Hoopsworld Morning Report with Kevin Pritchard

[free_lafrentz]

checkity check it....

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11389

Why Deals Take So Long: The Portland Trail Blazers may not classify themselves as sellers, but sources around the league say they have been talking a lot lately trying to extract a nice veteran player for the ending contract of Raef LaFrentz. The Blazers could trigger a deal with Sacramento if the Kings come off their demands for Jerryd Bayless, such a deal would bring John Salmons to Portland, but would have to send someone of value to the Kings, who want Bayless. Portland GM Kevin Pritchard explained that his team is not as eager to make a deal as most are characterizing his team to be, but they are looking and talking.

"Doing a deal during the season, there are risks where the fits aren't good," Kevin Pritchard told HOOPSWORLD's Wendell Maxey.

"If you get a guy during the summer, he has the whole training camp, the summer and he has to get comfortable. So there is a certain element of risk in doing things during the season. You do a lot of your work to allow your coach to have as much success as he possibly can."

"I think there is a lot of feeling out. We are always communicating with each other because our business is very fluid," Pritchard explained.

"Things change throughout the course of the season: a trade with another team, a change in the lineup. There are always things that are changing and it is up to us to investigate and see if we can help each other."

"We like our team. We are always going to look at make it better. But we have a young team that is growing together and figuring things out and getting better," Pritchard added.
"You have to let it bake a little bit." -Steve Kyler, Hoopsworld

 

[MIXUM]

oh god....can he please stop with the baking crap.

 

[free_lafrentz]

oh god....can he please stop with the baking crap.

oh god....can you stop with the posting crap.

 

[ironcrotch]

KP is a smart smart cookie.

We obviously need to trade RLEC to get most value out of it since Miles has mux'd stuff up. But he still makes it that we're still in control and eh we'll trade if we like it.

He's not tipping his hand.

 

[Reep]

I like the baking metaphore. After the Charlotte game, I was totally in the let it bake mode. Seeing Oden gain confidence and Bayless show that he can distribute and score--and appreciate when to do each was great. It made me resistant to rush out and trade our up-and-comers for an outsider.

This all shows that KP is doing what he should--considering everything, but being very selective on pulling the trigger.

 

[maxiep]

KP is a smart smart cookie.

We obviously need to trade RLEC to get most value out of it since Miles has mux'd stuff up. But he still makes it that we're still in control and eh we'll trade if we like it.

He's not tipping his hand.

He knows the value of what he has, and I'm certain he's had someone calculate the financial position of the owners of the clubs with which he's interested in trading.

 

[maxiep]

I also think it's interesting how highly he values chemistry and fit. I can see why now he rarely makes in-season trades.

 

[alex42083]

KP is a smart smart cookie.

We obviously need to trade RLEC to get most value out of it since Miles has mux'd stuff up. But he still makes it that we're still in control and eh we'll trade if we like it.

He's not tipping his hand.

Agreed. KP knows how to play the game, and uses the media to his advantage. Keep on baking KP!

 

[hasoos]

Anybody notice how Bayless has been asked about by multiple teams within a week of him starting to get playing time? Hey, why aren't they asking for Steve Blake......

 

[Rastapopoulos]

KP is a smart smart cookie.

That would explain the baking obsession.

 

[roydezlaw]

Anybody notice how Bayless has been asked about by multiple teams within a week of him starting to get playing time? Hey, why aren't they asking for Steve Blake......

But then again, maybe the value of Bayless isn't as high with the team(NJ) that KP is dangling him, and he wants to send out the message that everyone else wants Bayless.

 

[MARIS61]

Anybody notice how Bayless has been asked about by multiple teams within a week of him starting to get playing time? Hey, why aren't they asking for Steve Blake......

Because Blake is a proven commodity who would demand a much higher player in return.

Bayless is an unproven player who could just as easily never amount to anything consistent in this league, and is currently being forced to play out of position just to get him PT on this team.

In other words, it appears to other teams that we are showcasing him for a trade as we did with JJ, as we obviously have 2-3 better players ahead of him at both guard spots.

 

[hasoos]

Because Blake is a proven commodity who would demand a much higher player in return.

Bayless is an unproven player who could just as easily never amount to anything consistent in this league, and is currently being forced to play out of position just to get him PT on this team.

In other words, it appears to other teams that we are showcasing him for a trade as we did with JJ, as we obviously have 2-3 better players ahead of him at both guard spots.

