Hindsight 20/20: Off-Season Targets Recap
1. A legitimate 3rd Scoring Option on the First Team
2. Strong Perimeter Defender on the First Team
3. Powerful rebounding and scoring post to fully solidify the post rotation.
4. A true distributor who will generate opportunities for the team.
Target #1: Hedo Turkoglu was a legitimate 3rd Scoring option, has decent defense & rebounding but was also a strong distributor. Also Hedo was the most expensive target Portland went after.
Target #2: Kirk Hinrich was the 2nd option coveted most by Portland early. Kirks recent display of defensive strength in last seasons playoffs sparked much interest from the Blazers. Kirk also had the credentials to be that consistent 3rd scorer on the first unit, as well as being a solid distributor.
Target #3: Paul Millsap is a powerful rebounding and scoring post, capable of being the consistent 3rd scorer that Portland rotation currently lacks. There is nothing to prove that Portland didn't covet fellow PF David Lee just as much as Paul Millsap, but Paul Millsap was the better contractural opportunity? Who knows, but both of these guys were targeted here.
Target #3: Andre Miller is as "pure point guard" as you can get, and this guy is a great distributor. Miller is also a career 14.5ppg scorer and can be that 3rd scorer that is lacking for the Blazers. Miller is also a very good free-throw shooter and gets to the line effectively, a much unheralded skill.
I can see the fit very easily for Turkoglu, Hinrich and Miller, as well as understand the strategy in going after Millsap and Lee to even further the advantage Portland's frontcourt has. Of all of the 5 players named above, Andre Miller comes with the cheapest price tag and seems to be the likliest guarantee that the rest of the roster will benefit from playing with him.
After looking back at this off-season, do you all see KP & Co's priorities the same way as I wrote them here?
The only thing left remaining is whether or not Portland will add that powerful rebounding and post scoring player this offseason.
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"We can kid ourselves"
Miller is a great signing, but if Turkoglu would have wanted to be here and to win a title or two or three, he would have been the perfect and ideal fit for what was available.
"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"
if turk signed we'd be dumping travis martell bayless .... and maybe more for everyonees desired hinrich.
God bless KP for loving his boys.
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."
-Dave

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