Blazers' new line-up.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 7:03 AM PDT

Okay, so I know this is not set in stone, and there's some work to do, but in all the crowing about the Felton trade, I don't know if people are stepping back and really looking at the Blazers' new line-up.

Check out our starters:

PG - Felton

SG - Matthews

SF - Wallace

PF - Aldridge

C - Oden

Yes, yes, yes, Oden's a big question mark, but step back and look at that. That is a pretty kick-ass starting five! One former All-Star with at least a few productive years left in Wallace, Aldridge is Aldridge and will be an All-Star next year, Matthews has proven his effectiveness, and Felton may be a lateral move, but we just got younger. Oden may or may not come around, and that's the big question, but come on, I think we've got a lot of reasons to be excited.

Now check out the bench:

G - Roy, Mills, Williams, Diebler, Smith, A. Johnson

OK, we've got a glut here for sure. Two or three guys will have to be cut or traded, most likely Mills and Johnson. But Diebler could be the sharpshooter we haven't had since Rudy's rookie year, Roy has shown he still has magic left, Smith looks potentially great, and Williams...well, we'll see. There's a lot of potential here, and, in Roy, some top-flight talent.

F/C - Batum, Babbitt, C. Johnson, Camby, Barron

Obviously a weak spot. But check it out - Nic Batum off the bench! Not bad at all. Clearly, the team could use one or two solid contributors here, but as I said above maybe the guard glut can help with that. Taking Faried seemed like a no-brainer, and maybe a missed opportunity, but maybe the team can put together a trade or two to help out, and who knows, maybe Babbitt will start to come around- the darkest hour comes right before the dawn. Johnson showed he has potential to be a solid back-up, though, and I look forward to him being a Blazer for a while. Marcus Camby is still Marcus Camby, no slouch even though his career's winding down. I doubt Barron will be around next season, and he was barely here last season.

What I'm trying to say: I really don't think Blazers fans have reason to be down on this move. Last season, the team seemed one or two players short of legit. Now, with Roy and Batum as bench players and solid starters replacing them, they may be those two players. All they need is some front line help. Luckily, they have the extra players to deal; if the team can turn a few of those guards into one or two solid reserve big men, and--the big one--if Oden does indeed manage to play, we have got a team on our hands!

What do you think?

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Comments

The forest for the trees.

Right now we’ve got a lot of fans who wanted a miracle, or, as Dave said, a spark to light the team. They want to believe that somehow that deal was out there, and that somehow, we missed it.

It’s a little more difficult to swallow the reality that it wasn’t out there, and we missed nothing. We simply had a contract that had value today, but none in a year, and exchanged the players for one who would have value for 8 years, not 2. That’s too pedestrian, and too boring.

It’s called impatience. We’re making progress, but the KP years and the expectations that were built up around Roy, Aldridge and Oden simply will not go away, even though two of those three either haven’t played, or won’t, as in Roy’s case, be an all star again. Miller, apparently, was going to get us CP, or if not CP, maybe Harris, or if not Harris, maybe Parker. Sure, and we’ve all got bridges to sell.

And no wants to look a year downstream right now because then they’d have to ask themselves just what, a year downstream, you’d get for Miller – as in a lot less.

They still think that a championship will magically appear if only we can find that next CP, Roy, or Oden, or whatever.

And when all you’ve got is Miller who has a couple of playing years left, a contract, and the 21 pick to get that spark, the management found that just a little bit harder than the fans seem to think it is.

by Eben Calder on Jun 24, 2011 7:19 AM PDT reply actions 8 recs

Good point, I agree.

People still expect to have that 2009-2010 season that never happened.

But I seriously think this team, with a tweak or two, can be very, very good next year.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 7:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Agreed.

Encouraged to see there are more people out there who don’t think the Blazers are over forever

by sabonis11 on Jun 24, 2011 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions

I know I do not speak for everyone on this

but the reason I am upset with this draft has nothing to do with just trading Dre for Felton. What upsets me and what i find incomprehensible is Faried was there at 21. Take him. Then work out your deal with Denver. But what it all looks like is we traded Rudy, Andre, Kenneth Faried, Jordan Hamilton, and Kopenen to get a younger but less accomplished PG (lateral move at best, with him only having one year on his contract a rental at worst.), a shaky 6’7" SG whose only attribute is 3 pt shooting (no defense, no handles, no scoring other than 3 pt.) and yet another combo guard. We literally handed Denver the bigs they need to beat us. (You remember they are in our division right?) While selling the farm to draft another guard that will not see playing time and who will most likely wind up playing out his career as a back up on some other team. (Bayless 2.0, Jarret Jack, Sergio etc…)

We did not address the PG situation long term. We did not get any help for Camby. We did not get a backup for LMA. All we did was look foolish while addressing none of the teams needs.

