Time To Let Babbitt Go?

[RR7]

You guys are nuts. BABBITT CAN'T SHOOT. James Jones was the best shooter I've seen besides Dale Ellis. No comparison.

Babbitt will miss with certainty under any of these conditions: his defender is a starter, his defender cares, the game is before tank season, or the shot matters to the outcome of the game.

Probably so, but
1. Hopefully he isn't in against starters, 2. it's the NBA, 3. look at our roster, 4. ....see 3.
Build him up early as a great shooter, then dump him on someone at th deadline as a guy who can stretch the floor in the playoffs.

 

[Ed O]

You guys are nuts. BABBITT CAN'T SHOOT.

He shot 43% from three point range last year with 100 attempts. That is impossible unless one is a very good shooter.

Ed O.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

You guys are nuts. BABBITT CAN'T SHOOT.

It's uncanny how often the ball goes in the hoop for this lousy shooter.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Remember how good James Jones was for us off the bench a few years ago? Pretty much all he could do is shoot the 3.

Yeah, but James Jones constantly got injured. Babbitt hasn't yet and he's younger.

 

[Nate Dogg]

You guys are nuts. BABBITT CAN'T SHOOT. James Jones was the best shooter I've seen besides Dale Ellis. No comparison.

And got injured a lot and hardly moved on the court. At least Babbitt moves inside the key and can attack the basket.

 

[Denny Crane]

Do you think that if someone was going to offer something reasonably good in exchange for Babbitt, they would be stopped because they owe $3+M through July 2014? The only reason you would NOT offer the option is because you think that that 2.9M is going to be the holdup in offering someone a max deal. 4.4M for the next two years of Babbitt is only 2x the vet minimum, and people with his skillset make much more than that.

Marco Belinelli signed with the Bulls for $1.96M. He replaces Kyle Korver on the Bulls roster; Korver signed with Atlanta for $5M, which he also made the past two seasons with the Bulls.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I was thinking about the group of one-dimensional big man shooters (who are almost all white, but not necessarily), and Babbitt fits somewhere in the line of Scalabrines (vet min), Steve Novak (3.75M/yr), Matt Bonner (3.67M/yr), etc. He's not Ryan Anderson (8.5M/yr) or Rashard Lewis (making 2M/yr from MIA after a 7yr max).

 

[Denny Crane]

I actually think you hang on to Babbitt and see how his next season pans out. I bet he'll get a lot more playing time than some people expect him to. Yahoo! shows Batum as the backup SG, and Babbitt as the backup SF. I expect they'll be on the court at the same time a lot.

What exactly are the expectations for using MAX contract worth of cap space by letting him go? My guess is you'll need some of that space to keep Hickson, you'll still need a backup SG/SF type, depth at PG, etc.

The point being that spreading the cap space around fills the team's need for quality depth. This offseason, you could have spent just $4M on an OJ Mayo who would even push for a starting job. The point also being that the LT penalties in the CBA are so harsh for most teams that contracts even as big as Batum's should be avoided.

 

[PapaG]

Yeah, but James Jones constantly got injured. Babbitt hasn't yet and he's younger.

Jones shot 44% from three during his one season in Portland, which was a career high for him and still is. He is a career 40% shooter from three.

Coincidentally, Jones made exactly $2.9m during his one year as a Blazer.

 

[PapaG]

Plus, Lillard is a drive and dish PG who will need good shooters on the floor to create space in the middle on penetration plays.

That's Dallas Maverick basketball 101.

 

[dviss1]

This means Claver will spend most of his time at backup 3. This is gonna be Babbitt's last season with us.
He won't see that much time with Freeland and Leonard in the big man rotation.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ractice_report_team_continues_to_work_as.html

"The stretch four: Third-year forward Luke Babbitt has spent camp working with the power forwards as Stotts has decided to use Babbitt primarily at that position.

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Babbitt was seen as more of a small forward in his first two seasons, but Stotts said he likes using a player with Babbitt’s shooting ability – he shot 43 percent on three-pointers last season – at the four.

“I think that’s an aspect of the NBA game, having the ability to have a four man that can stretch the floor, not only to make shots, but it makes penetration for our guards better, it makes postups better,” Stotts said. “There’s just more space on the floor.”

 

[jlprk]

Babbitt is 1/10 the shooter that Adam Morrison is. I hope we don't wait a Martell Webster number of years for him.

At the opposite end of the overrated/underrated spectrum is Hickson, who makes Aldridge look lazy.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Babbitt can shoot and not a whole lot else. So keep him, trade him, cut him, whatever. I don't have any strong feelings about it one way or another.

 

[PapaG]

Babbitt is 1/10 the shooter that Adam Morrison is. I hope we don't wait a Martell Webster number of years for him.

Didn't MIXUM get banned for posting nonsense like this that is only posted to get a reaction from people?

Either that, or jlprk is the dumbest basketball fan on this board.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

I wonder if Babbitt has enough value to net a serviceable back up shooting guard in a trade? One of the forwards should be traded for a guard before the season starts. There are way too many SF's on the roster.

 

[jlprk]

Didn't MIXUM get banned for posting nonsense like this that is only posted to get a reaction from people?

Aw, you just think that because you're white.

