Jumping ahead to the off-season

[Nikolokolus]

Hopefully the end comes in another month and not next week, but after watching this team in the playoffs (and for duration of the year) what do you guys think of the overall composition of the roster heading into next year?

I have a couple of thoughts; certainly there are some concerns about Oden's durability and Pryz's career might be over, but overall I'm pretty comfortable with the idea of a power-forward/center rotation of LMA, Marcus, Greg, Dante and Jeff (especially with the two rookies with a full year under their belt and an off-season to work on their respective games). That brings me to the wing and guard positions. Nic is a stud and should hopefully continue to mature in his game, but Martell, Rudy and even Jerryd still feel somewhat like weak links, especially when paired with Brandon, Dre' LMA and potentially Greg. Theoretically Martell should be a much more accurate shooter than he's demonstrated over his career, Rudy seems to have imploded and he seems like a goner based on his body language and allusions to not being happy with his role, and while Jerryd has shown some nice progress during the season and especially in the playoffs, his lack of a consistent shot and less than stellar passing ability has to be a little worrisome when you look at how little floor spacing we seem to get from our backcourt/wing positions (Miller can't shoot, Brandon is only so-so from deep, which pretty much leaves Nic as this year's only consistent long-ball threat).

So are there any guards or wings you'd like to trade for, draft or sign that you think would balance this roster out? Are we OK going forward into next season without a highly productive, proven 'sixth-man' type scorer/shooter (ala Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry, Ben Gordon)?

Discuss.

 

[MIXUM]

this is an easy off season as far as what to do....

get roy 100%

fire KPEE and get MArk W

find a true 6th man with our mid level or do a sign and trade

trade rudy

find the PG of the future and hopefully that means getting rid of bayless

 

[Wizard Mentor]

All we need is to bring in Victor Claver !!

OK, maybe not.

I don't think the answer lies in the draft.

 

[Nikolokolus]

All we need is to bring in Victor Claver !!

OK, maybe not.

I don't think the answer lies in the draft.

I tend to agree with that, though I've been looking at wings with great shooting percentages in the draftexpress.com player database that should be available somewhere around our 22nd pick and this guy kind of jumped out at me just because of skill-set, physical profile and statistics ... I freely admit that I've never actually watched him play however.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Luke-Babbitt-1340/playerblog/

Anybody ever seen this kid play for the Wolfpack?

 

[THE HCP]

I'll take Dante and Pendergraf over anything we can get in the late 1st round......

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'll take Dante and Pendergraf over anything we can get in the late 1st round......

Yeah, but neither of those guys are really shooting guards or even small forwards are they?

 

[Draco]

I'd make a run at trading Oden, Bayless and Rudy for Chris Paul. It's a long shot but a Paul trade has been mentioned as plausible with their ownership situation, Oden does still have a ton of upside, CP3 is coming off his worst season and has a max contract, and many consider New Orleans second best player to also be a PG.

 

[Natebishop3]

I would try to package Rudy and Joel for something decent like, Darron Collison.

I would use our MLE to sign a scorer. Maybe make a run at Mike Miller, but I wouldn't mind bringing back Outlaw for the right money in the right role.

Miller/Collison
Roy/Bayless
Batum/Miller/Webster
Aldridge/Pender/Cunningham
Oden/Camby

 

[hasoos]

I think the playoffs are still helping us determine part of the future.

Bayless is a jumpshot away from being a really good player at SG. That can be fixed. Keeper IMO.

Rudy, go be mentally weak somewhere else.

If anything i would bring in a couple more free agents to make the bench more stable. A couple of names I will throw out there: Ray Allen. Jerry Stackhouse.

Jerry has played great as 6th man for the Bucks this season, and may have a few more seasons in the tank.

Ray is just the leading 3 point shooter in NBA history, has finals experience and packs a 'tude.

8 points a game here, 12 points a game there, and all the sudden your bench is one of the more stable bench units in the league.

 

[Natebishop3]

I'd make a run at trading Oden, Bayless and Rudy for Chris Paul. It's a long shot but a Paul trade has been mentioned as plausible with their ownership situation, Oden does still have a ton of upside, CP3 is coming off his worst season and has a max contract, and many consider New Orleans second best player to also be a PG.

