Player(s) most likely traded this summer?

by blazerfan7 on May 1, 2009 8:17 PM PDT

From what I saw throughout the playoffs, we cannot win without a pure point guard. Steve Blake is a good wide open three point shooter but everyone is quicker than him and he's not the best of distributors. This was obvious in the playoffs when a second year Aaron Brooks absolutely destroyed him and if he wanted to could have done it every play. Rudy Fernandez is better at every aspect of basketball than him and McMillan made countless mistakes leaving Blake in and Rudy out, especially the last 5 minutes of the game.

And with Martell coming back and Batum and Rudy deserving more minutes, will there be any room for Outlaw? He really struggled in the playoffs and has never been a very good on the ball defender.

I feel like an ideal situation would be to get an established point guard like Andre Miller and develop Bayless because he seems to have limitless talent, he just needs to settle down sometimes, but his energy is contagious. Getting rid of Outlaw and Blake for someone like Miller and a big guy like Reggie Evans who will only go and get boards.

Anyways what does everyone think about who needs to go and who stays?

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blazer hangover

I’ve been following this team more closely than any other blazer team in history. That’s due to so many outlets springing up all over the place. we can see all the games on comcast, the oregonian has a new article up every 12 hours, and blazersedge is off the hook yo. I’m kind of looking forward to taking a blazer vacation. a month or two of not consuming everything trail blazer. I might improve my performance at work or take up a new hobby like kayaking. I Think this will make it seem like next season will start even earlier.

by GoBlaze22 on May 1, 2009 8:48 PM PDT reply actions

so about your question on who stays or who goes...

I don’t give a darn. I’m off to go kayaking.

by GoBlaze22 on May 1, 2009 8:49 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs

im with ya

BLAZE…

ive never felt this close to the team in all the previous season, weve been overwelhmed with stories and inside info.

Vaca time, just like the blazers.

"Awesome! Totally awesome! All right, Hamilton!"

by Slickrex on May 2, 2009 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions

lol! +1

Nice. That’s where I am too, except for the kayaking. I think I’ll just go on some nice hikes in the mountains somewhere.

"She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
...I got better."

by Seijeff on May 2, 2009 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions

All of them!!!

Joel Freeland=Stud

by hightide on May 1, 2009 8:54 PM PDT reply actions

(making an angry face while shaking a fist at a picture of Yao)

Joel Freeland=Stud

by hightide on May 1, 2009 8:54 PM PDT up reply actions

Sergio, Channing, Michael Ruffin

Team option on Blake and Outlaw, they’ll pick up both.

If we can get Andre Miller, we should make it happen.

by baduk on May 1, 2009 8:59 PM PDT reply actions

I think I can speak for the 400+ comments in the Travis junk drawer that say

TRADE TROUT with the first trade of Draft Day!!!

Bring back Franz Bread Cards!

by newbergfan on May 1, 2009 9:45 PM PDT reply actions

Rudy

I know. I’m going to get killed for this, but nearly everyone agrees we need a very good PG. I think Rudy fits the bill as the most expendable Blazer who is worth a lot on the trade block. You simply can’t get something for nothing. I am envisioning a package of 3 or so guys, with Rudy being the pick of the litter, maybe with Sergio and either Blake, Trout, Nic or Martell. We get in return a solid PG, a so-so backup SF, and a mystery scrub.

I’m thinking we also try to sign a free agent for a backup PF.

2 hot 2 stop it

by dan_the_man on May 1, 2009 10:39 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

we can get one for nothing

via free agency can we not?

I got 6 years of playoff blue balls going on, and I'm ready to release. GO BLAZERS. ~Mortimer

by Philthyanimal on May 1, 2009 11:01 PM PDT up reply actions

One can certainly hope

I’m not up to speed on who’s going to be a free agent this summer. I could probably find it somewhere… but if you know where I can find a list, I’d be much obliged.

