Blazers after Ariza?

Trevor Has Suitors: The Lakers faithful saw a great series out of Trevor Ariza, who really rose to the challenge both offensively and defensively last night. League sources pointed to Trevor's pending free agency as the biggest problem for the Lakers saying that the Portland Trail Blazers are said to have a lot of interest in Ariza and could be the mechanism to drive up his price tag. Ariza told HOOPSWORLD this week that staying in L.A. was his top priority and that playing with Kobe Bryant meant a lot to him so it will be interesting to see how heavily the Blazers pursue Trevor.

over 2 years ago HurraKane212 41 comments 0 recs |

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I hope so.

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

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 15, 2009 9:45 AM PDT reply actions

I think we might as well make the price tag go up

That's right, that's a picture of me with my new bff Joel Przybilla. He said my Billy Idol Karaoke was spot on.

by svlittle on Jun 15, 2009 9:49 AM PDT reply actions

Another SF...

If we got Ariza, we’d definitely have to ship out both Outlaw and Webster. That… or ship out Outlaw and Rudy and move Webster back to SG.

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 9:54 AM PDT reply actions

shipping out Outlaw and Webster and bringing in Ariza is A-OK by me.

by jksnake99 on Jun 15, 2009 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Which brings us back to...

The fact that Webster has little trade value because he has been out an entire year.

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions

that's certainly true, but I don't really see any problem with turning Web into an emergency 2/3 out of the regular rotation if he can't beat out Batum, Ariza or Rudy.

by jksnake99 on Jun 15, 2009 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions

Can you imagine the sheer talent of the wings? Roy, Rudy, Ariza, Batum… and Webster as an emergency backup. That’s insane depth.

proud hinrichsheeple

by Cablinasian on Jun 15, 2009 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions

That's gonna lead to some serious PT unhappiness though

Although, it’s possible that we do this for a while so that Webster shows he is back to game form and then trade him.

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions

Webster seems like he would be really hard to move.

Doesn’t it seem plausible that they would move Rudy in that situation? Ariza and Webster can somehow fill the backup SG spot for 16 minutes a game no problem. I don’t think we would be missing Rudy all that much production wise. Emotionally it might be a little different.

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

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 15, 2009 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions

moving rudy would be a huge jerk move on KPs part

with all the money rudy left behind in spain and all of the courting kp and pa had to do to get him here, they get rid of him after 1 year?

Senior Asian ambassador of Blazers Edge

by Philthyanimal on Jun 15, 2009 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions

Not if they moved him to NY.

Not saying that would happen, but there are places Rudy would probably rather play. Even the Nets might be a good home for him and Sergio if you could swing a deal for Harris.

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

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 15, 2009 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Why would he want to play in New York?

I don’t get it?

The main reason players want to play in New York is for the extra sponsership money. But if Rudy left money to play with the Blazers, I don’t understand why it is clear that he would want to play for New York or New Jersey.

by staylost on Jun 15, 2009 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Because he said he did.

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

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 15, 2009 5:09 PM PDT up reply actions

+1

by In Walks Rudy on Jun 15, 2009 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions

Ok.

I am certainly wrong then.

I’d just never heard about it so I was confused.

Thanks.

by staylost on Jun 15, 2009 6:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Keep in mind that Rudy gave up money to play in the NBA, not necessarily the Blazers in particular.

True, if it was with the Memphis Grizzlies, he probably wouldn’t have come over.

The Kings have the best bench I’ve seen. There are easily 14 guys on this team good enough for every bench in the league. Now if we could only get some starters, I’d totally jizz in my pants.

Kings fan

by dyshooter182 on Jun 15, 2009 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions

there is a precedent

his name is Freddy Jones

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 16, 2009 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Lakers will sign Ariza

They will let Odom go. Odom was the guy unhappy with his role when Bynum was playing 30 minutes per game.

by Stegie33 on Jun 15, 2009 10:05 AM PDT reply actions

Good

Without Odom they don’t win any more titles.

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Here's hoping

Phil decides he’s had enough and retires

I don’t think “head coach” Rambis (or Brian Shaw) would get them back to the finals

by two4larue on Jun 15, 2009 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions

thats most likely

portland driving up arizas salary would help us either way…we either get him or la spends more to retain him. i dont think la will miss odom much considering his production can be replaced with more usage from bynum and pau.

Senior Asian ambassador of Blazers Edge

by Philthyanimal on Jun 15, 2009 1:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Yes... L.A. won't miss Pau

Just like the Pistons wouldn’t miss Billups because AI was just as good!

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions

do you mean odom?

