I think it will take more than half a season.

It would be better for Bayless to come off the bench and play against 2nd unit players. He can learn to run the offense and have the freedom to shoot the ball. I don’t expect Nate to start a 19 year old rookie PG.

He has the experience, and trust of his teammates.

He will need to gain some muscle. He will need to inprove his D. No matter how good a defender one is at the college level, the need to improve is a necessity as gaurding a Chris Paul/DeronWilliams type is not easy. All this will take a while. I could see him starting during his sophomore season. Especially w/ Blakey (ugh i cant believe i wrote that and Its been forever since I heard Mike Rice say that…) and/or a yet-to-be-determined Vet PG.

Though I don’t buy into the Bayless character issues I think it would be good for him to be humbled a bit by coming off the bench. He should still have around 10 minutes alongside Roy though. Bayless is not ready to be an NBA caliber PG right now, I believe he will be and if he grows very fast I still don’t see him starting before the all-star break. Blake is solid, he won’t put up all-star numbers but he rarely messes up, so we have all the time in the world to get Bayless ready. I’m all for being proved wrong by Bayless though.

but only if Nate feels he’s ready, and we all know Nate won’t start someone if he doesn’t feel they’ve earned it…so I’m trusting Sarge on this one!

I can’t even believe it’s close.

until Bayless can prove he brings more to the table.

I’ve always thought it best to start your best 5 players and play them the most. However, when you’ve got Roy/LMA/Oden as your scoring core, how many touches will be left for the other 2? Blake and Martell fit well on the starting unit because they can snipe from 3 point land. I know Bayless is known as a scorer, but can he shoot lasers from deep consistently? I guess we’ll find out.

Blake – Excellent assist to TO ratio. Very good spot up shooter.
Decent defender and rebounder. Good leadership skills.
Has earned the starting role with good play, but needs to
keep it up.
Bayless – Will help with White unit scoring/athleticism. Needs to work
on playmaking and defense. Could be a starter 09-10 or
key player in the 2nd unit.

I know this is a little bit of a tangent, but what about the other PGs in this years draft?

Would Westbrook, Augustine, Rose, or Mayo have a better chance than Bayless of starting on this team?
Out of all of them, I think Augustine would have the best chance because his workouts seemed to show that he had the most NBA ready game. He is also a tad older and more experienced running the point than all the others.

More on point: The other question about who starts/get a bulk of the minutes at PG is how much Roy takes over PG duties in the half court set. If the role of PG is simply to bring the ball up the floor, run the fast break, defend the opposing teams PG and hit the open shot and play more of a SG type role in the half court offense, Bayless may fit the bill a little better than Blake. Very early on, Bayless should be able to score off the dribble, get to the hole (and finish or draw a foul), and shoot off of screens much better than Blake. Ultimately, how we use Roy will determine who is the best fit at starting PG.

I know our starters are going to be solid, but I want to see Bayless soaring up and down the court. I think from the perspective of how the two units compared last year, he will be more at home (and more electrifying) leading the White Unit, even if his skills and composure (miraculously) overshadow Blake’s.

Bayless is going to have to show NBA defense before Nate will let him start.

Just as long as Bayless doesn’t lose any confidence. Don’t jerk around with him. Nate was very indecisive early in the season last year. I would really like to see Rudy & Bayless know what they are going to play until they earn more minutes.

Although I have high hopes for Bayless, I have even higher expectations for the Blazers next year. Blake is our man right now, Bayless is the future. If Bayless has a Rondo kind of year, then I am all for him starting. This looks pretty good to me.

Black unit:
Blake
Roy
Webster
Aldridge
Oden

White:
Bayless
Fernandez
Outlaw
Frye
Przybilla

Wow!

and he’s going to light the league on fire, one guard at a time.

Starters

Sergio
Wafer
LaFrenz
Diagu
Freeland

As to your question about PG, it’s like jscot says—whoever earns it.

BUT … how about this lineup:

C Oden
F Batum
F Fernandez
G Bayless
G Koponen

An all-rookie team!

Roy, Sergio, and Rudy should have been included in that poll.

Rudy is more likely to start before Bayless.