Portland looking to make a blockbuster move?

[MickZagger]

Obviously I'm going to be biased as a Bulls fan, but yeah, Kirk is a significantly better player than Blake. If you look at the stats they look similar, but:
1. Kirk is bigger, stronger, and a much better defender. He's not the lock down defender some guys will tell you he is, but he's good and capable of guarding either guard positions. Blake is a trainwreck on defense.
2. Kirk, maybe because he's a preppy looking white boy, is considered "gritty", but he's always seemed (and measured) out as quite athletic and agile to me. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he's agile and has better speed down the court than Blake.
3. These two factors make Kirk a very good fit for your particular mesh of players. Combining Blake with Bayless or Rudy Fernandez looks like a problem to me. Kirk would be a good fit with either of those guys and give you lots of flexibility.

All of this translates into a couple benefits for the Blazers. Neither is the sort of player that can put a team on its back. On a below average to average team (which is how the Blazers are playing right now, although they obviously have the potential to be much more) they're probably about the same. But I don't think Blake can lead an above average team anywhere and I think Kirk can.

Blake isn't a train wreck on defense. He and Batum our probably the best on ball defenders on our team.

 

[MaxaMillion711]

blockbuster means people wait around the block to see the player. that player is not kirk hinrich. in fact, if we got kirk, it would be the opposite effect.

what blockbuster player is available?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

blockbuster means people wait around the block to see the player. that player is not kirk hinrich. in fact, if we got kirk, it would be the opposite effect.

what blockbuster player is available?

I would say Gerald Wallace would be considered a blockbuster for Portland. The guy put up nearly 20/10 last year and is only 26 years old.

Or KP could throw us all a curve ball and land a player that nobody thought would be available.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

Gerald Wallace is one of my favorite non Blazers out there. Good, young defender that can slash and occasional get a hot shooting streak in him. He'd be great alongside Roy and the gang.

 

[Minstrel]

Blake isn't a train wreck on defense. He and Batum our probably the best on ball defenders on our team.

Blake is one of the team's best on the ball defenders? I disagree a great deal. Roy is not a great defender, but I'd much rather have him on the top perimeter scorer of the opposing team for a critical possession than Blake. Same goes for Fernandez. I suspect Bayless is probably better on the ball, too, but it's hard to know for sure with him since he hasn't played much. I'm certain Oden is a superior on the ball defender, as well, for his position.

Blake is very much like Derek Fisher. He hustles and tries hard, which people confuse with defensive prowess, when neither player does a very good job of actually preventing his man from scoring or passing.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Am I the only one who would rather trade Martell than Travis?
Travis is a better 3 pt shooter (debatable)
Better shot blocker
Better rebounder
Is more versatile

 

[Nate4Prez]

Am I the only one who would rather trade Martell than Travis?
Travis is a better 3 pt shooter (debatable)
Better shot blocker
Better rebounder
Is more versatile

No, I'm sure KingSpeed would agree with you there

 

[Driew]

I think the blockbuster trade will be us trading Shavlik Randolph for another Von Wafer

 

[MickZagger]

Blake is one of the team's best on the ball defenders? I disagree a great deal. Roy is not a great defender, but I'd much rather have him on the top perimeter scorer of the opposing team for a critical possession than Blake. Same goes for Fernandez. I suspect Bayless is probably better on the ball, too, but it's hard to know for sure with him since he hasn't played much. I'm certain Oden is a superior on the ball defender, as well, for his position.

Blake is very much like Derek Fisher. He hustles and tries hard, which people confuse with defensive prowess, when neither player does a very good job of actually preventing his man from scoring or passing.

Is the criteria for best on ball defender predicated to just critical possessions? I would hardly call Rudy a great on ball defender at this point. Nate McMillan has enough faith in Blake's on ball defense to put him on Kobe at times during games last season. If thats not a seal of approval I'm not sure what is.

 

[Shooter]

I haven't read this whole thead, but I have a question. Before Oden's foot injury in the season opener, is there anyone who thought we really needed to make a trade? If (and I realize it's a big "if") Oden comes back healthy and strong and can play the rest of the season, do we really need to trade anyone? I don't think so.

I'm in favor of giving it a little time, so we can all see what a difference Oden makes when he gets used to playing with our guys and they get used to playing with him. I think it's going to be a very good team, possibly even a championship team, and I don't want to mess with it just yet.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

Is the criteria for best on ball defender predicated to just critical possessions? I would hardly call Rudy a great on ball defender at this point. Nate McMillan has enough faith in Blake's on ball defense to put him on Kobe at times during games last season. If thats not a seal of approval I'm not sure what is.

