SF WANTED? TRADE? Outlaw out for months, Batum till March and Webster sucks.

[MIXUM]

I mean I dont think we have a choice. Outlaw and Batum might not even play again this season. Webster looks more lost then travis and cant shot anymore. Dont know what has happened to him.

We seem to lack scoring as is lately and we just lost our biggest scorer off the bench...at a position we already sucked at with not much depth. SF. The position the blazers can never fill since the pippen days. My god thats hard to believe since it seems its the easiest position to find out of the 5. Anyway i think we need to consolidate anyway and this is the perfect chance to do it. Outlaw still has huge value because f his contract as well as blake. Therefore getting a good SF shouldn't be a huge deal.. even for kp. But lets be honest here.. no way is this current group beating top teams... maybe even top offensive teams. We just dont score enough and eventually we will need a real SF in the lineup and not blake. This is if we wanna get out of teh first round or win a division.

 

[KingSpeed]

You make a lot of good points.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

Caron Butler. and i would trade anyone outside the big three

 

[MIXUM]

thanks speed. lets just say the posters who think cunningham, webster, and rudy are gonna fill in for travis.... will have a rude awakening.

we 100% need a SF or this season could go down the drain. i'd say at least 5 of our wins came from the other team having awful shooting nights. Houston, SA, Minny, Hornets, and Bobcats.

our offense is bad right now and losing outlaws points makes it disturbingly bad. like i said though... as much as outlaw scores he gives back on defense.

watch vs the hawks tomorrow what a real offensive team does. think we can out score them???

 

[KingSpeed]

thanks speed. lets just say the posters who think cunningham, webster, and rudy are gonna fill in for travis.... will have a rude awakening.

we 100% need a SF or this season could go down the drain. i'd say at least 5 of our wins came from the other team having awful shooting nights. Houston, SA, Minny, Hornets, and Bobcats

I honestly think that was due to our defense. Our defense has been looking very good. Joel and Oden are the best defensive center 1-2 punch in the league.

 

[MIXUM]

agreed but still... we have to many stretches wout scoring points. VS good teams... we wont recover.

 

[e_blazer]

The thing I'm scratching my head over is that Outlaw has been playing primarily at the backup 4 spot. Seems to me that position is where we're now awfully thin. If Aldridge goes down...ooof!

I see no need to make any moves at this point, particularly at SF. I think that as the season progresses, Webster will start to find his stroke. Until then, the 3 guard lineup seems to be working.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I'm with e blazer.. Travis has been playing almost exclusively power forward. I don't see how this changes out small forward predicament very much. I do see a little bit of a problem at power forward, however, with Juwan Howard playing 12-15 minutes..

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Posted this in another thread. I would love to see us go after G. Wallace. Start him at the 3 and can play some minutes at PF.

 

[Natebishop3]

I say wait and see how our chemistry is effected by this injury. If we start losing, then make a move. We're on a hot streak, so I would like to see where this is going before we do anything.

 

[BBert]

The thing I'm scratching my head over is that Outlaw has been playing primarily at the backup 4 spot. Seems to me that position is where we're now awfully thin. If Aldridge goes down...ooof!

I see no need to make any moves at this point, particularly at SF. I think that as the season progresses, Webster will start to find his stroke. Until then, the 3 guard lineup seems to be working.

Check. We don't have a SF problem -- at least not a SF problem we didn't already have. Batum isn't out for life -- he'll be back. Travis isn't much of a small forward. Sure I'd trade for Butler or Granger -- it's always nice to trade backups for a star, LOL. But an upgrade at SF isn't any more likely to happen now than it was before Travis got injured. Where we were already thin was at PF. I feel pretty comfortable with the team's ability to adapt. And maybe Cunningham can step up. He's already shown he has a good mid-range jump shot. No worries.

 

[andalusian]

Brandon Roy spends most of his time now at SF - I do not think we have much of a SF problem or scoring from that position.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Brandon Roy spends most of his time now at SF - I do not think we have much of a SF problem or scoring from that position.

I hate forcing our best player to play out of position. This gimmick we are using isn't going to work for long. When we start playing teams with legit SF's we won't get away with using Roy at SF.

 

[andalusian]

I hate forcing our best player to play out of position. This gimmick we are using isn't going to work for long. When we start playing teams with legit SF's we won't get away with using Roy at SF.

When Batum comes back, Roy can go back to SG and we will the world will be fine again. No real need to make forced trades to solve a temporary issue.

 

[mercykersey]

Roy has said over and over that travis is his best friend and spends most of his time with him,hes the best young 6th man in the NBA, hes been a good character guy and is loved by the coaches,gm,and teammates. Get over your hate for travis he isnt getting traded. If we did a trade im guessing it would be blake and rudy or maybe martell. If we did a trade, Rudy Gay is probably the best sf available. Get well Outlaw, you will be missed.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

When Batum comes back, Roy can go back to SG and we will the world will be fine again. No real need to make forced trades to solve a temporary issue.

I understand your point but it may not be a temporary problem. Who knows how long it takes Batum to recover. Getting a player like Wallace would give us a legit starting SF and backup PF. It may not be possible but IMO he's one of those players that I think would fit perfectly onto our team.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Versatile forwards of interest, In no particular order:

*Anthony Randolph
*Michael Beasley
*Wilson Chandler
*Rudy Gay
*Chris Douglas-Roberts
*Marvin Williams

 

[Blazed]

He's not sexy by any means, but Des Mason is available..

