You know the old saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. With the Hedo debacle behind us, there are only a handful of free agents available right now. One of them is Jason Kidd. He is on his last leg but he can fill a void the Trailblazers need ...a veteran playmaker that can take pressure off Brandon Roy. Not only that, he can had for relatively cheap and for 2-3 years. That will give us ample team for Bayless or another option to develop. Who knows, we might entice Jason Kidd by dangling an assistance position with Nate in a few years. Judging from the interviews Monty Williams have been getting of late, he won't be around forever.

Jason Kidd is taking the holiday weekend to mull over offers from Dallas and NY Knicks. Dallas offered him $24 million over 3 years and Kidd is leaning towards this. We can offer him a little more for 2 years. This is a stopgap solution that might work out for the best.

The downside to this is if Jason Kidd plays for us, we would go from the 2nd youngest team to the 2nd oldest team in the league. We can't be young forever. :)

UPDATE: Another reason NOT to sign Hedo, Rudy is unhappy!!

Rudy Unhappy

Does Kevin Pritchard really think Hedo Turkoglu is the missing piece to a championship? Really??

I mean it's one thing to get him cheap for 3 years, but to tie up $50 million for 5 years??? With that kind of money and commitment, there is no flexibility.  Hedo is a good playmaker but other than being clutch, he is not that efficient on offense and a woeful defender to boot. We already have Brandon Roy for at the end of game situations. 

Look at these stats:

24.08 PER – Brandon Roy
19.13 PER – LaMarcus Alridge
18.13 PER – Greg Oden
15.50 PER – Rudy Fernandez
15.15 PER – Travis Outlaw 45.3%FG, 37.7%3PT
14.82 PER – Hedo Turkey 41.3%FG, 35.6%3PT
12.92 PER – Nic Batum 44.6%FG, 36.9%3PT

I am also hearing the Trailblazers are going after Andre Miller too. Whatever happen to a defensive minded team KP and Nate?

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Alridge
Greg Oden
Andre Miller
Hedo Turkey

You think Oden had foul problems last year? With this lineup next year, I can't imagine Oden getting out the first quarter with less than 2 fouls.

I beseech you Kevin Pritchard, DO NOT SIGN HEDO TURKOGLU!

Looks like Rudy is training like Rocky in Spain. Looking like Rocky ...not so much. At least he is taking the off season seriously. I hope he does more than push-ups, perhaps visiting the weight room here and there.

He will probably spend most of the summer playing basketball for the national team. It's too bad he doesn't spend most of his time working on his game and getting bigger.

via cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com

via cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com

LINK

This is possibly the worst list of all time. NBC Sports created the Top NBA draft busts of all time list. Here are the top 10:

1. Sam Bowie
2. Shawn Bradley
3. Greg Oden
4. Kwame Brown
5. Michael Olowokandi
6. Adam Morrison
7. Todd Fuller
8. Jay Williams
9. Joe Smith
10. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves
    

So let me get this straight, they picked Sam Bowie as the #1 bust because he was picked 2nd and had bad career because of injuries?? They picked Sam Bowie over Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi? Those two just plain suck and they don't have injury excuses. Jay Williams made it in the top 10 because his career was cut short by a motorcycle accident??  By the same criteria, Len Bias should be #1 bust because he died and did not play one single game!

They picked Greg Oden over Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi after just his FIRST SEASON???

WHAT ABOUT LARUE MARTIN???? He is not even on the list!!!

UNBELIEVABLE.

LINK

Everyone is giving suggestions on what free agent point guard/small forward we should sign. I have a different approach. Lets not sign a small forward or point guard free agent. With Channing Frye leaving, we should concentrate on getting an EXPERIENCED backup PF. Who is the perfect candidate for us?

Chris "The Birdman" Andersen

20.6 mins 6.4 pts, 6.2 rebs, 2.46 blks, 18.16 PER

With the limited amount of minutes he got in Denver, he was AMAZINGLY PRODUCTIVE. He gets 2.46 blocks a game for just 20 minutes of playing time! He is a tough defender and likes to bang. He is happy to come off the bench playing either power forward or center.

Imagine a lineup of:

• Hinrich/Bayless (I am 50:50 with Hinrich - he is a defensive upgrade to Blake)
  
• Roy/Rudy
• Batum/Webster
• Aldridge/Anders2n
• Oden/Pryzbilla

Reasons for getting The Birdman

• We need a backup PF/C with some toughness
  
• He is a very good defender and is happy off the bench
• Relatively cheap. Anderson won't demand $10 million per year(Unlike some unnamed TURKey free agent)
• The Nuggets would be a magnitude weaker(our main division rival) without him and we will be stronger defensively
  

I know some of you are questioning his character and that he would not fit the "culture" of the Trailblazers. It is true that he has a colorful past. However, I think it also speaks a great deal of his character and perseverance to came back from being kicked out of the league to being a very productive member of a playoff team.

I know some of you can't stand him. But make no mistake about it, Chris Andersen provided energy and toughness for the Nuggets. He was part of the reason why they were so successful last year. And I can't stand him for that. However, I will stand up for him if he is on our team. :)

In the least if KP makes an offer to Chris Andersen, it will make the Nuggets spend more money. And that is a good thing. Chris Andersen is an unrestricted free agent which mean we can offer him anything we want and Denver is over the salary cap.