Grade KP's Summer

[ABM]

Based upon the Draft, FA Signings, Etc.

What say you?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I was unimpressed with the draft, but I like the Miller signing. Still think other moves could probably have been made (ie, Outlaw and/or Blake trade), but don't know for certain.

Probably should've gone with "too early", but that seemed like a cop-out, so I went with the slightly-lower-level copout of "average" (C).

 

[BenDavis503]

I graded a C. Nothing MAJOR happened, but nothing bad happened. I love the Miller signing and Howard. I love that we got Dante, I think that guy will replace Outlaw easily in a couple years and be a mini-LMA.

Anyhow... a B or A would require some major addition. Like G Wallace or something.

 

[ABM]

BTW, I meant "Too" on the #6 choice.

 

[Further]

C
The draft was disappointing (at least until Cunningham/Pendagraph prove themselves). Miller was a good signing and Howard is insignificant with a slight positive. Considering all the pieces KP has to work with, I was hoping for more this summer. That being said, I think the Blazers did improve with Miller, so that keeps the grade from dipping below C.

 

[ABM]

B

For making decent upgrades while remaining fiscally responsible. To me, in a way, Turk backing out was serendipitous as it effectively resulted in Miller.

 

[PapaG]

Too early for me to grade right now. Get back to me after the LMA situation is resolved.

 

[Nikolokolus]

At face value I'd say the players he got out of his picks and his free agent signings puts him at a solid B, he's yet to do what I see as some necessary roster consolidation moves and he has to get LMA locked up, but assuming the latter two things get taken care of and the team lives up to expectations this year then I think he could be on pace for an A by February's trade deadline.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Too early to call.

The positives: Getting a deal done with Roy; signing Miller.

The negatives: LMA still up in the air; no consolidation trade; weak draft.

 

[Idog1976]

Too early to call.

The positives: Getting a deal done with Roy; signing Miller.

The negatives: LMA still up in the air; no consolidation trade; weak draft.

I agree with your sentiment, but avoiding Turkoglu, signing Miller and most importantly locking up the Franchise - and with him likely the big three - Pritchard has to get better then a C. Brandon Roy being here long term might be more attractive in the future causing a player unhappy with his team to ask for a trade to Portland.

I think signing Roy was the critical piece of the summer and gets a C of anchoring "passing material" adding Miller while avoiding Turkoglu was a bit like guessing correctly on a quiz. Pritchard lucked out, I still give him a B he retained Roy added an important veteran piece, signed a passable 10th man Vet PF and didn't harm the chemistry by signing Turk to a grotesque contract.

Now if LMA will just take a lesser contract Portland might have the money they need to resign the rest of the core. People worried about LMA now are like people who were worried about Roy in June. LMA will get signed and I think Oden will ink destiny next summer as well.

 

[RoyIsClutch07]

I was a bit tougher on him. The reason why is If you ask him if he got done what he wanted. And if he was being honest with you. I think he would tell you he didn't. I go back to summer league and how much stress he was wearing just before he picked up Miller. He looked like a man that was defeated. A man that was waiting if not praying for something to happen. When low and behold he got lucky and found a old, stray dawg, begging for a new home, wandering the streets in vegas, in Andre Miller. He lost out on Turk. Millsap fell through and really Miller fell into his lap. To me he wasn't a big coup.

But more than anything, the one area he said he wanted to address, he didn't. That is toughness. I don't think this team is any more tougher now than they were back in early May. They are more experienced but not anymore tougher.

I gave him a C.

 

[Ed O]

I gave him a "C". I don't mind the Claver draft pick, but I didn't like the Cunningraph picks. I think the Miller signing was good, but it was sort of a slam dunk.

What else is there? Sort of a "meh" summer. Thankfully we have a really good future due to his previous excellent work.

Ed O.

 

[RoyIsClutch07]

I gave him a "C". I don't mind the Claver draft pick, but I didn't like the Cunningraph picks. I think the Miller signing was good, but it was sort of a slam dunk.

What else is there? Sort of a "meh" summer. Thankfully we have a really good future due to his previous excellent work.

Ed O.

He's a great talent evaluator. He has yet to prove he can structure and close significant trade proposals.

