it was nice to see the celts win but i thought it would be a better game. oden was a complete non-factor. i got some pretty good pics ill post some when i get a chance. we got ejected from the arena at the end of the 3rd quarter. sitting with all those rich stuffy people sucks. they all just want to sit there and be quiet, they should have went to church or something. oh well the game was over by then.
the portland trailblazers
- Thread starter phil
- Start date
Not too often that i agree with John Canzano, but have to agree here. I know i was calling for trades earlier, but im pretty happy with how things are going, so im flip flopping on all that.
A tip for the Blazers: No trades
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Oregonian
T rail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden sat in the corner of Tualatin's 24 Hour Fitness gymnasium on Monday with a black hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, watching a lunchtime pickup basketball game.
Relax.
He didn't play.
Oden just sat, and watched. Didn't break a sweat. I bring this up because it's exactly what the Blazers front office needs to do over the next few months.
Portland has Raef LaFrentz's expiring $12 million contract, which is attractive to just about any team struggling to fill the seats. It also has a good, young team that has a 15-7 record and is undefeated in seven home games. But the Blazers still feel like a team trying to figure out what it wants to be, which only means it needs more time and no dramatic changes until all that gets settled.
Easy thing to say, "stand pat," isn't it?
Except Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard is going to get buried in trade requests because he's holding LaFrentz's contract. Teams are going to ask for young, throw-in talent as part of the deal. Jerryd Bayless and Nicolas Batum, maybe. Channing Frye and Sergio Rodriguez, maybe. Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez, too. And Martell Webster.
It's going to be difficult to pass on potential deals that might immediately improve the roster on paper, and make beating the Celtics or Lakers seem feasible. But that's exactly what Pritchard should do -- pass -- because what you don't want to do is make a big mistake when you're still unsure what talent you have.
The Blazers' chemistry is working. The most beautiful part of this NBA season for Portland hasn't been Oden or LaMarcus Aldridge, but its wonderful surprises. And if you start shuffling the roster, you might not ever fully realize the surprises that haven't yet been revealed.
Pritchard spent the last couple of weeks scouting. He saw Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M play. And he won't say what his plans are between now and the February trade deadline, but the hope here is that Pritchard keeps preparing for the draft because it's where he's been most valuable to the organization.
Remember, it was Pritchard who plucked Brandon Roy from Minnesota in a trade on draft day in 2006. And while the box score on most nights makes Roy look like a nice NBA player, he's nothing short of an All-Star. The rest of the league is slow getting to the realization, but Roy is still growing as a star player.
That point isn't lost when you look at Batum, Bayless and Oden, especially. Because if we can't say how good Roy might someday be, we really can't say how good any of the younger players will be. Or when their potential will be realized, which is why it would be foolish to make a move of any kind at this point.
Even if the Blazers do nothing with LaFrentz's contract they'll be looking at $12 million to $15 million in salary cap room after this season. That flexibility gives Pritchard all the advantage he'll need when the time to make a move is right. Remember Blazers fans already believe Pritchard could outswim Michael Phelps, out-speak Barack Obama and whip Chuck Norris in a street fight, so why force anything?
The realistic goal this season in Portland isn't an NBA championship. Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers will play for that. But the Blazers surprisingly find themselves in the next tier of top teams. Making the playoffs, and winning one series would be a promising step for a team headed somewhere greater someday.
Pritchard credits Roy and Aldridge for setting the tone for their teammates. Said Pritchard: "If those guys walked around in fur coats, with a bunch of glamour and glitz, we'd have a bunch of guys wearing fur coats. But they don't. They're just good guys who want to win, and know how to play the right way."
That trickle-down effect isn't limited to the team's top two players, though.
It starts with Pritchard, who has made some incredible judgment decisions on talent. Uncanny good. Eerily successful. And there will be a time and place for Pritchard and assistant general manager Tom Penn to get active again.
Not now, though.
This is all going too well.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; [email protected] Read his blog at blog.oregonlive.com/ johncanzano Catch him on the radio on The Bald-Faced Truth, 3-6 p.m. weekdays on KXTG (95.5).