Obviously. Which is the reason that Blake has been a "piece to make up the money" in several trades, and not re signed by Washington or Denver. Because he was obviously so great. In fact he is so great that a golden aura follows him around. But only they great Maris can see it. The rest of us "fools" unfortunately can not see this aura, and of course are underpriveledged for it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Because Blake is a proven commodity who would demand a much higher player in return.

Bayless is an unproven player who could just as easily never amount to anything consistent in this league, and is currently being forced to play out of position just to get him PT on this team.

In other words, it appears to other teams that we are showcasing him for a trade as we did with JJ, as we obviously have 2-3 better players ahead of him at both guard spots.

Of course that's what you'd say.

Frankly I'm leaning towards the "KP makes no deals until summer" line of thought. he'll have flexibility to make trades where he can take on salaries greater than the parts he sends out and the team will probably have a better shot of adjusting to a new face than getting somebody mid-season ... unless there is something too good to pass up (Kirk + Deng for example).

Depending on how things shake out, I wonder if KP might be able to work out a sign and trade for Josh Childress over the summer, and maybe package Blake or Sergio and Travis or Martell to get somebody like Hinrich? I have a pretty strong sense the next six months are going to be very big in terms of seeing this roster start to take final shape -- at least for the next few years.

this would be a pretty fun 9 man rotation:
Hinrich/Bayless
Roy/Rudy
Childress/Batum
LMA
Greg/Przybilla

 

[The_Lillard_King]

If KP has a FA in mind this summer . . . I don't think he makes a move.

Blazer have come a long way and I would think it would be pretty easy (with Allen's money and the Blazer's success) to lure whatever free agent KP wants here to Ptd.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Personally I'd rather us make the trade with RLEC's contract, and still have a MLE this offseason in case someone catches our eye

 

[tlongII]

We're not giving anybody Bayless. That would be stupid.

 

[Ed O]

Because Blake is a proven commodity who would demand a much higher player in return.

Bayless is an unproven player who could just as easily never amount to anything consistent in this league, and is currently being forced to play out of position just to get him PT on this team.

In other words, it appears to other teams that we are showcasing him for a trade as we did with JJ, as we obviously have 2-3 better players ahead of him at both guard spots.

Fail.

Ed O.

 

[free_lafrentz]

Of course that's what you'd say.

Frankly I'm leaning towards the "KP makes no deals until summer" line of thought. he'll have flexibility to make trades where he can take on salaries greater than the parts he sends out and the team will probably have a better shot of adjusting to a new face than getting somebody mid-season ... unless there is something too good to pass up (Kirk + Deng for example).

Depending on how things shake out, I wonder if KP might be able to work out a sign and trade for Josh Childress over the summer, and maybe package Blake or Sergio and Travis or Martell to get somebody like Hinrich? I have a pretty strong sense the next six months are going to be very big in terms of seeing this roster start to take final shape -- at least for the next few years.

this would be a pretty fun 9 man rotation:
Hinrich/Bayless
Roy/Rudy
Childress/Batum
LMA
Greg/Przybilla

What's with the random fetish some people have for Kirk Hinrich? It's not like he has done anything worthy of being considered a valuable commodity in the last year and a half.

Deng I could consider, but Kirk? I don't see how he is better than Blake and, honestly, why would KP want to even dance around his 10m dollar contract over the next 4 seasons when we already have Blake who accomplishes the same things already?

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

i wanna get baked with kp

 

[Nikolokolus]

What's with the random fetish some people have for Kirk Hinrich? It's not like he has done anything worthy of being considered a valuable commodity in the last year and a half.

Deng I could consider, but Kirk? I don't see how he is better than Blake and, honestly, why would KP want to even dance around his 10m dollar contract over the next 4 seasons when we already have Blake who accomplishes the same things already?

Kirk is not an all-star but his skills seem to fill a void on this team: his defense plus an ability to play off-ball which would compliment Brandon pretty well. It's no great secret that Hinrich is also a better defender than Steve Blake ... a much better defender. The rest of his game is similar to Blake's but he's stronger, and a little more athletic and he would be a definite upgrade.

 

[free_lafrentz]

Kirk is not an all-star but his skills seem to fill a void on this team: his defense plus an ability to play off-ball which would compliment Brandon pretty well. It's no great secret that Hinrich is also a better defender than Steve Blake ... a much better defender. The rest of his game is similar to Blake's but he's stronger, and a little more athletic and he would be a definite upgrade.