 

[magnifier661]

I mean I dont think we have a choice. Outlaw and Batum might not even play again this season. Webster looks more lost then travis and cant shot anymore. Dont know what has happened to him.

We seem to lack scoring as is lately and we just lost our biggest scorer off the bench...at a position we already sucked at with not much depth. SF. The position the blazers can never fill since the pippen days. My god thats hard to believe since it seems its the easiest position to find out of the 5. Anyway i think we need to consolidate anyway and this is the perfect chance to do it. Outlaw still has huge value because f his contract as well as blake. Therefore getting a good SF shouldn't be a huge deal.. even for kp. But lets be honest here.. no way is this current group beating top teams... maybe even top offensive teams. We just dont score enough and eventually we will need a real SF in the lineup and not blake. This is if we wanna get out of teh first round or win a division.

SF? How about PF back-up? As it stands right now, that's where we are thin at. I don't want to bring in another SF, we need someone that will be able to help Pryzbilla rebound on the second unit. Right now, we have no one.

 

[MIXUM]

maybe we need both?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I wonder what it would take to get CDR from the 0-10 Nets?

 

[MIXUM]

for all those who dont think we need a trade....


watch game vs hawks on monday. when we play a good team

 

[magnifier661]

maybe we need both?

We don't need any of them. I like the tighter rotation. Its going to force the starters to play more minutes. Those minutes will build chemistry. We don't need more talent, we need more defined roles. I would rather have 9 players all solid, than 10 almost allstars.

Roy, Miller, Bayless, Aldridge, Oden, Pryzbilla, Webster, Fernandez, and Blake are what we need, then Howard is just giving us spot minutes for Aldridge.

Watch Nate involving Howard more as well. There is no doubt in my mind that Nate didn't even think Howard needed to be used. We will do much better tomorrow.

 

[magnifier661]

for all those who dont think we need a trade....


watch game vs hawks on monday. when we play a good team

So what happens if we go into their building and blow them out? What will you say then? Keep the team?

 

[oldguy]

I mean I dont think we have a choice. Outlaw and Batum might not even play again this season. Webster looks more lost then travis and cant shot anymore. Dont know what has happened to him.

We seem to lack scoring as is lately and we just lost our biggest scorer off the bench...at a position we already sucked at with not much depth. SF. The position the blazers can never fill since the pippen days. My god thats hard to believe since it seems its the easiest position to find out of the 5. Anyway i think we need to consolidate anyway and this is the perfect chance to do it. Outlaw still has huge value because f his contract as well as blake. Therefore getting a good SF shouldn't be a huge deal.. even for kp. But lets be honest here.. no way is this current group beating top teams... maybe even top offensive teams. We just dont score enough and eventually we will need a real SF in the lineup and not blake. This is if we wanna get out of teh first round or win a division.

Are you going to guarantee no playoffs without a trade....again?

...
3. Webster has looked pretty solid for the most part. Remember all the bashing I took cause i said he should start over batum? Webster is a better player and its a no brainer.
...

In two weeks you go from this to "Webster looks more lost then travis and cant shot anymore." You flip on the guys as quick as KS does.

Go Blazers

 

[Nikolokolus]

I think the real issue we're talking about here is filling Travis' scoring void. Certainly backup power forward is a much more dicey position with this injury, but Travis' chief value was his ability to stretch a defense by making 4s try to chase him around as he shoots primarily from the perimeter. This doesn't invalidate the need for a solid, consistent scorer/shooter at the 3 spot, but Outlaw's injury and absence is mostly unrelated in my opinion.

Best case for the near term is to hope that Rudy can provide some more scoring pop (along with Bayless) and hope that Juwan and Cunningham can step up and give decent production -- we'll also almost certainly see LaMarcus' minutes climb back up to last season's 37+ mpg for awhile, from the 30 he's been putting in so far this year.

Long term I think trading for either a 3 or a flex 4 might be a good idea, in that case Williams from Atlanta, Butler from the wiz would be guys I'd take a long look at (though both are having pretty rough starts to this season)

 

[oldmangrouch]

To be blunt, the team needs *both* a starting SF and a back-up PF.

The team needs 96 MPG at the forward spots. Assuming LMA plays 36 MPG, that leaves 60 MPG where most nights the Blazers will be at a disadvantage. Moving Roy to SF helps one problem, but creates another.

I know, I know......as long as the team is beating up on bad teams, it isn't a problem. Shut up and drink the kool-aid. Whatever.

 

[BBert]

I have to admit, even though Travis has a lot of flaws in his game, I feel very comfortable when he spots up and shoots a three. I'm usually optimistic when Travis and Blake take a three. I'm a little nervous when it's Martell or Rudy. Roy and Bayless I'm hopeful. When Miller throws up a three, it actually makes me miss Sergio. Martell and Rudy need to step up.

 

[B-Roy]

We should try to grab Butler for Rudy+Outlaw/Webster+Blake or whatever fillers.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I still think Michael Beasley is extremely intriguing. Anthony Randolph, too, but we'd have to overpay and/or take back Jackson and his contract as well.

Chris Douglas-Roberts would also fit in nicely.