You make the calls

[Natebishop3]

One game left of preseason.

From what we've seen so far, who are the starters for the first game of the season?

Who makes your final roster?

For me, the starters are the same:

Lillard
Wes
Batum
Aldridge
Hickson

That might change, but I want to give it more time to see if Hickson and Aldridge can play together.

My final roster is

1. Dame
2. Wes
3. Batum
4. Aldridge
5. Hickson
6. Freeland
7. Leonard
8. Claver
9. Babbitt (because we can't cut him)
10. Smith (because we can't cut him)
11. Barton
12. Jeffries
13. Price
14. EWill
15. Karl

That gives us:

PG Lillard/Price/Karl
SG Wes/Barton/EWill/Smith
SF Batum/Claver/Babbitt
PF Aldridge/Freeland/Jeffries
C Hickson/Leonard

Pretty guard heavy. Ideally, I'd love to cut EWill and Smith, but they both have guaranteed contracts, correct? I think our front court is pretty solid, but I'd like to see us pick up another scoring guard for the bench. Someone who can provide some instant offense.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Cutting EWill isn't a problem if we get the DPE for him, in effect giving us an extra roster spot. Though I have no attachment to him at this point.

I'd lean toward starting Leonard or Freeland and bringing Hickson off the bench. And I think Babbitt has much more potential than most here.

 

[Natebishop3]

Cutting EWill isn't a problem if we get the DPE for him, in effect giving us an extra roster spot. Though I have no attachment to him at this point.

I'd lean toward starting Leonard or Freeland and bringing Hickson off the bench. And I think Babbitt has much more potential than most here.

If we get the DPE, I would seriously consider looking elsewhere for another guard or small forward that can score. Definitely not Ammo or Pavlovic.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I don't know...we'll have at all times at least 2 and most likely 3 of LMA, Lillard, Batum, Wes, Hickson on the floor. While there's a decent assortment of firepower there, I'd really like either a playmaking backup (maybe Karl is that guy) or some more high-motor defenders (which is why T-Will interests me). We've got 18 fouls worth of big-men defense, and I don't feel the same way about our guard rotation.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't know...we'll have at all times at least 2 and most likely 3 of LMA, Lillard, Batum, Wes, Hickson on the floor. While there's a decent assortment of firepower there, I'd really like either a playmaking backup (maybe Karl is that guy) or some more high-motor defenders (which is why T-Will interests me). We've got 18 fouls worth of big-men defense, and I don't feel the same way about our guard rotation.

Well, and that's the problem. Obviously Lillard is a stud, and Wes has earned his place at the table, but the rest of our guards are very "meh". Price seems like a decent backup, but Smith needs to go and Barton is too raw to contribute right now. I like his potential, but he needs some work. If anyone would benefit from going to the DLeague, I think Barton would. He needs to build some muscle and I think he needs some more time on the floor to develop. His best game of the SL was when Lillard wasn't there and he was the only real option on offense. He would get plenty of that in the D League.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Just because their contracts are guaranteed doesn't mean we can't cut them. Their contracts stay on our books regardless, but there's no guarantee of a roster spot.

 

[Natebishop3]

Just because their contracts are guaranteed doesn't mean we can't cut them. Their contracts stay on our books regardless, but there's no guarantee of a roster spot.

And that's the problem right there. Their contracts stay on the books. Who are we going to bring in when we have no cap space at the moment? You can only sign players to the vet minimum when you're over the cap. Might as well just keep Smith, Babbitt, and EWill until the summer and then see if we can package them in a trade.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

And that's the problem right there. Their contracts stay on the books. Who are we going to bring in when we have no cap space at the moment? You can only sign players to the vet minimum when you're over the cap. Might as well just keep Smith, Babbitt, and EWill until the summer and then see if we can package them in a trade.

Have we used our room exception or our bi-annual exception yet?

 

[Natebishop3]

Have we used our room exception or our bi-annual exception yet?

Eh, I'm not sure actually. Is there anyone available though that would be worth one of those contracts. I know some people have been talking about Terrence Williams.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Eh, I'm not sure actually. Is there anyone available though that would be worth one of those contracts. I know some people have been talking about Terrence Williams.

No, probably not. I assume that vet min would be enough to pick up anyone who's still available. My point is that the cap situation is no reason to keep dead weight on the roster. If we think that a past their prime Gilbert Arenas or Michael Redd might be worth more to this roster than Nolan Smith, then his guaranteed contract wouldn't really prevent us from making a move.

 

[Natebishop3]

No, probably not. I assume that vet min would be enough to pick up anyone who's still available. My point is that the cap situation is no reason to keep dead weight on the roster. If we think that a past their prime Gilbert Arenas or Michael Redd might be worth more to this roster than Nolan Smith, then his guaranteed contract wouldn't really prevent us from making a move.

Well, it seems like we might be waiting to make a move next summer in free agency, and cutting Babbitt, Smith, and Williams would eat up space while giving us no way of getting them off our books. My hope would be to hold onto them and then packaging them with something else to clear more space.

Like, let's say we get a lotto pick but decide we want to move the pick for an established player. We would need guys like Babbitt and Smith to serve as filler.

 

[RR7]

I'd happily cut Elliott, and sign terrence now. But I know it's not happening. Still, he's a guy with a world of talent, that has seemingly had a mental block stopping him from reaching even a pinch of it. Easy to look at stats and say he look slike crap, why bother. But we also grabbed Hickson off the scrap heap, and he's been a great addition to the team. Williams could easily be our first guard off the bench, IMO.

 

[tlongII]

Gotta start Leonard. Hickson will be a liability at the 5.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Starters

Lillard
Matthews
Batum
Aldridge
Leonard (he fits with Aldridge better and doesn't need the ball)

Final roster is

Lillard
Matthews
Batum
Aldridge
Leonard
Hickson
Price
Barton
Babbitt
Claver
Freeland
Jeffries
Smith
Pavlovic
Karl

D league
Lauderdale
Holiday
Harper

Cut
A_am
Williams (injured every year so far. Time to move on)

 

[craigehlo]

I'd happily cut Elliott, and sign terrence now.

I'd be down with that plan as well. Elliot (as with Nolan and Babbitt) will likely not be resigned under his current contract by the Blazers since they want to take max salary flexibility into next summer.

I'd immediately cut Nolan Smith, Ammo and Elliot Williams. Sign Karl.