I really don’t like to think about this….

Here are some reasons to keep each one (keep in mind, I’m sure there are more reasons than I’m listing for each):

Rudy Fernandez: Already productive offensively; can handle pressure situations (AKA clutch); provides some sort of veteran-ness because he’s played in Europe for a while; raises the sexiness level of the Blazers 5 notches.

Nic Batum: Lock-down defense especially on the perimeter; decent 3-point shooter who will only get better; can run the floor for fast breaks AND erase some on the other end; tremendous potential… he’s only 19!

Jerryd Bayless: Good work ethic; brings intensity to the game; can jump through the rough; can create his own shot; athletic.

My reasoning for who the Blazers would give up and who I would give up are the same: Rudy would go(really it’s just a toss-up) because I’m not so sure his ceiling is as high as the other two. I could be completely wrong, but comparing his averages in Europe to the NBA, there wasn’t much of a difference. Granted, that alone is evidence that he improved, as the NBA is much more competetive than Europe. Also, he is older than Batum or Bayless and thus might be closer to peaking. Even though his production right now is better than the other two (offensively), I don’t think his max will be as high as theirs. So basically, I’m just banking on potential (yes, I’m one of those guys).

It completely depends on who/what we would be getting in return. I dont see the point in trading away any of our young potential stars for an over priced aging vet ala Hinrich/Prince/Turkey/etc. While I think those guys are definite upgrades over what we have at their positions now in two or three years they wont be. I like Hinrich, but if we are not getting him from the Bulls in a lopsided/salary dump trade I like him a lot less.

If by some KP miracle we were going secure an elite (and I mean top-tier/all star/Chris Paul type PG) then I would be most willing to let go of Bayless as we would need him the least if we bring in some all-star point. Bayless may be the best of the group in a few years but as of right now he is more expendable than Batum or Rudy in my eyes.

Really I cant think of any realistic options out there that I would be okay giving up any of them. The only way I could see moving any of the three would be in a blockbuster deal that would bring a top 10-15 player to Portland which I dont see happening. So I guess my answer is none of them.

If it’s next year I would move Bayless for playoff experience. If it’s any time after next year I would move Rudy.

Don’t trade young talent for aging veterens for short term results. . Batum, Rudy, Bayless, could all be better than Hinrich, Prince, or any older guy that takes their place. At this point in their careers, I value their potential over a veteren. We know what Outlaw can do (I like him and want to keep him), as well as Sergio, Frye. We should trade the players we have had for several years, but not the ones with untapped skills, until we see what they can do first.

….so here goes.

I think the answer to both questions is the one I like the least, and that’s Rudy Fernandez. Rudy offers the fire and intensity that comes from playing high profile basketball for years, and he can get the Rose Garden going like no other. However, I feel that if we do keep him, he will never be able to be anything but Roy’s backup. Bayless and Batum both offer enormous potential, but there isn’t the absolute clarity at the 1 or the 3 that we have at the 2.

Bayless has the absurd agility, the “ludicrous speed” setting and the ability to get to the rim that are all becoming must-have traits in NBA point guards. Steve Blake, for all that he is done for this team, is a borderline starter in the NBA, and I don’t really see him being able to help guide the team to anything beyond the first or second round. Bayless seems to have the intangible fierceness, ambition, and unflagging desire to win that will get a team through a slump in a key, late-game playoff cold streak, and that’s why I see him as a starter a few years down the line.

Batum needs to bulk up, but he has the footwork, the frame and the mindset to be a lockdown defender; even more so than he is already. The offense will come with time. He’s definitely not there yet, but he has All-Star potential at the very least, and he’s still very early in his development. Batum was, in his rookie year, a starter. End of story. Sure, he got his 12-15 minutes a night and let Outlaw come off the bench and do his thing. BUT, at the end of the day, he was still the starter.