 

[rocketeer]

i give him a C.

i don't think any of the moves this offseason help to improve the team, but he put himself in a position in which he didn't really need to make any moves to improve the team(as the team should still have internal improvements to make) so that isn't a real negative to me.

 

[Nate Dogg]

I gave him a B, just because the FA availability was very poor this summer. Even if he decided to push Travis and Blake in the mix it would be someone with a higher payroll than those two combined. We got Travis and Blake around the $4 million per year in their contract. KP wants to hold onto that. KP is going after players that have experience at this point that can help the team. These players aren't flashy and don't demand a lot of attention and power hungry on the court. KP is waiting for next years FA and he will see whose available. LA will be locked up soon as KP is probably working on this and just decided to sign some veterans on minimum salary deals.

 

[Natebishop3]

I like the signing of Miller, so I'll give him a B.

 

[Miksaid]

I love KP but I give him a D. He damn well better have signed someone this summer and fortunately for him Andre Miller came to rescue the Blazers after he dropped the ball with Hedo and was unsuccessful with Milsap. Claver hasn't shown anything and we won't see him for some time. Pendergraph's shown us that he can get injured. LMA is still unsigned. On second thought, I'll give him a D+ for signing Howard; a solid but minor move. I'd much rather have seen someone like Powe signed though.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I voted C. I hated our draft, and thought KP should have let Blake and Outlaw walk to create a lot more cap room. The only reason he gets a C from me is the signng of Howard. I think his veteran leadership will add a lot to the team. And whether it's Nate, or some other reason, but if Miller doesn't start over Blake then KP gets an F for signing a 7 million dollar bench guy.

 

[Rodolfo]

I want to put a plus on the A grade I gave him.

A+ for KP.

*Miller and B Roy signings...Soon to be LA.
*Good draft picks

Fuck Hedo btw.

 

[Harry's Raincoat]

C is average in my brain. I gave him a B grade.

He reached for the future with Claver. Was solid with the second round picks Cunningham and Pendergraph (and Mills). He signed a good/solid FA in Miller. He resigned Roy.

He didn't get an A from me because he hasn't put together the talent-increasing consolidation trade I long for, nor has LMA re-signed yet.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

A-

He tried to work a deal in the draft, but was unable to. Good effort. We had no roster spot so he took a euro player that may be a tremendous NBA player at some time. That's very good. He got good, solid PG & PF free agents- which was greatly needed.

All things considered, mission accomplished.

 

[THE HCP]

B! Weak ass draft, I didn't expect much from it. Landed Miller and resigned Brandon (LA before the first preseason game) Well done!

 

[mook]

A lot of teachers grade not only on the finished product, but on how you got to the finished product. Usually it benefits the student. So if you had the process right in a complicated algebra equation, but just forgot to carry a 1 somewhere, you'd still get a lot of credit.

If you grade Pritchard not just on product, but process, it's a much more interesting equation.

On the plus side, although getting Miller was a "slam dunk," a lot of GM's in Pritchard's position would've targeted Miller right from the outset and have bidded against themselves. By correctly gauging the marketplace and biding his time, it became clear to everyone that Miller wasn't going to get a better offer from anyone else. So we could lowball him a little, without being insulting about it. The Miller signing was good, the contract was fantastic, but I also like the way he made it happen.

Another plus was the Milsap deal. Sure, we didn't get him, but we sure made a potential rival pay more than they wanted to keep him. The outcome sucked in that we didn't get him, but it wasn't really Pritchard's fault. I liked that he targeted him. I like the contract we offered. I like that Utah is now stuck with two power forwards who are paid like starters.

I like that he unloaded Sergio and Frye. Those were small things, but still right and he should get some credit.

Now for the minuses. I hated the Hedon't fiasco. We offered way too much money for a guy who probably wouldn't win us more than a couple more games. I hated that he'd be overpaid forever, not because I'm worried about salaries but because he was Damon Stoudamire 2.0 in the making. A guy with mediocre talent who didn't play enough defense who would be too healthy to leave on the bench and too expensive to trade. And like Damon he would've taken too many shots away from our primary scorers (Roy, Aldridge and eventually Oden). The outcome was nice in that we didn't get him, but that's like getting an Algebra question right just by randomly writing some numbers on the page. Pritchard succeeded despite his best efforts.

