LaMarcus and 2010: Is it a given he will stay a Blazer?
by Norsktroll on Feb 11, 2009 9:24 AM PST
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PrintOne argument comes up quite often in the discussions about potentially trading for Amar'e Stoudemire or Chris Bosh: Yes, but they can walk away as free agents in 2010. So we rent them for a year, then they don't re-sign and walk away for nothing in return.
Good point. But here is the problem: LaMarcus could do the same thing.
His rookie scale contract would end in the infamous "summer of 2010" on the exact same date as LeBron's, Bosh's, and Stoudemire's (ETO). The big difference is that the Blazers can match offers for him as a restricted free agent. Of course we all hope that he loves Portland and wants to stay for at least a long time, but is that a given? Are we sure?
He is an intelligent sensitive guy who according to some reports sometimes felt left out by Nate and Roy in the past (their relationship has improved). While he doesn't seem to seek superstar attention, he also wants recognition and doesn't take it lightly if people violate his trust. The Blazers likely won't be willing to give him a maximum salary extension partly because he isn't really worth that much and they have to re-sign Roy too and Oden a year later. (Yes, I know about Bird rights that allow you to go over the cap to re-sign certain own free agents. I still don't expect him to get the max here.) Maybe another team will offer him that, especially when they miss out on their first target. Is LaMarcus as attached to the region as Roy? For all I know, his dream career could be to go back to his hometown and play for Dallas. His dream could be to replace Tim Duncan in San Antonio. His dream could be to play for the Knicks or even the Lakers. I really don't know. Do you know for sure? Can we use the 2010 argument against acquiring one of those major power forwards without thinking about our own one?
If Pritchard is fairly certain that LaMarcus will extend already in advance in 2009 or at least is ready to re-sign in 2010, no worries (he can't begin to talk to his agent about that until this summer). But if he isn't sure and fears that he might have to overpay to keep a player who would rather want to leave, wouldn't he need to talk to other teams about trading for their stars? I would expect him to do that anyway. A GM shouldn't stand on the sidelines and just watch when one of the major competitors seems to go into firesale mode putting major players on the market like Phoenix and rumors out of Toronto have it that their star might be unhappy there. So they talk about direct deals or multiple-team deals. Probably nothing will come out of it that affects LaMarcus, and he will stay for good. But it's not automatic.
I just wanted to bring that up.
P.S.: Joel has an early termination option to end his contract in 2010 and become even an unrestricted free agent if he wanted. Blake and Travis are also unrestricted in 2010. The Blazer family could experience some moving outs.
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I dont disagree with you
At all. I am more worried about this than any other player on our team, and I think Ben or Dave piped in that they agreed. This whole argument that WE CANT TRADE FOR BOSH WHAT IF HE LEAVES!!! OMG!!! is silly. The same thing could happen with our guys. I for one am more worrried about LMA than any other player. He is a strange cat and we gotta get him some national love before we lose him.
It was "mascot night" at the Rose Garden, which apparently translates to a dozen inflatable versions of various NBA mascots being chased around the arena by Portland's "Blaze", which is some breed of rapist dog. -PostingandToasting
by GreatOden'sRaven on Feb 11, 2009 9:42 AM PST reply actions
We'll know this summer
we can sign him to an extension this summer (along with BRoy of course), and it’s pretty much a given we will at least attempt to do so. Until we start the 09-10 season without him extended, there is no cause to worry.
Comparing LMA’s ability to leave with someone who will be unrestricted is completely different. For one, LMA hasn’t yet had his post-rookie contract — the first big one that allows him to make a lot of money. If he wants to leave (which would be summer 2011 after playing out the QO season, not summer 2010), he would be leaving money on the table, taking a risk that he doesn’t get injured in the years until then, and risking that some team will have enough cap space in 2011 to throw him a big deal. I just don’t see it happening.
There is a reason that very very few top quality players end up not extending their rookie contracts.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
Great post Norsk...
in this day and age, we have no idea what these players want other than chicken nuggets after a hard fought game.
"Step up to my mic!!!" Joel's right and left fist
We also know that they....
often eat at Cheesecake Factory. That’s the word from the Blogfather.
by antediluvian on Feb 11, 2009 2:11 PM PST up reply actions
my wife confirms
she’s a bartender there, says LMA comes in a lot to eat. no worries, she says he’s not boozing it up, and also mentions that he’s really polite.
we used to bartend together at another restaurant during the Jailblazer era, and my wife actually expressed shock that LMA was so polite (same with Martell, btw). after our very regular interactions with ZBo, Darius, and Qyntel, she had pretty much started operating under the assumption that “professional athlete” = “complete ass”.
