KP wrestling with failure - Roy and Aldridge talks stalled

[julius]

Well, 1 page of "you can't believe Quick" and 2 pages of "Pritchard is the dumbest GM in the history of GMs."

2-1? I'll take those odds.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

****THIS QUICK ARTICLE HAS JUST BEEN CONFIRMED BY TEH TWITTERZ****

 

[OddEnormous]

I can't believe the epic meltdown everyone is having.

YOU CAN'T?????????


This is the house of daily meltdowns fella!

 

[oldmangrouch]

So, the most likely explanation is that Quick is a lying little puke who has returned to his old habits of trying to undermine the team.

Sadly, that means the Millsap story is also probably bogus.

This team can't seem to buy a break this summer.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Good god people. Over react much? Since when do we take anything Jason Quick says as the gospel truth?

There could be many very legitimate reasons why Roy and Aldridge haven't inked extensions. Are they even in town? Are they traveling/out of state/out of the country with their families? This is about the only month of the year they get any time off to spend on things other than basketball. Maybe they are just soaking up rays on a remote beach somewhere - resting a recuperating. Maybe, KP told him he wants to focus 100% of his immediate attention on improving the team through a free agent signing and/or trade and will take care of them later. Remember, he called Roy BEFORE he called Hedo. He probably told him not to worry, we have all summer to get you signed to a max. extension - enjoy your time off, we'll hammer out the details and sign on the dotted line the next time you're in town.

I can't believe all the people who are ready to string up Pritchard and believe he would fuck around with signing his star player- the all-star that made him a rock star of a GM. All because of totally unsubstantiated speculation from a reporter who has a history of getting stuff totally and completely wrong. Yeah, let's fire Kevin Pritchard because of something Jason "Fucking Dumb Ass" Quick wrote. God people around here have gotten desperate to the point of outright stupidity. Calm down and wait for the facts before jumping to unlikely conclusions based on speculation from a questionable source.

BNM

 

[handiman]

Anybody else getting the feeling KP might only be cut out for running the draft and scouting talent? Goddammit

I feel very strongly that Pritchard is a brilliant fantasy player but lacks the candor and people skills to deal with the other aspects of being a general manager. As I said in another thread, there's a growing perception of arrogance about the guy. I believe it is adversely affecting his ability to do his job.

 

[PapaG]

Good god people. Over react much? Since when do we take anything Jason Quick says as the gospel truth?

There could be many very legitimate reasons why Roy and Aldridge haven't inked extensions. Are they even in town? Are they traveling/out of state/out of the country with their families? This is about the only month of the year they get any time off to spend on things other than basketball. Maybe they are just soaking up rays on a remote beach somewhere - resting a recuperating. Maybe, KP told him he wants to focus 100% of his immediate attention on improving the team through a free agent signing and/or trade and will take care of them later. Remember, he called Roy BEFORE he called Hedo. He probably told him not to worry, we have all summer to get you signed to a max. extension - enjoy your time off, we'll hammer out the details and sign on the dotted line the next time you're in town.

I can't believe all the people who are ready to string up Pritchard and believe he would fuck around with signing his star player- the all-star that made him a rock star of a GM. All because of totally unsubstantiated speculation from a reporter who has a history of getting stuff totally and completely wrong. Yeah, let's fire Kevin Pritchard because of something Jason "Fucking Dumb Ass" Quick wrote. God people around here have gotten desperate to the point of outright stupidity. Calm down and wait for the facts before jumping to unlikely conclusions based on speculation from a questionable source.

BNM

Almost nobody believes it. Great job yet again constructing a lengthy counter to an argument that nobody is making, though. It's your niche.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I wasn't asking for apology. I just think you're spinning things in the harshest light possible, perhaps unconsciously. All your posts lately have been, "The way I interpret this is that Pritchard is incompetent. Damn." As if the previous several seasons of building possibly the worst roster in the league into the arguably the best (factoring in future) has invested Pritchard with zero credibility at all.

As for "bamboozled"...it seemed like a reasonable synonym for "completely outmaneuvered."

I'm not suggesting KP is incompetent, far from it. What he's been able to do through the draft is remarkable and even with a little bit of luck in the Oden draft aside, his moves on draft day have been deft and done nothing but add some great complimentary talent. That's one side of the "being a GM" equation, however on the other side of the job, I'm not quite convinced he's all that adept at dealing with/evaluating established players, making moves in free agency and orchestrating trades for established players.

As for the tone of my posts I probably am trending more towards the negative, not something I'm exactly proud of, and I should probably be a little more patient, but so far most of my fears about what would happen this off-season have been materializing and a lot of those fears were rooted in a sneaking suspicion that KP might be the kind of guy that has a great eye for talent, but isn't exactly the shrewd negotiator type. I'm not saying he can't salvage this off-season (far from it), but so far his moves haven't done much to quell that nagging feeling that he may not have what it takes to manage this part of the job.