SO, what we have are two probable starters, and one player who will always be second banana to the heart and soul of this team. And that’s why, as much as it pains me….Rudy Fernandez is the answer to both questions 1 and 2. Rudy has enormous value after this season, and if you put him in a package with Steve or Trout, you know we’d be getting a high-caliber player in return. Trading Rudy and some combination of the players stacked up at the 1 and the 3 gets you the veteran starter to complement Brandon, and hopefully facilitates the development of our remaining young talent.

Cheers.

My reasons for this are: Rudy plays the same position as Roy and may not be a long term Blazer as they haven’t proved to have exceptional chemistry on the court. He needs 30 minutes a game and that may not happen if Brandon becomes less productive with him on the floor. I don’t necessarily agree to all this, but I think that’s the general gist. And I think that KP gushes over Bayless and believes he is the answer.
I am less sure of Bayless being a player that can run an offense next to Roy than I am of the other two and their respective positions. We know much more about the other two players, I feel. Not as much of a question mark as BAyless. However, I do beleive KP knows what kind of player Bayless will become, and that is the future pg of the Blazers, next to Roy.

I would love to stand pat. However, in order to compete for a title next year, I doubt we can do that. With that being said, I would have to say that the talent we would need to be recieving would have to be superb for me to be willing to reliquish any of them. Why?

Rudy: You can’t deny his impact all last season. Rookie Record Holder for 3’s Made in a season? I sure didn’t see that coming. His swagger is something that everyone talks about, and rightfully so. He’s exciting, and he knows it. So, he when he starts heating up, he lets us know it. His basketball I.Q. is off the charts. Very rarely did I see him firing up ill advised shots. Defensively, he had some lapses. But, throughout the series with Houston, I watched he and Von Wafer chase each other all over the court, and make each other work for each and every shot they got. Wafer tended to light the Blazers up when Rudy wasn’t around. Coincidence? I doubt it.

Nicolas: As far as I’m concerned, he is untouchable. I am thoroughly convinced that he is going to be an all-Defense player some day, our version of Shane Battier. The guy who plays solid defense every game, and a clutch shooter. The only difference is that Nic can run, and doesn’t have to be a vocal leader at times. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone. Period. Not even LeBron.

Jerryd: The one man who I’m not as high on as everyone else. Yes, he does seem to have all the tools needed to compete, and excel in the NBA. Why then did he not play as much as Sergio? Is he not a practice player? I doubt this. I think we may be overrating him. As far as I’m concerned, he’s unproven. Yeah, he could score against D-Leaguers. He was good in college. But he has yet to show me that he is the one. In this respect I would be willing to trade him rather than the others, especially if it would mean we could obtain another point guard, and keep Steve at the same time. However, even though he is, in my mind, the most tradeable of our young guys I still wouldn’t deal him. The potential upside of him is astounding. He has the body of a beast. I only question his mental drive. All that would take is playing time, which from what everyone has been saying, is something he will be getting all next year.

As you have been posting about possible trades, and people whom we may obtain, I have grown more partial to the idea of Kirk Hinrich. Chicago may be willing to part with him for dirt cheap. They’re loaded with solid guards (Salmons, Gordon, Rose) and they might only want one solid player, and then expiring contracts, with a late pick that they could store in Europe. I would love to see him come over, and not limit the growth of Bayless. He would offer us a guy who can swing between the 1 and 2, and possibly lighten the workload of Brandon.

All in all, I look forward to the draft, because I have a feeling that is when we’re making most of our moves. We’ll see what happens, because I doubt any of us have any real say in what goes down in the war room. The only thing I fear from all these trade situations is a Pyrrhic victory. We become a championship contender for 1 or 2 years, but as the people we traded develop into great players (Which I believe they will), we slowly fade back into mediocrity and first round exits. That is my fear.

Bayless is clearly the one of the three that is easiest to give up, and it has virtually nothing to do with his attitude, skill, or development.

Batum is valuable because of his defensive sense, as so many key scorers in the league play SF, and he can (or we hope, will) defend them well. He is versatile on offense, and young with enough ability to start now, and a potentially very high ceiling.