So in my estimation, this draft will almost certainly turn out to be worse than last years, which was one of the worst drafts I have ever seen. I am starting to wonder if Josh McDaniels suddenly became part of the Blazers organization. All this draft day did for me was make me throw up in my mouth a little bit every time I think of the possibilities that we passed up to get a mediocre PG and another stupid combo guard. Way to go Paul and friends.

by BlazerFanFromDenver on Jun 24, 2011 7:41 AM PDT up reply actions

How is Felton not addressing the PG problem?

26 years old, solid player. I don’t get it. You seem to assume he’s going to be absolutely terrible or something, and Felton has demonstrated he is at least a solid PG in this league.

Yeah, the Faried thing was weird. I think it was a belly flop. But with all the guards, the team can still improve on the front line.

Yeah, Diebler’s one dimensional. So are Kyle Korver, Mike Miller, Bonner, etc. Are you going to say they’re not valuable players to have? Shooters have their place and their use.

All your apocalyptic talk just seems a little over the top to me.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 7:46 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Felton only has one year on his contract

There is no guarantee he will resign with the Blazers. So we basically put a pause on the PG search. Do not get me wrong, I like Felton. I think he has skills. I like him in Blazers uniform. But I feel like we are doing a lease to own sort of thing with him. And that to me doesn’t say we have addressed our PG long term. I think that is what irks me the most about Felton.

I am certainly not saying 3 pt specialists have no place. The examples you give are all excellent examples of those type of players. And picking a 3 pt specialist with the 51st pick isn’t a bad thing by itself.

But I am pretty tired of the combo guard infatuation this team has. Has any one of them worked out for us? Not recently.

And addressing the front court seemed a no brainer. And Faried was right there at 21. What did we need to help our front court? Rebounding. What did we get? nothing. Sure there is a few days worth of FA before the CBA goes down and the team may make a move to bring in a backup PF or C.

But all boiled down, it appears that we either were so in love with Nolan (which I find incomprehensible, plus he is a dukie) or passing on Faried was part of the Denver deal. And if that is the case, we did not just trade Rudy and Dre for Felton (which would have been fine with me), we traded Faried, Hamilton, Rudy, and Andre for a guy we may only have on the team for a year. It seems really short sighted.

My only hope at this point is they do make a move before CBA d-day to bolster the front court. Otherwise we will probably see the same dead tired LMA in the playoffs next season and another first round exit. I guess my feelings are the Front court was a bigger need than the point guard. Again, I know I don’t speak for everyone with this opinion. It is just how I feel right now. Let down by what I consider to be a desperation move that makes little sense to me. Hopefully the team knows more than I do and this really was the right move. (It is really not question tha the team knows more than me lol.)

by BlazerFanFromDenver on Jun 24, 2011 8:10 AM PDT up reply actions

I think the one year remaining is completely overblown.

No one will be able to offer him as much as we can. Even with the NBA proposing a hard cap. In fact, I think that fact leaves us as the only team who will be willing to offer him much of anything.

"Anybody might guess beforehand that there would be blunders of the ignorant. What nobody could have guessed, what nobody could have dreamed of in a nightmare, what no morbid mortal imagination could ever have dared to imagine, was the mistakes of the well-informed." - G. K. Chesterton, The Common Man

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by T Darkstar on Jun 24, 2011 8:51 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

i do as well

when was the last time Portland traded for a player, who:
a) Had less than 2 years on his deal
b) The Blazers wanted to resign
c) The player spurred the Blazers by signing a deal with someone else 1 or 2 years later?

The Blazers traded for Camby, he had less than 2 years left, he could have left via UFA, but he resigned. Besides him, I can only remember Frye and Rasheed who were traded for with less than 2 years on their deal. Frye obviously left, but the team didn’t even try to keep him, and Rasheed signed a long term deal the year after he arrived in Portland.