 

[Minstrel]

I'm not suggesting KP is incompetent, far from it. What he's been able to do through the draft is remarkable and even with a little bit of luck in the Oden draft aside, his moves on draft day have been deft and done nothing but add some great complimentary talent. That's one side of the "being a GM" equation, however on the other side of the job, I'm not quite convinced he's all that adept at dealing with/evaluating established players, making moves in free agency and orchestrating trades for established players.

As for the tone of my posts I probably am trending more towards the negative, not something I'm exactly proud of, and I should probably be a little more patient, but so far most of my fears about what would happen this off-season have been materializing and a lot of those fears were rooted in a sneaking suspicion that KP might be the kind of guy that has a great eye for talent, but isn't exactly the shrewd negotiator type. I'm not saying he can't salvage this off-season (far from it), but so far his moves haven't done much to quell that nagging feeling that he may not have what it takes to manage this part of the job.

But what is the "shrewd negotiation" that he's failing to show? He offered the most Portland could to Turk. Turk took a bit more to go to a city he preferred. He's now (depending on the veracity of the report) offered a lot to Millsap and in a potentially creative way. Ultimately, I don't think free agency boils down to shrewdness in negotiation. It comes down to identifying the right guys to go after (which is talent evaluation, something you seem to have faith in with him) and then hoping they pick you. Basketball cuts out the "bidding" step, by and large, by standardizing contracts. Outside of certain free agents, most seem to boil down to offering everything you can...either all your cap space up to the max or the MLE.

It would seem to me that Pritchard showed plenty of shrewd negotiation in the Aldridge deal, the double-deal that acquired Roy, the deal for Bayless or the maneuver to steal Batum away from the Spurs.

I'm not saying that Pritchard is a perfect GM or any such thing. But judging him based on free agent activity seems like a bad idea, because significant free agent movement isn't tremendously common and when it does happen, there doesn't seem to be a lot of art to it. Offer what you can, see what they choose.

 

[MAS RipCity]

true or not, this was the last thing i wanted to read...summer sucks

 

[LOTBfan]

I'm not saying that Pritchard is a perfect GM or any such thing. But judging him based on free agent activity seems like a bad idea, because significant free agent movement isn't tremendously common and when it does happen, there doesn't seem to be a lot of art to it. Offer what you can, see what they choose.

QFT

I am going to spend some time rereading the thread from a few days ago and see which people squawking like chickens here were so quick to point out two days ago what a bad idea it would be to resign roy and aldridge before the fa race was over and wanted to string up KP for that... this is entertaining. so many arm chair GM's here who are convinced they are professionals.

some folks are so bi-polar it is ridiculous.

 

[PapaG]

QFT

I am going to spend some time rereading the thread from a few days ago and see which people squawking like chickens here were so quick to point out two days ago what a bad idea it would be to resign roy and aldridge before the fa race was over... this is entertaining. so many arm chair GM's here who are convi9nced they are professionals.

Sweet. Be sure to give me credit for staying consistent on extending them!

 

[LOTBfan]

Sweet. Be sure to give me credit for staying consistent on extending them!

indeed! wasn't going to call anyone out, just for my own personal amusement

this isn't the first time public opinion (all 10 of the main posters) has swung from left to right overnight.

 

[ironcrotch]

isnt there an order of operations that need to occur before roy and LA can be extended? something like all the FA crap is taken care of first and then they can be extended?

edit: also props to everyone freaking out to being Quicks puppet, if it doesnt make sense its probably because it isn't true.

 

[alex42083]

isnt there an order of operations that need to occur before roy and LA can be extended? something like all the FA crap is taken care of first and then they can be extended?

Don't know, but Toronto was able to sign Hedo in the midst of its trade with Marion to Dallas, while re-signing Bargnani all at once. I think most of this stems from the Bargnani signing today.

 

[BengalDuck]

Just got in from a workout... read the opening post/quoted segment and am calling BULLLLLSHIT. No way in fucking hell is any of that true.

Now I will proceed to read this thread.

 

[Minstrel]

isnt there an order of operations that need to occur before roy and LA can be extended? something like all the FA crap is taken care of first and then they can be extended?

I don't think so. Roy's and Aldridge's cap figure for this year is already locked in. An extension would kick in next year. So extending them wouldn't affect their cap space this year.

 

[Nikolokolus]

But what is the "shrewd negotiation" that he's failing to show? He offered the most Portland could to Turk. Turk took a bit more to go to a city he preferred. He's now (depending on the veracity of the report) offered a lot to Millsap and in a potentially creative way. Ultimately, I don't think free agency boils down to shrewdness in negotiation. It comes down to identifying the right guys to go after (which is talent evaluation, something you seem to have faith in with him) and then hoping they pick you. Basketball cuts out the "bidding" step, by and large, by standardizing contracts. Outside of certain free agents, most seem to boil down to offering everything you can...either all your cap space up to the max or the MLE.

