B-Roy
If it takes months
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http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/07/blazers_gm_pritchard_faces_sle.html
Ugh wow.....
Ugh wow.....
That Roy is unsigned is particularly alarming and a signal that negotiations have snagged. Word is that Roy wants to sign for the maximum allowed five years, but the Blazers only want to commit to four years. A five-year deal would cost Portland about $82 million, although it won't be determined until the 2010-11 salary cap is set.
That a player of Roy's talent and character wants to lock in his future with your club should be embraced and lauded. Instead, the team is nickel-and-diming him with the amount of years. It's bad form.
If there was ever a no-brainer in extensions, it's that of Roy. You give him the maximum contract allowed. No hesitation. No questions asked. No nothing, other than showing him the courtesy of signing him the minute the signing moratorium ended Tuesday night.
Toronto did it with former No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, who inked a 5-year, $50 million deal.
If Bargnani has earned that type of respect, certainly Aldridge and Roy have. Especially Roy. He has done everything asked of him on the court, where he has put himself on track to become the franchise's greatest player of all time, and off the court, becoming the team's go-to player for public appearances and community relations as well as tirelessly serving as the team's spokesman to the media.
The Bargnani signing, by the way, was just more fuel to the fire engulfing Pritchard.
The Blazers had hoped to get off paying Aldridge around $10 million a year, but now that the market has been established with Bargnani at $10 million per year, the Blazers' will surely have to pony up at least $11 million per year for Aldridge. At least.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, has gone right for the Blazers this summer.


