No offense to my brothers/sisters here, but a lot of y’all had no idea who GW was b4 he came to town. Shame on u. He plays hard ALWAYS. Contract year or not. He will be our best player on the floor 50% of the time. I’d love to extend him. He’s only 29.

The biggest kind of injury for our team, IMO, is one that affects Camby. That would be detrimental. Go Crash!! ahem… Predator!

Wallace is so underrated. Even if his skills diminish with age he can still play a Kurt Thomas esque role.
Buchanan seems to be doing a good job. I wouldn’t mind if he keeps the GM job. Nolan Smith has showed some flashes too.

This is all about gathering as much information as you can before making offers.

As they are supposedly in negotation with Nico right now, it only makes sense to begin the conversation about the most likely alternative. If by talking to his agent you know Crash will sign a max deal if offered, you can factor that into the decision re: Batum’s offer. If you know Crash is gone… maybe that changes what you;re willing to give Nic.

It doesn’t hurt, either, for Nico’s camp to know that the Blazers may have a very good alternative, so Nico would be less likely to play hardball…

I am sure he wasn’t thrilled to be mentioned in the Orlando trade rumors, best way for management to mend fences is to engage in contract extension talks. They know if he mopes and doesn’t play well his trade value isn’t likely to increase (although I think we all agree GW be too much of a pro to go that route).

I would much rather have GW/Batum than GW/Matthews. Of course, I don’t have much confidence that Batum will really blossom until he has a coach that will let him play and make mistakes.

Also, GW isn’t exactly a “skill” player. I think his productivity will drop off drastically when his body starts to age, which would make me reluctant to sign him to a longer term deal, even if the short term returns are as good as they have been through the first 2 games.

We should sign Wallace, trade Batum, and make a max offer to lure Kevin Love to return home. We have a ton of cap space next year and a “potential” in Batum who would be a mistake to throw big money at. We have a legit opportunity to land a big time player next year to pair with the rest of our roster. Crash fits into that picture perfectly as well.

What does the extension deadline look like for GW, since he has an option year?

This will really be the first test run with no true GM….these will be tricky with Batum and Crash both needing deals. Not sure we can keep both, fit-wise.

I think Wallace is Nate’s ideal SF and how can you not love what he does on the court. I am not sure Batum will ever become more than a nice fit SF, good player-but not a difference maker/game changer night to night.

Signing him gives us the ability to keep him or trade him with an in-place contract, which is more valuable to us – and the team we might trade him to. After all, if you don’t resign him now, what happens if he decides not to pick up his option?

As far as trading/not trading Batum, it looks to me like it may be a Matthews vs. Batum decision – particularly if Batum plays a lot more 2. Ideally, we want a player who’s solid playing both the 2 & 3. Saves money.

In any case, Batum has gotten plenty of playing time since drafted. He was the designated starter the first couple of years at SF. When Webster went down he was a rookie no one knew who was gifted the starting role at SF. Only since we picked up Wallace has this become more of an issue.

Longest contract possible.

luv wallace but the other night was ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!