Oh God
ZBo was a nightmare for us bartenders.
It’s not really him, though he was a jerk alright, it was his “Hoops Family”. Starting fights, taking over areas of the bar (LARGE areas) and not letting people through the area, ordering whatever they want and saying ZBo would pay for it (ZBo almost never did- more than once we had to call the Blazers, who quickly and quietly sent someone down to take care of it). Just totally low class, loud losers who truly believed they were just as entitled as ZBo thought he himself was.
Surprisingly, DMiles was one of the nicest, most genuinely cool, friendly people I’ve ever met.
Most of the Blazers have always been really cool. I’ve heard that Bayless is kinda cold and cocky (from waiters, I don’t think he’s old enough to come into the bar), if always polite. Sergio is really really cool, and he and Rudy and Travis always have fun out on the town.
So keep that in mind if any of you are famous- Bartenders in Portland all know each other and gossip pretty much non-stop when we get together.
by TheThinWhiteDuke on Feb 17, 2009 5:11 PM PST up reply actions
This all depends on whether LMA finds "the woman of his dreams" in Portland.
For Oden, everyone thinks Conley is that special someone, and maybe he is.
For LMA, it’s all about a girl. The rapper music during warm-ups is all about “getting hitched.” To LMA, this means listing to All For One before games in his headphones:
they read you cinderella
you hoped it would come true
that one day your prince charming
would come rescue you
you like romantic movies
and you never will forget
the way it felt when romeo kissed juliette
and all this time that you’ve been waiting
you don’t have to wait no more
i can love you like that
i would make you my world
move heaven and earth if you were my girl
i would give you my heart
be all that you need
show you you’re everything
that’s precious to me
if you give me a chance, i
can love you like that
i never make a promise
i don’t intend to keep
so when i say forever
forever’s what i mean
i’m no casanova
but i swear this much is true,
i’ll be holding nothing back
when it comes to you
you dream of love that’s everlasting
well baby open up your eyes…
i can love you like that
This is the most unnecessary fear ever
Of course it is a given that he will stay after the 2010 season! He is a restricted free agent which means that if he decides to sign an offer sheet from another team, the Blazers can match it and still keep him. It does not matter if he dosen’t like it here, or if his dream is to play some were else. As long as the Blazers still want him, he will still be a Blazer after 2010.
Yeah ...
The shrewd move by Aldridge’s agent here would be to wait on any extensions because there will be some teams left with big money who didn’t get Bosh and Amare, and you know they’re gonna drive that price up on LaMarcus. LaMarcus is not worth a max contract, not now, probably not ever, but if he gets offered one and the Blazers are left without other options, you better believe KP and SPAM are gonna match. So yeah, I think he’ll hold out and we’ll match anyway, unless we don’t get somebody better before then. I’m not worried about this.
"These are dreams that we have." --Rudolfo Fernandez
Exactly.
There are a lot of teams with a lot of money to throw around and at least some of them are going to be disappointed. They could then turn to LMA. You’ve got to figure Blazers are going to match though, regardless of the ridiculousness of the offer. They’ve made it quite clear they see Lamarcus as being part of the “big 3” here.
LMA will get a max deal from the Blazers, who will match anyone.
Next topic?
The cilantro in your tapioca pudding since 2007.™
Not a given
but pretty likely. I think the chances of Paul Allen letting LMA go if he becomes the player we all expect him to is about zero.
Blazer Fan
The big X-factor
in speculative discussions of this nature is, of course, the economy.
If some of the more dire economic forecasts come to pass, the sports landscape in 2010 will look very different than it does today. We already see MLB owners tightening the pursestrings where the current crop of free agents are concerned. The same phenomenom may well be in effect by the time the 2010 NBA silly season rolls around.
Bottom line: Come 2010, it’s quite possible that there won’t be too many owners around who will be in a position to go toe-to-toe with Paul Allen in a money war. Some of the big market clubs, maybe. But your Torontos, Utahs, OKCs, New Orleans’ etc. could easily be on the outside looking in.
as long as we treat them well.
I think we won’t need to worry.
Roy is in his home area, the leader of the team, has national attention (R.O.Y. and 2x all-star) and has a family here. If we pay him he’ll stay.
Pryzbilla, remember he could have gone to san antonio and a couple other places for more money, but chose Portland. He is getting old and has a nice backup gig that allow him to play longer and he likes P-town.
Blake, is a profesional, meaning if we pay him to the level of his play he will stay. Remember he never sold his house from the first time he was a blazer. He has talked about retiring here.
