The OFFICAL Welcome to Portland, Robin Lopez thread!

[maxiep]

When Olshey took over, the cupboard was bare. At least this bench now has a pulse.

For those who like a BBC show called "Wheeler Dealers", the host of that program--Mike Brewer--has a new show. The premise of the show is that he takes a broken down jalopy and keeps trading until he has a supercar. That's what Olshey is doing.

I like this deal because Lopez is a stopgap. He's big, he defends the rim, he's smart and he's relatively cheap.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

$5,000,000 per year for a total stiff. A very poor rebounding center.

[sigh]

Our first big misstep.

 

[BBert]

Joe Freeman @BlazerFreeman

RT @WojYahooNBA Portland will send Jeff Withey to Pelicans as part of 3-team deal, league source tells Y!

Didn't expect that.

How does this alter anyone's euphoria?

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

Didn't expect that.

How does this change anyone's euphoria?

No reason to have 3 C's on the team, right?

 

[B-Roy]

Didn't expect that.

How does this alter anyone's euphoria?

Not really. Lopez would have been better than Withey anyways. Losing your 3rd stringer isn't that important.

 

[42N8Bounce]

Didn't expect that.

How does this alter anyone's euphoria?

I still think it's a good trade, but I'm a bit bummed to see Withey go. I was excited to see him fall to the Blazers in the 2nd round. Smart move though to go with a known quantity (R Lopez), rather than betting on potential.

 

[BBert]

Me too. I liked the three-headed center of Lopez/Leonard/Withey. Still like the trade, even though it isn't the something-for-nothing we thought it was.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

I still do the deal but I'm less enthused. I'm a big Withey fan and thought he was a steal.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Not really. Lopez would have been better than Withey anyways. Losing your 3rd stringer isn't that important.

When your second-stringer doesn't play much D. There are times we'll need as much down-low D and rebounding as possible. ML doesn't provide much of that yet (and I'm a big ML fan).

 

[B-Roy]

When your second-stringer doesn't play much D. There are times we'll need as much down-low D and rebounding as possible. ML doesn't provide much of that yet (and I'm a big ML fan).

Look, I like Withey and all (he was a steal at 39), but it doesn't really alter my opinion of the trade. Reality is, he would have been sitting on the bench unless Meyers or Lopez got injured.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Look, I like Withey and all (he was a steal at 39), but it doesn't really alter my opinion of the trade. Reality is, he would have been sitting on the bench unless Meyers or Lopez got injured.

I could have seen Withey passing ML.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Didn't expect that.

How does this alter anyone's euphoria?

NOOOOOO!!!!

 

[B-Roy]

I could have seen Withey passing ML.

Pretty sure the team is too invested in Meyers to play Withey over him.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Seriously, I'm pretty pissed off about losing Withey. He was an elite shot-blocker and defender. Fuck. I'd rather we sent Leonard, to be honest.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

Pretty sure the team is too invested in Meyers to play Withey over him.

This is probably the reason. The team is high on Leonard's upside and so am I.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I still do the deal but I'm less enthused. I'm a big Withey fan and thought he was a steal.

Agreed. Now I'm getting pissed off. I liked Papanikolaou, Todorovic AND Withey.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What's more annoying is that the Pelicans were going to buy out Lopez, so he could've been signed as a FA. The Blazers just assumed he would command more than his salary. But if the Pelicans had to buy him out, doesn't that suggest there was no market for him?

 

[B-Roy]

What's more annoying is that the Pelicans were going to buy out Lopez, so he could've been signed as a FA. The Blazers just assumed he would command more than his salary. But if the Pelicans had to buy him out, doesn't that suggest there was no market for him?

According to Woj, there was a market for him.

 

[Rhal]

Great pickup for practically nothing. Not exactly sure why some people seem to be annoyed by this trade but you can't please everyone and for giving up nothing but second rounders Olshey has done one HELL of a job this last week.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This deal gets worse by tiny increments. First it was for nothing, then it was for cash, then unknown second-round picks, then Withey... What's next? Is this a strategy to sell us on the trade first?

 

[Rhal]

This deal gets worse by tiny increments. First it was for nothing, then it was for cash, then unknown second-round picks, then Withey... What's next? Is this a strategy to sell us on the trade first?

Second rounders are basically nothing. Did it cost us any proven talent? Nope. Withey wasn't even guaranteed to make the team.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sinobas]

Portland has such a bad history of trading big men away, Moses Malone, Asik, O'Neal...now let's watch Withey become an all-nba defensive 1st teamer.

Anyway...good move to get a competent center. Not it will be interested to see who we can get with the left-over money. I'd think we'd go after a guard or SF. I wish we would have kept Maynor.

I hope we go after Nate Robinson. I've always liked him and never understood why he bounced around to so many teams. There are also vets like Calderon, and Udrih.

