Dear KP...

by Blazersaurus on Jun 25, 2008 11:14 PM PDT Comment 16 comments

You have a lot of work ahead of you so try and get a good night sleep.

I've been long advocating keeping most of our guys. They all just seem to have so much upside and I would so hate to see them let go before they reached their true potential. Recently our main man Dave wrote a great article explaining why some of our young studs would have to go based not on their skill, nor their desire to stay here, but on salary concerns and cap space and collective bargaining agreements and so on. You know, that crazy stuff you have to know all about. At that time I relegated myself to losing one or two guys cause the rules just made it near impossible to keep them without risking huge cap problems so Web or Frye or Jack or Outlaw had to go before next season and that was that.

Kev, if I may call you that, I've changed my mind. You see the reason that was glanced over as self evident was the fact that if these players become unrestricted free agents then we could lose them without compensation. Well, who cares? Sure usually that is the right move, to get something for something but I'm thinking, if guys want to take off from this team for coin then good luck and don't let the rose garden turnstiles connect with your backside as you exit. We have enough studs stashed around the world, we don't need compensation for every single guy and I figure anyone traitor enough to walk away from this dynasty of teamwork is addition by subtraction.

Of course you know more than I about the ins and outs of that world. You know if Web really wants to stay, or Frye is bulking up, or Jack is a cool guy to hang out with, or Trout is really committed to improving. And you know which guys in the draft need to be on this team and what it'll take to get em. You know what we don't know and in you we trust but if, IF, all these current Trailblazers are loyal, committed, solid citizens who buy into all that you and Nate and the organization ask of them and the only reason your dumping them is cap and compensation related, I ask you to consider letting it slide and letting it ride for one more season.

Just something to consider. Good luck tomorrow and have fun. I know we all will watching it unfold.

Go Trail Blazers!

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but it's a double whammy

not only can they walk out as UFAs in 2010 for free, but they can also tie up ALL our cap space ALL suumer 2009, thereby killing out ability to sign free agents or make trades where we take on extra salary.

I hear what you are saying here, but agreeing to your request is GM career suicide.

by douglast on Jun 25, 2008 11:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We don't need no stinkin' free agents

"Shoot, I don't even have anything to put in my own sig"

These are the modest words of pualo, posted on June 20, 2008.
Yes, pualo, an extraordinarily discerning BEdger with a knack for subtle expression.

by CatMan2 on Jun 26, 2008 12:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I tend to agree with this

I don’t see us really doing much with a free agent. Seriously, our parts are here or will be here by the end of the summer. Then KP needs to breath, sit back and let everything take it’s course. We have the talent, we’ll get the experience, and we are working on the strength.

Ford: Bill, you're claiming victory already? Have you had a "Mission Accomplished" banner printed yet?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?page=DraftDebate-080624

by ratbastird on Jun 26, 2008 7:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I expect

that next year we’ll pick up one or two solid role players for medium salaries. No max contracts.

But it may be the guys we have will prove they are the role players, and get those contracts. We’ll see.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jun 26, 2008 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dear KP

Please make sure your trade hand is bright red and sore by the end of tommorrow. That is all…

RUDY > MJ

by myemic23 on Jun 25, 2008 11:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Nope

I think you missed the whole point of Dave’s so-well-thought-out post. It’s not so much a ‘trust’ or ‘loyalty’ issue, it’s an incontrovertible finance issue. I’d hate to see any of these guys go (well, except Jack), but it’s really a question of whether or not we can base enough confidence in their futures to tie them up for multi-year contracts before July (if I understand it correctly). And, I’m sorry to say, some of them may not make the ‘this person is WAY too good, we can’t possibly cut them’ list.