Rudy is valuable because he’s a shooter. As he gets more comfortable slashing and driving, his value goes up. As Oden improves, Rudy gets more open looks, and when he hits them, he speads the floor for easier post work. He seems ok with not starting, and is a terrific way to spell BRoy, or pair with him for an offensive boost.

This leaves Bayless, more a victim of his role than anything else. He’s not a shooter (not yet anyway), and he’s not a pass first point guard. He’s not solidified even a back-up role, and he’s unlikely to be happy with few or no minutes for another year while his draft-classmates build experience, albeit mostly on lousy teams. His best skills replicate BRoy’s, not compliment them. He’s a shorter, more aggressive driving Martell Webster, without the sharpshooter range. Potential? Yeah, but how many tweener size guards have developed into top level stars? If he were 6’8" with a workable 3 point shot, I’d take the attitude and aggression and physical toughness in a heartbeat over Rudy.

Like most posters I want to say none of the above, but working within the confines of the question… My answers for 1 & 2 are the same:Bayless.

I understand the reasoning of Rudy playing the same position as Roy but this situation is similar to the draft in that all three are young, unproven players who are expected to improve. In the draft the Blazer’s philosophy is to take the best player available and from what I’ve seen on the court Bayless comes in 3rd place in that race.

In addition to that, of the three skill sets (as enumerated by the posters above) I think his skill set is more easily replaced than the other two.

The consensus seems to be we want to get either Hinrich or Conley for next season, and we want to get a backup PF. It is plausible we can get the backup PF from free agency (McDyess, Smith, Andersen are all available) or the draft (we ought to be able to move up), so PG is the biggest issue.

We hope we can get Hinrich for cap space + Blake or Rodriguez, but if Gordon leaves for greener pastures, they might very well demand Rudy as the price instead. I really want us to keep Rudy, because it means our offense doesn’t fall so far off the cliff when Roy isn’t on the floor, but I think I’d still trade Rudy straight-up for Hinrich. We can always find a competent backup SG.

If we want Conley instead, chances are the Grizzlies would be more likely to demand Bayless as at least part of the trade, because they already have their SG (Mayo) and SF (Gay) for the future. Depending on whomelse is in the deal I’d consder Bayless for Conley.

If you wanted to pursue bigger fish, like Devin Harris or Tony Parker, I’’d consider including Nick in a deal, but it has to be a pretty big fish.

is that while all of these guys are/could be good, each has a skillset that’s pretty readily replaceable within the draft, even without trading up.

Need a defensive specialist swingman who has a limited but potentially solid offensive game? Step forward, Danny Green, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute last year, too.

Need a quick PG/combo guard who can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim? Hello, Jeff Teague. Or any one of Aaron Brooks, Jordan Farmar, et al previously.

Need a sharpshooting backup SG with a high basketball IQ and a quick release? Congratulations, Wayne Ellington.

I’d rather have all our guys because they’ve at least proven something in the league as opposed to anyone of these late first rounders, but I’d be pretty confident any of those guys could step in and fill the same role.

As far as the two questions in Dave’s post, the answer for me to both would probably be Bayless. Not that I don’t think he can be good, but as has been pointed out, he had less to do with the team’s success this year than either of the other two guys. Not knocking on the guy, he just couldn’t make it on the court.

Of course, realistically, it seems to add any major piece, that Rudy will have to be going the other way, which I’d be grudgingly okay with. A rotation of Ellington, Roy, Nic, and a healthy Webster at the wings could replicate most of what Rudy gives us currently. Still, if I’m getting a PG, I don’t keep both of Blake and Bayless around, and if I’m getting an SF, I don’t keep Nic and Webster around, so if a huge piece were to be acquired, it would really depend on where that piece played before I made a final decision.

First time comment , but this is the Drazen Petrovic situation revisited. I think the outcome is the same, trade Rudy, as he is a really good complimentary player at a position where we do not have enough minutes to suit him. The minutes could be used in a better way, by acquiring a veteran player to fill more modest backup role and better balance the 2-3 positions on the team. PG will be sorted out in the process.

