First of all, Roy and Rudy can play the small forward position sporadically. Second, Miller will be play only around 30 minutes. And third, Blake and Rudy are our two best 3pt shooters. At all cost, we should hold on to these two.

1. We got Andre (IMO) because we were concerned about Bayless stepping up to #2 PG. Trading Roy or Blake would eliminate that benefit.

2. Injuries happen. Andre is a stud, that’s great. (The pessimistic side of me says he’s due…) Rudy, Roy, Blake all missed time last year. Roy 4, Rudy 4, Blake 13, that’s 21 games * 48 minutes, which is just over 1000 minutes. Divided by 82 g, that’s about 12 mpg over the season that could be divvied up to ‘backups’
.
3. Blowouts happen. I sincerely hope BRoy does NOT average 34-36 mpg. Sure, in a big game, tight content, he might. But we’ll kill the man if we kept playing him as the one man gang like last year.

4. Miller is getting older, and to keep him fresh for our DEEP playoff run, I also sincerely hope he does not average 30-32 mpg. In a big game, tight contest, sure… But ALL of Andre’s stats should be expected to drop this year (withte possible exception of assists) because we don’t need him to score that much. I read that he adapted his play from pure assist to a shooter last year. Andre could average 10 apg, IMO, and maybe be reduced to 15 ppg… God I’m getting stoked about his arrival, and impact..

5. While Blake COULD be dealt at the deadline, I only would see us doing that if: (a) Bayless really improved, (b) we’re either NOT challenging for a title (barely in the playoff hunt, or © trying to get that championship piece – which I doubt will happen this year, with so many strong competitors.

6. Rudy is a PR’s dream, the living definition of a Pritch-slap, underpaid, young, athletic… I would be shocked and dismayed if Rudy was ever dealt. The ability of Rudy to play alongside Roy in the final minutes of a game is HUGE.

Now, small forward, THERE’s a logjam (Batum will likely start at the start of the season, Martell if healthy will get big minutes, Rudy and Roy look to get minutes there,Dante can play there, and then there’s Travis…. (my vote for next to be dealt, perhaps for way future draft picks, to re-load our championship team in a few.)

Don’t trade Rudy!

We need not have a wooden litteral interpretation of the Blazers positions when it comes to minutes. We learned from Dave that one of the Blazers best kept secrets is that BRoy is possibly our best SF and is sure to get minutes there. The writing is on the wall: thin out the log-jam at SF, and part ways with good players in Bayless and Outlaw (still valuable and deserving of minutes that aren’t available).
Depth chart:
Miller/Blake/Mills (use ALL PG minutes. Insert Blake for shooting, Mills for speed)
Roy/Rudy (use ALL SG minutes)
Webster/Batum/(Cunningham?) split remaining SF minutes left after Brandon get’s his
LA/Pendergraph/Cunningham (use ALL PF minutes-these guys can easily back of LA)
Oden/Priz (use ALL Center minutes)

that post dident clear any thing up thanks for trying tho

Keeping Blake and Rudy is really dependent on progress. Let’s face it, who brings back the best value? Rudy does, If Marty comes back with the ability to fill up with threes and score in the way that Rudy did then Rudy could be the player out. Although I agree because of Roy’s flexibility to play PG, that Blake is the most dispensable, I don’t think he would bring back the value that Rudy would, especially if offered with Outlaw. But right now, unless Pendy is really ready for minutes, (I doubt, unless spot) Outlaw isn’t going anywhere unless it’s a SCORING defensive PF they are looking for which is most logical. The attribute that Outlaw brings is the ability to create his own shot. When I think about what Rudy does, it is more obvious he is a great spark plug that shoots three’s but is limited to what he brings which is similar to Outlaw. On the other hand, loosing both Outlaw and Rudy would really hurt our bench unless Bayless becomes the scoring relief on the bench. For the Blazers the value of Rudy is really high, if we were to loose Roy.
 Having Roy, who can fill the PG, SG and SF positions better then any player on the team, allows so much flexibility. He is the key to the team. those other parts are only at their highest value if something happens to him. How do the Blazers fill the roster around that flexibility. It has been obvious that Rudy is a SG. He has struggled guarding 3’s and he has been left standing still by average PG’s. I believe if healthy that Rudy and Webster are in the same class shooting the ball. Webster’s main advantage over Rudy is defense which will create better mismatches offensively. Plus, Webster can play the SG position better the Rudy can play any other position except SG. Which brings me to think that it’s Rudy and Outlaw that will be traded at the deadline if Webster and Bayless progress and stay healthy.

Oden 26minat C
Prizbilla 22min at C
Aldridge 30min at PF
Outlaw 18min at PF 7min at SF
Batum 25min at SF
Webster 10min at SF
Roy 25min at SG 6min at SF
Rudy 23min at SG
Miller 20min at PG
Blake 20min at PG
Bayless 8min at PG

I dont know if the pg minutes will be exactly like i posted, but i for one dont think having your name known on the east coast qualifies you for 30mpg and a starting spot on the Blazers.

