Exclusive Wesley Mathews or Arron Afflalo

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riverman said:
Where we need a lot of help is getting foul calls but I'm at a loss to see how we could add that to the roster ...no...I don't want Harden either but Scott Foster I'm thinking could be bought
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Well it goes like this in my mind. Don't get me wrong because i love what Lopez brings but this team could use a more mobile center. One that is a monster shot blocker! Preferably one that can hit a free throw. That being said you probably don't give up Lopez to get one but you try to get one somehow with out losing him. Tough to do but the cost might be another player or finding a way to draft one? Drafting well always seems like a good choice. Rookie contracts are easy to absorb.
Next this team needs someone somewhere that can run a fast break and create their own shot. Some combination of both would be nice. Right now they use ball movement and Aldridge to get people open when he passes out of the double team. I am not willing to give up defense for offense but this is a weakness.
No team is perfect...There are no teams anywhere that have ever been that were perfect. This team is good and getting better. The trick to this is to address these issues without losing what we have. Not my job and i am not qualified to say how it could be done. I also don't want to start naming players the Blazers should go after because that gets crazy after a while. Cap implications and different reasons players are good fits or not get in the way. Neil Olshey is paid to do that not me.
 
kjironman1 said:
Well it goes like this in my mind. Don't get me wrong because i love what Lopez brings but this team could use a more mobile center. One that is a monster shot blocker! Preferably one that can hit a free throw. . Not my job and i am not qualified to say how it could be done. I also don't want to start naming players the Blazers should go after because that gets crazy after a while. Cap implications and different reasons players are good fits or not get in the way. Neil Olshey is paid to do that not me.
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Seems like you are thinking maybe a Roy Hibbert. I like Rolo too but there were moments last night where the Thunder manhandled and pushed him around last night. With how big he is, I don't know how. But he was. I don't think that kind of stuff would happen to Roy.
 
Stevenson said:
Say goodbye to Wes. Sad, but true.

He's going to be too expensive, especially with Afflalo available at that spot and RoLo and LA getting big paydays.
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How do we know Afflalo won't be offered the same amount as Wes by another team?
I am in the "way too early group".
 
Pinwheel1 said:
How do we know Afflalo won't be offered the same amount as Wes by another team?
I am in the "way too early group".
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I'd like to point out, that although I've wanted AAA for years, and we do have him, he has only played 3 games for us. Now, I don't expect him to go the way of Kaman and go from awesome in the beginning to cringeworthy mostly... but, I have a cautious predisposition when it comes to new people now.

That being said, I'm fully confident still that AAA was our missing piece.
 
Man you guys are cray. You gotta go with Afflalo. Specially at the price Wes is going to demand. Plus I think AA is the better player.
 
kjironman1 said:
Honestly ask yourself where this team needs help. Take off the homer glasses and really be honest. Do you see a possibility of getting a better player this summer that would truly make a difference for this team?
If you don't think this team could get a player that could make them better then you are not being realistic. To do that some changes would have to come.
For the most part this team needs to play the rest of this season out and the decision will have to be made this summer.
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Reading your post, I think you're implicitly saying you question if this team as currently constructed could win the title. That's what I got out of it at least, or maybe it hits on a sulky feeling I've had about this club for awhile. I'm still not sure. Upgrading Lopez for a guy like Jordan who could shoot 80% from the line would be nice, but not too many of those guys exist. Actually, I view Lopez as one of the three nearly untouchables along with Aldridge and Lillard.

We're modeled a bit like the Spurs, and where they're more complete is having the perimeter guys like Green and Leonard who can put the ball on the floor and attack the rim or consistently hit medium range jumpers. Easier, high percentage shots to rely on if Duncan is off, Parker can't find the rim, and the threes aint dropping. Wes and Nic just don't do enough of that. Affalo hit at least two of those type of shots last night in limited looks. Maybe his addition is the missing piece. Or maybe we just need to reload completely in this area.
 