Only in that he needs to be traded not ultimately meeting Drazens untimely demize, no offense intended if anyone took any!

then Rudy is the main point of the trade, not just the promising talent with few value. We better have a good player for that package because it would be really sad to lose Rudy.

I don’t think they want to trade Bayless, because he’s a future good PG and if we get a young PG instead of him it will be the same problem, slow to start for about the same skills. Bayless is replacable but losing him would be losing time in my opinion. They’ll want to keep Blake starter and Bayless bench for this year.
Batum is the personnal development project of Monty Williams (not sure it’s him) so he won’t be traded.
Rudy is valuable because he’s fun to watch and he can attracts people to the arena. I’m sure teams would want him to fill their audience. Filling your arena is a good way for a team to get money.

If the blazers want to the big star deal then let’s trade Rudy. We can only lose 2 buzzer shooters (outlaw and rudy) to get a star. If it’s just a small adjustments trade then let’s keep him for 1 or more years and then we’ll trade him for a superstar.

The sad part is the blazers would be far less interesting to watch without Rudy Fernandez. So I’d like to keep Rudy for as long as possible. I wouldn’t want the Blazers to trade Batum either, if they do I would stop watching the Blazers. I wouldn’t mind if they traded Bayless but like I said it would be a waste of time, and a waste of value too because nobody knows what he can do.

1. Rudy. I think he’s somewhat redundant behind Brandon and the Blazers have to be wondering where these two fit together long term.

2. Rudy. I’d be more willing to trade Rudy than the other two mostly for the reasons I outlined above; he’s playing the same position as our all-nba shooting guard. People can talk about trying to make Roy a 1 and/or a 3 all they want, but the fact remains that shooting guard is still his natural position.

As for Bayless and Batum, I’m a huge believer in Bayless and I think his attack the rim style is going to be a more dangerous compliment than Rudy’s jumpshot, and Batum is untouchable since I see him being a lynchpin to the defense on the wing for years to come.

1. This is a tough one. I think its been made pretty clear by their refusal to include him in other deals that Batum is not going anywhere. The Blazers think they have a winner there. That puts it between Rudy and Bayless. I really think these two players are equally coveted by the front office. However, both players were rookies last season. As rookies, one got significantly more playing time than the other. For that reason alone, I think Bayless would be the one most likely to be traded. However, any trade that took place involving players in this group would be different, so the player who the Blazers most covet would definitely change.

2. This is another tough question personally. However, I think the answer is very similar. I think Batum is the SF of the future for this team. I see his offensive game starting to round out and start to approach his defensive level. When that happens, he’ll be the kinda player that you need to win a championship. Now, I don’t REALLY wanna trade either Rudy or Bayless. However, if it came down to it, I just think Bayless is a little more expendable. I think you can more readily get a player of his effectiveness than you can get a player like Rudy. But I’d still rather not trade any of them.

3. I would certainly trade any one of these players if the right deal came along. I’m sorry, but you can’t be too attached to the players on your team if winning a title is the ultimate goal. The team we saw last year is not coming back in its entirety next year. The team that ends the season next year will not be the exact same in the following year. These things happen. All you can hope for is that when the Blazers trade big assets like these three, that they get something comparable, or preferably better, in return so that the Blazers will be in a better position to win a championship.

Three players, three positions. Need assessment goes PG first, SF second, backup SG somewhere behind third center.

However, the Blazers have fiscal realities just like anyone else. This seriously affects the kind of player they would target in a trade. Do I see the Blazers going after a Devon Harris or Calderon? Not really. Hinrich, for all my bitching that he is an insufficient upgrade over Blake, would be the far more likely and palatable trade target.

PG on this team simply has to take care of the ball, defend 1’s, and shoot 3’s. Bayless has the tools necessary for all three, but probably won’t be real effective for two or three seasons. Instead, his value will be his ability to attack the basket and draw fouls. The Blazers do not have a lot of those types on the roster.

Batum is part of the solution, not part of the problem. He can make meaningful contributions right now while continuing to develop his game. I’ve argued this before, and I’ll argue it again, but Webster being added back to the SF mix creates a really nice platoon at that position.

