We need a home run in free agency

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HailBlazers

HailBlazers

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or at least a Triple. Everyone especially in the West is getting better, the Wolves are going to be scary going forward, the Suns had an excellent draft and Utah is shaping up nicely (not to mention the other Powers retooling).

The Blazers will be left behind if we don't land a high quality free agent. Relying on development of our current roster alone simply isn't going to cut it. Stating the obvious perhaps but it really feels like a demarcation point.

The organization is doing everything it can to reposition the franchise as a destination and the momentum seems to be building. This better be the year we land a nice fish or else the foreseeable future might be too much for the Portland Trail Blazers to contend with.

No pressure Neil!
 
Good thing the Blazers aren't one of the teams listed to have a meeting with KD. We wouldn't want that to happen.:smiley-bonk:
 
I think we need to hit a home run because this might be our last chance for a while to add someone in free agency. Dame's big contract just kicked in. CJ is up next. All indications are that Crabbe will get a sizable offer, and I imagine Harkless won't come cheap either. We NEED to bring in a third scorer and this is our best shot.
 
I agree and I hope it happens, but, the negative side of me speaking as well as realistic, I just don't see it happening. We've never been able to really sign a big name free agent. Not sure why that changes now. Pray I'm wrong.
 
EGame said:
I agree and I hope it happens, but, the negative side of me speaking as well as realistic, I just don't see it happening. We've never been able to really sign a big name free agent. Not sure why that changes now. Pray I'm wrong.
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Well yeah. When fans have unrealistic expectations and gms think they can get top players to sign here people will always be disappointed

Its like a high school nerd asking the most popular hot girl to the prom. Youre a 5(portland), shes a 10(durant). Shes not gonna be interested.

But if youre that same 5, and you hit on the girl thats a 8(howard), that has built up a reputation for herself by being moody and getting around, you might actually have a shot.

Hence, why i think we need to focus on howard.
 
I'm not even talking specifically about Durant. That is nothing more than a pipedream. I was alluding to other stars like you mentioned (Howard, Horford, Whiteside, etc). I would like to see Portland go for any of them, but I really am not holding my breath that we get whoever it is Olshey wants.
 
EGame said:
I'm not even talking specifically about Durant. That is nothing more than a pipedream. I was alluding to other stars like you mentioned (Howard, Horford, Whiteside, etc). I would like to see Portland go for any of them, but I really am not holding my breath that we get whoever it is Olshey wants.
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Never said you mentioned durant.

Durant, horford are the hot girls everyone wants. Id be shocked if we got either. Howard has a reputation, probably our best bet.

Again, not singling you out. I just dont get all the other posters ive seen thinking we have a shot at durant or horford. Especially when durant is meeting with gsw, sas, and okc. And there are rumors horford is already wanting to sign a 5 year deal with atlanta.
 
So now the definitions:

Home run:
- Horford ($26.4M) ~5% chance
- Whiteside ($22.0M) ~20% chance
- Howard ($26.4M, less than his max) ~25%

Triple:
- Biyombo ($15M) ~15%

Consolation:
- Ezeli ($12M)
- Aldrich ($10M)

After that you've got guys like Fournier, Turner, Mahinmi, and Bazemore that don't feel like good fits, and probably aren't going to be going at a reasonable price.

I guess the secret to happiness as a Blazer fan is setting your expectations low. I hope no one offers our restricted free agents any crazy money, and we can re-sign Harkless ($7.5M), Crabbe, ($7.5M), and Leonard ($10M).

This is going to be a fun month of July!
 
NO talks about acquiring guys with similar career arcs as his current roster. That's why Whiteside seems like he'd be the first choice (aside from the unlikely acquisition of Durant).
 
NO also talked about being ok with signing high caliber vets regardless of age.

You've said you built the roster to match the career arc of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Will that hold true this summer or will you stray from that to take the next step?

That's a good question. It always depends on who the player is. My buddy (Chris Kaman) is sitting up there, the gray beard. Chris got along with this group, regardless of age, as well as anybody. His leadership with Dame, the way he related to the younger guys in our locker room. I get your point about the age when we made long-term decisions. But age doesn't factor in if culturally, chemistry ... guys aren't going to fit into our group. I think that's really what's important. We've got a lot of young guys on the roster. Clearly if you can sign a younger player longer term, if you believe in them, it's more beneficial for the long-term health of the organization.