It would seem to me that Pritchard showed plenty of shrewd negotiation in the Aldridge deal, the double-deal that acquired Roy, the deal for Bayless or the maneuver to steal Batum away from the Spurs.

I'm not saying that Pritchard is a perfect GM or any such thing. But judging him based on free agent activity seems like a bad idea, because significant free agent movement isn't tremendously common and when it does happen, there doesn't seem to be a lot of art to it. Offer what you can, see what they choose.

Being Shrewd doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Turkoglu; I'm sure he made the best offer he could. I guess I'm talking about a being a shrewd dealer (negotiator was probably the wrong choice of words): knowing when to make a trade, knowing when to trade a player, not overvaluing your own talent, etc. ... a lot of my opinions on his abilities in this area are nothing more than pure speculation at this point, but when you hear over the course of a couple of years some of the deals he's (supposedly) passed on and then you hear about a story like this one with Aldridge or Roy (true or not) it's just got me in a spiral of pessimism right now.

...

Fuck it, I know I'm being irrational and irritable and I probably just need to take a break from following this off-season with so much intensity and scrutiny, my patience is pretty well shot at this point and it's not likely to improve until I see a few shreds of good news. Cheers.

 

[Minstrel]

Being Shrewd doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Turkoglu; I'm sure he made the best offer he could. I guess I'm talking about a being a shrewd dealer (negotiator was probably the wrong choice of words): knowing when to make a trade, knowing when to trade a player, not overvaluing your own talent, etc. ... a lot of my opinions on his abilities in this area are nothing more than pure speculation at this point, but when you hear over the course of a couple of years some of the deals he's (supposedly) passed on and then you hear about a story like this one with Aldridge or Roy (true or not) it's just got me in a spiral of pessimism right now.

...

Fuck it, I know I'm being irrational and irritable and I probably just need to take a break from following this off-season with so much intensity and scrutiny, my patience is pretty well shot at this point and it's not likely to improve until I see a few shreds of good news. Cheers.

Yeah, sorry. I understand.

 

[MadeFromDust]

Is Quick the type of guy that would just flat out make something like this up? You gotta think there's some sort of truth behind it.

 

[B-Roy]

Is Quick the type of guy that would just flat out make something like this up? You gotta think there's some sort of truth behind it.

Hell, who knows. Some people here bash the Portland beat writers like hell. People will believe what they want to believe, though at this point, I don't know what to believe. Too much crazy junk going on.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

Is Quick the type of guy that would just flat out make something like this up? You gotta think there's some sort of truth behind it.

uhhhhhhh........

 

[alex42083]

Never a dull moment around the Blazers. Even on the first day when FAs can sign and we don't do a single damn thing, and it's complete chaos here. I love it.

 

[STOMP]

Love how Quick says both LA (Artest) and Houston (Ariza) have improved when they merely swapped SFs.

How exactly does that work?

the same way it works when a "writer" says talks are stalled... just speculative hype/BS from those with a deadline.

basically he's looking down his nose at himself/hates his job. Poor poor Jason

STOMP

 

[The Sebastian Express]

I don't think Quick is the type of guy to make up facts out of thin air. I do think he is the kind of guy who probably doesn't have the best sources, though. I think he is a guy who also likes to exaggerate.

 

[PapaG]

the same way it works when a "writer" says talks are stalled... just speculative hype/BS from those with a deadline.

basically he's looking down his nose at himself/hates his job. Poor poor Jason

STOMP

I'd laugh, but listening to him and his apathy on the radio, I think you just may be right. He seems to be over the beat writer thing.

 

[Sug]

I just can't imagine the Blazers not simply maxing out Roy, I mean it makes zero sense.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

I still maintain that the best Jason Quick radio/chat moment was when he flipped out at the guys in the Blazer forum like Jet and cup in like 2004. He just went on this like three minute tirade about how they were always bashing him and didn't know half the stuff he did and how he kept so much of the 'negative' stuff to himself. It was truly great.

That has nothing to with this but Papa brought up the radio and it triggered the memory.

 

[Wheels]

If anything could turn people against KP this would be it lol.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I still maintain that the best Jason Quick radio/chat moment was when he flipped out at the guys in the Blazer forum like Jet and cup in like 2004. He just went on this like three minute tirade about how they were always bashing him and didn't know half the stuff he did and how he kept so much of the 'negative' stuff to himself. It was truly great.

That has nothing to with this but Papa brought up the radio and it triggered the memory.