I would cut Crabbe

[3RA1N1AC]

this is pretty much it.

if we can grab a good vet min guy in his stead? do it.

if blake or (god forbid) lillard gets injured and we need another pg? do it.

until then, use him to listen in on the other teams huddles

 

[BBert]

this is pretty much it.

if we can grab a good vet min guy in his stead? do it.

if blake or (god forbid) lillard gets injured and we need another pg? do it.

until then, use him to listen in on the other teams huddles

Crabbe is our Radar O'Reilly.

 

[HailBlazers]

We really need slashers though. I hate that everyone has to be a shooter on our team. Will is one of the only guys who attacks the rim.

Funny, the only flash of goodness I saw in Crabbe was when he was attaching the rim.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Sorry Nate, but if we make a trade it'll involve Joel not Crabbe. Crabbe's not going anywhere (Olshey won't give up on a prospect so easily). He's just a 15th man.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Sorry Nate, but if we make a trade it'll involve Joel not Crabbe. Crabbe's not going anywhere (Olshey won't give up on a prospect so easily). He's just a 15th man.

Then why would he trade Joel? Then we are short a quality big man...like last year, leaving no room for injuries.

 

[Natebishop3]

Sorry Nate, but if we make a trade it'll involve Joel not Crabbe. Crabbe's not going anywhere (Olshey won't give up on a prospect so easily). He's just a 15th man.

I don't think they'd get rid of Joel because he can play both power forward and center. He's the perfect utility guy. If we have an injury at either position, he can slide in. I doubt he'd be traded.

Crabbe on the other hand is buried. We have almost no use for him right now. That's why I'm saying I would start looking around and if we could find a third point guard or another wing, I would cut him.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Then why would he trade Joel? Then we are short a quality big man...like last year, leaving no room for injuries.

We have FOUR centers! IMHO, when we signed Kaman to a shorter deal we were committing to Leonard leaving Joel with the short straw. We have no problems with injuries to Centers. If LMA gets injured TRob will start and if history is our guide Wright will back him up. Things get dicier if Lillard gets injured in which case having Joel will not be helpful.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I don't think they'd get rid of Joel because he can play both power forward and center. He's the perfect utility guy. If we have an injury at either position, he can slide in. I doubt he'd be traded.

Crabbe on the other hand is buried. We have almost no use for him right now. That's why I'm saying I would start looking around and if we could find a third point guard or another wing, I would cut him.

Note to Nate: Joel is a big juicy $3 Million expiring contract.

 

[Natebishop3]

Note to Nate: Joel is a big juicy $3 Million expiring contract.

Yeah, I know he is, and I would deal him if the right deal came along, but I think it's less likely that we move him. The only reason Wright was playing power forward last year was because Freeland was injured.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Yeah, I know he is, and I would deal him if the right deal came along, but I think it's less likely that we move him.

Only the trade deadline 8-ball knows for sure. That's when his value will be the highest.

The only reason Wright was playing power forward last year was because Freeland was injured.

Good point.

Let me expound a bit. I have not seen a comfortable Wright in the NBA: last summer league, last season, or this summer league. When I see a comfortable Wright that sucks, I'll be willing to write him off. That hasn't happened yet.

 

[Pinwheel1]

We have FOUR centers! IMHO, when we signed Kaman to a shorter deal we were committing to Leonard leaving Joel with the short straw. We have no problems with injuries to Centers. If LMA gets injured TRob will start and if history is our guide Wright will back him up. Things get dicier if Lillard gets injured in which case having Joel will not be helpful.

No we are not yet committed to Leonard. He has one more year IMO to earn that. They gave Kaman a short deal in case Leonard does improve. But right now Joel has earned his minutes. He played quality minutes last year before he got hurt. Maybe Leonard can produce with minutes, but as of now I think we all feel better with Joel in the game over Myles. And like Nate said, Joel is a good utility guy. He can Play PF too. I would only trade him for good value.

 

[Natebishop3]

No we are not yet committed to Leonard. He has one more year IMO to earn that. They gave Kaman a short deal in case Leonard does improve. But right now Joel has earned his minutes. He played quality minutes last year before he got hurt. Maybe Leonard can produce with minutes, but as of now I think we all feel better with Joel in the game over Myles. And like Nate said, Joel is a good utility guy. He can Play PF too. I would only trade him for good value.

Exactly. I just don't think we're going to dump Meyers anytime soon. He is a project, and I think we're going to take our time. Crabbe is a relatively low cost, so if he doesn't work out we didn't really lose that much. Myle was the 11th pick in the draft two years ago.

 

[BigGameDamian]

The Blazers should probably do a lot of things they don't do due to that word "Potential."

 

[BigGameDamian]

Shawn Marion is still available. Just sayin.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Maybe, but the Jermaine O'Neal thing still lingers on the minds of Blazer fans.