2 hot 2 stop it

by dan_the_man on May 1, 2009 11:13 PM PDT up reply actions

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10

I got 6 years of playoff blue balls going on, and I'm ready to release. GO BLAZERS. ~Mortimer

by Philthyanimal on May 1, 2009 11:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks

Weird. When a link goes in the subject, it doesn’t work as a link. The subjects are links, and apparently trump.

2 hot 2 stop it

by dan_the_man on May 1, 2009 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions

You might be right.

Roy is the best player in the world with the exception of Incarcerated Mike from Queensbridge .

by Nick Van Excellent on May 2, 2009 1:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I've been giving this a lot of thought as well

And take your comment seriously.

I love Rudy, but I’m plagued by one single thought: his game doesn’t seem to mesh very well with Roy.

I never once got the feeling all season long that they really knew how to play together on the floor. I want them to be able to and it seems like they should. But I can’t remember Rudy dishing to Roy and I only remember Roy making outlet passes off the drive for a Rudy 3 (and I swear, Rudy missed way more than percentages would suggest off of those Roy passes).

Bottom line, I feel like Rudy was a better player without Roy than with Roy.

If—and this is a big if—they can’t work that out (and is there any truth to the rumor that there is antipathy between these two players?), then I think Rudy is easily the best trade option we have.

That leaves Bayless to back up Roy and New PG (nice 3-guard rotation). I’m happy with Webster and Batum at that point at SF.

Makes sense. (I’m just assuming Outlaw is gone somehow packaged up in a Rudy trade with multi-teams).

So yeah, I love Rudy, but I tihnk he may be gone.

Buck Williams for the hall of fame

by Phizbin on May 2, 2009 8:52 AM PDT up reply actions

Let's not forget Roy's biggest aerial throwdown of the season was initiated by Rudy's inbounds.

I agree with you that their work together seems stale most times, but Rudy goes VERY well with Roy in my opinion.

Rudy is a pretty good spot up shooter and is someone who likes to make his dribble penetration off of mismatches created by others. Those go well with Roy.

Roy is slow down the court while Rudy is balls-to-the-wall every time. This gives the Blazers a chance to apply the fast break ala LMA/Rudy/PG while not taking all of Roy’s energy. Fast break and half court in the same unit, pretty cool!

So Rudy & Roy aren’t smooth enough together yet. I hardly think that is a good reason to give up. The main reason to give up for me is if neither of them improve significantly on defense. We need at least one of these guys to improve. Best situation is Roy can finally play some real strength based perimeter defense for most of the game and Rudy can gamble off the weakest opposing offensive player.

But here we are talking about trading someone who has a great chance of being the best three point shooter in the NBA for awhile. Someone who just might help break down the stupid incessent isolation plays the Blazers run exclusively (they are fine in certain situations…).

It doesn’t make sense to me.

by staylost on May 2, 2009 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions

A lot of the Rudy focus has been his play with Roy, so at SF

I have a problem with that lineup. It’s really small. Rudy just isn’t big enough to be a SF defender. Roy can’t really handle that either. They both get destroyed in the post. That’s why we need a full size SF. Webster, while he certainly needs work on defense, has about 50lbs on Rudy.

Something very true is that when Rudy is in with Roy, it makes Roy harder to double team and opens the lane, for fear of leaving Rudy open for a 3. That is especially true compared to Nic, who doesn’t command respect from the defense. Martell does command that respect, and was only marginally worse for 3s last year than Rudy was this year (38.8 vs 40%).

It is also true that with Martell missing the entire season, his return makes him a bit of a wildcard. That being said, if he comes back meeting expectations, our need for Rudy at SF drops to almost zero. That puts him back in the position he belongs as SG, but behind Roy he’ll only see about 11 minutes a game. That’s really not enough minutes for such a talented player. If we could trade Rudy’s 11 minutes for 30-35 minutes of an improved PG, shouldn’t we do it?

2 hot 2 stop it

by dan_the_man on May 2, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions

You make some really solid points

I definitely agree about the iso plays and their respective paces of play.

