Trade Ideas 1/20/12

When Raymond Felton arrived to Portland, I was unsure whether he was going to be a great addition and perform like he did in NYC, or just be a bust a move on after the up coming free agency. Lo and behold Felton has yet to perform to the level that we are used to seeing. There are fans that suggest that after such horrible playing for Felton and a certain player who's number is eleven, but will remain anonymous. They exclaim, "trade"... the players are not getting better, they need to go. Perhaps it true, that they need to go, ship they out and let another team deal with them. Though, I think the player that needs to leave is Wallace. He's been a fan favorite and a great addition, if you only play home games. He's shooting 29% on the road, and 60% at home. The differences are staggering. At least with the other two, you know that they'll suck at home and away.

Gerald Wallace increased his stock a bit this year, taking advantage of it while it's hot is perhaps the smartest thing that this team could do. Looking at last year when Vince Carter was struggling on the road the while he played with the Magics, they couldn't deal with his up and down play so they go rid of him while he still had a bit of trade stock. There are players that are out that would be great to have in place of Wallace. There are a few players that the should go after if they are indeed looking to trade Wallace. 1). Danny Grainger - He's a couple years younger than Wallace and he's a proven scorer. He'll give you at least 20 a night. Batum would still be the sixth man, but I'd like for him to have a starting position to actually have to prove that he's legit. 2). Andre Igoudala - A couple years younger, he's athletic and plays man to man defense. He'll only give you 15 or so a night, but he's active and with Wallace gone at SF, the door is open for Batum to shine... this could be a make or break with Batum. Wes Matthews could pick up the sixth man rosters spot, leaving Crawford to still handle the ball. 3). He's young, but Jan Vesely - I doubt he'll be pried away from his team, but at 6-10, long arms and legit from three... given time this guy is a proven scorer. Once again the door is open for Batum, make it or break it with him,

The guy that I would trade for in a heart beat is Rudy Gay - He's a scorer, a proven player and someone Lamarcus could look for to take over the game while trapped in the post. This team has the options right now to go after other pieces... players like Emeka are available, he offers defense and is quite younger than Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas. Kennith Faried as a back up for Lamarcus would be great, just trade away Babbit and a 2nd round draft pick and we might have a chance to snag him. Nolan smith will be our PGOTF, trust me... he needs playing minutes to mature and that's on the coach for not putting him in the game often enough. Nate has seen him play in the World Basketball Games a few summers ago. I'm sure he knows he can. Oden is a beast when he's healthy and playing, not barring foul trouble either. I wouldn't let him go just yet, I let him get healthy and see what it is we have. If he does get injured, let him go... you can't say you've tried.

Finally, for all of the Chris Johnson, Babbit and Armon Johnson fans out there... give it up, they are scrubs! CJ gets backed down by point guards, while Babbit just proves how much he can't play every time he's on out the floor. Armon doesn't know whether to be a pg or a off guard, but the amount of turn overs he makes proves he can't handle the ball. It's true, this team has no luck after the 8th or 9th position on the bench, but I think trading draft prospects still haunts this team. Watching Jermaine O'Neal become an All-Star and becoming a dominate player, make this team not want to make the same mistake twice. So, with the trade deadline about a month away, I wouldn't be surprise if we saw a few moves on this team. Paul Allen is in win now mode, he's still trying to avoid the possibility of blowing this team and rebuild around LMA.

Well, share your thoughts... good or bad, let's discuss this team and trade ideas