because I am not convinced that he is a point guard. I think he could play SOME point but he’s not pure…

I would do this for Martell and maybe a Mcbob (didnt check Salary)plus #13 and 55 secound rounder but would want there First round#15 and Barbi. NIce addition, the people that think we are going to get that perfect point or forward are crazy unless we give up some big time talent AND NO TROUT AND MARTELL ARE NOT BIG TIME TALENT.We will have a hard time finding a point that avg. 7-8 assist that a team will give up.07-06 season He averg.18 ppg and 4 assist. good lifetime FG and 3pt shooter.A great addition to a playoff team.

The article in question is here. Reading the article requires answering a few standard marketing questions so they can serve you ads specifically targeted to your demographic group. Just tell ‘em your 97 and see what ads appear. :)

As mentioned, the rumor the AR is reporting on is Webster + #13 + another player for Leandro Barbosa.

• In the article, Barbosa is interviewed and says he does not want a trade.
• Boris Diaw is also available, FWIW
• Barbosa has 4 years left on his contract, making $5.6 million next year. Martell has one year left at nearly $3 million; other Blazers who are close in salary (and would work in a trade) include Channing Frye, James Jones, and Brandon Roy. Obviously, they can’t have B-Roy for Barbosa. Jones cannot be included in any trade until he decides whether or not to exercise his final option (i.e. the Blazers cannot trade him, followed by him opting out—no matter how much Robert $arver would like to do this).
• Barbosa is a BYC player, so any trade would have to happen after the draft (or involve a third team or a lot more players, so the salary gap between his current and prior salary fits in the 15% window).
• Given that the Suns are still WAY over the cap, having Shaq’s huge contract for the next three years, coupled with Robert Sarver’s well-deserved reputation as a cheapskate—I can’t believe the Suns want the Blazers #13 pick. Usually they are SELLING draft picks, not buying. Their own pick was traded to Seattle in the Kurt Thomas deal, though I think they have Atlanta’s pick this year.

It’s a deal I’d consider, but given who the owner is, I’m sure that the deal can be made better from a basketball point of view if KP is willing to SPAM.

Why Portland would want to give up a SF that has made huge strides this past season for a PG, and then keep all the other 3 mediocre PGs that they have on the team.

I also don’t know why the Suns would want to trade their back-up PG and not ask for at least another PG in return.

Going after Barbosa makes sense, but not giving up Martell in return.

Barbosa doesn’t want to leave

He is a shooting guard in a point guards body- we are covered at the SG position

Martell is hungry and is improving by leaps and bounds. Why not see where this goes with him?

I would like to see how Barbosa does under a different system than he has been playing in Phoenix. How curious am I? Maybe Sergio and #13, no more.

I certainly wouldn’t make any trades to match up against Nate Robinson or Pargo. Watch them try and guard Roy. When we have a starting lineup of Roy, Webster, Prince, LA and Oden. The bigger guards can just funnel those little guy’s into our frontline. Think of the combined wingspan of those 3 plus we will have big guards.

Sure a little pip squeek might give us trouble every now and then but we will give them much much more than they can handle.

defense and court vision are definitely the two knocks on barbosa. but i have bad memories of felton just killing blake/jack too. those guys aren’t defensive stalwarts. from a court vision standpoint i prefer blake to barbosa but not by much – and again i would prefer to have barbosa/blake/roy/rudy than what we have now, by leaps and bounds. that is arguably the #2 backcourt combination in the nba behind boston rondo/pierce/allen/house- tons of flexiblity, great shooting, different sizes, speeds, looks. that would just make me drool if i was nate (even if i knew barbosa was good for a few souvenir passes into the stands every game).

that backcourt is setting the terms of every game we play… we would determine the pace, we are the aggressors with that lineup. as it stands we are too reactive. adding barbosa also means less double teams on roy, etc. less minutes roy would need to play, etc. i love the added flexibility it would provide.

and yes with our size we might not need a top 10 point guard, but if barbosa is available for scraps, we would be foolish to wait… way better to have extra talent than being in a position where we are hoping that average talent will play over its head.

WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, i talked to HA about this topic this morning. here you go….

me: we would be crazy not to do this barbosa trade right?
TrueHoop: Is it real?
me: i think realer than most
not to get all french philosopher on you, but is anything real?
TrueHoop: Big difference between owners actually considering it, and Sam Smith talking about it.
me: indeed… but if they are counting on nash for 3 years then $arver has got to be thinking i dont want to pay this guy
and the phoenix fans dont seem overly enthralled with him
we’ve got cheap talent, $ and picks to help cushion the rebuild
how many games does barbosa win for them next year, 3 or 4 max?
TrueHoop: Yeah, it’s interesting.
I’m lukewarm on him as a point guard
love him as a backup 2
and pray he’s still developing
he needs to change speeds
move laterally
defend …
He’d be the end of Sergio
me: sergio’s jumper is the end of sergio i’m higher on barbosa as a point with blake backup than almost any other possible starter/backup combo, definitely than any of the others floated
as a backup 2 him rudy and travis could be a vicious combo
TrueHoop: I guess the good part is that if you start him with Roy, he spots up and shoots over people.
And he brings a lot of joy to the court
me: ideally greg covers up some of his gambling/perimeter defense problems too … and on offense with barbosa/roy/shooter/aldridge/oden that is so many matchup problems
TrueHoop: Greg’s going to average a foul a minute this season
me: lol oh i know
TrueHoop: we’re going to need more perimeter D
not less
me: indeed. do you think barbosa will be an allstar in the next 2-3 years
TrueHoop: He’s in a group of like 100 players who COULD be, but it’ll take a kind of internal drive that he has not yet demonstrated.
me: gotcha… my enthusiasm is tempered… you win this round thanks henry
TrueHoop: I trust Pritchard.
And I’m fine with giving up Martell.
but the cap space is precious.