Yeah, but if we trade for Paul, what happens to the rest of our roster? Where does Miller fit? Who is our backup center? Who is our backup shooting guard? Obviously other moves would have to be made, but it guts our roster in a way, and it leaves a lot of questions to be answered. Do you trade Miller for something?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I've posted this in another thread before, but the guys I want are Darren Collison (reserve PG, PGotF) and Corey Magette (bench scorer, rim-attacker). This could (theoretically) be done by a 3-way deal, with Joel and Rudy going to New Orleans, and Bayless and Posey going to Golden State. I also wouldn't be averse to adding a 3-point specialist guard (Kyle Korver, JJ Redick, Daniel Gibson, etc).

 

[Draco]

At draft time I think we'll listen to offers for Rudy, but t's unlikely for teams to offer much in return so chances are he stays in Portland. His value is at an all time low, I don't think KP or Warkenstein will take pennies on the dollar. Rudy for Ramon Sessions does make some sense for both teams, Rudy could help bring Rubio over, Sessions had a down year as well, I wouldn't mind a trade such as that. But I don't want to see Rudy shipped off for virtually nothing like Jack was only to become an acceptable starter down the road for another team.

In free agency first thing we need to do is throw the MLE at players who won't get larger offers from other teams. Mike Miller, Ray Allen, Jermaine Oneal are the type of guys I'd be looking at. If we can't land any solid MLE players then just go for the best talent available, Travis and Blake are definete possibilites and do have familiarity with our system.

Overall I want to see an accumulation of the most talent possible. We had an unusually high amount of injuries this season, but I still believe we have many players who are injury prone and it is very unlikely we get through all of next season without some major games missed. We need to accumulate quality backups if they come in at a low cost, that may result in hurt feelings over minutes for some but will help the team be a legit contender over the course of the season.

 

[Draco]

Yeah, but if we trade for Paul, what happens to the rest of our roster? Where does Miller fit? Who is our backup center? Who is our backup shooting guard? Obviously other moves would have to be made, but it guts our roster in a way, and it leaves a lot of questions to be answered. Do you trade Miller for something?

If you can get arguably the best PG in the NBA you do it. Worrying about how an enormously worse player such as Miller fits in is such a minor issue it really doesn't matter. Jordan wasn't the best fit when the Blazers drafted Bowie either.

I would love to have the problem of figuring out how to integrate a player better than Brandon Roy.

 

[Further]

Webster is not the shooter we hoped, but he is decent and at least forces his opponent to guard him. A great shooting BU SF would be nice, but considering that he has become a very good defender, I think I am happy to have him stay a Blazer. Roy, is an average defender at best, so it is important to have a SF that can take the harder SG/SF assignment at all times when Roy is on the floor. Most of the time, that falls to Batum, but when Batum is out, or covering a particularly good PG, having Webster will be useful.

Rudy - fuck. I just don't know. He has so many good traits, but he also has so many drawbacks. If he were younger I would be in favor of trying to keep him based on potential, but I honestly don't think he has a high ceiling any longer.

I like the idea of getting Ray. but scratch any idea of defense, especially at this stage in his career. Bayless I am still hoping will come through, but it does not hurt to fill the pipeline with another potential PGOTF. Who, I don't know, but they need 3pt range.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I would try to package Rudy and Joel for something decent like, Darron Collison.

I would use our MLE to sign a scorer. Maybe make a run at Mike Miller, but I wouldn't mind bringing back Outlaw for the right money in the right role.

Miller/Collison
Roy/Bayless
Batum/Miller/Webster
Aldridge/Pender/Cunningham
Oden/Camby

So something like Joel and Rudy (plus cash?) for Collison and the dead-weight contract of James Posey? It would work financially ... hard to say if the Hornets would give up their backup point guard and have nobody to replace his minutes though?

 

[Draco]

I've posted this in another thread before, but the guys I want are Darren Collison (reserve PG, PGotF) and Corey Magette (bench scorer, rim-attacker). This could (theoretically) be done by a 3-way deal, with Joel and Rudy going to New Orleans, and Bayless and Posey going to Golden State. I also wouldn't be averse to adding a 3-point specialist guard (Kyle Korver, JJ Redick, Daniel Gibson, etc).

I don't think we could get Collison unless we gave up at least Batum. He is considered by many to be the second highest talent on their team after Paul, why would they trade him for our scraps?

Now Maggette is an interesting idea, that could make some sense for both teams if Golden State decides to go into full on rebuilding mode.

 

[Natebishop3]

So something like Joel and Rudy (plus cash?) for Collison and the dead-weight contract of James Posey? It would work financially ... hard to say if the Hornets would give up their backup point guard and have nobody to replace his minutes though?