Senior Asian ambassador of Blazers Edge

by Philthyanimal on Jun 16, 2009 12:06 AM PDT up reply actions

I am fully on board with Ariza. Ariza/Batum at the wings is a terrific defensive combo.

proud hinrichsheeple

by Cablinasian on Jun 15, 2009 10:10 AM PDT reply actions

And if we don’t get him, we better drive the price up.

proud hinrichsheeple

by Cablinasian on Jun 15, 2009 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions

Wouldn't it make more sense for the Lakers to let Odom go?

They can’t give Bynum enough playing time as long as Odom is starting (yeah he looked crappy in the playoffs, but I still attribute that mostly to coming back from injury and his time being yanked around because Pau is the better player). Odom isn’t too happy coming off the bench, though maybe that was especially due to being in a contract year. With Odom gone, they definitely would have the money to give Kobe what he wants (if he opts out, he could get a mega deal giving him $120 to $150 million). Then their new lineup could be Fisher/whoever, Kobe, Ariza, Pau, Bynum. Powell and Mbenga played decently this year. Walton never amounted to much, but he works in the triangle offense. Odom is great to create matchup problems, but considering age and cost I would hold onto Ariza.

by Norsktroll on Jun 15, 2009 10:37 AM PDT reply actions

I hope they do

Without Odom that team doesn’t win a title. Gasol was crazy important, but Odom gave the Lakers a bench advantage that few (if any) teams share.

by Zaig on Jun 15, 2009 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions

But there is this. They could hang on Spurs style to strike in a couple years.

It would be Kobe’s last hurrah and they would still have Ariza, Gasol, and could hope to have a cheaper good player that wants a trophy so that rebuilding would be easier once Kobe starts his serious decline.

by staylost on Jun 15, 2009 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions

Agree

Lamar Odom is unhappy with his role. He lost about 8 mpg during the regular season, taking a backseat as the bench player, although it was clear that he was far superior in his PF role of Odom/Gasol compared to Gasol/Bynum. Not to mention Trevor Ariza can’t get replaced as easily. The player that’s behind him is Luke Walton darn it.

The Kings have the best bench I’ve seen. There are easily 14 guys on this team good enough for every bench in the league. Now if we could only get some starters, I’d totally jizz in my pants.

Kings fan

by dyshooter182 on Jun 15, 2009 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Hope the laker players are as selfish at we make them out to be

I would love to see both Odom and Ariza gone, best case is probably just one of them are gone.
It is good both those guys just won a title it should increase their worth.
Please K*be be K*be and don’t take a pay cut to get his team back.

"Knowledge will get you from A to B. Creativity will get you anywhere." Einstein

by Garden of ODEN on Jun 15, 2009 11:16 AM PDT reply actions

K*be is a greedy man

There’s no way that he’ll take less money to help keep both Odom and Ariza…. one of them has to go, and unfortunately for this post it’s going to be the player that made $10M last season instead of the player that made just over $3M. So long Odom, hope you enjoyed getting a ring.

Blazers win!

by The X-man on Jun 15, 2009 11:55 AM PDT reply actions

i'm not an nba player

but i think once you make that much money, its less about money and more about “respect.” kinda like the forbes billionaires list is more about personal pride than it is financial security

Senior Asian ambassador of Blazers Edge

by Philthyanimal on Jun 15, 2009 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions

The Lakers will never let Ariza go.

It’s a great thought, but it’s not gonna happen.

by Garces on Jun 15, 2009 1:24 PM PDT reply actions

Batum > Ariza in the long term.

Yes! Yes! In the face!

by LeafHawk on Jun 15, 2009 1:54 PM PDT reply actions

Yes +1

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."

by Teri on Jun 15, 2009 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions

Odom is probally gone ariza probally stays

Odom will probally go unless he wants to take less moneybecuase he can be replaced coming off the bench by some vet that gets bought out at the deadline or by a MLE type player Ariza will probally stay because if he makes 5 mil a season which is a huge bump in pay then he would be half of what they were paying odom and they could spend the other five on a back up four. Odom would be a fun guy for portland to have though he can shoot, he can rebound he is long, he can play the 3 and the four, he can pass and get the offense going he has a ring and vetern experiance im just saying maby odomwould like to play in portland? …… just kidding

by kwestfan on Jun 15, 2009 5:21 PM PDT reply actions

Odom would have the same role in Portland as he does with LA.

He wants to have a bigger role than 6th man.

"Respect everyone, fear no one." -TP

by Arby on Jun 15, 2009 5:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Why is Odom such a whiner?

he is winning rings in LA and he still feels the need to complain about the itch in his butt

"shaq and zach randolph have the same trainer... "

best one liner i ever heard.

by bowdown on Jun 15, 2009 5:39 PM PDT reply actions

I guess it's not an itch but a sharp pain.

The Kings have the best bench I’ve seen. There are easily 14 guys on this team good enough for every bench in the league. Now if we could only get some starters, I’d totally jizz in my pants.

Kings fan

by dyshooter182 on Jun 15, 2009 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions