This Blazers team...

[tlongII]

Devin Harris would not help us. He can't shoot the 3. With Oden, Aldridge, and Roy attacking inside we need our other players on the perimeter to be able to spot up and hit 3's.

 

[Pontius]

Fascinating. I suspect New Jersey fans would poo-poo the trade as insufficient for Harris.

Would they if the situations were reversed - if they had to give up Batum, Bayless, and Outlaw?

What already sets Batum apart from Pietrus is his basketball IQ and his passing ability that he is showing as a 19-year-old. BTW, Batum has already shown so far that his shot is consistent. I understand that it's a small sample size, but he's done nothing to prove that it's inconsistent which is where you are heading. Maybe you want him to prove it over the long haul which I can understand, but given that he is actually showing a consistent ability to hit the open shot, I don't really see it as a reason to speculate for the worse.

If Bayless reaches his potential he is at Harris' level. They are very similar players in that regard, except Bayless offers more outside shooting in his repertoire, while Harris will be the better distributor. You say this development might not take place. Well, I see how hard Bayless works and that is what will make it happen. That's what sets most players apart besides innate BB IQ.

I think Bayless and Batum are about as safe bets as there are. Not being willing to wait for their development would be foolish given that. Especially considering we have the time to wait. It's not as if the team has 1-2 years left before they're over the hill.

I guess we'll just have to disagree on this. I see the depth on this team to be a great asset, especially considering how high a level these young players are already playing at. They will only get better and how much better is what I am looking forward more than anything.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Devin Harris would not help us. He can't shoot the 3. With Oden, Aldridge, and Roy attacking inside we need our other players on the perimeter to be able to spot up and hit 3's.

Dude, step away from the crack pipe.

Blake's occasional hot streaks from 3 point land don't negate the fact that Harris is a better player. Sergio and Bayless aren't any more of a deep ball threat than Harris either. The upgrade he would bring in ballhandling, playmaking, and defense more than outway the occasional trey.

 

[tlongII]

Dude, step away from the crack pipe.

Blake's occasional hot streaks from 3 point land don't negate the fact that Harris is a better player. Sergio and Bayless aren't any more of a deep ball threat than Harris either. The upgrade he would bring in ballhandling, playmaking, and defense more than outway the occasional trey.

Hello? Are you sure you aren't the one smoking crack? Are you aware that Harris is shooting 26% on 3's?

 

[Pontius]

Dude, step away from the crack pipe.

Blake's occasional hot streaks from 3 point land don't negate the fact that Harris is a better player. Sergio and Bayless aren't any more of a deep ball threat than Harris either. The upgrade he would bring in ballhandling, playmaking, and defense more than outway the occasional trey.

You are selling Bayless short. Did you watch him play in college? I watched Harris and Bayless both play plenty of times in college. Bayless is much more of capable shooter than Harris.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

Yes it does. Waiting and seeing is exactly the OPPOSITE of a proactive attitude.

The things you're talking about are coaching decisions and don't really have much to do with a proactive general mangement mindset.

Ed O.

No it doesn't. They could be considered, and for this argument I sure as heck will, indirect management decisions. You don't think, after Sergio discussed his situation with Kevin and Nate, that Kevin had a possible hand in giving Sergio a larger role with the team. You don't think that Nate and Kevin have had pow-wows on what to do about Martell when he returns?

These are management decisions, if not directly, then indirectly, to observe and gauge if players may be better fits with the future success of the team than bringing in outsiders.

Are you saying that the only possible proactive decisions are ones where the General Manager trades an existing player for another team's player?

If so, we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Pinwheel1]

What?!

The Harris deal was a 3 team deal at last season's trade deadline. Regardless of who of our guys would have gone out (unknown, but a bunch of guys would have been shipped out), KP would have had the draft (option to do it differently) and the summer to iron out the remaining roster issues.

True. KP would have had all summer to fill out his roster. But he has a gift of finding talent. So IMO if you give him a draft to work with he will fill the 12-15 man roster with another group of good young players. (Which we can groom or use for trade bait) But there will always be 2-3 players who will not be happy.

