $$, etc.). Dallas had been rumored to want to move the pick to avoid the cap hold if they wanted to get D. Howard.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

original question involved trading the 10th away and the acquiring the 13th from Dallas (paying $$, etc.). Dallas had been rumored to want to move the pick to avoid the cap hold if they wanted to get D. Howard.

Thanks, I have been switching between screens and did niot pick that up..

That would be great to snag another lottery pick..even in this weak ass draft, we have toge at least one halfass player

again, thanks!

 

[BigGameDamian]

Only way I'd obtain Gortat is by trading nothing more and nothing less than Freeland, Pavlovic and Jeffries:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=n5tzg5w
That's the deal - they have to take all three of these guys in order for me to take Gortat.

Good thing you aren't the GM.

 

[PapaG]

Only way I'd obtain Gortat is by trading nothing more and nothing less than Freeland, Pavlovic and Jeffries:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=n5tzg5w
That's the deal - they have to take all three of these guys in order for me to take Gortat.

How do the Blazers trade a player they have already waived?

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9187724/jared-jeffries-waived-portland-trail-blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers have waived forward Jared Jeffries.

In 38 games this season, the 6-foot-11 Jeffries averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per game.

Jeffries has averaged 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds over his 11-year career, with stops in Washington, New York, Houston and Portland

 

[PapaG]

I agree too, but if Gortat is the best you can do, and he isn't good enough, then don't you trade Aldridge?

I think there is a possibility that Gortat plus another wing could make the team very good down the road, but Lillard and Batum would really have to step up. Odds are that it won't be enough.

LMA is not going to be traded this summer. There is a .0001% chance of that happening. Olshey doesn't want to have a 25-win season with an owner who changes GMs more than he changes his underwear. From a GM perspective, it's better to get some playoff revenue and sell some tickets than it is to "rebuid" perpetually, which seems to be what many posters here advocate.

 

[Reep]

LMA is not going to be traded this summer. There is a .0001% chance of that happening. Olshey doesn't want to have a 25-win season with an owner who changes GMs more than he changes his underwear. From a GM perspective, it's better to get some playoff revenue and sell some tickets than it is to "rebuid" perpetually, which seems to be what many posters here advocate.

Probably not, but what happens if Olshey can't get any of the centers we have discussed, can't get a big FA, and ends up with only the draft picks this year? He just plays the hand dealt him?

 

[PapaG]

Probably not, but what happens if Olshey can't get any of the centers we have discussed, can't get a big FA, and ends up with only the draft picks this year? He just plays the hand dealt him?

The hand dealt him is a young roster with a potential superstar at PG, and a very, very good PF, and he'll be able to at least upgrade the bench. Trading LMA for prospects would be career suicide. He wasn't brought to Portland to blow up the roster. He was brought here because he supposedly has great rapport with veterans.

 

[Reep]

The hand dealt him is a young roster with a potential superstar at PG, and a very, very good PF, and he'll be able to at least upgrade the bench. Trading LMA for prospects would be career suicide. He wasn't brought to Portland to blow up the roster. He was brought here because he supposedly has great rapport with veterans.

Probably true, but I could see a chance of them getting through the summer without getting any major roster help, and then LMA telling them it wasn't enough. At that point, they either make a mid-season trade for someone in, or consider trading LMA. If Olshey swings and misses this summer, and then they lose LMA to TX, then he might never get another GM job.