But I generally agree with Dan_the_man below: I worry about Rudy at SF.

Maybe there is some room if we can get Roy at point. Maybe Rudy brings the bal up and runs fast breaks (Roy doesn’t ever sprint and I want someone besides him to bring the ball up the floor) and Roy takes over in the half-court. Does Rudy have that kind of handle? I think so. That might be a working design that saves the situtation.

Buck Williams for the hall of fame

by Phizbin on May 2, 2009 5:43 PM PDT up reply actions

never gonna trade

rudy.

"Awesome! Totally awesome! All right, Hamilton!"

by Slickrex on May 2, 2009 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions

not happening.

This year is NOT a building season!!

by collectiveshane on May 2, 2009 10:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Steve Blake

Hits his open 3’s & makes the open pass. Not much beyond that. He is a good building block

- Blazers 2009 Offseason -

by TheGreatDane17 on May 1, 2009 10:47 PM PDT reply actions

What do you mean by "pure?"

I think they just need to be able to D up and stay in front of their man, hit an outside shot, run the pick and /roll/pop/slipscreen/ drive and kick, and finish at the rim. Who cares how “pure” of a PG they are?

Monta Ellis, Tony Parker, even gasp Chris Paul, are not “pure” PG’s in the Cousy mold.

Blazer's fan since '84, Spurs fan when they are not playing Portland.

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A B A START.

by HurraKane212 on May 1, 2009 11:11 PM PDT reply actions

Blake

Had a good season and has definitely raised his trade value, add Frye to the mix and you could get someone interesting.

Sergio had a neat season also, and Bayless was disappointing. I dont see either of them being very attractive, although I could see Phoenix or NY being interested in Sergio. Maybe even the Bulls or NJ actually.

by Xavier Garcia on May 1, 2009 11:13 PM PDT reply actions

SSOL requires the pg to shoot open jumpers

something sergio hasn’t demonstrated he could do since his rookie year.

I got 6 years of playoff blue balls going on, and I'm ready to release. GO BLAZERS. ~Mortimer

by Philthyanimal on May 1, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions

I, too, don't get why some folks believe that Sergio Rodriguez would fit with Phoenix, New York, ...

or Golden State, since one of his biggest flaws is shabby shooting efficiency—especially from beyond the arc. I’m still extraordinarily fond of possibly shipping out “Spanish Chocolate” — along with Martell Webster and Jerryd Bayless — to no man’s land in Minnesota for Mike Miller this July.

Hell, I laugh at the thought of Bayless and Rodriguez playing behind a starting backcourt that consists of Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair.

by AK1984 on May 2, 2009 12:28 AM PDT up reply actions

Mike Miller?!?!??!

DEAR GOD MAN. I wouldn’t trade Bayless for Miller he’s an unathletic gunner!!! Why would we want that when we have an athletic gunner in Rudy?

"Death is not final," Gita says. "If any man thinks that he slays, and if another thinks that he is slain, neither knows the truth. The Eternal in man cannot kill: the Eternal in man cannot die. The soul in man is neither born nor does it die. Weapons cannot cut it; fire cannot burn it; water cannot drown it.

The Bhagavad Gita

by Idog1976 on May 3, 2009 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions

Ugh

Frye is a RFA that is not worth the cap space his qualifying offer will cost, because of this it is best for Portland to not extend the qualifying offer to him and thus not be able to trade for him.

www.freeoden.com Coming soon

by 123_G.O._RipCity on May 2, 2009 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions

*Trade him

Not trade for him

www.freeoden.com Coming soon

by 123_G.O._RipCity on May 2, 2009 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, Raef LaFrentz is a more practical sign-and-trade option than Channing Frye.

By extending the one-year qualifying offer to Frye, it’s possible that he’ll just sign the thing and cost the Portland Trail Blazers $4,264,761 next season. In addition, if Frye is extended the qualifying offer, his cap hold will be 300% that of his previous season’s salary (i.e., $3,163,769 X 3 = $9,491,307). Lastly, Frye would be a base-year compensation player for trade purposes — as well as have an automatic no-trade clause in his deal — if he signed the qualifying offer, since he’d receive a raise of more than 20%.