That's pretty much what I would try. Whether or not they would do it is unclear. I guess it depends on how desperate they are to get rid of Posey. When I initially proposed that deal, it was before Rudy was COMPLETELY worthless. Now, I don't know.

 

[MrJayremmie]

I think we should go after Aaron Brooks hard. I said this last off season before he had an incredible season. Since they have Ariza, I wonder if we could try to trade for a Brooks/Battier package. I think Brooks would be one of the best PGs for our team in the league.

 

[Wheels]

I would Love Collison.. However I'm not sure we would give up what NOLA wants. If they would take Rudy/JPEC sure please do! But I would think they would prefer Bayless/JPEC. Which I would still do. I would throw a first or cash as well.

 

[RR7]

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Luke-Babbitt-1340/playerblog/

Anybody ever seen this kid play for the Wolfpack?

Or we can just sign Adam Morrison.


As for other suggestions, Maggette would be an intriguing idea. I dunno what it would look like on the floor with him and Bayless playing together off the bench, but Joel and Rudy for Maggette and some other sort of incentive works. Cuts a lot of ssalary off of their future books.

 

[Wheels]

MAggette is also intriguing yes. As a Sub he averaged 15.9 ppg in 25 MPG. He could play backup 2 and 3 and have a nice rotation there. With Roy playing probably 38 MPG and Batum hopefully 30 MPG.. that would give Maggette a good 28MPG

 

[Wheels]

plus Rudy would be pretty good in there sytem IMO.

 

[Wheels]

although yes there is pretty much no way in hell we can land Collison AND Maggette though. Dang it

 

[Nikolokolus]

Or we can just sign Adam Morrison.


As for other suggestions, Maggette would be an intriguing idea. I dunno what it would look like on the floor with him and Bayless playing together off the bench, but Joel and Rudy for Maggette and some other sort of incentive works. Cuts a lot of ssalary off of their future books.

I watched a few clips of the kid on youtube after I posted the link above ... you might be right about the Ammo comparisons, he didn't look especially mobile and kind of has a plodding gait -- he'll probably get eaten alive by the more active and athletic 3s in the NBA. Oh well, I was just curious, since I hadn't heard much about him.

 

[BGrantFan]

I like the idea of soldifying the front court. Jarvis Varnado or Gani Lawal would be solid picks where we'll be drafting. Both are high-energy, both can rebound, and we woudn't need offense from them off the bench.

 

[BGrantFan]

I like the idea of soldifying the front court. Jarvis Varnado or Gani Lawal would be solid picks where we'll be drafting. Both are high-energy, both can rebound, and we woudn't need offense from them off the bench. Perhaps even Luke Harangody.

 

[EPIC FAIL GILDERHUS]

If you can get arguably the best PG in the NBA you do it. Worrying about how an enormously worse player such as Miller fits in is such a minor issue it really doesn't matter. Jordan wasn't the best fit when the Blazers drafted Bowie either.

I would love to have the problem of figuring out how to integrate a player better than Brandon Roy.

Even if we could get Paul (no chance IMO), would we really want another guy with injury issues? I'd like to aim for a guy who maybe isn't as good of a player as Paul stastically speaking, but is a solid 75-80 game a year guy. We need more Ironmen and less Frail Blazers...

 

[Nikolokolus]

I like the idea of soldifying the front court. Jarvis Varnado or Gani Lawal would be solid picks where we'll be drafting. Both are high-energy, both can rebound, and we woudn't need offense from them off the bench. Perhaps even Luke Harangody.

Harangody will likely be very available in the middle of the second round where we'll be selecting.

 

[GoBlazersGo]

My opinion(s) on the subject is/are still being formed. That said, Corey fucking Maggette can stay (FAR!!!) away from this team! I've been a HUGE supporter of Kevin Pritchard--and the moves he's made, during his time here--but if he brings in that fucking turd, Maggette, I just might have to change my tune!

 

[Wheels]

My opinion(s) on the subject is/are still being formed. That said, Corey fucking Maggette can stay (FAR!!!) away from this team! I've been a HUGE supporter of Kevin Pritchard--and the moves he's made, during his time here--but if he brings in that fucking turd, Maggette, I just might have to change my tune!

based on what? Not being much of a passer? That wouldnt be his role here. I'm not calling you out or anything, I'm wondering if there was stuff I hadnt heard of.