highly unlikely Hickson will be granted a $4.4 million qualifying offer

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Draco

Draco

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He wouldn't reveal his plan for free agency. But he said the Blazers will have between $14 million and $17 million to spend, depending on what unfolds with J.J. Hickson, Joel Freeland and Shawne Williams. It appears highly unlikely Hickson will be granted a $4.4 million qualifying offer before Saturday's deadline, his $5.9 million cap hold too costly for what he is worth. It is more likely the team turns to a more reasonably-priced Freeland, the former first-rounder who has emerged as a modest big man talent in Spain.

After that, it's a safe bet Olshey pursues a veteran point guard and a proven center who can come in and start.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...sider_gm_neil_olsheys_enthusiam_is_convi.html
 
No need when we got Meyers Leonard!!!! lol
 
Declining Hicksons offer, sign Claver/Freeland grab Nash and cry as were 9th and lose our pick to the bobcats, okay worst case scenario there for me.
 
I think this is a mistake if we're actually trying to win games in as big of a way as possible this year. I don't see us finding someone cheaper to round out our big man rotation. Aldridge-Hickson-Leonard (Freeland-Pryz) could be solid. Throw in an FA if Freeland doesn't work out and you're in a good spot.
 
Portland still needs some bigs, so not signing Hickson is a risk, IMO
 
Mediocre Man said:
Portland still needs some bigs, so not signing Hickson is a risk, IMO
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agree but I think Freeland is probably in the cards and maybe Claver, my guess is Freeland will be a good bit cheaper than Hickson, we'll see
 
Blazinaway said:
agree but I think Freeland is probably in the cards and maybe Claver, my guess is Freeland will be a good bit cheaper than Hickson, we'll see
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Yes. I think it's going to be important for fans to realize and try very hard to see, the extended vision the team seems to have
 
More importantly, to me, is whether Freeland will be a good bit better than Hickson.

Go Blazers
 
oldguy said:
More importantly, to me, is whether Freeland will be a good bit better than Hickson.

Go Blazers
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I see no way that happens, personally.

But I think the real question is whether Freeland fits into the whatever system Olshey envisions us running. He seems pretty set on building around Aldridge, Batum and Lillard. What do all these players have in common? Pick and roll/pop. Freeland does as well, so does Cooney. Vision is going to be key
 
oldguy said:
More importantly, to me, is whether Freeland will be a good bit better than Hickson.

Go Blazers
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Except, I don't understand why we can't keep both Freeland and Hickson. Is anyone really expecting Hickson to cost more than $5M/yr?
 
The key to this decision is the cap hold. They think the free agents they will sign by having the extra money will be significant in helping them get who they want to target. That is their plan and a plan that a lot of you have wished for.

Personally I am more of a "one -in-the hand" type of guy, but I suppose what they are trying to do makes sense.
 
If they renounce Hickson, and are able to sign Freeland and Claver as well as Batum, they could have a 11 or so left for FA's

They should easily be able to fill a vet C and PG with that. Probably landing in the lottery once again next season for the last time for the forseeable future
 
Mediocre Man said:
I see no way that happens, personally.

But I think the real question is whether Freeland fits into the whatever system Olshey envisions us running. He seems pretty set on building around Aldridge, Batum and Lillard. What do all these players have in common? Pick and roll/pop. Freeland does as well, so does Cooney. Vision is going to be key
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I take your point, but I'm not sure I can remember Nic ever setting a pick since he's been here. Maybe it's just a hangover induced brain fart.

Go Blazers
 
Mediocre Man said:
Yes. I think it's going to be important for fans to realize and try very hard to see, the extended vision the team seems to have
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for me it's the "correct vision" given where we are, I think Olshey is so far doing what he said, whethr one agrees with the plan is of course another story
 
also 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?
 
I'm torn.... I think with the selection of Lillard we will not be going after a point guard. Signing Dragic makes no sense at this point. I would like to see us throw our cap space at a center, but most of the good ones are RFAs. It's almost better to just try to use the cap space to facilitate a trade and then sign Batum/Hickson/Freeland.

Lillard/Smith
Matthews/Williams
Batum/Babbitt/Claver
Aldridge/Hickson
Przybilla/Leonard/Freeland
 
oldguy said:
I take your point, but I'm not sure I can remember Nic ever setting a pick since he's been here. Maybe it's just a hangover induced brain fart.

