Didn’t jiggamant post this first?

…this is exactly how I feel about Ariza. Plus on a fully irrational, undefensible level, I don’t want to overpay for a Laker cast off. If we ended up paying Ariza 8-10 million a year, why do I get the feeling The Lakers would take it as a victory for themselves.

or his agent most likely, has told the L*kers that he wont accept the Mid-Level Exception from them, and basically they wont be getting a discount for his services….

2009-2010: $7,250,000
2010-2011: $7,750,000
2011-2012: $8,250,000
2012-2013: $8,750,000

Without question, that’s undoubtedly more fiscally prudent — as well as apt regarding roster contruction and offensive fit — compared to offering a declining Hedo Turkoglu, 30, an absurd five-year, $50 million contract.

Nic is already the better three point shooter, free throw shooter and shot blocker as a rookie, compared to Ariza who started very young and that was his season 5. Having two Nics is good, but not a desperate need.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=lU2Xd

What I find interesting also about these SF rumors: The Blazers obviously don’t count on Martell to contribute much next season although KP still talks about hoping for a breakout season. Or he and Travis would be moved.

free agent prices always get bumped up too much after a 20 game stretch of good to very good play. His season numbers except for the steals are not impressive nor was he impressive when ever I watched them on t.v. (not including the playoff)

if Turkoglu is under serious consideration why wouldnt you just move to Lamar Odom if Hedo does not work out?

What if he’s desperate to sign someone after every other free agent signs somewhere else?

Let’s hope so.

I think you can say that about Trevor and Hedo.

He’s way better than Turkoglu, not to mention cheaper and younger. And while Turkoglu lost the finals, Ariza actually won them. And how would he end up as a reserve? There’s no SF currently on the Blazers who’s better than him. Batum might become better than him, but that’s at least several years down the road. In my opinion, he’s definitely worth $6-8 million a year. He’s much less overpriced than Turkoglu. If we have to sign a FA small forward, he’s my pick. He brings defense, length, rebounding, athleticism, and efficiency to the team. That’s exactly what we need.

Thought before that this might be the free agents that get signed for overs. Detroit confirmed that by signing both Gordon and Villanueva for over market value.

Great article over at sums it up with Ben Gordon messed the game.

Whats all this talk about SF

But if you watched carefully, you could envision him being mediocre elsewhere.

For instance, Ariza hit a very nice percentage of his 3-pointers in the playoffs. But did you see what happened practically every single time one of those 3-pointers was less than wide-open? Ariza bricked it.

I’d love for the Blazers to pick up a guy like Ariza—a long, tough, wing who can defend multiple postions, run the floor, and hit the open three. But this is a role player we’re talking about; you can’t pay him top dollar.

Within a couple years, Nic Batum will probably be much the better player.

Trevor Ariza age 23: Regular Season PER (15.5), Playoff PER (14.7)
Hedo Turkoglu age 30: Regular Season PER (14.8), Playoff PER (13.2)

What does PER not account for? Defense. Which is the better defender? Trevor Ariza by 3 bajillion percent. He’s also THE best player in the entire NBA at defending LeBron. If you’re thinking about winning a Championship the next 5 years, who are you going to have to stop to do it? LeBron.

What they’re asking for…

Hedo Turkoglo: 5 Years = 35,000,000
Age 31 = 10,000,000
Age 32 = 10,000,000
Age 33 = 10,000,000
Age 34 = 10,000,000
Age 35 = 10,000,000

Trevor Ariza: 5 years = 35,000,000
Age 24 = 7,000,000
Age 25 = 7,000,000
Age 26 = 7,000,000
Age 27 = 7,000,000
Age 28 = 7,000,000

Fit on the team: Trevor Ariza is the quintessential small forward, who specializes exactly in the things Nate McMillan asks of the position. He’s a super elite perimeter defender who can defend big and small perimeter players alike. He’s strong enough to take on the biggest guys in the league, and is still capable of defending smaller 2’s. His offensive specialty is shooting 3 point shots, and especially in clutch time minutes when he’s also locking down the opponents best perimeter player. In these playoffs he knocked down 48% of his 3’s (over 60 eFG%). He also has a lower usage rate which is perfect because he’s going to be playing with Roy, LMA and Oden. I haven’t even mentioned yet that he just turned 24 yesterday, and he fits PERFECTLY into our teams window. He wouldn’t force the issue to be this year, but he’d be a gigantic factor in doing things we weren’t able to do last year. Our defense would not only get better on the front end, by adding Ariza to the starters, but you’re now throwing Outlaw’s minutes to Batum, upgrading defense for what would amount to 35-40+ minutes at the wing positions.