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...sports/1228796703218950.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
A tip for the Blazers: No trades
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Oregonian
T rail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden sat in the corner of Tualatin's 24 Hour Fitness gymnasium on Monday with a black hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, watching a lunchtime pickup basketball game.
Relax.
He didn't play.
Oden just sat, and watched. Didn't break a sweat. I bring this up because it's exactly what the Blazers front office needs to do over the next few months.
Portland has Raef LaFrentz's expiring $12 million contract, which is attractive to just about any team struggling to fill the seats. It also has a good, young team that has a 15-7 record and is undefeated in seven home games. But the Blazers still feel like a team trying to figure out what it wants to be, which only means it needs more time and no dramatic changes until all that gets settled.
Easy thing to say, "stand pat," isn't it?
Except Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard is going to get buried in trade requests because he's holding LaFrentz's contract. Teams are going to ask for young, throw-in talent as part of the deal. Jerryd Bayless and Nicolas Batum, maybe. Channing Frye and Sergio Rodriguez, maybe. Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez, too. And Martell Webster.
It's going to be difficult to pass on potential deals that might immediately improve the roster on paper, and make beating the Celtics or Lakers seem feasible. But that's exactly what Pritchard should do -- pass -- because what you don't want to do is make a big mistake when you're still unsure what talent you have.
The Blazers' chemistry is working. The most beautiful part of this NBA season for Portland hasn't been Oden or LaMarcus Aldridge, but its wonderful surprises. And if you start shuffling the roster, you might not ever fully realize the surprises that haven't yet been revealed.
Pritchard spent the last couple of weeks scouting. He saw Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M play. And he won't say what his plans are between now and the February trade deadline, but the hope here is that Pritchard keeps preparing for the draft because it's where he's been most valuable to the organization.
Remember, it was Pritchard who plucked Brandon Roy from Minnesota in a trade on draft day in 2006. And while the box score on most nights makes Roy look like a nice NBA player, he's nothing short of an All-Star. The rest of the league is slow getting to the realization, but Roy is still growing as a star player.
That point isn't lost when you look at Batum, Bayless and Oden, especially. Because if we can't say how good Roy might someday be, we really can't say how good any of the younger players will be. Or when their potential will be realized, which is why it would be foolish to make a move of any kind at this point.
Even if the Blazers do nothing with LaFrentz's contract they'll be looking at $12 million to $15 million in salary cap room after this season. That flexibility gives Pritchard all the advantage he'll need when the time to make a move is right. Remember Blazers fans already believe Pritchard could outswim Michael Phelps, out-speak Barack Obama and whip Chuck Norris in a street fight, so why force anything?
The realistic goal this season in Portland isn't an NBA championship. Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers will play for that. But the Blazers surprisingly find themselves in the next tier of top teams. Making the playoffs, and winning one series would be a promising step for a team headed somewhere greater someday.
Pritchard credits Roy and Aldridge for setting the tone for their teammates. Said Pritchard: "If those guys walked around in fur coats, with a bunch of glamour and glitz, we'd have a bunch of guys wearing fur coats. But they don't. They're just good guys who want to win, and know how to play the right way."
That trickle-down effect isn't limited to the team's top two players, though.
It starts with Pritchard, who has made some incredible judgment decisions on talent. Uncanny good. Eerily successful. And there will be a time and place for Pritchard and assistant general manager Tom Penn to get active again.
Not now, though.
This is all going too well.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; [email protected] Read his blog at blog.oregonlive.com/ johncanzano Catch him on the radio on The Bald-Faced Truth, 3-6 p.m. weekdays on KXTG (95.5).
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...sports/1228796703218950.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
^^^I agree. There's not gonna be a Pau Gasol deal this year so we might as well make use of the cap space in the offseason. Remember cap space doesn't have to be used on a free agent. Cap space also allows us to take back more salary than we send out in a trade. Remember when Seattle got Kurt Thomas and a couple future picks for nothing more than a Huge trade exception? They didn't even send a player back IIRC. They were able to do this because of cap space. On paper, we could potentially trade for a 20+ million dollar player and not even send a player back.