Corey Brewer would be a cool pickup, but I don't think we can get him.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

Jesus Christ, maybe Simmons is right, we ARE a bunch of fucking Soccer Moms. Jeff Withey? A week ago, who the hell was that? Oh, we picked him in the 2nd round of the draft? WE LOVE HIM, HE MUST BE AN AWESOME PLAYER FOR OUR BELOVED TEAM TO PICK HIM, OH HE'S SUCH A GOOD SHOT BLOCKER (ELITE, NO LESS!). I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM HOIST THE O'BRIEN TROPHY FOR THE BLAZERS?? Oh wait... now he's part of a trade for a proven NBA starting center? WAAAAHHHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD DO THIS TO MY BELOVED 2ND ROUND STEAL!!! LOPEZ IS CRAP!!! THE BLAZERS WILL RUE THIS DECISION WHEN WITHEY MAKES THE ALL-STAR TEAM WITH 39 BLOCKED SHOTS PER GAME AVERAGE!

A week from now: OH, LOPEZ IS SO FUCKING AWESOME, I CAN'T BELIEVE THE BLAZERS GOT HIM FOR PRACTICALLY NOTHING, HIS PER IS GREAT AND HE'S THE MISSING PIECE THEY NEED TO MAKE A DEEP PLAYOFF RUN!!!!!

Fuck Me.

 

[PapaG]

Lopez versus the "average" NBA C, in advanced metrics.

The .126 WS/48 is a nice number, as is a 19 PER on 18ish USG.

 

[PapaG]

Jesus Christ, maybe Simmons is right, we ARE a bunch of fucking Soccer Moms. Jeff Withey? A week ago, who the hell was that? Oh, we picked him in the 2nd round of the draft? WE LOVE HIM, HE MUST BE AN AWESOME PLAYER FOR OUR BELOVED TEAM TO PICK HIM, OH HE'S SUCH A GOOD SHOT BLOCKER (ELITE, NO LESS!). I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM HOIST THE O'BRIEN TROPHY FOR THE BLAZERS?? Oh wait... now he's part of a trade for a proven NBA starting center? WAAAAHHHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD DO THIS TO MY BELOVED 2ND ROUND STEAL!!! LOPEZ IS CRAP!!! THE BLAZERS WILL RUE THIS DECISION WHEN WITHEY MAKES THE ALL-STAR TEAM WITH 39 BLOCKED SHOTS PER GAME AVERAGE!

A week from now: OH, LOPEZ IS SO FUCKING AWESOME, I CAN'T BELIEVE THE BLAZERS GOT HIM FOR PRACTICALLY NOTHING, HIS PER IS GREAT AND HE'S THE MISSING PIECE THEY NEED TO MAKE A DEEP PLAYOFF RUN!!!!!

Fuck Me.

Too many Mike's already?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Portland has such a bad history of trading big men away, Moses Malone, Asik, O'Neal...now let's watch Withey become an all-nba defensive 1st teamer.

Anyway...good move to get a competent center. Not it will be interested to see who we can get with the left-over money. I'd think we'd go after a guard or SF. I wish we would have kept Maynor.

I hope we go after Nate Robinson. I've always liked him and never understood why he bounced around to so many teams. There are also vets like Calderon, and Udrih.

Corey Brewer would be a cool pickup, but I don't think we can get him.

First thing that popped into my head

 

[PapaG]

Here is a decent breakdown of Lopez' 2012-13 season.

http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/2013/04/22/season-in-review-robin-lopez/

Summary

Overall, Lopez’s contributions to the New Orleans Hornets were greater than nearly everyone expected. Most followers of the team (including Dell Demps) expected Lopez to be a guy whose main role would be to bang bodies with the Howards and Bynums of the league, with limited usage otherwise in favor of AD and Ryno. While he has struggled at times, Robin has far exceeded those expectations, proving to be a very useful player on the offensive end as well thanks to his ability to know his limitations and therefore score efficiently. If Lopez can expand his post game to draw more fouls, improve his lateral mobility to become less of a liability while defending the pick and roll, and upgrade his ability on the defensive glass, he could still transform himself from a fringe starter to someone who cannot be left out of the lineup. Assuming Robin is back with the Pelicans next season, it will be interesting to see how much his first full offseason spent working with a new coaching staff can help his overall game.

 

[KingSpeed]

Well he better hurry up

Because making these moves just to get to .500 is pointless. I'd rather the Blazers just trade Aldridge and be terrible.

And then what? How do we get from terrible to contender? Build up to .500 and break it up again? One step at a fucking time.

 

[PapaG]

And then what? How do we get from terrible to contender? Build up to .500 and break it up again? One step at a fucking time.

Not only that , but you would have Lillard wasting away his rookie contract on a bad team with the hope of lucking into an All-Star/All-NBA player in the draft. If Lillardwho he appears to be, the time is in the next two years to get another All-Star talent to go with LMA/Lillard, because in 3 years, Lillard is going to be looking at a max contract.

 

[RoyToy]

And then what? How do we get from terrible to contender? Build up to .500 and break it up again? One step at a fucking time.

Aldridge may do that himself. That's my point.

You could trade him now, get a great haul and most likely a top 5 pick next year in a great draft. That would put Portland in a really good position going into next year.