We are in GREAT hands.

[julius]

Oh dear...

Do you hang out with Ed O?

I'm not sure that's the insult you think it was.

 

[blazerboy30]

On top of that, he was a much better player after the All-Star break and getting the starting job than he was before that point. (Do people realize that after the AS break he was a .500/.400/90% guy?) That he showed so much growth in a single rookie season speaks well about his upside. While other rookies were hitting the wall, he was vaulting over it.

This is the key, IMO. Looking at his season-long stats are a bit misleading. Looking at his post-all-star stats should give a better idea of what he is capable of. And those numbers appear to be very good, and when looking at the other contracts being given, put this offer into the more reasonable range.

 

[andalusian]

I'm not sure that's the insult you think it was.

I agree. EdO's avatar show him with some pretty girls

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Oh dear...

Do you hang out with Ed O?

If anyone thinks Ed O is a homer of any sort, they are gravely mistaken... being painted as an Ed O supporter or one who is similar to Ed O only serves to announce that said person is reasonable, calm, and attractive to women.

 

[maxiep]

My guess was Matthews was likely our first choice, and we probably thought we could get him for five years, $20MM. Then the market went haywire. So we're getting our guy, but at a much higher price than we thought.

 

[Blaze01]

Looking at the free agents out there, there is no doubt IMO that Matthews was at\or near the top....

I liked Morrow better personally, but it is clear POR liked Matthews better and so they went for him...So he certainly wasn't there seventh choice...

My concern is if they do miss out on Matthews, then that leaves them probably looking for choice #4-#5.....

They probably would go after Roger Mason Jr....

 

[BGrantFan]

Well if Matthews does well, it would seem we are in fine hands. I would rather overpay for someone like a young Matthews than someone like Farmar or Ridinour. I do wonder, though, as we were never really linked to Korver, Felton, or Morrow as a destination I don't think. I remember we were linked to Farmar, but perhaps I just missed a headline on the others.

Matthews was a 23 year-old rookie last year. He's much closer to his ceiling than , say, Jarryd Bayless.

 

[RamblinRod]

Yes Matthews was the main target all along.

The Blazers contacted all those other guys first as decoys before they threw a mountain of money at WM.

I also believe it was to get those other FA's better contracts.

We're so giving as an organization.

(And don't forget about Mason)

Show me where it says we made all those other guys offers.

 

[BGrantFan]

Personally I think Matthews was the best choice out of ALL of the players listed. The kid really stepped up his game in the playoffs. He's the son of an NBA player so he's grown up around the game. I think it's a great signing IF we get him. I'm still not convinced that Utah won't match.

Matthews had an 11.8 PER in the playoffs, shot 39% from the field and 35% from 3pt, and got raped by Kobe Bryant. For comparison, Rudy shot 44% FG, 48% 3pt, and had a PER of 12.

Yippee fucking Skippy.

It's fun watching people try to talk themselves into thinking Matthews is anything other than a mediocre player.

 

[Masbee]

You may be right.

Not really the point though.

What is the point?

That if we had KP we would be chasing this year's version of the near-miss on a Turkgolu disaster?

I don't get it.

Miller - a good signing - was KP's 4th choice.

So what if we miss out on Ridinour.

Felton is ok, but not a great fit for our team.

Morrow can't play defense.

Korver is a truly terrible defender.


Farmar? Please.

None of these supposed "misses" is of much consequence.

I find the story to be unconvincing that all this adds up to front-office disaster.

Call me when we miss out on Chris Paul because we fired KP too soon.

 

[OddEnormous]

Show me where it says we made all those other guys offers.

I didn't write we made offers.



Wesley Matthews was not the first free agent we contacted which is interesting because apparently he was the one we really wanted.

Odd strategy.

 

[OddEnormous]

What is the point?

That if we had KP we would be chasing this year's version of the near-miss on a Turkgolu disaster?

I don't get it.

Miller - a good signing - was KP's 4th choice.

So what if we miss out on Ridinour.

Felton is ok, but not a great fit for our team.

Morrow can't play defense.

Korver is a truly terrible defender.


Farmar? Please.

None of these supposed "misses" is of much consequence.

I find the story to be unconvincing that all this adds up to front-office disaster.

Call me when we miss out on Chris Paul because we fired KP too soon.

So what if we get Wesley fucking Matthews to be honest.

Again, you are completely missing the point.

If you guys are fine with a young up and coming team entering one of if not it's most important summers without a GM than that's fine.

I'm not.

Esp when Lawrence Miller has been left in charge.

 

[barfo]

It's fun watching people try to talk themselves into thinking Matthews is anything other than a mediocre player.

Y'know, it's called the Mid-level Exception for a reason. You don't get stars for the MLE.

barfo

 

[OddEnormous]

I'm not sure that's the insult you think it was.

You're aware it was an insult though.

So on some level you do get it.

 

[Blazinaway]

Looking at the free agents out there, there is no doubt IMO that Matthews was at\or near the top....

I liked Morrow better personally, but it is clear POR liked Matthews better and so they went for him...So he certainly wasn't there seventh choice...