The problem I have with this is that its totally your own off-the-cuff analysis. When you look at stats Blake seems to be just as productive as Hinrich on both ends of the floor over the last year or two.

Besides, I'm hard pressed to think Kirk is a long-term starting guard on a championship team. And with the price tag next to his name for the next 4 years, I don't see why his salary combined with his abilities make him an upgrade at all over Blake.

40m over the next 4 years is a TON of cash for a guard who likely won't be starting in 2 years on this team.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

The problem I have with this is that its totally your own off-the-cuff analysis. When you look at stats Blake seems to be just as productive as Hinrich on both ends of the floor over the last year or two.

Besides, I'm hard pressed to think Kirk is a long-term starting guard on a championship team. And with the price tag next to his name for the next 4 years, I don't see why his salary combined with his abilities make him an upgrade at all over Blake.

40m over the next 4 years is a TON of cash for a guard who likely won't be starting in 2 years on this team.

It's 36.5 million over 4 years and his contract gets better each year (actually going down)

I beg to differ on defense Hinrich definitely has shown he can do a lot more than Blake.

 

[free_lafrentz]

It's 36.5 million over 4 years and his contract gets better each year (actually going down)

I beg to differ on defense Hinrich definitely has shown he can do a lot more than Blake.

The concern I have is if Hinrich's abilities over Steve Blake are worth the 28m or so we could save from either keeping blake or using that money elsewhere.

TBH, I can't find a way to justify Hinrich being worth that much over Blake.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

The concern I have is if Hinrich's abilities over Steve Blake are worth the 28m or so we could save from either keeping blake or using that money elsewhere.

TBH, I can't find a way to justify Hinrich being worth that much over Blake.

I wouldn't care about the money because if we get a PG AND SF that are upgrades, it kills 2 birds with one stone. With the salary cap we will have available this offseason, we could only probably sign one of those two positions. If Hinrich and Deng, or a 3 way where we get say Marvin Williams and Hinrich is the best we can do, I'd say go for it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The problem I have with this is that its totally your own off-the-cuff analysis. When you look at stats Blake seems to be just as productive as Hinrich on both ends of the floor over the last year or two.

Besides, I'm hard pressed to think Kirk is a long-term starting guard on a championship team. And with the price tag next to his name for the next 4 years, I don't see why his salary combined with his abilities make him an upgrade at all over Blake.

40m over the next 4 years is a TON of cash for a guard who likely won't be starting in 2 years on this team.

Off-the-cuff analysis? How do you figure? I watch the Bulls play regularly on WGN, I can see with my own eyes the impact that Kirk Hinrich has on the defensive end of the court, he wasn't named to the second all-NBA defensive team because he's bad at it. His offense isn't A+ material, but he's a solid B at initiating and maybe a B- shooter.

As for his salary, it might be a shade high, but it de-escalates from 10 million this year and eventually falls to around 8 million per year ... for quality point guard who is only 27 right now and will be about 31 when his contract is up, that's pretty decent value and it's not like he'd be un-tradeable.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The concern I have is if Hinrich's abilities over Steve Blake are worth the 28m or so we could save from either keeping blake or using that money elsewhere.

TBH, I can't find a way to justify Hinrich being worth that much over Blake.

The way Blake has played in year's past he was worth the 4 million a year he makes, after his career year he's probably worthy of a contract that pays closer 5 or 6 million a year (assuming he can maintain this level of production).

 

[BalancedMan]

I don't want to trade Bayless. Sacramento wanted him in the draft which is why we made the trade to get him.

 

[Natebishop3]

Hinrich is a big upgrade over Blake. When we signed Blake, I was excited under the condition that he would eventually be the backup. Not the starter. Whether we move Bayless into the starting five, or trade for Hinrich, I would prefer to see Blake coming off the bench. The guy has proven this season that he can't guard anyone, and he's really only good as a shooter for us.

 

[BBert]

Hinrich is a big upgrade over Blake. When we signed Blake, I was excited under the condition that he would eventually be the backup. Not the starter. Whether we move Bayless into the starting five, or trade for Hinrich, I would prefer to see Blake coming off the bench. The guy has proven this season that he can't guard anyone, and he's really only good as a shooter for us.

Q.F.T.

I think Hinrich is underrated, and Blake overrated, on this board. I guess that's normal. We are Blazers fans!