I think Portland’s inability to keep its players is overblown.

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by usmcr3049 on Jun 24, 2011 1:20 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

You're doubts seem couched in one big assumption: that Felton won't re-sign.

At this point, there’s no way to know whether that will happen or not. There’s no reason to think he won’t work out fine, won’t like being on a winning team, and won’t find his groove in Portland. Remember how prone players are to falling in love with Portland once they get here.

I’m in total agreement that giving up Faried was weird, and I agree that the team didn’t really seem to need Smith. As it is, I think the Blazers definitely need to make some moves, because the current roster, while promising, needs some work.

But I really don’t think this rates as a “desperation” move; I think Felton is the best PG the Blazers had a chance of getting. Let’s get real: CP3 or Parker was never going to happen. I think Felton is a good chance to take.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions

i think faried was part of the deal.

they just didn’t trade picks with denver because they didn’t have to…

by SaveOden on Jun 24, 2011 8:56 AM PDT up reply actions

I thought that initially...

But do not believe that now. Of course, Blazer FO would probably never say they wanted Faried. I think they decided on a guy who can play both ends over a one-dimensional player. I would have gone with Faried, but time will tell if Faried would have been the better choice.

by 52therim on Jun 24, 2011 11:16 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

guess we'll never know.

if faried was part of the deal, both teams probably liked the idea of not explicitly trading the picks to save face for whoever traded the better player.

by SaveOden on Jun 24, 2011 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions

well put, I am one that do feel that there were other deals out there…for what ever reason we didn’t want to make them ""so Far""
there 4 -5 key playser just out on the west that will go down before next yrs playoffs…we have Batum and Camby if we part with them I hope its for a key player…example Howard we trade batum then he decided to walk a yr later….who has one a championship with a great Guard and a scoring presence down low

by Danvegas on Jun 24, 2011 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions

oops I meant to say won a championship without having a great guard and a scoring presence…Denver,Dallas and soon to be lakers have all gotten better in the last few days and to think that memphis and Oklaohoma will not improve? I like having a winning season but just dont see us getting it done with this line up

by Danvegas on Jun 24, 2011 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions

Wesley who?

Between Matthews and Roy, I think we’re in pretty good SG shape myself.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions

"What do you think?"

I think that you’ve got 16 players in your list and that Mills will not be re-signed, which leaves the Blazers with the appropriate number of 15

I think that the PG position will be a lot stronger next season

I think that health is still the X factor

by Storyteller on Jun 24, 2011 7:43 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

You'd go forward with so many guards, then?

I think a transaction or two is still called for to make the roster make sense.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 7:51 AM PDT up reply actions

Nope

Just gives Portland 15 players right now, including Oden, Smith and Diebler (who are all three technically not under contract for 2011-12).

I think another trade for a frontcourt player will be coming at some point….

by Storyteller on Jun 24, 2011 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Mainly Oden's Health.

by aPleasureToBurn on Jun 24, 2011 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I thought the idea was to balance out the roster?

We still have 3 PGs ( assuming Mills is gone, could be 2 if Armon is gone too )

And we finally off loaded Rudy and got another shooting guard in return (who still might be conveyed to Detroit)

I’m curious to see how this plays out. If we stand pat, Camby and LA are going to be logging a lot of minutes this coming season.

BOOM THO

by Blazers 4 Life on Jun 24, 2011 8:16 AM PDT reply actions

one trade can't do it all.

there is still free agency and the rest of the offseason to make trades.

by SaveOden on Jun 24, 2011 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions

1 – 2 bigs will definitely be added to the roster. Patty is gone and Diebler will play overseas I suspect.

by 52therim on Jun 24, 2011 11:19 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

i agree, 2 bigs - 1 who could start if needed, and 1 solid cheap guy

by SaveOden on Jun 24, 2011 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions

line-up

C Oden
PF LMA
SF Wallace
SG Batum
PG Felton

C/PF Camby
C/PF C. Johnson
SG/SF Matthews
SG/SF Roy
SG/SF Diebler
SG/PG Elliott
SG/PG Smith

Inallthetime

by inallthetime on Jun 24, 2011 8:20 AM PDT reply actions

Batum as a SG makes no sense at all.

