What happened to "let it bake?"

[Denny Crane]

Rebuilding isn't pretty. A GM has to look at his team and decide if it needs to be done, and then it becomes about how to do it. Or if there's a trade out there for the guy who can put you over the top, he's got to decide to do that.

I see a lot of criticism of Cho for his inaction. But why is inaction a bad thing?

If the object is to rebuild, then losing to get draft picks is part of the plan. There's nothing wrong with being loyal to guys like LMA and Roy who have big contracts and who helped the team win 50+ games in the past seasons.

If Jalen Rose's contract was tradeable, then so is Roy's. No doubt there are teams out there who'd take a chance on Roy, who's still better than half the players in the league and who could end up playing another 5-10 years. You could have gotten Vince Carter for him, yay.

The thing is, to rebuild, you can't do it overnight unless you luck into a top draft pick who turns into a Tim Duncan or Derrick Rose. Anyone see that happening?

Rebuilding isn't about spending Paul Allen's money, it's about gaining cap flexibility. Cap flexibility is about turning expiring deals into expiring deals so when you do have a young player coming off rookie contract you can afford him, and when some other team wants to shed a big contract and a talented player that goes along with it, you're in the game.

If you're over the cap/threshold with big contracts, you can only deal with other teams over the cap/threshold and for big contracts. It might not be a bad strategy, but you are going to be limited to how many teams you can really trade with.

We've already seen what happens when injuries occur and the team trades young players away for stopgap replacement players. What once was a bright future is on the dim side, to say the least.

Newly appointed GMs sometimes appear afraid to pull the trigger. Maybe they have a longer term plan in place, and maybe their plan can't be executed in a single draft or trading deadline.

It may be harsh, but "let it bake" may now mean to ride out the bad contracts and try for a big score in the lottery. To do that, you're not going to trade big contracts for big contracts unless they expire quickly. You're going to see RLEC actually expire. And Joel's contract next, and so on.

 

[Mediocre Man]

It got fired.

 

[hasoos]

Well if you haven't been paying attention, somebody stole our frosting.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I wonder how many "burnt cookies" metaphors I can come up with?

 

[hasoos]

I wonder how many "burnt cookies" metaphors I can come up with?

Kind of reminds me of Ed Whelan and the burnt biscuit award. I wonder how many of those the Blazers would have earned by now.

 

[Natebishop3]

The cake had microfracture surgery.... twice.

 

[MIXUM]

it became an episode on kitchen nightmares.

 

[Sug]

Eggshell in the batter, new cake on the way.

 

[hasoos]

Eggshell in the batter, new cake on the way.

Oven pre heated?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Here is what happened to letting it bake. Credit to Klinky off RealGM.

Big City Professional Becomes Small City Baker

Far away from the NBA bright lights there is a small bakery in downtown Bloomington, Indiana with a not so typical baker. "Yeah this is definitely a change of pace" says the 43 year old ex-General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard as he pulls out one of his piping hot confections. "I finally found my passion", he says with a smile.

It may seem like such a big jump to go from being a beloved General Manager of a professional basketball team to a professional baker but Kevin doesn't see it that way. "When you think about it, building a NBA team is a lot like building a cake. Mixing the right ingredients, putting it in the oven for just the right amount of time and then you need that perfect icing. I admit that the icing is always hard to get down. It's been one of my weaknesses. It's either too soupy or too thick and pasty. Now that I've got all this free time I've finally got the right icing for my cake".

It turns out that baking & cakes in particular have been been a big part of Kevin's life, even while at Portland cake played a large role. "You know some of my biggest transactions were inspired by cake. Like when Nate came to me and said we need a tall guy, someone with height, I immediately thought of billowy, soft Angel Food cake & drafted LaMarcus. On the flipside I was baking a Devil's Food cake when we drafted Oden. With a Devil's Food, the devil is definitely in the details! One of my best pickups was when I was going through a Petit Fours craze and grabbed Batum thinking he might have the secret french techniques to prefect my recipe. Rudy's situation was similar, since I brought him in to help translate this old Magdalenas recipe I had from a distant grandma".