The other minus I see is one that's been a while in the making. He's been so good at acquiring good young players that there just isn't going to be time for them all. Everybody can see that a consolidation trade is needed. He didn't get one done at the trade deadline. He didn't get one done this summer. He's playing with dynamite. The longer this goes, the more likely a guy like Rudy or Batum or Bayless or Webster or Outlaw is going to erupt in the media, and we'll be trading from a less strong position. My biggest fear is that Rudy gets upset, as he's clearly the guy with the most value, and he can always threaten to pick up and go back to Spain. It's also possible that Batum takes a lesser role this year (god I hope not) to get Webster more minutes. Batum certainly wouldn't take that well.

As for grading his draft, well, that's like the student trying to grade the teacher. Pritchard has demonstrated far more savvy about drafting than I'll ever hope to have. I'm not going to say, "In Pritchard I trust," because I don't completely. Every GM makes mistakes. I hope he made the right choices. They seem a little puzzling to me, but so did some of his other moves at the time.

Thanks to grade inflation, a "C" really isn't "average" anymore. That's a mark that says you aren't failing, but you are getting close to it. So I'm going to give him a B-. Had he just sidestepped the whole Hedo fiasco, I'd give him a solid B.

 

[STOMP]

if I'm handing out a GMing grade I'm basing it on how he does with his opportunities given the situation.

-drafting in the middle of a weak draft he went with a flyer on an injured young foreign athlete forward who might pan out. That was pretty spot on exactly what I was hoping for going into that draft. Given that, it's hard to lay much blame
-I don't think I'd even given a thought to the team using KP's precious cap room on Hedo. Offering him that deal seemed Nash-esk to me. On the other hand I'm sure I was active in well over 5 Andre Miller threads. Pritchard ends up with probably the best UFA available with a better contract (3rd year team option in case he breaks down) then I'd hoped. Was this his master plan or a bit of dumb luck? Do I really care?
-Signs Roy longterm to max deal... expected
-LA unsigned... talks reportedly waiting on some figure being released from the league but expected to happen
-Signs Howard... jk, I liked this move, he'll probably be fine as the 3rd/4th string PF/15th man. He's been deep bench for a few years now and knows his role. For the first couple TNT games he might average more face time talking about his teammates in prerecorded interviews then PT.

I see this club winning 62 games or so. Baring the perfect opportunity to consolidate talent or swoop in and take the right high priced vet off of someone's hands, I wasn't looking for wholesale changes because whats in place is already pretty formidable. Since no one else traded for such a player, I can't fault management for not pulling that imaginary rabbit out of their hat. KP gets an A for adding to a solid and improving club and not upsetting the apple cart. Miller being better then Blake and Blake being better (today) then Bayless or Sergio significantly improves their weakest position and is enough flux. Internal improvement should be substantial... I like the talent and depth throughout the roster. While this offseason doesn't match the whirlwind of changes that other recent offseasons did, I feel they've done the right tinkering.... contending this season doesn't seem far fetched.

btw... I'd link some past threads in this post but S2 will only let me go so far back

STOMP

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I gave it a "D" due to the false promises of cap flexibility that never materialized that much this summer from 2 years ago. Miller was great, but was kind of a no-brainer in my view with the money and available free agent market...I've been pushing for him for quite a while.

 

[BalancedMan]

I wasn't surprised with getting Pendergraph in the second round, and thought it was a decent pick...except Blair was still on the board.

I'll wait until the season is at least 10 games in to reserve any sort of judgment about the offseason. I think we almost all agree we're lucky Hedo backed out and we ended up with Andre instead. I like Andre a lot...he's always been really underrated, but he continues to get older. Every year I expect a decline and he doesn't really show it. I'm afraid he might now that he just signed his last significantly large contract of his career.

In many ways, I would have preferred this.

1. Sign Ramon Sessions to a deal similar with what he got from Minnesotta @ 4 years / 16 million (quite cheap).
2. Draft (1) Claver, (2) Blair, (3) Calathes, (4) Mills (picking based on who was available at the time).

That enough right there would have made this an amazing summer. Keep the picks stocking talent overseas in Mills, Calathes, and Claver. Blair can be the rebounding beast he showed in summer league. And Sessions would be a very cheap acquisition, even if he didn't amount to the promise he has sometimes shown in only two years in the league.

Cheap, lots of upside with only guaranteeing contracts to Sessions and Claver (if/when he comes over).