You said "We are only a few games into the season and we already have Bayless and Diogu stewing on the bench about his lack of opportunity, Sergio making trade demands, and if we stay healthy it will only get much, much worse as Oden plays more minutes and Webster comes back"

My point is get used to it. Who care if we have a few unhappy players. I agree with you guys that are saying get the best possible 7-9 players. But stop worrying about the end of the bench. KP will always have a Bayless type player who is un happy because of minutes. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[maxiep]

If we have to cull the roster, I wouldn't mind trading some of our young bench players with upside for veteran role players who understand their place + draft picks. I figure if we can't keep all this young talent happy then we should load up on draft picks.

 

[Pinwheel1]

If we have to cull the roster, I wouldn't mind trading some of our young bench players with upside for veteran role players who understand their place + draft picks. I figure if we can't keep all this young talent happy then we should load up on draft picks.

So you are saying trade Outlaw/webster or Batum, or Sergio, or Bayless for vets who can not compete for a starting position. But are happy about that. Or trade them for draft picks so KP can work his magic and draft another crop of good young players to sit on the bench.

I say get the best possible players on the team, let them battle it out for playing time, and play the ones that perform best, The other wait their turn. And they like it damn it because they get to wear the Blazer uniform.

 

[maxiep]

So you are saying trade Outlaw/webster or Batum, or Sergio, or Bayless for vets who can not compete for a starting position. But are happy about that. Or trade them for draft picks so KP can work his magic and draft another crop of good young players to sit on the bench.

I say get the best possible players on the team, let them battle it out for playing time, and play the ones that perform best, The other wait their turn. And they like it damn it because they get to wear the Blazer uniform.

You must not be a chemistry major. We tried that, and it didn't work out that well for us.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Hello? Are you sure you aren't the one smoking crack? Are you aware that Harris is shooting 26% on 3's?

And Sergio is a guy you want hoisting threes? He isn't a good shooter at *any* range. Tonight's game just proved the point: we are too dependent on treys already. We need to upgrade the PG position, and the willingness to yak up threes is not high on the priority list.

BTW, on the season, Blake has more 3-pt attempts than assists. Is that really what you want from the PG position?

 

[oldmangrouch]

You are selling Bayless short. Did you watch him play in college? I watched Harris and Bayless both play plenty of times in college. Bayless is much more of capable shooter than Harris.

A good scorer, yes. A good shooter from NBA 3-pt range? Sorry, but I have my doubts.

 

[tlongII]

And Sergio is a guy you want hoisting threes? He isn't a good shooter at *any* range. Tonight's game just proved the point: we are too dependent on treys already. We need to upgrade the PG position, and the willingness to yak up threes is not high on the priority list.

BTW, on the season, Blake has more 3-pt attempts than assists. Is that really what you want from the PG position?

Sergio shoots the 3 better than Harris. And he's a much better distributor. Harris is a scoring point guard that dominates the ball. We don't need that.

 

[STOMP]

My position is that it is not a problem this year. I believe I explained why in my previous post. Channing is a team-first guy and no, I don't believe he will complain as his minutes are reduced. Winning is an excellent way to keep players happy.

Your explanation misses the mark as Channing is a FA at the end of this year. If he's down to 5 MPG in a contract year, a winning season won't provide nearly enough feel good for the millions he's probably losing out on and not really contributing. You can guess that he'll be the the rare exception and remain happy because he seems to be a purely team first guy (to you), I'm going to guess that he'll be more like everyone else in the league and be upset about it regardless of what public face he tries to put on.

STOMP

 

[STOMP]

A good scorer, yes. A good shooter from NBA 3-pt range? Sorry, but I have my doubts.

dude's got beautiful form on his jumper and was stroking he 3 in summer league and pre-season... 9-18 gives me enough reason to be optimistic

STOMP

 

[Pinwheel1]

You must not be a chemistry major. We tried that, and it didn't work out that well for us.

What has worked for us? Every scenario has it's flaws. I am not talking about Bob's philosophy of bringing in good players that don't mesh together. I am talking about bringing in the right players to give us depth in case there are injuries. And lets face it we have a lot of injuries.

 

[tlongII]

Your explanation misses the mark as Channing is a FA at the end of this year. If he's down to 5 MPG in a contract year, a winning season won't provide nearly enough feel good for the millions he's probably losing out on and not really contributing. You can guess that he'll be the the rare exception and remain happy because he seems to be a purely team first guy (to you), I'm going to guess that he'll be more like everyone else in the league and be upset about it regardless of what public face he tries to put on.

STOMP

We'll have to disagree then. Frye loves Portland and I don't think he would do anything to risk his chance at staying here.