Go Blazers
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In my underwhelming experience with the pick and roll you need shooters, and guys that can slash

If the pick and roll is set with Lillard and LA, the defense has to make a decision, right now.

Trap the dribbler and go over the screen.
Hard show and go over.
Pinch, squeeze, or push up and under or through.
Trap and aggressively switch the rescreen.
Show and go under.
Stop the dribbler and go over.
Jump out to stop the ball and go through.
Hug the screener and go under.
Jump and trap the dribbler early before the screen can be set.
Defend the roll man with a big-to-big rotation.
Switch pick and roll - you can always switch equal size players.

With most of those, there will be great opportunities to set a man in a corner for an open three as the defense collapses, as well as a man on the wing who can drive if the PG kicks to him when the defense collapses.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Personally I am more of a "one -in-the hand" type of guy, but I suppose what they are trying to do makes sense.
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I am more of a "two-in-the-hand" guy. [Insert Mrs. HCP punchline here]

Hickson's decent and did a good job for the Blazers, but I am not going to be incredibly heart broken if he ends up somewhere else. I suspect his first choice would be to resign with the Blazers and so if someone outbids us for him then fine... not going to worry about it.
 
The thing is, you have to consider who is actually available. We aren't getting Deron Williams, and throwing money at RFAs like Hibbert or Eric Gordon will probably be a waste of time. I would rather keep Batum and Hickson if that's the case.
 
A mix of young and old is a way to build a sustainable franchise, So maybe Olshey fills in spots with vets and saves cap money for next year? Could that work, or will be too close to the cap to matter?
 
Zybot said:
I am more of a "two-in-the-hand" guy. [Insert Mrs. HCP punchline here]

Hickson's decent and did a good job for the Blazers, but I am not going to be incredibly heart broken if he ends up somewhere else. I suspect his first choice would be to resign with the Blazers and so if someone outbids us for him then fine... not going to worry about it.
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I hate to critique your joke, but technically the phrase is "2-in-the bush" and would have been much funnier in reference to your punchline....:)
 
Another reason we may not be interested in Hickson is lack of available roster spots. If we bring over Freeland and Claver then sign Barton we will have 13 players and only two open roster spots. We potentially have up to $17 million to spend in cap room followed by the $2.5 million room exception. With that cap space at the minimum you'd imagine we’d get 3 new players in free agency and amnesty waivers but it could be 4 or 5 new players. We may already need to cut Shawne Williams and Kurt Thomas just to get down to the 15 man roster so there is no point in paying a guy like Hickson when he would be our 5th big man on the depth charts.

???, Leonard
LMA, Freeland, Thomas
Batum, Babbitt, Claver, Shawne W
Matthews, Elliot, Barton
Lillard, Nolan
 
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Draco said:
Another reason we may not be interested in Hickson is lack of available roster spots. If we bring over Freeland and Claver then sign Barton we will have 13 players and only two open roster spots. We potentially have up to $17 million to spend in cap room followed by the $2.5 million room exception. With that cap space at the minimum you'd imagine we’d get 3 new players in free agency and amnesty waivers but it could be 4 or 5 new players. We may already need to cut Shawne Williams and Kurt Thomas just to get down to the 15 man roster so there is no point in paying a guy like Hickson when he would be our 5th big man on the depth charts.

???, Leonard
LMA, Freeland, Thomas
Batum, Babbitt, Claver, Shawne W
Matthews, Elliot, Barton
Lillard, Nolan
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S. Williams will be stretched, so Portland must feel pretty damn good about both Freeland and Claver coming over, as well as retaining Batum. Because right now it looks like this

Leonard
Lillard
Barton (I think will make the team)
Aldridge
Thomas
Babbitt
Matthews
E Williams
N. Smith
 
Mediocre Man said:
S. Williams will be stretched, so Portland must feel pretty damn good about both Freeland and Claver coming over, as well as retaining Batum.
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Yes we could stretch S. Williams but I think it only makes sense if theres a free agent that the extra $2million makes the difference in us acquiring. If we don't have a good use for that small bit of extra space then its better to keep the whole cap hit on this years cap. If we stretch Williams he will be stuck on our cap until 2015.
 
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