i wish i was one of tim’s 19 closest friends…Now, how many copy cat e-mails do you think fill Mr. Pritchard’s e-mail box after this story?

Instead of doing his job at practice on the day it matters, Ben is off schmoozing with KP and all.

Ben, that’s not what we pay you for. Better shape up pronto.

was wearing that custom El Mago jersey. Way to bring the Sergio love to KP.

If you and others feel / think that, fine I respect your evaluation: but that is going too far to my eyes for anyone in that job.

Right on the big things so far but some small mistakes:

Sergio, Green, Wafer, Roberts (getting him or giving up as a throw-in), letting Udoka and Jones go. Maybe spending resources (Arthur) on Batum. Maybe on the handling on Miles.

Plenty of decisions and decision reviews ahead. Another contract for Nate? How much to pay Frye, Webster, Outlaw. Quality of defense by Fernandez and Bayless. What is the best team tempo. What is the missing ingredient. Etc.

Ok I should have said “not right” instead of “mistakes”.

I understand gambles, especially with minor assets and wasn’t making a huge case out of these but I did want to offering a contrasting opinion and note that “can do no wrong” seemed overstated to me.

“Sergio — late first round pick. These are always a gamble. We still don’t know what will come of that gamble, but you’ll never win every gamble. The potential was high, and still may be. It isn’t a mistake to gamble on high potential occasionally, even if it doesn’t always pay off.”

It could be called retro-cherrypicking but Craig Smith, Paul Milsap and Leon Powe were all still available. I would have taken one of them over a very young, thin, undisciplined euro PG. Who plays at apace the coach hates.

“Green — late second round pick. Not many guys you can claim should have been picked here instead. We were weak at PG. We didn’t even have Blake yet. You need to look for guys who might fill that hole. Green was an outside shot at being part of the solution. It didn’t come off, but mistake?”

It would have been better to get Ramon Sessions. Again the coach prefers big guards who defend and can drive the lane & finish or cover switches.

“Wafer — Brandon was injured, we needed short-term cover at SG. We traded a guy who was getting no PT for us at all for a guy who would provide injury cover if needed. This was not a mistake, this was a good move.”

At that point for Green he was an inconsequential gamble. But his shooting is so far below even last man on the team replacement level I fail to see how he was a needed guy over the many many freely available wouldn’t have been far better. And Wafer played 64 minutes and was gone.

“McRoberts — early second round pick, possibility of very good potential, a gamble that didn’t come off. Letting him go — he was not going to be able to play a role for us, he helped us to salary match, and got us Bayless. Picking him and having him to help make that trade go may turn out to have been brilliant — he was a piece needed to get Bayless and Diogu. We may be glad for both of them.”

True about helping to get Bayless / Diogu this summer but last summer Marc Gasol and Aaron Gray were available and probably would have been far more valuable as a trade chip now. And it is still possible somebody else lie Yue, Herbert Hill or Strawberry might prove some worth above Roberts. Or as I said the opposite could be true that Roberts was given away too soon.

I forgot about Freeland and Kopponen. They are incompletes at this point but could become mistakes and seem more likely than not to be so in the end.

Udoka is an excellent value, a 3 point shooter and defender, a +3 on adjusted +/- this past season and by that measure had a greater positive team impact. And it doesn’t appear to be a fluke as he was a slight positive the year before and 2nd best on team to Randolph. Yeah he is older and not part of long term plan but still could have been helpful in getting from ,500 record to next step or two higher in next couple seasons.

Jones, he took the weather and money and probably wasn’t going to stay but I probably would have bid higher than it sounds like they did.

Pritchard declines to bid high enough to retain Jones but is he going to bid more to keep Webster? Jones was a +2 on adjusted +/- and #3 in league on 3pt FG% and Webster was 4.4 on adjusted +/ and 44th on 3pt FG%
If Jones was deemed too expensive Udoka was +2 adjusted +/- and 64th on 3 pt FG%. I’d have retained 1 of the 2.

Make that Webster was =4.4 on adjusted +/.

If Jack was a liability because he isn’t a pure point and is more of 3 pt shooter… then you replace him with Fernandez and Bayless who are shooters and not pure points? Maybe they work better (not that hard) but is this really the right design? Outlaw shot a very good 3pt FG% but will he replicate it at a higher rate of attempts? Do you really want that?

Udoka or Jones were depth after Outlaw Webster but could have done that job better than I think Batum does it in next few years.

“a +3 on adjusted +/- this past season and by that measure had a greater positive team impact…”

should have been followed by

"… than all but 2 Blazers in 06-07. "

Really…. if you give adjusted =/- much credence.
It is admittedly imprecise witn misimpressions created around one-third of the time but close the rest of the time and of some value.

If Blake works for Pritchard and Nate then from a pure design perspective I’d think why not follow him up with a more pure point and stuff even more 3 point shooting in on the wings. But maybe Fernandez and / or Bayless will be examples of grabbing difference-making shooting talent and changing design to make it work. Time will tell. Roy with Fernandez and Bayless may be a fine trio even if non-traditional. But Roy-Jack wasn’t that great. How different will Roy-Fernandez and Roy-Bayless turn out?

Koponen might come around the time Blake leaves or shortly thereafter and he is big and fairly traditional. So he can still fit the plan.

Freeland might be ready in a few years – and if he will take a rookie contract (compared to bigger euro money these days) then maybe he fits the plan.

Or S. Randolph. I think he is a good camp invite.

Any GM can be critiqued as short of perfect. Including Kevin Pritchard. And that is my point.