It’s not so much their return on value as the antithesis to that, the projected cap-raping that would occur should they choose to look elsewhere (and look they should, as Dave has pointed out). I’d do it if I were Webster; you’d do it as well, I’d bet. Regardless, what Dave posted (which made national headlines.. well, at least made ESPN TrueHoop headlines) concerned the financial and business aspect of the team. That’s it. Not in a cold, hard Steinbrenner way; in a just and realistic factual way. He never made any suggestions as to WHY someone SHOULD go, just WHY they WOULD go, if they were to.

The problem isn’t, as you say, that “we could lose them without compensation”. It’s that we would shoot ourselves in the foot were we not to lock them up early, and we could very well shoot ourselves in the foot by doing so, as well. We already have a bunch of 60% guys and if we were to, with KP & God’s hand, consolidate them into a few less 80% players, why not?

Your sympathies ring true to everyone here, I’m sure. However, I think you’re praying for the LCD outcome were you to pursue this path. Let’s let KP do his magic and the chips fall where they may. We are not, now, on the road to being a championship contender. What has kept me up for the last few nights, however, is that come June 26th, we could be. Let’s set subjectivity aside and let the professionals – both players and businessmen – do their work.

Plus, Outlaw’s contract isn’t really in question here. #25 forever!!

"Well, Travis just showed us that we can go to Travis Outlaw." - Nate McMillan

by 12sharks on Jun 25, 2008 11:41 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Amen, brotha'

"Beards--they grow on you"

by prezofdeath on Jun 25, 2008 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a complex matter

And I don’t want to try to hand wave through all the complexities with a brief simplistic argument. Still…

There’s more to life than money.

I work at a job that I truly enjoy, and which I believe makes a small positive difference in the world. I took a substantial cut in pay to do this, but I have never regretted it.

At the place I worked up until about 2001, there was a manager who was not only grossly incompetent in a technical sense, but meaner than Simon Legree. He used to brag about people he made cry. He bragged about tying his son to a tree for two days to teach him a lesson. He constantly berated people on the staff and was a blatant bigot of the worst kind.

Where I work now, my boss is a brilliant man who never has a bad word to say about anybody.

There’s more to life than money.

"Shoot, I don't even have anything to put in my own sig"

These are the modest words of pualo, posted on June 20, 2008.
Yes, pualo, an extraordinarily discerning BEdger with a knack for subtle expression.

by CatMan2 on Jun 26, 2008 12:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally Irrelevant

This isn’t, as I just stated above, a question of loyalty/humanity vs. dollars/industry. This is simply a case of people doing what they’re paid to do – not in some “I was just following orders” Nazi sense, but a “gee, my career/franchise would be better if I/they were with another team” sense. I have no reason to defend Dave’s post as gospel – I’m just translating his wise words as I interpret them.

All feel-good thoughts aside (and, believe me, I have many feel-good thoughts about the Blazers as an organization and as individuals), I think there’s a strict discordance between loyalty and dedication. While we MUST be true to our commitments, we CAN’T be loyal to just anyone who we hire by taking on some “once a Blazer, always a Blazer” mantra. Were that the case, we’d still be in the Jailblazer era. Were that the case in my life, I’d still be with my high-school girlfriend. There’s a palpable difference between loyalty and dedication, and that’s as different as Oden vs. McBob.

I agree with you that there are Blazers manifold that cling to our hearts and minds, and the price of severance is mighty, but to compare our franchise with your previous boss is shortsighted and negligent: Recent history proves that this is a culture-first and a business-second environment. While all professional teams come to epitomize their respective regions, almost always to the point of the elusive ‘we’ (e.g. ‘we’ won the championship, or ‘we’ have a nice point guard), all franchises OWE IT TO THEIR FANS to be the best team it can be, even if that means not always currying favor. That’s why we buy tickets, that’s why Comcast deals are cut and that’s why we have that slippery and all-too-rare emotion called faith in something unto which we have no control.