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 8:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Except he plays SG for French national team and Nate/Buchanan already said there is a plan to use him some there.

by dwt on Jun 24, 2011 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions

I really don't buy into this.

No offense intended.

He simply does not have the handles. He has the shooting ability to be a good SG and the court awareness, but if he’s caught on a switch he’ll be stripped by the opposing PG.

by panfolk on Jun 24, 2011 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Look again at just the starting lineup

I think the dust has yet to settle on the reserves, as far as who will be cut, who will be added, etc. But if you look at just the starters, that’s a group that should be able to play lock down D and get out and run, and failing a fast break opportunity, pound the ball inside. Obvioulsy health and coaching style are still big questions marks, but the roster is finally starting to make sense as a unit that fits together. I have to say, I’m excited.

by zbrum on Jun 24, 2011 9:09 AM PDT reply actions

Exactly!

by stavrogin on Jun 24, 2011 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Just remember that Oden

probably won’t see any court time until end of 2011 or early 2012, and that includes practice court time. Coming off that type of injury/surgery, and not having been in any kind of basketball rhythm for several years, this year will only be a working into shape year for Oden. He will not be able to really show his stuff until 2012 season, at least, and that assumes he stays healthy this year.

I really hope he gets healthy and stays with us, but to expect anything this year out of him is just a fantasy.

by blazed on Jun 24, 2011 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions

When do you think Oden is going to be starting?

If Oden is not able to go that leaves us with Camby and LA to play 96 minutes of big man. CJ? OK, 86 minutes. We will be lucky to get 25 minutes out of Camby and more likely he will tweak something and be out 2-4 weeks. A big was our biggest need and we whiffed. That bench is WEAK as heck. We are putting a lot of hope in a guy that will not have played in TWO years and finding castoff FA big men (PLURAL). I thought the goal was to balance the roster so LA can concentrate on dominating not getting run down like last year.

by LicketyBrindleDowntheMiddle on Jun 24, 2011 2:51 PM PDT reply actions

why do you think we'll enter the season with a frontcourt of LMA-Camby-Johnson?

"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'

by sammymohawk on Jun 24, 2011 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Because we have had two years of being really thin at the 4/5

And is a glaring weakness of this team yet we use our one draft pick on a reach combo guard at 21?

by LicketyBrindleDowntheMiddle on Jun 24, 2011 4:14 PM PDT reply actions

GOOD POINT

but our pg position was a glaring weakness especially our back up position more than anything smith was a great pick at 21 and we got a younger at pg.. if oden can stay healthy all i can say is watch out

by ripcity12 on Jun 24, 2011 6:01 PM PDT reply actions

We picked up Felton and kept Batum and Camby.

That’s very important because we still have our most valuable trading option and a large expiring contract available if we have the opportunity to upgrade either the 2 guard for shooting or the front line. I fully expect that the Blazers are looking to add a front line player that can step in and give us 15-25 mpg routinely. They know we need it, and so do we.

Dave thinks we went sideways, I think we made a step into the future. The future, after all, did not include Miller or Camby, and may very well not include Roy if the new CBA permits us to shed the contract. These 3 players, after all, were consuming some $34 million of our salaries. Obviously, the Blazers decided to cash the Miller chip today, and that signals that we can expect more changes in the coming year.

Miller and Camby were the vets we brought in to hold the fort for a few years while we tried to sort out Oden, and now Roy. The Roy era, however, is over. The future is now here, and we are now making the moves to continue winning while restructuring.

And we should keep in mind that Miller was valued by the league and potential trading partners, not the Blazers. What we got was clearly what we could do now.

I find it interesting, how none of these detractors are able to put a single name on the table that the Blazers were likely to get who grades out better than Felton.

And, they don’t even try. And in a year, who do you think would have been available that we could acquire who also grades out better than Felton?

Again, the detractors don’t want to go there either. So they don’t.

by Eben Calder on Jun 25, 2011 6:12 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

well said

"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'

by sammymohawk on Jun 25, 2011 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions

And, we should also keep in mind that we got rid of two players in

Koponen and Rudy who were unhappy, and had made it repeatedly clear. Frankly, neither had any great value, and neither were the answer we were looking for at the SG slot.

by Eben Calder on Jun 25, 2011 6:14 AM PDT reply actions