When asked if his baking or love of cakes ever got in the way of his decision making he replied "You know, I don't think so. I am doubtful that it really did. You know one thing that really bothered me was that Nate loved my cakes that didn't turn out. Like when I was still an assistant and I was really demanding we get Jarret Jack, during that time I was baking this god awful fruit cake. Nate was the only won who loved that fruit cake and kept wanting more and more of it". Pritchard then paused for a moment of self musing and said "You know maybe it did have something to do with my failures & that whole situation. The real reason Penn was fired was due to us lying about him going to an interview with the Timberwolves. Really he was at the Pillsbury Bakeoff with our Peanut Butter "Tip-Offs", obviously Pillsbury doesn't know a good recipe when they see one as our recipe only finished 16th." Kevin then sighed and went quiet for moment.

For fans still wonder about his sudden departure on draft day & if things could have been done differently Kevin replied "You know, I am not a perfect man. On draft day I had a trade of Chris Paul for Rudy, Pryzbilla & Batum but there were a few hiccups. I was building this team as a cake and I needed the icing. Paul is no icing, he's like a huge chunk of cake. You don't just take this cake you've worked on for years and slap this huge funky piece of cake on top. It just doesn't work that way. Even after removing Rudy's, Pryz's & Batum's pieces, there wouldn't have been enough room and it would have made the cake all lopsided. Did you know that Chris Paul likes a Krispie Kreme / Mountain Dew pudding cake concoction? I was building the Blazers in the mold of a German Chocolate cake, you don't put Mountain Dew cake in a German Chocolate cake, it just doesn't work out that way! Plus, to a lesser extent Rudy had almost translated the Magdalenas recipe, Batum & I were popping out some of the best Petit Fours that side of the rockies & Przybilla... I mean where would I get my vanilla without Pryzbilla? Now I explained this all to Paul & Monty and their jaws were wide open when they heard I declined the Paul trade for these reasons. They then told me to immediately pack my things and leave the building. In the end it was probably a good thing as I had a cake baking at home and thankfully got there before it burned."

 

[barfo]

I'll never have that recipe again

barfo

 

[Ed O]

"Let it bake" was a mistake at the time, and things would have had to work out JUST right for it to be a success. Sort of like aiming the plane towards the airport and hoping that it makes it there without the pilot steering.

At this point, though? There's no huge rush. The team is mediocre, but it still has some good pieces. Ideally Miller and Joel and/or Camby are moved for assets that can help the team in the future, but there's no need to make those moves right now.

Ed O.

 

[Minstrel]

"Let it bake" was only a mistake if he was passing on deals that would have improved the team. A lot of fans over the past several years were agitating for a trade, any trade. They just wanted to see some action. I would definitely say "Let it bake" is smart if the only possible deals reduced the value of the roster. Maybe you need to take some wild gambles (ones that are more likely to reduce the value of your roster with a slim chance of really improving it) if your roster is poor in talent. That wasn't the case for the Blazers until, maybe, now. The rosters of the past few years, I would definitely say that letting the roster improve internally (as players got older and closer to their prime) was superior to making trades just to make trades.

If Pritchard was turning down chances to make the hallowed "consolidation trade," then yes, "let it bake" was a mistake.

In any case, I do agree with Ed that there's no urgency now. The team may as well take a little time to take stock of what they have in Roy and Aldridge (as both of their games seem to be changing with the circumstances).

 

[MARIS61]

We gave away all of our edible ingredients.

Spanish Chocolate, Trout, Von Wafer...

Hard to stomach what we've got left.

 

[Kaydow]

Let it bake < Let it break

 

[SnakeOiler]

"Let it bake" was only a mistake if he was passing on deals that would have improved the team. A lot of fans over the past several years were agitating for a trade, any trade. They just wanted to see some action. I would definitely say "Let it bake" is smart if the only possible deals reduced the value of the roster. Maybe you need to take some wild gambles (ones that are more likely to reduce the value of your roster with a slim chance of really improving it) if your roster is poor in talent. That wasn't the case for the Blazers until, maybe, now. The rosters of the past few years, I would definitely say that letting the roster improve internally (as players got older and closer to their prime) was superior to making trades just to make trades.

If Pritchard was turning down chances to make the hallowed "consolidation trade," then yes, "let it bake" was a mistake.

In any case, I do agree with Ed that there's no urgency now. The team may as well take a little time to take stock of what they have in Roy and Aldridge (as both of their games seem to be changing with the circumstances).

Nobody is taking the expiring. They will expire. On to the next chapter. Let it bake it a joke.