Indeed, Frye will be non-tendered by the Trail Blazers and wished well in his future endeavors.

by AK1984 on May 2, 2009 12:58 PM PDT up reply actions

How is LaFrentz a better sign-and-trade option than Frye?

LaFrentz’s huge contract is finally over and his injuries are going to keep him from ever playing again… so why sign a 3 year deal to LaFrentz and what leverage would that give Portland? Or better, why would another team be interested in taking on a NEW LaFrentz contract when the dude can’t bring anything to the court?

On hte other hand, Channing Frye is only 25 years old, has been locked in a system that won’t use his skills consistently and has decent upside still. Frye can actually be an asset to a team who is looking to add some size to their front court and a guy who can knock down J’s and Tre’s… Especially if Frye can bring his skill set to a team that has a dominating PG (CP3, D.Rose, D.Will etc.). Frye has value, LaFrentz doesn’t. Also Frye is a restricted free agent, LaFrentz is unrestricted… anyone could sign LaFrentz but why? We have a chance via RFA to still leverage Frye… so why not when he still has value in the market place?

by Portland Dynasty on May 4, 2009 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Yo will you give Bayless a break

by VinnyB on May 2, 2009 5:39 AM PDT reply actions

He's still young and has talent

so we just have to be patient with him. I like the idea of going out and signing Andre Miller and then trading Outlaw and Sergio for a veteran SF that can defend and likes to drive to the basket instead of shooting the jumper. We can look to the draft to get our backup PF that just rebounds, like Blair or Lawal.

by VinnyB on May 2, 2009 5:43 AM PDT reply actions

So how would you divide up the small forward minutes between Webster, Batum, Rudy/Roy, and the veteran SF that takes it to the rack?

www.freeoden.com Coming soon

by 123_G.O._RipCity on May 2, 2009 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions

Andre Miller is good

But I don’t see him fitting with Roy for some reason. They have similar games actually. How old is Andre?

by twggyy on May 2, 2009 7:21 AM PDT reply actions

he's Mutombo's older brother

My stubbling is perfect...

by In Walks Rudy on May 2, 2009 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions

I thought Greg was Mutombo's older brother

2 hot 2 stop it

by dan_the_man on May 2, 2009 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions

He is 33

On one hand it could be good to get him so he can kind of bridge over the couple years until Bayless is ready to run the team. The downside is that with Miller starting and Blake off the bench Bayless will never see the light of day. Maybe it would be better to not renew the Blake option and go after someone like Sessions who is young and has a tremendous upside and have Bayless come off the bench for him.

This is all depending on how big of a stride Bayless can take in this offseason but if this was to work out we would have two solid pg’s with huge ceilings set for a decade. I would also rather have Hinrich than Miller because he can defend three positions pretty effectively.

Please do not feed the B-Rex

by BRoyTheNatural on May 2, 2009 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions

He wouldn't fit with Roy because he can't hit the 3

I wouldn’t mind getting Miller, but we can do better.

www.freeoden.com Coming soon

by 123_G.O._RipCity on May 2, 2009 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

Andre Miller, 33, is a poor fit 'cause he can no longer defend quicker point guards and is inefficient ...

from beyond the arc. It’ll be interesting to see where Miller ends up next season. As it is, I expect that the Philadelphia 76ers will go with Willie Green and Louis Williams splitting times at off guard — while Andre Iguodala runs the offense — as well as sign a cheap, cost-effective sharp-shooting weakside cornerman like Wally Szczerbiak to backup Thaddeus Young at small forward.

Regarding Miller, the Miami Heat looks like it’d be a good fit for both parties. A one-year contract worth the mid-level exception should be enough to intice Miller in a down market, too, with him assured of a starting role over Mario Chalmers, who’d be better served as a backup at this early point in his career. Indeed, a backcourt of two outstanding isolation drivers, Dwyane Wade and Miller, would be a defensive nightmare for some teams.

by AK1984 on May 2, 2009 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions

How about a backcourt of....