I wonder if Babbitt has enough value to net a serviceable back up shooting guard in a trade? One of the forwards should be traded for a guard before the season starts. There are way too many SF's on the roster.

Damn right.

 

[dviss1]

Aw, you just think that because you're white.

^^^ Stupid post that divides us instead of brings us together. You must like to draw lines of division. You should be ashamed for posting that...
Apparently you think that skin color determines the way a person thinks..

 

[Blaze01]

The only thing Babbitt has shown is that he consistently cannot hit a big shot when he needs to....the guy chokes under pressure....

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Babbitt has bulked up to around 235-240 lbs. this summer.

It'll be interesting to see him in an (real) offense with movement and spacing.

 

[Sinobas]

Babbitt has bulked up to around 235-240 lbs. this summer.

It'll be interesting to see him in an (real) offense with movement and spacing.

Let's drink a toast to Nate McMoron finally being gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So sick of that shit!

And I think we've seen plenty of examples of TEAM defense being important rather than individual athletic ability. Portland had alot of guys last year that were considered good one on one defenders, but the team defense sucked. Having Babbit out there 15 minutes a game isn't going to kill our defense, but if he hits 3s and streaches the court, it will help our bench unit.

But he and Claver will have to battle it out for the backup SF postition. Babbit could be an outside shooting PF, but I don't see him beating out Freeland.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Let's drink a toast to Nate McMoron finally being gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So sick of that shit!

Please...if you're going to toast his exit it's mandated that you refer to him by his proper S2 name: Mister Sonic AssClown McScribbles.

 

[PapaG]

The only thing Babbitt has shown is that he consistently cannot hit a big shot when he needs to....the guy chokes under pressure....

There hasn't been a single shot taken by any Blazer that really mattered since Brandon Roy last played.

I'd be interested in reading how Babbitt "chokes", though. If he was the primary option in any situation that mattered, that's on Canales, isn't it?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

There hasn't been a single shot taken by any Blazer that really mattered since Brandon Roy last played.

I'd be interested in reading how Babbitt "chokes", though. If he was the primary option in any situation that mattered, that's on Canales, isn't it?

He could have won the 3pt championship last year but choked it away the last 5 games of the season. You win the 3pt championship you have a guaranteed spot on a NBA team, if you choke it away you're looking over your shoulder wondering if Adam Morrison is going to take your spot on the roster.

 

[PapaG]

He could have won the 3pt championship last year but choked it away the last 5 games of the season. You win the 3pt championship you have a guaranteed spot on a NBA team, if you choke it away you're looking over your shoulder wondering if Adam Morrison is going to take your spot on the roster.

He has a guaranteed roster spot regardless. Hard to tell if you're being serious these days, with your buddy dviss1 PMing for some reason multiple times today in some random PM meltdown.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

SF: Batum / Claver / Morrison*
PF: Aldridge / Hickson / Freeland / Babbitt
C: Freeland / Hickson / Leonard

The staff have their hands full trying to figure out minutes for this frontcourt.

 

[dviss1]

He has a guaranteed roster spot regardless. Hard to tell if you're being serious these days, with your buddy dviss1 PMing for some reason multiple times today in some random PM meltdown.

some random PM meltdown??? Wow.... You're acting like a weirdo man... Just sayin...

When I PM'd you, I was simply asking you what you meant by saying I "slammed you". But you still have yet to come up with a reason.
I am still unsure of of when I "slammed you". I just don't even know what you're talking about.

If you could provide some insight or proof of the "slamming" I would probably apologize. But no.. you just called me a Psycho...

Clearly you don't know me and have still yet to provide any reason for your "slamming"... So to me, this is just weird.

Again, when did I slam you? And if you can just tell me that (instead of posting it for everyone to see) I would probably apologize
and we we could bring closure to... whatever this is...

 

[SlyPokerDog]

He has a guaranteed roster spot regardless. Hard to tell if you're being serious these days, with your buddy dviss1 PMing for some reason multiple times today in some random PM meltdown.

Hard to tell if I was being serious that Babbitt could have hurt his career in the NBA by choking like he did at the end of last season because someone I know has for some reason not known to me been PM'ing you today?

Ummmmm..... Okay.

I like Babbitt, I had hopes that he would develop into a great deep shooting role player for us. I think he still might. But it seems to me a lot more uncertain now. He had a fantastic chance to distinguish himself after Nate was fired. He had a green light to shoot and got fed the ball tons. As the pressure of him maybe winning the 3pt title increased at the end of the season the worse he shot. Yes it wasn't for a playoff spot, to win a game, or anything with any meaning for the team but he was playing for something and I thought he faded towards the end of the season.

I think it could have hurt his place on the team and you don't. We disagree. It's not a big deal.

 

[jlprk]

The only thing Babbitt has shown is that he consistently cannot hit a big shot when he needs to....the guy chokes under pressure....

Damn right.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Coincidentally, Jones made exactly $2.9m during his one year as a Blazer.

Yeah, and Babbitt's salary for his first year was more than half of that.
Babbitt still hit 3/5 on shooting and 2/4 3pt range, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers and 8 pts in the preseason game vs Sacramento.

 

[jlprk]

Many players would be better shooters if they were designated gunners like Babbitt, with coaches yelling at him to shoot, and set plays designed for him.