The Cavs target LMA

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You don't believe it, I do.
I would be fine with keeping LA. I think we should see for what he is - one of the better offensive PFs, a borderline All-Star, not an MVP candidate, not even our MVP.
He needs to vastly improve his defensive awareness (like Freeland did last summer, like T-Rob did during the season) for him to deserve the high-praise he's getting and for the team to make the next step to becoming real contenders.
 
Blazer4ever said:
How long did it take Lillard to be better than Lamarcus? A season? A season and a half?
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Dame was 22 his rookie year, so a lot more mature, and was an anomaly in terms of immediate impact. And I really question if he was better than LA his rookie year (much less, now).

When was the last time you saw an 18 year old international player become an MVP candidate his rookie year? Come on, man. You're predicting this guy to be one of the best players ever. Just step back and thing about that
 
I want to trade Lamarcus mostly because I don't think we can win big with two defensive liabilities on the court for 40 minutes. Exum is the guy I would personaly take #1 and I think he would be a very good player, probably soon.
I also don't hate the idea of giving more minutes to T-Rob, Claver or Freeland, also think a guy like Varejao wouldn't give us LA's offense but would be better defensively and on the boards.
Lets say it's Lamarcus for Exum, Varejao. You make it sound like a crazy idea and I'm not sure we wouldn't be better even right away.
 
Blazer4ever said:
I want to trade Lamarcus mostly because I don't think we can win big with two defensive liabilities on the court for 40 minutes. Exum is the guy I would personaly take #1 and I think he would be a very good player, probably soon.
I also don't hate the idea of giving more minutes to T-Rob, Claver or Freeland, also think a guy like Varejao wouldn't give us LA's offense but would be better defensively and on the boards.
Lets say it's Lamarcus for Exum, Varejao. You make it sound like a crazy idea and I'm not sure we wouldn't be better even right away.
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So Exum would be the #1 pick?
 
dviss1 said:
How do you think there won't be a drop off when the player who our entire offense is built around is no longer the offensive focus? It takes teams seasons to gel before they become contenders. You really lose cool points when you say Boozer too.... C'mon now... Boozer?? He plays worse D than LMA. It would certainly be a rebuilding move. We'd be rebuilding around Dame. A replacement PF (none of those you name play better D than LMA) and the #1 is not gonna get us a 54 win season in 2014-15. You're selling LMA too short.
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Supposedly Stotts is an offensive genius, so it shouldn't be hard for him to work up a new offense.
But, since I don't actually believe that Stotts is a genius I won't resort to that as my answer. Our offense is built around a PF who shoots 18' jumpers. Here's a list of forwards (why NBA.com won't break it down by PF/SF I don't know) who shot >100 shots from 15-18', sorted by FG% - David West is #2 on the list, and Pau and Boozer are only a couple percentage points worse than LMA:
http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerSh...Position=F&sortField=FG_PCT5ft4&sortOrder=DES

So, in short, our offense as it stands is flawed. David West would be better for our team on both ends of the court. Boozer might not be as good at either end, but the drop-off wouldn't be dramatic. Besides, he was just a name to add to the list - I've never particularly cared for him, but I suspect he'd be fine as a stop-gap. Admittedly I haven't seen him play in a couple years.

And yes - West and Pau are better defenders than LMA. Boozer is probably a better help-defender but a worse man-defender. Regardless - LMA's defense is not a reason to keep him.

Also, your making a very dangerous assumption that we can only improve upon our win total from last season. Keeping LMA does not assure us of an equal or better record next season. I actually think - without a major upgrade - we will come up short next season. We had incredible luck this season with a hot start that was bolstered by some shaky wins, along with one of the healthiest rosters in recent memory. We greatly exceeded expectations and it was a monstrously successful season, but we were still only 6 losses away from the lottery. Thinking that we're a lock for 2nd-round or better next season is a mistake - a lot of things broke our way last season. Will that happen again next season? Will we improve enough that we won't need to rely on some lucky breaks? Maybe, maybe not.
 
BigGameDamian said:
So Exum would be the #1 pick?
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I think Wiggins is the best prospect, then Exum.