LA, If we pay he will stay!
Trout: who cares??… actually I think he is the one most likely to leave for money and a starting position, something he won’t get here.
Yeah, it's not automatic, but I bet he signs an extension this summer
A related factoid: Brandon and LaMarcus share the same agent, Arn Tellem (considered one of the top agents in the NBA). Two franchise players, two big contracts, the same timeline, the same agent. Kind of an interesting situation.
I think he'll resign with Portland
If you listen to the way he talks about Brandon, you can tell that knows that Brandon is better right now in their development. I don’t think he will mind if Brandon gets a max contract and he doesn’t. Brandon has a couple of years of development on LaMarcus.
I mean if you look at the two players at the same age they’re pretty close skill-wise. If you read what most analysts say, they will tell you that LaMarcus has the potential to dominate at both ends of the floor and I believe it.
Even if the Blazers have to over pay LaMarcus to keep him I bet you they will. I would rather overpay a player like LaMarcus who has limitless potential and a hard work ethic than a player like Amare Stoudemire who is not as well rounded of a player.
I have had the exact same
line of thinking Norks.
By the way when will you admit you are KP? In the offseason?
He's Coming! Oden Slayer of Giants
Makes sense, but
I know that lamarcus isn’t exactly a west coast guy, and that he wouldn’t be the third fiddle on a lot of other teams, but there is one big catch: restricted free agent
Lou deng was a restricted free agent, he’s never been too happy in chicago and they’re always trying to trade him, didn’t matter, they gave him cash, he stayed ditto for ben gordon
Igudala signed, ellis signed, Beidris, josh smith, Okafor signed with the F*****G bobcats,
all these guys signed with loosing team, sans igudala.
There are reasons that LA might leave, but restricted free agents are hard to sign away from their teams, unless we trade him for chris bosh, he’ll stay
Ben Gordon took the qualifying offer instead of agreeing to what the Bulls offered and will likely bail in the summer unless the Bulls put a lot of money on top which they declined to stay out of luxury tax
He is the only example that would worry me. But yes I’m not terribly worried.
The cake is a lie. Trade the cake!
Third fiddle?
Right now he’s a runaway second fiddle.
I think one thing that's really important is PAM
I know he’s not immune to this, but among the NBA owners he’s pretty well-positioned to weather this storm.
In other words maybe we don’t have to madly shed payroll over the next year ot two like many teams.
I take back all the bad things I said about Paul Allen during the bad times. Love you Paul.
Blazer Fan
For some reason
I’m not worried. Maybe it’s a gut feeling, maybe naive, but I just see him re-upping.
An admission: After the OKC game, I said some things. Stupid things. Things about Nate not knowing how to coach GO. It was only then I realized that I was in danger of becoming that which I most loathe - an uninformed, knee jerk fan who reacts to wins with wild delusions of championships and losses with trade and firing fodder. I will not be that fan. From this point on I will support the Blazers, the coaches and front office wholeheartedly, offering praise and criticism appropriate to the matter at hand. I will never again be "that guy".
Blazeaddict
2/9/2009
I'm with you
My head knows that what Norsktroll says is right on. Aldridge could leave in a couple of years. But at this point, I don’t see any reason why he would. It’s not something I’m worried about at all.
Last October, KP told a small group of us fans that he hears all the time “you can’t keep everyone, you’ll have to let some of those quality players go once their rookie deals are up.” He looked us straight in the eyes and told us that although that might be true of many teams and many organizations, with Paul Allen as an owner, there’s no reason why the Blazers can’t keep any player they want. I’m taking him – for now – at his word.
I am not worried either
cause he is a restricted free agent. He knows that Paul Allen pays his players well. This ain’t the Clippers! I don’t think that a team will offer him ‘crazy’ money because of the current economy. There isn’t a GM that stupid still in charge. No Isaih Thomas and no Scott Layden!
Yea exactly
come on guys do some research. He’ll be a restricted FA so even if he wanted to leave the WORST that would happen would be a sign-and-trade. This is a complete non-issue.
Another factor is that....
Bosh and Stoudemire have already had their first big contract. I doubt either of those guys wants to make less money than they are worth, but if LBJ and the knicks are knocking on their door, they might take less money to play there because they have already made 10’s of millions of dollars. LMA will be looking for his first big contract, and I have a hard time imagining anyone out bidding Paul Allen. Plus we can match any offer anyway.
The only way that LMA leaves is if there is a big falling out and he refuses to play here. The Blazers aren’t going to match a big offer for a guy that wants nothing to do with this team. I would say the chances are slim to none and that scenario….
RUDY > MJ
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