I'm not upset with how things have gone down. But I think that obtaining Sessions (and who thought that was possible, I wrote several entries stipulating why no team signed him early in the summer) and getting an array of talented players would have been better than 2 backup PFs. I just like the idea of Mills/Calathes/Claver/Blair much better. I see them all as potential quality NBA backups, which is fair concerning they're all picks in the low first round or second round.

Anyone else thinking along these lines too?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

I give him a D.

There was entirely too much buildup to this offseason to come away with essentially the same roster as last year plus Miller. Our roster is still unbalanced as hell and nothing was done to consolidate positions. Bayless did not look like he improved any this summer league. Getting very little minutes again this season is not going to help.

I just think the end result of Raef's ending contract and the two non-guaranteed deals to Outlaw and Blake should have netted more. We are still probably going to win more games than last year due to improvements of LA, Rudy, SF, and Oden. That does not mean that KP got the maximum out of his assets.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I said C because I didn't like the draft; I am OK with (and cautiously optimistic about) the Miller signing; I think LMA's already agreed with what the team wants to give him (and now it's a player's union issue); thought that KP made a shrewd move for Millsap that wasn't going to work out; put too much into Turkoglu (and happily, he didn't take the offer); passed on Sessions for whatever reason; didn't make a consolidation trade during the summer (which is where he said he'd rather make trades). I would've liked to see what our offer for Okafor or Washington's #5 pick (that turned into Rubio) was, but I won't speculate and add or subtract those guesses to the grade.

Basically, I don't think KP hosed the team, but I think there were results out there that could've been had that would've made our team better. I don't hold the RFA signings of our stars against him. I'm hoping that in February I'll think he's a genius again, but his last 7 months or so haven't been a positive trend in my eyes.

 

[mook]

if I'm handing out a GMing grade I'm basing it on how he does with his opportunities given the situation.

-drafting in the middle of a weak draft he went with a flyer on an injured young foreign athlete forward who might pan out. That was pretty spot on exactly what I was hoping for going into that draft. Given that, it's hard to lay much blame
-I don't think I'd even given a thought to the team using KP's precious cap room on Hedo. Offering him that deal seemed Nash-esk to me. On the other hand I'm sure I was active in well over 5 Andre Miller threads. Pritchard ends up with probably the best UFA available with a better contract (3rd year team option in case he breaks down) then I'd hoped. Was this his master plan or a bit of dumb luck? Do I really care?
-Signs Roy longterm to max deal... expected
-LA unsigned... talks reportedly waiting on some figure being released from the league but expected to happen
-Signs Howard... jk, I liked this move, he'll probably be fine as the 3rd/4th string PF/15th man. He's been deep bench for a few years now and knows his role. For the first couple TNT games he might average more face time talking about his teammates in prerecorded interviews then PT.

I see this club winning 62 games or so. Baring the perfect opportunity to consolidate talent or swoop in and take the right high priced vet off of someone's hands, I wasn't looking for wholesale changes because whats in place is already pretty formidable. Since no one else traded for such a player, I can't fault management for not pulling that imaginary rabbit out of their hat. KP gets an A for adding to a solid and improving club and not upsetting the apple cart. Miller being better then Blake and Blake being better (today) then Bayless or Sergio significantly improves their weakest position and is enough flux. Internal improvement should be substantial... I like the talent and depth throughout the roster. While this offseason doesn't match the whirlwind of changes that other recent offseasons did, I feel they've done the right tinkering.... contending this season doesn't seem far fetched.

btw... I'd link some past threads in this post but S2 will only let me go so far back

STOMP

That's a reasonably fair assessment. First do no harm. That's a lesson we probably should remember from the Rod Strickland/Detlef Shrempf/Stoudamire-contract-extension days. We didn't do anything to really screw things up, although we came pretty close with Turkoglu.

We got rid of our worst player (Sergio) and replaced him with probably our third or fourth best player (Miller).

I think we win 60 games this year. It's hard to complain about any offseason that nets you that.

 

[ABM]

..........didn't make a consolidation trade during the summer (which is where he said he'd rather make trades)..

IMO, that was a cake-baking stance. I believe this team has taken that next step towards KP pulling the current creation out of the oven and taking a big whiff.

That said, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he makes an in-season consolidation trade during this coming season.