Rudy is too versatile, too skilled, and brings too much moxy to give up for a bag of peanuts. He will develop into a player needing starter minutes, but trading him this season would be pulling the cake from the oven before it has finished baking. Rudy is a skill player with athleticism, and you simply can never have enough of that.

Ask this same question at the end of next season, and I think the obvious answer will be Rudy, because his trade value will greatly enhanced, and because the Blazers will be unable to give him the playing time he will deserve.

Harking back to my thesis statement (that the Blazers have to practice fiscal responsibility), the answer to the question is that there are no viable trade targets worth any of these three (i.e., no one available that would be a better complimentary player to Roy, Aldridge, and Oden).

He will miss games and everyone gets injured. Having Rudy on the team is a huge insurance policy and can mean the difference between keeping seed in playoffs and barely making it in next year.

Bayless is the first to go, providing the “big trade” is for a point guard and Blake stays as backup. Otherwise, Rudy is the first to go; as much as I enjoy watching him play, I fear he will always be a (small) role player on this team because he’ll play behind BROY and his defensive liabilities. Batum is the keeper!

i say trade blake, outlaw, and webster to clips for thorton and baron davis baron davis is a nice veteran who could teach bayless a lot and he will retire soon so bayless would take over and webster he has been injured he really hasnt had a good season batum is a good defender and will be good rudy is clutch and we need to keep the 3 point shooter and trade sergio to get up in the draft maybe for a ty lawson to be a back up point guard or even tyler hansbrough or a back up PF no blair he is to small jordan hill would be nice as well im a hansbrough fan though

blake outlaw webster for thorton and baron davis

sergio and 24th pick to get up in draft for hansbrough

Well said. I would like to keep all 3, but if 1 had to go, it would be Bayless. He has the talent, and the work ethic, but it will take 2-3 years of development. I would prefer to keep him and let him take Sergio’s minutes, unless we can trade him for an established starting PG.

He had his chance when Blake was hurt and it was not impressive.
He did play 3 good games ish in the season but I don’t think it enough to show much more potential.

Bayless should go. Gone, bye-bye, see ya, don’t let the door hit you. For the life of me, I do not see what the excitement about him ever was? We are a team laden with scorers WHO ACTUALLY CAN SCORE!!!!

We have no need for a “shoot first” point guard WHO CANNOT SHOOT!!!! Having a couple of nice dunks a year does not make up the other 99% of his playing time. He’s undersized in a small position — and I don’t care about his leap.

There is a very good chance that Rudy Fernandez may be a Larry Bird. He can do a little of everything, he’s as fierce a competitor as there is on this team, he is one of our best passers, has great vision, and he forces other players to be aware of where he is on offense as well as defense.

Battum, I’m not so excited about, although in the few games were he attacked the rim he showed sparks of what he can do. Still, he’s got the physique and size of a basketball player — maybe the next Marcus Camby if he patrols the rim a little better.

Bayless is completely out of the league with the rest. Time and time again I have seen that you cannot change a score first point guard no matter what you do. I say Bayless is off this team within 2 years, and out of the league in no more than 4.

when you don’t like a guy, you REALLY don’t like a guy. And when you like a guy, you really “lover” him.

1) Bayless is not undersized. Shooting PG’s win championships more often than “pure” point guards (Nash rings = 0; Kidd rings = 0; Stockton rings = 0). Whether or not Bayless can shoot has not been demonstrated (sample size; sample size; sample size)

2) I like Rudy’s game too. Just not to the point of Bird comparisons. Ever. Especially considering they have very little in common physically (other than the skin color coincidence, but even then I think Rudy has a bit more tone) and Bird played a different position. I think that matters.

3) As much as I like Batum, I don’t see him mutating into a shot-blocking center with a decent mid-range shot and supplanting Oden (or Prz) as the defensive anchor of the team.

Position for Position it is really difficult:

Give up Batum for Whom? Caron Butler?
Give up Bayless for Whom? Devin Harris? Ramon Sessions?
Give up Rudy for Whom? … … … I can’t even think of anyone.

