No offense to Zach's game, especially his considerable improvements and better-than-before comeback from microfracture surgery, as his scoring and rebounding are important to any team.  But he is not a playmaker in any shape or form.

The ball goes in his hand, and he can score, but he can't ALSO create and help make others better.  If you go into him too much (as the Blazers often do), the offense stalls and others don't get involved enough.  This feeds into the anti-Zach squads belief that he is a black hole, but Zach wants to score and if you keep giving him the ball he will keep trying to score.

Roy has to make a effort to be a scorer like that, and usually turns it on when needed, and otherwise is looking for other's shots along with his own.  His playmaking is the key to the improved Blazer team, and necessary for our success.

So whereas Roy is MORE important to the Blazers, it doesn't mean Zach is useless.  A dominant low post scorer and rebounder is a luxury these days, and Roy and Zach have decent chemistry.  Zach's trust in Roy has helped make it easier for him to pass the ball, and having another offensive weapon in Roy makes things easier for Zach, and vice versa.  It would be even easier for Zach to score if eventually he becomes adept at passing out of a double team.  

The problem is that we make Zach the focal point of the offense, when he should be a second or third option on a successful team.  When we need halfcourt scoring and Roy can't create something, then we could dump it into Zach and see what happens.  But doing that as our first option is not only un-entertaining basketball, it slows the offense down and doesn't help others get in any kind of offensive flow.

Zach was the MVP of the first half of the season, but now that we're reaching the end it's clear that Roy is far and away our MVP.

LaMarcus's recent awakening and dominant play on both ends of the court doesn't hurt either... We have no replacement for what Brandon Roy does when he is gone, but we have a great fill in for Zach that is currently better at certain things that really help the team, and will probably be better at the things Zach does best.  If Zach was traded, as long as we weren't ripped off, most fans would understand and move on immediately, eager to start the Aldridge/Roy era.  I can't see anyone understanding losing Roy...

Mortimer  

So they've won 9 of 13... that's four losses.

Zach has four losses...
9/13 is MUCH better than our current average...

Maybe we should get rid of Zach AND Roy.

I'll wait until i see the blazers play in SLC again before I comment on this.  I need to see the flow and chemistry in person (no tv and I don't live in portland)

...some of that disparity is due to frontcourt vs backcourt dynamics, but give Ken (above) a gold star. He said it all in four words.

 . . . which one is"more important to this year's squad?"

I'd go Zach.
He's just responsible for a lot of single-handed wins from earier in the season.
Without that, we're into Memphis/Boston territory by the All-Star break,
and I don't think everyone and everything else develops like it has in that sort of failed year.

That said, of course Brandon Roy is more important to the squad
as it stands now (which I regard as "this OFF-season's squad"),
and is more important to the future of the team.

Or, in other words: Zach gets the honor, and never will again.

to trade zach, his stock has never been higher. roy/aldridge/sergio are the future of this team, and that future could start next year if we could get a solidly defending PF or C in trade for zach, who can run the court and pound the boards (not that zach doesn't pound the boards, of course a lot of his rebounds are off his own misses, but i digress). i, like everyone here, has noticed his tremendous improvement from the last few years, BUT i think that skews our judgement of him--yes, he has improved greatly, but i think in the end he still does more to hurt this team than help it. The offense just stops moving when he gets the ball. he still holds it too long and takes too many bad shots. the young-ins have proved we don't need to run our offense through zach, and we don't need to score through zach, it's his time to move on.

in the games Zach missed. The Wiz, Knicks, Hawks, and Raptors (Roy missed that game too).

Not exactly the cream of the NBA crop.

That said, I believe Zach is more important to this years team. He still draws the double every time he touches the ball, and when his head is in the game is extremely valuable. We might not have more wins than last season without his contributions. That's not to say that Zach is more important than Roy looking forward. But I think the oppositions gameplans and scouting reports are focused on Zach, and playing without him provided us with an element of surprise against poor competition.

I am a big fan of Nate's, I think he has been instrumental in changing the culture of the team, and, as such, it pains me to say this:

Perhaps, our 4-0 record without Zach is an indictment of Nate's gameplans and our predictable offense.

When The Blazers were on a four game (or something) winning streak and then Brandon came back and we lost four or five staright? I do. I dont think this conversation is looking in the right direction. Chemistry is what wins ball games. Sometimes we have it sometimes not. Sometimes Zach is the most important player, sometimes Roy. It matters what the D is giving us and who is aware of how to take it. Sometimes its LaMarcus. Sometimes Jack. Those record stats were loaded Dave.
Roy is fantastic..........sometimes. So is Zach..........sometimes.
From what Ive seen, Zach has been purposefully deferring the second half of the season. He led the team is assists two night ago and had 5 last game. He also has a whole mess of turnovers because he was trying to be more of a player that he's not (one with court vision) I think he liked what he saw when he was gone and tried not to rock the boat. Zach needs to do what Zach is good at.......offensive tunnel vision. Ball, basket......2 points.

Lamarcus and Roy arent getting double teamed.
Look, these guys are rookies. That means that defensive players are learning how to play these guys. They're just starting to compile and watch tape of these guys before they play the Blazers.
This year they're off the hook. Zach had a breakout year too, where everything seemed to come easy. Well these NBA teams prepare HARD for these games. When they do the game plan is usually to throw two or three guys at Zach. Why? because he's that dangerous....and he's not a great passer.  Im not saying Zach should be the center of the offense, but if you have a problem with that, talk to the coach. Zach didnt design this offense, McMillon did. Zach is just trying to execute.

I think its Nates job to find an offense that accommodates our growing options. He has not found that yet. The solution is not to throw LaMarcus into Zach's sets. Its to incorporate all of them in an offense that has more options.
Zach is a beast, he's our beast, now lets use him.