Are there any shot blockers that have a good FT%? I'd rather have a center that hits his free throws and just changes the effect of the shot rather than a center who can block shots but can't hit ft's... That one seems like it'd "even out" more and the points he blocks don't get made up at the line so it feels like a moot point.

So, in essence, I'd rather have Lopez. missing FT's irritates the crap out of me.
 
blue32 said:
Man you guys are cray. You gotta go with Afflalo. Specially at the price Wes is going to demand. Plus I think AA is the better player.
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But if you think AAA is the better player, then why do you assume Wes will get more money?
 
You don't have to ask me. Ask Paul Allen.

(.... Pulls out two blank checks......)

Guess we get our cake and eat it too.
 
The Blazers are a pretty physical team. With Aldridge/Lopez/Wes/Batum/Afflalo. The Blazers are long, and physical.
I'd like to see everyone brought back, loss in the first round or advancing to the finals... I firmly believe the Blazers as constructed can win a ring.
Two superstars, one is the best big in the game.. Other is a top 5 guard in the league.
Rolo/Batum need to play better. Wes needs to hit shots so people will stop whining about how poor he's playing.
If anyone thinks the foul Wes did on Westbrick at the end of the game wasn't the move Terry Stotts wanted to happen... I question their sanity.

Other players might make the team better, but unless they're named Marc Gasol... I don't want them.
Not a homer, realist.
The 2/3 are weak positions in the NBA at the moment..
Personally outside of the top top top(kd/melo/lbj/harden/kobe) who are untouchable/decide where they play...
I don't see a player that really "moves the needle" by a lot.. That the Blazers could acquire.
For example... If the Blazers had Klay Thompson over Wesley...
Would that really move the needle? I don't think so....
Thompson's usage rate would go down on the Blazers..
He wouldn't get as many looks or touches.
He's the #2 option on the Warriors..
Wes is the #3 sometimes #4...
Thompson would be the #3 or #4 option on the Blazers.
If the Blazers were to get Andre Iguodala over Batum.. that might move the needle but...
People would hate him because he's just as passive as Batum is at times.
And still.. Iguodala would be the #3/4/5 option on the Blazers....
Would Waiters move the needle? I certainly don't believe so... Beal? No.

Realistically there aren't many players out there that significantly move the needle.
Monroe? I don't think him and Aldridge could play together.
 
Im starting to think Neil's 2 year plan was to sign everyone right before the big boost in cap so we can have a whole roster under new contracts and be under the cap.
 
rasheedfan2005 said:
Im starting to think Neil's 2 year plan was to sign everyone right before the big boost in cap so we can have a whole roster under new contracts and be under the cap.
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I think there is a good possibility that we will be over the cap regardless. Maybe they can back load the contracts a little so he doesn't have to pay as much next year, but with Dame coming up for a max contract and all these guys this year, I am not sure we will be under the cap for a while.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I think there is a good possibility that we will be over the cap regardless. Maybe they can back load the contracts a little so he doesn't have to pay as much next year, but with Dame coming up for a max contract and all these guys this year, I am not sure we will be under the cap for a while.
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I think he meant that everyone can be signed. It's okay to be over cap... The concern maybe being in luxury tax threshold territory.
 
magnifier661 said:
I think he meant that everyone can be signed. It's okay to be over cap... The concern maybe being in luxury tax threshold territory.
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Exactly, but the deals will be good for 4-5 years and only 1 year of luxury tax before wed be back under cap. Im far from an expert in this field but im just basing this guess on what ive seen from posters here, it sounds like olshey looked into the future and came up with a genius plan to either blow it up or keep it in tact. Afflalo is exactly what we needed in a 6th man, why would we look to lose matthews for him and be back in the same predicament?
 
