FanPost

Why I think any trades need to happen before the season...

There's a lot of talk now that the majority of the better UFA's have signed that there is no time pressure on the Blazers and they could make lopsided trades up until the deadline mid-season. I can't dispute that this is technically true but I also think there's a very serious risk if they choose to do this.

priority number one for the blazers should absolutely be acquiring upgrades at either the point or small forward. they need to take advantage of the cap room they have. to be blunt if the blazers net nothing out of RLEC and their 2009 cap space then i would consider this an abject failure on the part of Kevin Pritchard.

however there is another concern looming for the blazers which i also think they need to address this summer and that is the upcoming RFA status of brandon roy and lamarcus aldridge. if the blazers choose not to negotiate extensions for these two they would be able to match offers received next summer but don't think it's impossible that one of the two would receive an offer that the blazers would refuse. there are a number of reasons why 2010 will be quite different than many other FA periods.

a large number of teams have targeted the 2010 offseason as their opportunity to chase the big big names - lebron james, dwayne wade, chris bosh. in fact all of the following teams have less than 30 million in guaranteed money post 2010:

atlanta

chicago

new jersey

houston

minnesota

new york

miami

memphis

portland* (player option for przybilla )

oklahoma city

NOTE: These numbers are based on hoopshype which while probably not 100% accurate gives a picture of how many more teams have caproom as opposed to say this offseason.

that's a whole lot of suitors at the ball for the big 3 guys mentioned above. a lot of people are getting left at the altar next season. and when teams are left at the altar they many times they go for the next best thing and will do anything to get it. moreover lamarcus while probably a step below chris bosh, is a very nice player and next year with so many teams with FA money to spend it's going to be a player's market.

in short, the likelihood that a player like lamarcus would get offered a max contract is pretty high in my estimation. now there's no question in my mind that the blazers are willing to pay max money to roy. but are they willing to pay the same for lamarcus? i don't think that's a certainty. for one lamarcus should absolutely not make the same money as roy and two lamarcus really isn't a max contract stature player.

i think this is the summer to extend both players but the trades need to happen before as the extensions will take the team well over the cap.