Hickson: Keep him or Trade him?

[Hobbesarable]

Hickson signed the 1-year $4 million deal thinking he would get ample playing time to show his true value. He'll want more than $4 million per year if he plays well (possible double-double) during the first half of the season and our team may not want to pay him that much if they're going after a prized free agent or two.

The Blazers positioned themselves nicely with cap space by declining options for Babbitt, Smith, and Elliot. It'll give them cap flexibility for possible trades made by the trade deadline or utilize the cap space for the next FA class.

In the end, they may decide to trade him for expiring contracts, and draft picks. Then make a play for a prized Free Agent. Of course, they'll need Hickson's approval. "The Blazers re-signed J.J. Hickson for one season at $4 million and since they have his Bird Rights, Hickson can block any trade."
http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-trade-veto-power/

Also, here's a link to the 2013 Free Agent Class according to hoopsworld.com (it needs to be updated)
http://www.hoopsworld.com/2013-nba-free-agents/

 

[maxiep]

As long as we sign him with an eye to him being a backup, I'm fine. That, of course, means paying him backup wages. I want to keep powder dry to make a lopsided trade when we stand a chance of being decent.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Trade him. I like the guy but he'll use up too much of our available cap room next off season.

 

[THE HCP]

Keep him. 24 years old and plays hard.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

It's pretty simple. Keep him for the right price or otherwise trade him if possible. Who knows what he'll want.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I would if he can land a legit young(ish) PG.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Keep him. 24 years old and plays hard.

Yep. We are having a hard enough time finding production. There is no sense in trading him.

I doubt he would agree to a trade anyway. He is on a one year deal, would lose his bird rights, and has a team he has been putting up numbers with.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I still say see what his value is at trade deadline and go from there. He should have good trade value and to say he's only 24 and plays hard is easy to say. I doubt Hickson will want to stay on the Blazers when he could go and be a big building block player for another team that needs a true PF. He's never going to be that type of player for the Blazers when we have Aldridge, Batum, Lillard. What would Hickson, Mathews and smith bring back?

 

[BigGameDamian]

Yep. We are having a hard enough time finding production. There is no sense in trading him.

I doubt he would agree to a trade anyway. He is on a one year deal, would lose his bird rights, and has a team he has been putting up numbers with.

Glad you aren't the GM.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I would if he can land a legit young(ish) PG.

Damian's not good enough for you?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Obviously I was talking about the backup PG position.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Glad you aren't the GM.

So tell me why Hickson waives his no trade clause?

 

[KingSpeed]

What prized free agents are we targeting?

 

[THE HCP]

WHo will be out there besides CP3 and D12?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

WHo will be out there besides CP3 and D12?

Pekovic, Bynum, and possibly AI. Tyreke Evans, Kevin Martin, Al Jefferson, Milsap, Mayo, Manu.

And to clarify,

Keep him this year? Yep

Keep him after this year? Depends on price and the development of Freeland

Trade him this year? Highly doubt he agrees to it.

 

[RR7]

trade

 

[jlprk]

Those players aren't better than Hickson, especially if you give credit for his 2-position versatility. As an energy player, he sets an example and shames others into playing harder. (Why is everyone looking at Aldridge?)

 

[KingSpeed]

Pekovic, Bynum, and possibly AI. Tyreke Evans, Kevin Martin, Al Jefferson, Milsap, Mayo,

if Leonard is the future, then we won't go with Pekovic or Bynum or Jefferson. Not interested in Iverson or Iguodala. Martin and Evans suck. Mayo is the only guy on this list I'm interested in.

Lillard/Mayo/Batum/Aldridge/Leonard is not bad. Are there any good backup PGs available?

 

[HailBlazers]

Keep him. 24 years old and plays hard.

We have to keep him at this point, our frontline is so weak. It's not like we have Kenneth Faried or anything.

 

[THE HCP]

I still like Tyreke. Kind of a head case, but he could be had for cheap.

 

[HailBlazers]

Would snap him up in a second, he's a slasher like we need.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Are there any good backup PGs available?

Better than Price? I do not think so!

Sure, there are players available as backup pg. However, Leonard will need a backup more than Lillard will. I think Olshey will not spend money on backups until we spend our cap room on someone that "moves the needle".

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

I still like Tyreke. Kind of a head case, but he could be had for cheap.

The local media would go nuts over that. A high speed road race in rush hour traffic on Youtube is pretty hard to defend.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Can't the Blazers sign a top dollar free agent, then sign Hickson using bird rights?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Can't the Blazers sign a top dollar free agent, then sign Hickson using bird rights?

No. He would have a pretty big cap hold. We were able to do it with Batum because his cap hold was low.

 

[HailBlazers]

Are there any good backup PGs available?

Better than Price? I do not think so!

Hate to say it, but since gave up so much in Faried, we gotta give Smith another good whirl before we let him loose.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I don't know that Hickson's Bird Rights are as untouchable as some of you think. It's not the same situation as, say, Ben Gordon signing his QO.

Hickson's not going to get a SuperStar Max anyway, so # of years isn't an issue, and the % of raises isn't an issue. His Free Agent amount hold for a team wanting his Bird Rights would be 7.6M, so it's not as if he's a steal to hold onto. The one thing he would be giving up is that he has to go to a team under the cap (or be willing to accept a long-term MLE), so if he's looking for a bigger-than-MLE payday then he's stuck going to a team under the cap. If he was traded to an over-the-cap team that could potentially handle a 7.6M cap hit during FA, they're probably not going to offer a lot of long-term $$ since the penalties for tax are getting prohibitive.

I'm not saying it's a slam dunk, but I don't think his Bird Rights are a full no-trade issue.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Given the sorry ass state of the team's bench and the number of needs everywhere coupled with the fact that Hickson will probably get paid with such a weak crop in this year's free agent pool, I think it's probably wise to trade him while they can still get something vs. letting him walk for nothing this summer.

 

[Natebishop3]

Hate to say it, but since gave up so much in Faried, we gotta give Smith another good whirl before we let him loose.

 

[Hobbesarable]

Hate to say it, but since gave up so much in Faried, we gotta give Smith another good whirl before we let him loose.

We need a quality player as a back-up pg. Does Nolan Smith fit the bill?

No. Cut the bait and move on.