I would like to clarify that I'd still be optimistic if we didn't make this trade. Lamarcus is not a bad player to have even if I think he's overrated by some of you.
I think an LA for Exum/Varejao trade makes a lot of sense even if I understand it's a very risky move.
If we don't make such a trade I would want us to make just minor changes if at all, unless there's something we can't refuse.
 
I also would like Aldridge to work hard this summer on improving his defense. He needs to make some major changes in his game defensively if he wants to even just be average. I think if he and Lillard don't improve defensively and keep playing so many minutes we have no chance of being good defensively even with Batum, Rolo.
If he doesn't improve his defense I hope T-Rob, Freeland and Claver start eating Into his playing time.
 
Blazer4ever said:
I also would like Aldridge to work hard this summer on improving his defense. He needs to make some major changes in his game defensively if he wants to even just be average.
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That is the thousandth time I have read that! Congratulations! You are a new inductee into our little The S2 Truth Club.
 
Blazer4ever said:
I think Wiggins is the best prospect, then Exum.

I would like to clarify that I'd still be optimistic if we didn't make this trade. Lamarcus is not a bad player to have even if I think he's overrated by some of you.
I think an LA for Exum/Varejao trade makes a lot of sense even if I understand it's a very risky move.
If we don't make such a trade I would want us to make just minor changes if at all, unless there's something we can't refuse.
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Maybe a couple overrate him, but to be fair I think most just find the need to defend him against those who make idiotic comments. (Not talking about you)

We know he is not ideal. 99% of all players have major flaws. Hell Clyde had major flaws and he is a Hall of Famer! The bottom line is LMA is damn good, and he likes playing here. So trading him for someone not as good irritates some people, because they know the LMA's of the world do not come around very often. No matter what his fucking PER says.

Nobody has seen Exum play against NBA talent. So although I think he will be good, I agree it is a major risk.
 
So the question comes back to this........The way this team is constructed now, In the next 2-4 years can this team win a championship with minor upgrades? I would have to answer no but with that said I do think they are very good, fun and exciting to watch.
 
BigGameDamian said:
So the question comes back to this........The way this team is constructed now, In the next 2-4 years can this team win a championship with minor upgrades? I would have to answer no but with that said I do think they are very good, fun and exciting to watch.
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A few minor upgrades to our bench along with conservative improvement projections for our starters puts us in the WCF next season 7 times out of 10.
 
BigGameDamian said:
So the question comes back to this........The way this team is constructed now, In the next 2-4 years can this team win a championship with minor upgrades? I would have to answer no but with that said I do think they are very good, fun and exciting to watch.
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If the Heat succeed in adding Carmelo to the mix, is there much that can be done to make the Blazers have a better chance of winning a title in the next 2-4 years than they would? Or, if the Blazers trade Aldridge to the Cavs so that they can entice LeBron to re-sign with them, which would be the point of that maneuver, do the Blazers stand much chance of beating them? I would have to answer no, but if we trade Aldridge away then I think that we'd be farther away than we are now.

Last year, the trade Aldridge crowd said that the best the Blazers could do with him would be to compete for the 8th spot. Instead, while the Blazers had no bench to speak of, they still won 54 games and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. I'd rather upgrade incrementally from there and be in a position to take advantage of a good break or two and possibly be in a position to compete for a title than constantly go through rebuilds. I said the same thing last summer and I stick by it this year. That said, if there's no sign that this plan will succeed after next season, Olshey has his contracts lined up so that there could be a major reshuffle then.
 
I agree with BlazerWookee that we can get better with just internal player-growth and minor changes but I think one thing that has to improve is Aldridge's defensive awareness, understanding and instincts. If he doesn't make this a priority and makes a real, positive change we would be too vulnerable defensively with both him and Lillard playing 40mpg. Lillard also should work hard on this, they have no reason to be so clueless on defense, Get a good defensive coach and get them to practice hard until they get it. It's not rocket-science.

Not directly on-topic but I also would like all the starters to play significantly fewer minutes. I want our bench players to play a much bigger role next year.
 