I trust that KP will be a tiger tomorrow. I trust that our starters (whoever they may be) will play their butts off. In the season oncoming, I trust that all of us will be there to exalt them for their victories and call them on their wrongdoings. These are the inextricable rules of the game, and let’s be satisfied with that. Let me further state that any references to a bad experience at an office could very well be exactly that which Martell is going through right now. I think he could THRIVE in other systems and perhaps that, as the tenuously valid salary cap system was designed to accomplish, he would be able to choose FOR HIMSELF which team he felt most fitting, for the salary most fair, just as you claim to have done.

For the Blazers to protect themselves is no wrong. For our players to buckle is no right. To play devil’s advocate, I’d wager to bet that MANY fellow humans would have flourished in the system you found so distasteful. Not that I’m saying it sounds like a place I’d enjoy being around, but I, alas, am not the ultimate arbiter of what is good and bad in this world. Neither are you, for that matter, and that is kind of my point, here.

Oh, and #25 4 Life!

"Well, Travis just showed us that we can go to Travis Outlaw." - Nate McMillan

by 12sharks on Jun 26, 2008 1:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But lots of people

stay in jobs that hinder their career advancement and limit their financial rewards because they like what they are doing and the people they are doing it with.

And we’re talking about people who can actually afford to do that. If you or I had an opportunity to double our salaries, we’d have to look at it really, really hard. These guys? It depends on their lifestyle.

Let’s talk Martell. On his rookie contract, he has earned more than most people make in a lifetime. If he’s invested well, the guy could retire after next year and never work again, and have a better life financially than 99% of Americans.

So, what motivates him? We’re talking about the difference between being rich and being richer. Is that important to him? I don’t know.

Maybe it’s getting to the top that motivates him. Define that. Does he want to be a 22-24 ppg scorer on a decent team and make the all-star game, and make the playoffs a few times in his career? Or does he want to be a 12-13 ppg starter and key player on a team that wins several championships? Which is success? I would say both are success as a player. Does he strongly prefer the former? Perhaps. If so, best of luck to you, Martell, and thanks for the time here. But it IS complicated.

Then, there’s yet another factor. He’s a shooter. On which team in the league is he likely to get more open 3 point looks, than on a team where defenses have to collapse on Oden, watch LMA in the high post, shut down Roy, and perhaps respect Rudy from distance as well?

Perhaps Martell’s best career path is with Portland for 3-4 more years, establishing himself as one of the dominant 3 point shooters in the league, developing his handle more, and becoming a lock-down defender, and THEN go for the big pay check. Then, he’ll be the veteran with playoff experience, distance threat, and lockdown defender that everyone wants.

It may well be that Martell’s most lucrative career path is through Portland for at least 3-4 more years. And if that happens, Paul Allen may just open his checkbook to keep him here. If he becomes what I think he’ll become for this team, Martell will be worth $9-10 million a year at the age of 25-26. I hope he’s here, and we see it happen.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jun 26, 2008 6:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

To clarify

Sorry, I wrote my little post late (for me) at night, and I see that I didn’t really make the point I was aiming to make.

First, it was not written to you, 12sharks, but your post furnished a convenient place to attach it.

Second, I really did not mean to compare the Blazers’ (or any other NBA team’s) business milieu with the one I described. My main point was what I wrote twice: there’s more to life than money. I think that jscot has done a very nice job of illustrating my point in the most relevant context. (Thanks!) To take things a step further:

In addition to my refusal to rank money as the only, or even the most important, factor in determining career decisions and business decisions in general (hardly a majority position, I know), I am one of a vanishingly small segment of sports fans who doesn’t even place a paramount emphasis on winning. To me, there’s more to sports than winning. I like the team we have now (but would be agreeable to some minor tweaking). Though it might improve our chances of winning, I would not be pleased if KP were somehow able to swap McBob for K0be.

Finally, I don’t know why you made the remark about “MANY fellow humans” flourishing under the boss that I described. In such an environment, you can only thrive if you are willing to become less human. I hope that you said what you said out of ignorance, which would be a blessing in this case. I know that most people have not experienced a “professional” work environment as bad as the one I foolishly put up with for too long.

