What About a Trade?
The guy I think might have the most difficult task ahead of him is Kevin Pritchard. Not only has the roster he built half disintegrated before his eyes, that roster wasn't in its final form yet. As much as he talks about cakes baking, there were moves--potential and probable, perhaps even necessary--available this year. Now, with an entire layer of that cake on the bottom of the oven and smoldering, what options does he have? The most obvious names on the exit list were Blake and Outlaw because of their contract status. Outlaw can't be traded when he's broken and Blake's trade value rests in his contract alone at this point. The only thing that makes sense is a team looking for a complete salary dump. Getting a player who makes a difference on those terms seems like long odds. Joel Przybilla also has a potential contract situation and could garner some value around the league but he can't be moved now, if he ever could to begin with. Andre Miller seems like a tough sell at this point. You better get a small forward or some shooting or scoring back for Martell Webster if you move him. The cupboard is thin right now and the shelf beneath is showing cracks.
This is probably OK, though, because I don't believe you make any deal in response to this situation that you wouldn't have made otherwise. For one thing, what are you salvaging? If you get a guy who's going to help fill holes now you still buy maybe a few extra playoff games. But the guys left to trade with any value are your potential-laden future players. You don't trade away a Fernandez or Bayless to get a stopgap measure. On the other hand the roster is too depleted to be confident about swinging a deal for the guy who's going to eventually put you over the top. Cherry-picking the best of the remaining (reasonably-tradable) roster might not be enough to get that guy. You're in no-man's land here, dealing from a place of vulnerability rather than strength. Pressing the panic button is not the right decision in that situation.
The best move here is to batten down the hatches and ride it out. You still do any deal you would have done anyway...moving those contracts if you're not going to use them, for instance. But if you do see a move made to address the present or near future odds are it will be subtle, or at least look subtle right now. Unless the Blazers already had a significant deal in mind with the exact players who are healthy now you're not likely to see one.