magnifier661 said:
I think he meant that everyone can be signed. It's okay to be over cap... The concern maybe being in luxury tax threshold territory.
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PA got burned chasing a title before. Early 2000s teams showed total disregard for being fiscally responsible/ evaluating character & ended up with no title, Jail Blazers persona, & impossibly bad contracts. During the lockout he was on the front line against the players union and vowed to be under the cap. For the past few seasons things have gone according to plan. But he still wants that elusive championship, & most people believe he'd trade the luxury tax for a ring(s). If we have a good run in the playoffs he'll pay out whatever it takes to keep the team together. If he owned the Thunder he would have kept Harden. He just doesn't seem to care about his team being profitable if they win. It's when they lose + being over the cap (and him being subsequently ridiculed) that he starts to have buyers remorse. The luxury tax is chump change for Allen. That's why the cap doesn't bother me.
 
Kaydow said:
PA got burned chasing a title before. Early 2000s teams showed total disregard for being fiscally responsible/ evaluating character & ended up with no title, Jail Blazers persona, & impossibly bad contracts. During the lockout he was on the front line against the players union and vowed to be under the cap. For the past few seasons things have gone according to plan. But he still wants that elusive championship, & most people believe he'd trade the luxury tax for a ring(s). If we have a good run in the playoffs he'll pay out whatever it takes to keep the team together. If he owned the Thunder he would have kept Harden. He just doesn't seem to care about his team being profitable if they win. It's when they lose + being over the cap (and him being subsequently ridiculed) that he starts to have buyers remorse. The luxury tax is chump change for Allen. That's why the cap doesn't bother me.
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And Jerry Buss wasn't, being in luxury tax, because he had proven superstars to take it home. The 2000 team had zero superstars, at least ones that can carry a team during crunch.

Also that 2000 team had bad personalities, which seriously decreased their value.
 
Doesn't the new cap go in effect next year? Makes a huge difference in this discussion if true because I disagree with Kaydow - I don't think we are going to see PA goes into the penalty again anytime soon. That clearly has been a priority since the Jailblazer era ended, and you see Neil mention fiscal responsibility often.
 
Paul Allen has fat stacks I doubt he gives a doobly-dibbly fuck about the luxury tax. The Bulls on the other hands....
 
Yeah I have a confession man I'm not even a Blazers fan. I'm just here for the ride.
 
Stevenson said:
Doesn't the new cap go in effect next year? Makes a huge difference in this discussion if true because I disagree with Kaydow - I don't think we are going to see PA goes into the penalty again anytime soon. That clearly has been a priority since the Jailblazer era ended, and you see Neil mention fiscal responsibility often.
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He has said in the past that he would go into the penalty if necessary. What he won't do is pay the penalty for a team that is not going anywhere. He wants Neil to be smart with his money, unlike Bob. But there is no doubt in my mind that if he was the owner of the Thunder, Harden would still be on the team with Westbrook and Durant. Paul is not going to refuse to sign a player because it puts him over the luxury cap, if he thinks that player will help us win it all.
 
Stevenson said:
Say goodbye to Wes. Sad, but true.

He's going to be too expensive, especially with Afflalo available at that spot and RoLo and LA getting big paydays.
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That would be tough to swallow for a lot of fans and the team I'm sure. You could very well be right though.
 
AA didn't have the best shooting game, but his D was on point.

It's like how Wes does things. Think if we had both. I'd love that.
 
rasheedfan2005 said:
Exactly, but the deals will be good for 4-5 years and only 1 year of luxury tax before wed be back under cap. Im far from an expert in this field but im just basing this guess on what ive seen from posters here, it sounds like olshey looked into the future and came up with a genius plan to either blow it up or keep it in tact. Afflalo is exactly what we needed in a 6th man, why would we look to lose matthews for him and be back in the same predicament?
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/Thread.

Why on earth do people think they have to choose... Just because we have a starter quality backup doesn't mean we need to start him. We need that kind of bench. Paul Allen is a multi-Billionaire whose NFL team recently won a Championship, If the Blazers are challenging for a championship, He will go into the Luxury tax for 1 season.
 
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