Fit on the team: Hedo Turkoglu is a very good player that requires the ball in his hands, and can create for our bigs and would help ease Brandon’s workload over the course of the game. He’s a pretty inefficient player shooting the ball however, and tends to put up bad shots, even when inside the key area he only shoots 53%, which is actually pretty terrible when you consider those are the shots you’d want. Even with jump shots, Rudy’s overall offensive game is better. Hedo also is a pretty inept defender, and is required to be hidden on the defensive end (Dwight Howard did pretty nicely – Oden isn’t there yet). He’s not nearly as good on the boards as Ariza is despite being taller, His quickness is also a significant liability, meaning the Roy would still be required to take the tougher perimeter matchups (which essentially negates the benefit of not being required to carry the offense all the time).

Question for Dave… was Shane Battier worth the exact same contract back when he signed? You’re pretty much getting the best perimeter defender in the league at his age. That HAS to be worth something.

I can not believe how people don’t love the idea of Ariza coming here. Not only do we get that much better, save 15 million dollars, improve our defense immensely, but we weaken our biggest rival and lock Kobe down for entirety of games, throwing Ariza and Batum at him the way Houston was able to throw Artest an Battier at him. This is a no-brainer first day decision I would’ve gone with, and I hope Hedo doesn’t work out so we can actually upgrade our team significantly for not just this year, but for the next 5.

It’s more than he’s worth, but that’s how FA generally works these days. Performing bigger in the playoffs than regular season is not a bad thing.

We would have to trade a couple guys same as with Hedo, but Ariza at least brings that lock down defender we want. Batum is not yet the defender Ariza is guys. He likely will be, if not better, someday. For now though having that combination would make life hell for opposing stars.

This offseason would turn around completely for me if we ended up with Ariza + Hinrich on this team. As would our defense.

A bench player demanding that kind of money. You don’t get to come to a contender and demand money like that.

I’m not convinced Batum is a sure-fire Hall of Famer like some of you but I certainly think he can duplicate the skills Ariza has, which are playing defense and hitting open threes. Whatever happened to that toughness we so clearly need? Hedo? Ariza? ?

Sign Leon Powe! He fits our need for a tough pf. Sign Powe (even with his knees) and find a pg. We’ll be set.

The offers won’t be nearly as large for Powe (again, knees), but he’s a tough guy and will rehab well.

Do not bid high on role players from finals teams!

Hedo and Ariza are both role players on their teams. It’s not like we’re talking about Kobe and Dwight Howard here. Let’s be clear, they will be role players here. Now, every team needs good role players, but it’s critical not to overpay guys like that so you can afford to pay the guys who win most games for you.

T Darkstar’s suggestion of waiting with cap space in hand is looking better and better, given the weak sauce the agents are feeding the press that we’re looking to throw our money at. No Hedo, no Ariza!

I agree it’s dangerous to go after flavor of the month but no way Hedo was role player for the Magic. Did you watch the playoffs? Most of the time the Magic’s offense ran through Hedo. He was the second most important player on the team after Dwight Howard. He was the engine that made Orlando’s offense go.

but, I’d rather pay 8 mil/year for an excellent defender with an above average PER that fits our window and weakens the Lakers than pay 10 mil/year for a 30 year old mediocre defender with a below average PER and who needs the ball in his hands.

Call me crazy.

Is Dave suggesting Outlaw and Webster are better than Ariza? If he is, then I could not possibly disagree any more than I do.

I basically exhausted myself typing Pro-Ariza posts on just about every Blazer blog out there in hopes that we could get some Ariza support going, and it looks like there are plenty of people on board.

No, Ariza is not a creator or a super-elite SF. But he is an excellent defender, a good shooter, and most importantly… younger and cheaper than Turkoglu.

Hedo would be nice, but $10 + Million a year just seems like the wrong move for a guy over 30 years old. Paying Ariza $7 Million a year is fine with me. He was one of the best players for the Lakers in the playoffs, and he knows it.

I think Dave’s post is way off. Ariza is better than every single SF we have on this team, and would start eery single game. He might have only made $3 mill last year, but he knows he is worth more than that today.

Dave writes..

“If he’s pulling down $8-10 million per year how much do you have to pay Outlaw or Webster, let alone Bayless and Rudy eventually?”

This is where your argument is flawed. The reason we are going after SF’s is because we arent satisfyed with any on our team. Outlaw or Martell would definitely get traded if we get Ariza. Assuming its Outlaw, Martell still has a LOOOOONNNNGGG way to go to prove he is worth anything above what we are already paying him. I wish him well, but Martell hasnt done anything near what Ariza has done in terms of developing defense & playing big in big games. Bayless is another unknown too. Rudy has played well so far, but right now he is just a 3-point shooter, and not the second coming of Manu.

I love the players on our roster right now, but Ariza is better than most of them and I have no problem paying him $7 million a year. Especially at 24 years old.

with the Rockets.

LAL is signing Ron Artest.