Two outstanding pick-and-roll drivers in the starting line-up: B.Roy plus J.Bayless. Defensive nightmare for sure, not to mention the “And-1” Factor.

Yeah, I agree that Andre Miller is not the right fit for Portland… Maybe Mike Bibby, but I am riding the trade for Kirk Hinrich train with all the luggage aboard.

by Portland Dynasty on May 4, 2009 9:36 PM PDT up reply actions

THIS UPCOMING Season

will showcase what BAYLESS has to offer,

"Awesome! Totally awesome! All right, Hamilton!"

by Slickrex on May 2, 2009 1:05 PM PDT reply actions

Mike Bibby

How bout package someone like Channing Frye and Steve Blake for someone like Bibby. The man can still ball and he is only 30 years old, at least 5 good years left.

by blazerfan7 on May 2, 2009 4:39 PM PDT reply actions

Bibby is a FA

My avatar is 3 years into the future for sure...

by Taskmaster on May 2, 2009 6:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Trade blake, Outlaw for Parker

We should try and spend our roughly 10 million in cap space on Paul Millsap. We would easily be the most feared team in the league. We would have a center and pf two headed monsters and would outrebound by even more. He is a great defender and is a terrific rebounder. Then we could trade draft picks, outlaw, and blake for tony parker.
Starting unit:Parker/Roy/Webster/Aldridge/Oden
2 unit: Bayless/Rudy/Batum/millsap/Pryzbilla
Our second unit would almost be as good as our first unit.
Saying on average each player misses around 7 games on average then these could be the minutes distributed.
Roy:35mn
Rudy:27mn
Parker:34mn
Bayless:15mn
Webster:25mn
Batum:15mn
Aldridge:36mn
Millsap:30mn
Oden:28mn
Pryzbilla:16mn
This would lead us to a championship!!!
please get it done Mr.Pritchard

by philthebballplayer on May 2, 2009 5:45 PM PDT reply actions

Also with parker

With him and roy slashin it would leave rudy, roy,webster, and batum open for threes.

by philthebballplayer on May 2, 2009 5:55 PM PDT reply actions

Some options

Sign Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions

Both of these guys bloomed into solid players once they received playing time, and they are both great options for the blazers. We can move LA to the 3 spot and have an intimidating backcourt with Sessions and Roy.

Sign Artest

Since Artest has been pretty clean(Media-wise) and is still a good option. How about signing him to a deal? He could mentor Batum, and is still a solid option at this time in his career. I don’t know how much he would fetch on the FA market, but I think he would be worth the chunk of change

More options later :)

Kevin Pritchard for President

My avatar is 3 years into the future for sure...

by Taskmaster on May 2, 2009 6:55 PM PDT reply actions

Really Tony Parker?

San Antonio would never give him up. Especially for just Outlaw and Blake, Hes the face of that franchise…… well either him or Eva Longoria….. i dont know yet

by blazerfan7 on May 2, 2009 7:00 PM PDT reply actions

No Joke

Tony Parker is the Spurs franchise guy…at this stage he is much better than Duncan. Maybe they’ll trade Ruffin for Manu too!

Sometimes I feel like I'm going in different directions...

by porterfan30 on May 2, 2009 8:32 PM PDT reply actions

So out PGs can't stay in front of quick PGs

Isn’t that part of the reason you want a shot blocking center or two. Mind you it would make it easier for Oden if he didn’t have to try so often but he’ll learn to guard the rim instead of driving guards.

So in conclusion Blake is sufficient until Bayless can take over the offense. Making rash decisions, would be the worst thing to happen to our francise. Doing nothing at all would not hurt us so much as nearly every players trade value will rise being our players are still young and improving.

by NWfan on May 3, 2009 12:32 AM PDT reply actions