My concern is if they do miss out on Matthews, then that leaves them probably looking for choice #4-#5.....

They probably would go after Roger Mason Jr....

That is where the supposed "PLAN B" comes into play according to the "Mike's", what plan B is I would be interested to know.

 

[OddEnormous]

If anyone thinks Ed O is a homer of any sort, they are gravely mistaken... being painted as an Ed O supporter or one who is similar to Ed O only serves to announce that said person is reasonable, calm, and attractive to women.

"Here's a picture of me with a girl in a bar. I've colored it in photoshop as well."

Nothing odd about that

 

[oldmangrouch]

"Here are pictures of me with girls in bars"

Link?

 

[Sug]

How so?

If he's the BEST option why did they try to get 6 others first?

Where does it say they actually did try?

 

[OddEnormous]

Link?

I've actually never done it. I like most people take pictures of things that are likely to never happen again. Important moments that can never be recap..... oh ok now I get it.



No offense Ed O. You're probably a top guy in person. I just find your pictures a little bit strange. (please don't stop though)

 

[RR7]

Where does it say they actually did try?

It doesn't, *edited*

 

[OddEnormous]

It doesn't, *edited*

I'm not going to hold your hands through a paragraph of basketball reading.

At the very, very least Matthews was the 3rd FA we had contact with.

Farmar, Mason were both before him.

To now say he was #1 all along is bullshit.

 

[RR7]

I'm not going to hold your hands through a paragraph of basketball reading.

At the very, very least Matthews was the 3rd FA we had contact with.

Farmar, Mason were both before him.

To now say he was #1 all along is bullshit.

Paragraph of basketball reading? From what, Ben's assumptions on our targets? Show me where it says we called them first please. Don't go with the cop out of I'm not going to do your work for you. That's bullshit.

 

[OddEnormous]

Paragraph of basketball reading? From what, Ben's assumptions on our targets? Show me where it says we called them first please. Don't go with the cop out of I'm not going to do your work for you. That's bullshit.

Show me where is says we called Matthews first.

Don't go with the cop out of I'm not going to do your work for you. That's bullshit.

 

[RR7]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/blazers_scouts_contact_free_ag.html

Well, here's a link saying we contacted a select group, with a mention of Yahoo Sports saying we were targeting Matthews. If you say Mason and Farmar were ahead of him in our desire, then we would have made offers to them first, since they were still available when we made our offer to Matthews. I don't expect you to see the logic in that, you seem to just be trolling, so again, use a straw when you jam your head in the sand.

 

[OddEnormous]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/blazers_scouts_contact_free_ag.html

Well, here's a link saying we contacted a select group, with a mention of Yahoo Sports saying we were targeting Matthews. If you say Mason and Farmar were ahead of him in our desire, then we would have made offers to them first, since they were still available when we made our offer to Matthews. I don't expect you to see the logic in that, you seem to just be trolling, so again, use a straw when you jam your head in the sand.

So you're just going to go off this guys assumptions then?



Don't bother responding. You're a bit of an angry troll with about as much logic as a someone who doesn't even have any logic. Denial isn't a river kool aide drinker reading is fundamental.

 

[RR7]

Great discussion.

 

[OddEnormous]

Great discussion.

Not really.

 

[B-Roy]

I'm not going to hold your hands through a paragraph of basketball reading.

At the very, very least Matthews was the 3rd FA we had contact with.

Farmar, Mason were both before him.

To now say he was #1 all along is bullshit.

And yet, Farmar was signed after Matthews...

 

[Idog1976]

Why are people that down on Matthews contract? He's a 23 year old kid who just started over half his games in his rookie season (and 10 playoff games where he played 30+ minutes against Kobe and Carmello) for coach Sloan, a guy who is basically the coach Nate wants to be. Defense-first, grind-it-out, mistake-free, playoff basketball.

On top of that, he was a much better player after the All-Star break and getting the starting job than he was before that point. (Do people realize that after the AS break he was a .500/.400/90% guy?) That he showed so much growth in a single rookie season speaks well about his upside. While other rookies were hitting the wall, he was vaulting over it.

Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's also front-loaded ($9 mil the first year). Big contracts suck when you are two or three years into them and the money gets bigger as the player leaves his prime. This is the exact opposite. As he enters his prime he actually gets cheaper. He projects to be a reasonably tradeable commodity whenever we want to unload him ($6.5 mil/year in the final four years of his deal).

So he's young, he's shown rapid growth, he's a perimeter defender who can hit threes, and he's had experience as a starter in the NBA playoffs on a team that plays very much like us (except his team actually got out of the first round!) We paid a premium for him, but he's the kind of guy I have absolutely no problem paying a premium for.

He's the Anti-Turkoglu.

Awesome post mook! Repped.

 

[Idog1976]

From the Columbian: LINK

So there you have it. Matthews was the first and only choice all along. I'll trust Brian Smith's sources over Golliver's speculation and bitterness.

While quite tall in person Golliver is definitely a bitter little bitch. His joy over Odens injuries a couple of years back was pathetic. I agree that Columbian is a far better source.