But we want to build on the success we had this year. We're not going to be reactionary and overreact to this season. We're going to stay on the same path. That said, if we have an opportunity to accelerate this and go get a veteran, proven player, we have the resources. We have a max cap slot. We have the flexibility to go spend money. We have a great owner. And, like I said, I think we're becoming more of a destination than perhaps we were in the past, because of players like Dame and CJ. And the success that we had this year put us on a national platform. When you make that second round the conference semis and you're down to the final eight and all games are on national television and the rest of the league is watching, it makes an impact on free agents, we hope.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...y_on_nba_free_agency_the_trail_blazers_c.html
 
42N8Bounce said:
So now the definitions:

Home run:
- Horford ($26.4M) ~5% chance
- Whiteside ($22.0M) ~20% chance
- Howard ($26.4M, less than his max) ~25%

Triple:
- Biyombo ($15M) ~15%

Consolation:
- Ezeli ($12M)
- Aldrich ($10M)

After that you've got guys like Fournier, Turner, Mahinmi, and Bazemore that don't feel like good fits, and probably aren't going to be going at a reasonable price.

I guess the secret to happiness as a Blazer fan is setting your expectations low. I hope no one offers our restricted free agents any crazy money, and we can re-sign Harkless ($7.5M), Crabbe, ($7.5M), and Leonard ($10M).

This is going to be a fun month of July!
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Love the idea behind this post. I might classify biyombo as a double though.
 
Going after a fading Howard feels like a consolation prize to me, one that will hurt the franchise beyond next season. Like, we missed out on every splash, so we signed him just to say we finally broke through and signed a big name. But he'd be an albatross, ultimately.

And I've always liked Howard.
 
Fonzthecpt1 said:
Love the idea behind this post. I might classify biyombo as a double though.
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Agreed. Who would you put in the 'Triple' category? Perhaps a guy like Parsons ($18M) or Anderson ($16M)? Tough to tell how much money they will command. There's not a lot of quality starters out there for the taking.
 
42N8Bounce said:
Agreed. Who would you put in the 'Triple' category? Perhaps a guy like Parsons ($18M) or Anderson ($16M)? Tough to tell how much money they will command. There's not a lot of quality starters out there for the taking.
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Not sure there are any for me. I feel like either we hit a home run or we land consolation prizes(doubles,singles)
 
I get it. Howard comes with major risk. But thats also a big reason i feel we would even be in the running for a player of his caliber.

Id rather pay howard 25 millionish, than biyombo 15 + million.
 
BLAZINGGIANTS said:
Going after a fading Howard feels like a consolation prize to me, one that will hurt the franchise beyond next season. Like, we missed out on every splash, so we signed him just to say we finally broke through and signed a big name. But he'd be an albatross, ultimately.

And I've always liked Howard.
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If we do end up going after him, I'm curious what terms we'll offer. Will Howard be looking to lock up 3-4 years? Or will he look to have an opt out for next summer where he can test the waters again with an even higher CAP?

I think he has 2 more years of solid play in his tank. After that, I'm thinking we'll see a pretty steep drop off.
 
JFizzleRaider said:
I get it. Howard comes with major risk. But thats also a big reason i feel we would even be in the running for a player of his caliber.

Id rather pay howard 25 millionish, than biyombo 15 + million.
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I don't want to pay him any more than he was making in Houston. Anything more than 20 mil is really pushing it.
 
Call me crazy but i'd rather have Mozgov then Bismac. Mozgov didn't play much and he isn't very good on offense but he wasn't bad on D when he saw the court. Rotated good, boxed out, protected the paint is pretty athletic and he is huge.
 
Whiteside would be the biggest catch in this teams FA history since.....
 
Rhal said:
Call me crazy but i'd rather have Mozgov then Bismac. Mozgov didn't play much and he isn't very good on offense but he wasn't bad on D when he saw the court. Rotated good, boxed out, protected the paint is pretty athletic and he is huge.
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I'd rather have no one than Mozgov in all honesty. Buying just for the sake of it is not the way to go IMO and I prefer both Plumlee and Davis to him. We need to remember that we have two centers on our roster right now who are not terrible, Plumlee had a great series against the Clippers which get overlooked due to weak performances vs Warriors. He's still very young and will improve, his passing has been great for example and he is not that bad defensively either. I am not in favour of replacing Plumlee just for the sake of it, ditto Ed Davis.
 
Natebishop3 said:
I think we need to hit a home run because this might be our last chance for a while to add someone in free agency. Dame's big contract just kicked in. CJ is up next. All indications are that Crabbe will get a sizable offer, and I imagine Harkless won't come cheap either. We NEED to bring in a third scorer and this is our best shot.
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Who? Could that third scorer already be on our team?
 
KingAlbertoJrSpeed said:
Who? Could that third scorer already be on our team?
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Aminu is a good player, I like Crabbe's ability to score too. Harkless potential is also significant. What gets overlooked in free agency frenzy is that we have some players on our roster who could improve considerably and become very good players soon.
 
This is why a Portland GM has to have thick skin. Because you know we're not getting a home run in free agency. I think the only thing close that we've EVER had was Brian Grant.
 
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