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Yes we can get better... but title contending better?
 
We don't have less star-power than the Spurs. It's about maximizing your talent and playing your cards (players) right.
 
I don't want or think we should 'rebuild' right now. We can get incrementally better, and look for opportunities going forward to upgrade through trade. You never know what might happen. Taking two steps back right now removes us from any potential opportunity for that 'one good move' that puts us over the top.
 
e_blazer said:
If the Heat succeed in adding Carmelo to the mix, is there much that can be done to make the Blazers have a better chance of winning a title in the next 2-4 years than they would? Or, if the Blazers trade Aldridge to the Cavs so that they can entice LeBron to re-sign with them, which would be the point of that maneuver, do the Blazers stand much chance of beating them? I would have to answer no, but if we trade Aldridge away then I think that we'd be farther away than we are now.

Last year, the trade Aldridge crowd said that the best the Blazers could do with him would be to compete for the 8th spot. Instead, while the Blazers had no bench to speak of, they still won 54 games and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. I'd rather upgrade incrementally from there and be in a position to take advantage of a good break or two and possibly be in a position to compete for a title than constantly go through rebuilds. I said the same thing last summer and I stick by it this year. That said, if there's no sign that this plan will succeed after next season, Olshey has his contracts lined up so that there could be a major reshuffle then.
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My take is similar. The starting lineup is contender quality. They had to play too many minutes, got dinged up here/there, etc. Ran out of gas, a little, toward the end. The bench was improved, but not much of a boost. Stick with these guys and use MLE and BAE to beef up the bench is not a bad plan at all.

IMO.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Maybe a couple overrate him, but to be fair I think most just find the need to defend him against those who make idiotic comments. (Not talking about you)
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There's a ton of those in this thread.....all coming from the same few people.
 
If you bother reading through my idiotic comments you'll find many examples.
Of course calling me an idiot already proves you're smart (and part of the majority, good for you!), actually reading what I said and explaining why you think I'm wrong is probably too idiotic for you...
 
Come on, you're so smart and I'm an idiot, where and how was I wrong?
 
Schilly said:
Yes we can get better... but title contending better?
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That's what I'm talking about. I just don't see this team reaching the level of the Spurs, Heat, the old Lakers, Boston teams and so fourth I the next 3-5 years. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong but by that time Aldridge will be 33-35 and wanting to move on anyway.
 
Blazer4ever said:
If you bother reading through my idiotic comments you'll find many examples.
Of course calling me an idiot already proves you're smart (and part of the majority, good for you!), actually reading what I said and explaining why you think I'm wrong is probably too idiotic for you...
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I've responded to you before. All your posts are the same regurgitated garbage. Zero substance.
 
Exactly. Show me one example of something I was wrong about and explain why. Attack even one point I made instead of attacking me.
 
Blazer4ever said:
Exactly. Show me one example of something I was wrong about and explain why. Attack even one point I made instead of attacking me.
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Why do I have to explain anything? It's not like you explained any of your points.

Newsflash, just because you say "LaMarcus is a defensive liability", doesn't make it true.
 
Regurgitated is not a word I even know but it must prove great substance.
Give me a break, you weren't relevant since B-Roy was still a Blazer...
 
Blazer4ever said:
Regurgitated is not a word I even know but it must prove great substance.
Give me a break, you weren't relevant since B-Roy was still a Blazer...
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I should be playing the victim card right now, right? That's how this forum seems to work.
 
Blazer4ever said:
Almost every Blazer game possible. Aldridge is a pathetic defensive player. I'm pretty sure (no joke) that I could do a better job on defense than he does.
Doesn't come to help, almost never even lifts his hands above his head, gets almost no blocks, doesn't box-out at all (as a PF!), gets most of his rebounds because RoLo boxed out for him, you could see RoLo was afraid to come out on Parker cause he couldn't trust LaMarcus to have his back OR box-out.
With Lillard and Lamarcus each playing 40mpg and with a coach who doesn't know how to teach defense, we can't be a good defensive team.
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Please, correct me if I'm wrong
 
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