On the issue of SF’s i would definetly trade Webster before Outlaw. TO has been in the league for six years, you know your getting, an excellent bench player who can create his own shot and knows his role on the team. MW is more of unknown, if he can come back there might be some truoble geling, as he and Batum fight for the starting position.

also like another fan posted injuries free up minutes.

and have to take out the start half way through the 3rd. at the end of last year we were doing it to everybody the lakers got cream, we almost beat denver by 30 (we had something like 5-6 +30 games) don’t you fell that the garbage time for most of the blazers games well be in the 3rd and not the end of the 4th quather and happen more often

You wrote in your post that you think that by the Blazers signing Andre Miller we have too many players in the back court now. And because there aren’t enough minutes to go around, a trade must be in the near future and it will include either Blake or Rudy… and you think Blake should be the one to go because Rudy can play both the 1 and the 2, and so can Roy and Miller, but Blake can only play the 1. And you “LOLed” that Rudy could play the 3 because he’s a small 6-5 and would get killed at the 3 on defense.

Ummm. Where should I start? I’m going to be nice… I won’t even make fun of your spelling.

If you watched the Blazers this past year you would have an idea of the rotation they used… they basically had a 10 man rotation, with 5 starters and 5 bench players. Basically 2 complete teams, and anyone outside of the top 10 played very sparingly. The 10 player rotation included…

PG: Blake/Sergio
SG: Roy/Rudy
SF: Batum/Outlaw
PF: Aldridge/Frye
C: Przybilla/Oden

You’ll notice that of the 10 man rotation that was so effective for the Blazers last year, a couple of them are no longer with the team… Channing Frye and Sergio Rodriguez.

So assuming that a 10 man rotation is something that Nate is going to continue to use, we need a new point guard and a new back up power forward.

As they stand right now, the Blazers not only have a 10 man rotation again, but it is much improved from last year. We’ve added Andre Miller to the team to replace the worst player from last years rotation in Sergio. We’re also getting Martell Webster back from his injury that kept him out all of last season… but that gives us 3 small forwards, and we still haven’t found a replacement back up forward. I fully expect Webster to bounce back and at least be as good as before the injury, and Nic Batum should improve leaps and bounds in his 2nd NBA season… Outlaw is the odd man out at small forward. Luckily for Outlaw, he is most valuable as an athletic power forward, so it will be an easy move for him to slide into the backup power forward role… which is a very nice upgrade from Channing Frye, the only other weak link from last years rotation.

The new rotation looks like this…
PG: Miller/Blake
SG: Roy/Rudy
SF: Batum/Webster
PF: Aldridge/Outlaw
C: Oden/Przybilla

No trades are necesary at all. Bayless is going to get a few minutes every once in a while, but he isn’t ready to run an NBA offense, and he will grow a ton learning from a veteran like Miller.

Also, Andre Miller will never play as a 2 because he can’t shoot… he’s a career 20% three point shooter. And Steve Blake is a great shooter and much of the time acts as a 2 while Roy runs the offense. And Rudy played a decent amount at the 3 last season… he may get beat defensively, but that is what Oden/Przybilla are for… plus Rudy makes up for the poor defense with his offense.

Let’s think of it as 240 minutes a game. That’s 5 times 48. Our players have enough flexibility that I think we can just think of it in terms of the whole thing. So here’s what I think each guy should get.

Roy 34
LA 34
Oden 30
Miller 25
Rudy 24
Blake 23
Pryzbilla 18
Batum 20
Webster 20
Outlaw 12

That’s 240 minutes. If you want to trade anyone trade Outlaw and give his minutes to whoever is deserving. Some nights the game will be close and the starters will play more. Some nights it will be a blow out and the reserves will play more. Oh yeah and go ahead and trade Bayless too. He’s going to be nothing but a problem, because he thinks he’s better than he really is, and probably expects to get significant minutes even though he doesn’t deserve them.

Something has to give. the Blazers are too deep. We have five players who should command 20 plus minutes a game coming off the bench. This also leaves Bayless, Cunningham and Pendergraph out in the wilderness. What do you think happens to our lauded chemistry when starter caliber players can’t get in a game?

I think that our best bet is to pick our three core bench players and consolidate the rest for one upgrade.

 I understand all of the good points here, but name me the last NBA team with good chemistry that was too deep to win games! Maybe with veteran winers, but young talent? Oh yes, we will have some bitches, but Nate knows where the end of the bench is and he uses it. Injuries are probably the biggest thing in loses because it messes with your chemistry, if your young and deep and all have a place in the plan it is what makes us a 58 win team this year.

Blake will be a Blazer come October and trading Rudy is idiotic (why anyone would suggest it is hard to comprehend). Outlaw and Bayless are the only two Blazers that may get dealt before the start of the season.

I am in agreement with most ppl that Outlaw is most likely going to be moved in favor of a more traditional PF but my question is w/ pretty much only Outlaw’s $3.6 mil. expiring contract who can we get to fill this void? The fact of the matter is that there are not alot of players that fit this bill that are not highly coveted rookies or that are a clear fit for our team. But I will throw one name out there. How about Outlaw for Craig Smith (contract also conveniently expires after the season) & Deandre Jordan or a pick. Smith can score in the paint despite his smaller stature and would be a good fit behind Aldridge for 10-15 min. Also we get a decent center prospect in Jordan who played pretty well in limited min. last year. I would like to get more from Outlaw but by himself we have few options.