The Blazers should probably do a lot of things they don't do due to that word "Potential."

 

[Natebishop3]

Maybe, but the Jermaine O'Neal thing still lingers on the minds of Blazer fans.

Forever and ever.

 

[Minstrel]

I don't think it's Jermaine O'Neal trauma. O'Neal was a top high school talent. Those had a pretty high hit rate. Claver, Leonard, Crabbe, Barton, etc, are pretty middling projects. I think they're kept around because it's not like Portland has a bunch of valuable, productive veterans being pushed away. The only one is maybe Mo Williams, depending on how Portland feels about him going forward. I'd be okay with ditching one of the projects for Williams.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't think it's Jermaine O'Neal trauma. O'Neal was a top high school talent. Those had a pretty high hit rate. Claver, Leonard, Crabbe, Barton, etc, are pretty middling projects. I think they're kept around because it's not like Portland has a bunch of valuable, productive veterans being pushed away. The only one is maybe Mo Williams, depending on how Portland feels about him going forward. I'd be okay with ditching one of the projects for Williams.

Will Barton was actually highly touted coming out of high school.

I think he ranked 11th nationally by Rivals.

 

[Minstrel]

Will Barton was actually highly touted coming out of high school.

I think he ranked 11th nationally by Rivals.

Yeah, but then he went to college. And was okay, but nothing amazing. I meant that top prep-to-pro players were generally pretty blue chip prospects.

 

[Natebishop3]

Yeah, but then he went to college. And was okay, but nothing amazing. I meant that top prep-to-pro players were generally pretty blue chip prospects.

And then Kwame Brown happened

 

[Minstrel]

And then Kwame Brown happened

Exception. Rule. Proved.

Something like that. There were a few exceptions. Leon Smith was the first first-round prep-to-pro kid I remember busting.

 

[B-Roy]

Yeah, but then he went to college. And was okay, but nothing amazing. I meant that top prep-to-pro players were generally pretty blue chip prospects.

Yeah, but he had to go to college. Who is to say he wouldn't have been drafted if he could have came out right away?

BTW, DraftExpress has Will's RSCI (Recruiting Services Consensus Index) at number 9 of his recruiting class.

Actually, it's kind of interesting to see what players were ranked coming out of college. Here are some others.

LMA was 13th of his recruiting class.

RoLo was 20th

Lillard, Matthews, and Batum (b/c international) were all unranked.

Meyers was 29th

Crabbe was 72nd

Wright was 64th

Yeah, the Blazers don't have that many good "high school" recruits.

Oh yeah, Oden was 1st. ......

 

[Natebishop3]

Exception. Rule. Proved.

Something like that. There were a few exceptions. Leon Smith was the first first-round prep-to-pro kid I remember busting.

I don't know, I think there were quite a few busts towards the end of the prep-to-pro era.

Kwame (picked 1st)
Leon Smith (picked 29th)
Jonathan Bender (picked 5th)
Eddy Curry (picked 4th)
Robert Swift (picked 12th)

It's interesting though, because there's been way more international players taken in the first round who were busts.

 

[Minstrel]

I don't know, I think there were quite a few busts towards the end of the prep-to-pro era.

It was at the start that they all seemed to pan out. My guess is that in the beginning, only the true cream of the crop dared bypass college entirely. As the first and second waves were successful, it emboldened more kids to try their luck and the quality of players taking the step dipped to the point that guys who really weren't good enough to do it were trying it and then the busts started to come.

 

[Natebishop3]

It was at the start that they all seemed to pan out. My guess is that in the beginning, only the true cream of the crop dared bypass college entirely. As the first and second waves were successful, it emboldened more kids to try their luck and the quality of players taking the step dipped to the point that guys who really weren't good enough to do it were trying it and then the busts started to come.

Indeed.

 

[BigGameDamian]

So we are hanging on to Claver just because we are afraid of him going to San Antonio and doing well? Thats what it sounds like to me?

 

[Natebishop3]

So we are hanging on to Claver just because we are afraid of him going to San Antonio and doing well? Thats what it sounds like to me?

Yup. That's it.

 

[MickZagger]

I liked Crabbe coming out of college. I watched him a lot at Cal. He's been butt-shitty in the pro's so far. Maybe there was a reason Montgomery tried to light some fire in him. Take that passive shit overseas.

 

[Draco]

I would cut clavier if we need the roster spot. It's been two years and for a rookie in his mid twenties I don't see much upside

 

[Natebishop3]

I would cut clavier if we need the roster spot. It's been two years and for a rookie in his mid twenties I don't see much upside

We're so low on big contracts that we might need Claver as filler if we ever decided to do a trade. Crabbe is only making like 900k.