If you don’t go by position, then you have to fill a need. We have enough SF’s, and Outlaw is the odd man out there. We have 2 1/2 SG’s, with Webster being physically a better fit at SF. We have 3 point guards, and Sergio is the odd man out there.

Trading Bayless is the only move that makes any sense from an upgrade from potential to proven veteran while not creating roster complications (Batum for Butler would devalue Webster, etc.)

Rudy can be our Barbosa, Jason Terry, perennial 6th man candidate, energy and points off the bench. Plus he brings big game experience and puts fans in the seats (which, ultimately puts money into Paul Allen’s pockets and keeps him willing to throw cash at the team). I’d love to see Outlaw’s minutes replaced (whether he’s on the roster or not, preferably not) by more Rudy and a healthy Martell — guys who will actually pass the ball and take smart shots and have some defensive potential.

Batum has way too much potential and low salary to even consider trading.

Bayless is a complete mystery and hasn’t earned any minutes at this point. Best case scenario is that we bring in an upgrade PG to start, let Blake back him up and leave Jerryd on the bench for another year or two until he earns more minutes in practice and spot duty. If he has any trade value, he’s the only one to consider but it would be nice to keep him in house to wait and see what he’s got.

Batum is not to be traded. Period. [And I won’t get into what if he was in a package for a superstar.]
Rudy showed 3’s, free throws, fast break, slashing and using screeens to cause havok … and he’s able to handle the ball and distribute.
That leaves Bayless. If he’s in a package to get Rubio … or if the Blazers actually valued Curry … or in a veteran package upgrading the point … or …

There are scenarios for trading Bayless. Otherwise, don’t. Yes, there are scenarios for trading Batum or Rudy—but fewer.

rudy = ginobilli (can’t trade)
batum = pippen (can’t trade)
bayless = ?

Bayless would be the most expendable, assuming that the blazers would get a starting PG (blake to bench) or a defensive PG and banger PF. Bayless could end up being a real good player like devin harris, but he may need to be the focus of the offense (like harris does) in order to tap that full potential, and i don’t see the blazers turning the offense from roy to bayless.
i think that rudy’s defense is greatly under-rated. he actually plays pretty solid defense (at least down the stretch), especially weak side, and he is always making the hustle plays (tip a pass, grab a long rebound, etc). his offense is obviously more developed but still has room to grow. talk of him being at his potential is rediculous. batum is untouchable.

A dynamic attacking point guard seems like a good idea, but is that really what Nate/Roy want?

And honestly, I think the Blazers are a little confused on this.

KP likes Bayless, I think. And he fits the bill for this type of point guard, but you can see how his erratic/risk-taking play makes Nate nervous.

I suspect that Paul Allen is pretty attached to Rudy, after all the work he put in to getting him here. But his defense and tendency to want to collaborate and be creative on the floor do not fit well with the coach.

Batum’s strength is defense and as such he is likely to be popular with everyone.

So, by elimination, Batum won’t get traded because he has great potential and the fewest negatives.

Rudy, won’t get traded because the owner loves him even if he does not fit in with the style of play in Portland.

Leaving Jerryd.

I think between bayless/batum/rudy the answer is easy and the answer is bayless. Here are three reasons….

1. there are two position on this team that we can get a starter at small foward and point gaurd… at small foward we have three guys in travis, martell, and batum. Batum has proven he can play in this league and with a little mor confidence on offense I think he becomes a star. Martell can shoot and could be good off the bench or starting but was injured all last year so he has to prove himself but assuming the foot is okay we know we have a player there. Outlaw is mr clutch in the fourth quarter in the regular season but stunk in the playoffs and is a polorizing figure to say the least. So you could put Outlaw in this proposed deal… and have two viable canadites at SF and no reall room for a vet. But At point gaurd you got one guy sergio who wants out badly and dosn’t fit Nates system in sergio so he is out. Jerred has yet to show more then potential and has not proved he can play. Blake is probally a bad start but a great bench player meaning that if he is your starting PG you probally aren’t gonna win a title but if he is coming off the bench for you then your PG position is rock solid. So if we could trade travis who isn’t really needed and bayless who isn’t even proven and bring in a starting PG like hinrich or conley or sessions then that makes a ton of sense to me.

