…. Ramon Sessions will be signed as an FA in the offseason while Bayless works on his ability to run the team during Summer League. Sergio will be used as trade fodder to move up in the draft.

Sessions should take over from Blake midseason and be the starter come playoff time.

I’d be happy with any of the above.

If we get one of the young bucks you try to keep Steve Blake, if you get Hinrich you hold on to Bayless and try to make him your backup (and maybe eventual starter?).

Then again if the team stands pat at point guard, but maybe adds a low cost veteran like Lindsey Hunter, and instead focuses their efforts on getting a well-rounded wing (who can create his own shot, who can drive, and who can shoot it a little) to take some heat off of Brandon and a solid backup power forward then I suppose we can live with Blake and Bayless and hope and pray that Jerryd really comes on strong this year.

Anybody else getting the feeling KP isn’t going to swing for the fences this off-season?

Rudy Fernandez (gasp), Jerryd Bayless (another gasp), Travis Outlaw, and the 33rd pick for Devin Harris? This is basically a wash in terms of salaries.

Why Portland would do it: The fans want an upgrade for starting point guard, and Harris is a significant upgrade over the other entries in the Blazer fans’ PG sweepstakes. He is not Paul or Williams, but he is in a class above Hinrich/Conley/Sessions, and he is young enough to be around for 6 to 10 years. It has also been discussed that there won’t be enough playing time for someone of Rudy’s quality, so what better way to solve the problem in using him to get another gem?

Why the Nets would do it: They get a sure-thing rising star in Rudy, a legitimate 6th-man-of-the-year in Travis, and in Rex someone who will be no worse than a solid player in the NBA and may be a future star. All are cheap and talented (this would appeal to the Nets’ GM), and can either be useful as players or in further trades.

Blazer fans will object that this proposal gives up too much, but we cannot get value without giving up value. Nets fans will probably complain it is not nearly enough, but they would probably get the better deal. This kind of deal is what we should expect if we want to consolidate talent in better players.

This would also decimate White Unit scoring, something we would need to address by another trade, through free agency, or the draft. Since we need a backup PF, and since we can probably afford to add two mid-level veteran free agent backups, I will assume we’ll get both via free agency.

The fan favorite free agent PFs include Paul Millsap (,566 TS%, 17.0 TRB%; $797K last season), Brandon Bass (.571 TS%, 13.4 TRB%; $826K), and David Lee (.590 TS%, 18.4 TRB%; $1.8M). All are restricted free agents; it is likely all will command premium offers (sabotaging my goal of finding two free agents); and it is equally likely their current teams will match any offers, unless we offer to significantly over pay. Charlie Villanueva (.522 TS%, 14.7 TRB%; $3.4M) is a more realistic possibility, but he probably (and rightly) thinks he has earned the right to be a starter. Either Antonio McDyess (.510 TS%, 15.6 TRB%; $1.3M) or Joe Smith (.496 TS%, 13.9 TRB%; $1.2M) would be nice and probably fall into the range of our pocketbook, but it will be an uphill battle convincing either to play here; McDyess wants to stay in the East, and Smith seems happy in Cleveland. If the Magic eliminate the Cavaliers, however, they may view him as the wrong spare part and he may become available. Leon Powe (.591 TS%, 17.1 TRB%; $800K last season) would be a very nice player, although he recently underwent microfracture surgery so is a big risk. Since he is restricted, the Celtics can match, but the surgery might mean they would be less willing to match a good offer. I would target Smith, Powe, McDyess, and Villanueva, in that order. I will assume we can get one of these, whom I will conveniently name Smith for this discussion.

There seem to be a lot of free agent guards who could replace Rudy on the White Unit. Free agent guards who might be worth considering for the White Unit include Anthony Parker (last season: .514 TS%, .415 3P% in 80 games; $4.6M), Von Wafer (.541 TS%, .351 3P%; $826K last season), Quentin Richardson (.510 TS%, .354 3P%, 72 games; $8.6M—ouch), Shannon Brown (.631 TS%, .326 3P%; $797K) and Eddie House (.592 TS%, .444 3P% 81 games; $2.6M). Brown has been a steal for the the L*kers, so they probably won’t let him go for a reasonable offer, and similarly for the Rockets with Wafer. House are small and play point guard, so may not be the best alternative, as we would have Blake available for the White Unity in my scenario. Richardson is a reasonable player, but has been injury prone and is too expensive. This leaves Parker as the best option of those I’ve considered—someone else probably has a better idea—and this really doesn’t thrill me.

An alternative that might be preferable to Parker would be to move Webster to SG as needed on the White Unit and to bring in a free agent SF. I would really like to go after Hedo Turkoglu, but his price tag would probably make it impossible to keep Brandon, LaMarcus, and Greg later. W could get free agent Grant Hill more reasonably. He is smart enough that he can still play despite his past injuries, and he would be a great mentor for Nick.

The final depth chart after all of this maneuvering would be

PG: Harris/Blake
SG: Roy/Webster
SF: Hill/Batum
PF: Aldridge/Smith
C: Pryzbilla/Oden

I personally like Hinrich. His defense is what impresses me the most, but he also shows up offensively in the playoffs. It’s also worth noting that he defended Paul Pierce some in the Boston-Chicago series even though Pierce had a few inches on him. The defense he played was pretty solid too.

Sessions wouldn’t be a good match for the Blazers. We need a PG that can shoot the 3 and spread the floor. I’m not a huge Conley fan either.

Everyone seems to agree that Sergio and Frye can both play—just not in Portland. Rudy can play—but there will never be enough minutes for him. Surely the Blazers aren’t the only team with this kind of problem. Which players on which other teams are likely to fit into this bucket? Some of them have to be point guards, and perhaps we should be looking at them as candidates for whom we could get the best deal in a trade?

Things could have changed in a couple of years. They may have thought the Sergio “experiment” would turn out differently, who knows? Maybe they thought Jarrett Jack was gonna be a keeper, back then? Maybe Ramon developed better than they projected.

You could be right, but my gut tells me that KP and the scouts liked Sessions then, and he fits what the team needs better, now