Blake's primary task against the Lakers was to deny Kobe the ball, so he wouldn't have to play "on ball" defense against him. I remember Blake doing a pretty good job of that at least once last year.

 

[SpamKing99]

Am I the only one who would rather trade Martell than Travis?
Travis is a better 3 pt shooter (debatable)
Better shot blocker
Better rebounder
Is more versatile

Yeah, I'm on that wagon as well. Travis is certainly not perfect, but he has the ice-water of an assassin while Webs seems drenched in self-doubt. If a deal had to include one or the other, I'd trade Webs before TLaw without hesitation. However, I'd trade 'em both for GWallace...

 

[Blazed]

Yeah, I'm on that wagon as well. Travis is certainly not perfect, but he has the ice-water of an assassin while Webs seems drenched in self-doubt. If a deal had to include one or the other, I'd trade Webs before TLaw without hesitation. However, I'd trade 'em both for GWallace...

If he played the rest of the year like he did vs houston, there would be no need to look elsewhere for a SF.

 

[andalusian]

I like Travis more than Webster as well. He brings a rare attribute - being able to create a shot for himself against just about anyone. Webster does not do it. He might be a better shooter than Batum - but I think that a Batum will be a better complimentary player than Webster and Travis's gift is just too rare to overlook.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I like Martell over Travis.

Martell is younger and will be better at 24 than a 24 year old Travis Outlaw.

Why? Martell has a better basketball IQ. Something Travis severely lacks.

 

[Nate4Prez]

I haven't read this whole thead, but I have a question. Before Oden's foot injury in the season opener, is there anyone who thought we really needed to make a trade? If (and I realize it's a big "if") Oden comes back healthy and strong and can play the rest of the season, do we really need to trade anyone? I don't think so.

I'm in favor of giving it a little time, so we can all see what a difference Oden makes when he gets used to playing with our guys and they get used to playing with him. I think it's going to be a very good team, possibly even a championship team, and I don't want to mess with it just yet.

If everyone was healthy, we would still need a PG

 

[MARIS61]

I would do Kirk Hinrich for Joel Pryzibilla.

Has Joel even asked you to "do" Kirk?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

We sure could use Gerald Wallace tonight.

Not only does our offense suck, our defense is just as bad. No weakside help to be found.

 

[Minstrel]

Is the criteria for best on ball defender predicated to just critical possessions?

No, it's just one measure.

I would hardly call Rudy a great on ball defender at this point.

Quite. I said exactly the same in my post. Not a great on the ball defender. I simply think he can do more to bother an offensive player than Blake.

Nate McMillan has enough faith in Blake's on ball defense to put him on Kobe at times during games last season. If thats not a seal of approval I'm not sure what is.

I don't think that's a seal of approval. I think that's simply not wanting to burn Roy's energy by making him try to defend one of the best scorers in NBA history. Bryant is going to get his 30+ regardless. Roy might make him work harder for it, but at the cost of less offensive output.

 

[shamelessblazer]

If we're going to run a system with Roy dominating the ball, so be it. Thus the attributes in a PG are getting the ball down the break (Blake sucks), defending other PG's (Blake = maybe mediocre), and hitting an open shot (Blake is also mediocre). Let's just play Bayless and Sergio, who cares. If Rudy and Roy are both getting 32 a game anyways that only leaves 32 between those two guys, I trust them each for 16 mpg. This year is our last learning year (and our consolidation year). Let Bayless, Sergio, and Oden learn together...bringing in Wallace is perfect. And he'd be a fine 4 against almost every 4 in the league (how many teams have two actual big guys?).

We could play a mean zone with Oden, Wallace, and Batum in there. Moving Blake/Frye/Outlaw for Wallace would be risky in that we'd be relying on Martell, Bayless, and Sergio to some extent, but not that bad really. We'd see a tougher team, we wouldn't age much at all, our core would develop more cohesively, and we'd be a great defensive team almost instantly.

Our second unit (Sergio/Rudy backcourt) would probably have some trouble on D but with a zone (w/Wallace, Batum, and Pryz behind them) they'd be fine and extremely exciting with steals and fast breaks. The other teams backups would be

This rotation (while inexperienced) would be dynamite:
Roy/Sergio (with Roy getting majority)
Bayless/Rudy (with Rudy getting majority)
Martell/Wallace/Batum (Martell starts for spacing)
Aldridge/Wallace
Oden/Pryzbilla

we're probably looking at something like:
Roy 34, Aldridge 34, Rudy 30, Wallace 28, Webster 28, Oden 24, Pryzbilla 24, Sergio 16, Bayless 16, Batum 6

That's a very solid rotation with pretty consistent roles and while we're inexperienced no one who's that inexperienced (Sergio/Bayless/Batum) is really relied upon for too much at all.