2. Rudy Ferndaz will most likly have to be traded sometime down the road but we havn’t reached that point yet. If we ditch outlaw then we are gonna need bench scoring and thats were rudy becomes invaluable because he can score off the bench, and while I hav no doubt he could start for alot of team I don’t think he has played well enough yet that he has to start. I don’t think he yet qualifies in the jason terry/manu ginoble club of guys who come off the bench but could start for an team in the league. So I say maby next year or the year after if rudy is playing so well that he sticks out like a soar thumb on the bench then you move him in other words his value has not reached nearly its peak.

3. If you are gonna bring in a starting PG exspecially if you go with a young guy like conley or sessions or another young PG it makes more sense to trade bayless because it is hard to develope to young points at the same time. Plus blake wouldbe a good mentor to a young PG. Even if you bring in a vet like Hinrich or jason kidd or andre miller or whomever it makes more sense to have blake on the bench because of injuries, judjing by what we saw last year bayless might be able to handle the back up PG minutes but there is really no case to be made that he should be starting and you definitly would not want to be forced in to handing him the riegns should thier be an injury.

So to wrap it up if you could trade Outlaw who is a polarizing figure on your team and bayless who is at best unproven for a starting point gaurd thenI think that is the move you make.

I think the Blazers willingness to part with Rudy is in-line with my reasons for parting with Rudy, so I’ll detail point one with reasons why Batum and Bayless are not my answer for item 1:

• Batum was scouted and pursued and darn near stolen right out of the Spurs’s greedy clutches on the basis that Batum showed great potential to by a TP level SF someday. Thanks to Martell’s injury, Batum got a LOT of burn at the 3 and convinced a couple people (including MJ himself) that Batum’s ceiling looks more like Pippen than Prince, and that he is more NBA ready than anybody had imagined. Given this and the dirt cheap price of his current contract, there is no way we could get equivalent value for him in a deal.
• Regardless of what you think of Bayless’s physical strengths/weaknesses or his “PG-ness” or anything else, KP has come to his defense again and again, and the overriding theme in all of those defenses is “Jerryd is the hardest working guy ever.” Who else do we know in the NBA who has a near-legendary work ethic? Um, Kobe. Even the Blogfather himself pointed out in specualting on Kobe’s future as a coach that the folks most likely to succeed at ANYTHING independent of their natural talents are those with ridiculous work ethics. So it’s clear that the Blazer’s front office sees Jerryd as having a serious future in the NBA, even if nobody thinks he’s going to be the next Kobe. Maybe he’s NOT our long-term answer at PG. That being said, he will be far, FAR more valuable in the last year of his rookie contract than he is now.

2. So with Rudy, why am I willing to let him go? Many of you have hit on the fact that he is too good to be getting limited minutes behind B-Roy, and would want to leave eventually for lack of playing time. I agree with all this, but I additionally think that Rudy is not a guaranteed keeper even if he does get adequate minutes. He’s been very politic with the city and the fans about how happy he is to be here, the Drexler poster, etc, but let’s be clear. He’d be thrilled to be a L@ker. In fact, he might even harbor fantasies of starting at the 2 once Kobe retires. Once Sergio is gone he doesn’t really have any ties to this city beyond the fact that the fans show love like Euro futbol fans do. That’s nothing to sneeze at. But I think if he had the chance to start for a large market team he’d jump in a heartbeat. So then… if we can’t expect him to remain with the team longer than a good veteran starting to wane… then why not get the veteran?

for Butler i would move bat or rudy along with trout, webster, serg, picks ect… for a young stud pg ( harris and up, not the kirks or ramons of the world) i would move bayless and a similar package to the butler deal. Star pgs and sfs are not coming so we keep all three