"Shoot, I don't even have anything to put in my own sig"

These are the modest words of pualo, posted on June 20, 2008.
Yes, pualo, an extraordinarily discerning BEdger with a knack for subtle expression.

by CatMan2 on Jun 26, 2008 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not about traitors.

The NBA is a business. There’s no such thing as someone walking because they are a traitor. Teams routinely discuss trades that benefit the team, and the individual at that point is simply a trade chip to be dealt if the team benefits. The players, in turn, must first look out for their own interests, because the team has a different responsibility. If your perspective prevailed, everyone would be very loyal, no one would ever be traded, and once we drafted someone – as long as they were loyal – they’ d spend their entire career with our team, regardless of pay or playing opportunity. And if that were the case, teams would be restricted to improving solely throught he draft. Somehow, I don’t think you’d want that. After all, the JailBlzers would still be the Jailblazers, and the very team you have today could never have been developed.

by Eben Calder on Jun 26, 2008 6:15 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

There's a certain poetry about what you preach

When I calm down, I think that we just need to do two things.

1.) Trade Jack and sergio, though I like the kids. I think both our mentally weak and we all saw what that did to the lakers.
2.) Pick-up a point guard that the blazers think will be better than finland. I think Finland will be pretty darn good, so if we pick-up a guard, he better be better as finland will then be unable to play. Roy/Rudy starting and Blake/better PG playing… yeah. finland will get sergio minutes.

Actually, I”m going to make it three things…

3.) Pick-up some talent that will ripen in four years. this will give us trading pieces for first round picks so that we can start preparing for our aging players and rotate fresh blood in. I’d like to avoid San Antonio’s issue of aging but lacking fresh blood that can continue to take them over the top. If we can snag some players that ripen in the future, then it’s not an issue to keep them on the bench and play them for a few minutes and it can help us snag future first round picks.

On a side note, I’m a little bummed about finland. If we’re looking for a guard, as it sounds like we are, then finland isn’t as good as I hoped. ON the other hand, maybe this is all a smoke screen and we’ll be snagging Alexander to let develop over the next four years. (he’ll take that long, I’m sure because he needs to learn team b-ball and IQ)

So, in principal I agree that we have all the talent we need, we do need to trim and I would like to snag a few pieces back.

Also, I think Webster can be fantastic and he needs to be the man to start making that happen. Sometimes sitting back can be bad for that competitive edge.

Ford: Bill, you're claiming victory already? Have you had a "Mission Accomplished" banner printed yet?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?page=DraftDebate-080624

by ratbastird on Jun 26, 2008 8:02 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Koponen is young

If we’re looking for a guard, it doesn’t mean they aren’t still high on him. It means they think he’s still got a couple of years to be good.

They want someone now who, combined with Blake, can give us a solid 2 man rotation at the point. If Koponen comes over this year, he’ll be in Idaho, perhaps for 2 years. Then, he moves into that 2 man rotation, and Blake becomes the third man, ideally.

Looking for a PG now may tell us more about Blake’s perceived future than PK’s.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jun 26, 2008 9:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You Never Know

Or, it may also be a smoke-screen. KP commented that anytime a GM praises someone, you can be sure that they’re not going to draft him. Given the Blazers praised Augustin, Alexander, Rush and Westbrook, it kind of makes you wonder.

by Eben Calder on Jun 26, 2008 10:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you all for your smart and interesting comments.

I know no one will read this bumped post but it should be noted that KP kept most of our young studs, added a high level point guard in Bayless and loaded up on guys we can keep across the pond. Time will tell if these were the moves of moves but I think he played this draft exceptionally well. We are now two deep at every spot, (four deep at point) with young guns and team guys.

I’m too exited to articulate.

by Blazersaurus on Jun 26, 2008 11:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs