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.

And so it begins. Rubio won't be there at Minnesota's introduction press conference. Flynn and Ellington will be there but no Ricky Rubio. His father indicated Rubio might stay in Europe for a year or two. It is plain to see that they are leveraging for a trade with a bigger market team.

If KP and the Trailblazers have any interest in Ricky Rubio, they have a shot at him. I know Portland is not a big market but I have a feeling Ricky Rubio would gladly play with Rudy Fernandez and the Trailblazers, at least over the Timberwolves. We have more assets than NY :)

Perhaps something like this:

Travis Outlaw + Bayless + future 1st round pick

No Rubio at Today's Press Conference

If OKC drafts Rubio, they would be more willing to trade Russell Westbrook. I think we have assets OKC wants to pull it off. How about a Rudy Fernandez package for a Westbrook package? OKC will have a lineup of:

Ricky Rubio

Rudy Fernandez

Kevin Durant

xxx xxxxxx

xxxxx xxxxxxx

Russell Westbrook

Brandon Roy

Martell Webster

LaMarcus Aldridge

Greg Oden

Okay, the OKC lineup is not as scary as I thought. OKC desperately need front court help. Our lineup would be awesome. We will have the best rebounding point guard in the league.

In light of us starting slow in all three games thus far, I have a lineup suggestion. We should start this lineup:

Steve Blake

Rudy Fernedez

Brandon Roy

LaMarcus Aldridge

Greg Oden

This will open things up for Brandon Roy because they CAN'T LEAVE anyone open. There will be no defensive liability in Rudy because if Ron Artest post up on him or Roy, they can't run set plays for Yao. This is a better alternative than Yao posting. We all know Battier just hang on the perimeter.

I see no downside except when their bench comes in with Wafer. If Wafer comes in, have Batum stick to him.

Defense is preventing the opponent from scoring. By this measure, Portland ranks 24th in the league in defense. Opponents have shot a blistering 46.7% against us.  We are DEAD LAST amongst playoff teams. Defensive stalwarts such as Chicago and Toronto are ahead of us. Even the youngest team (Golden State) in the NBA ranks ahead of us.

Obviously, its not the players or the youth on this team. We have the talents and height to be an effective defensive team. With the starting lineup of Oden, Aldridge, Batum, Roy, and Sergio, the only defensive liability is Sergio. If we start Bayless, there would be no defensive liability.

So, why are we so awful on defense? Simply, it is the system Nate employs. This team can't handle the pick n roll because for whatever coaching reasons, the players have no compunction switching over 80% of the time. This  pushes our big men on the perimeter and/or gets them in foul troubles guarding speedy point guards, i.e. Greg Oden. Switching off makes both our perimeter and interior defense that much weaker because players are out of their natural positions. We have big men on the perimeters and our guards defending big men down low. It is no wonder why opponents have a high field goal percentage against us.

The scouting report is out on how to beat the Trailblazers and every team is reading it verbatim. Nate must recognize this and make drastic change in his system. I am not calling to fire Nate right now. However, unless Nate adjust his philosophy, I fear we need another coach to take us to the next level.

1. 42.50 Boston
2. 42.51 Cleveland
3. 43.07 Orlando
4. 44.31 Denver
5. 44.67 Miami
6. 44.76 Detroit
7. 44.87 LA Lakers
8. 44.98 Atlanta
9. 45.07 Dallas
10. 45.14 Philadelphia
11. 45.15 Chicago
12. 45.22 Houston
13. 45.28 Charlotte
14. 45.30 Phoenix
15. 45.53 Milwaukee
16. 45.69 San Antonio
17. 45.79 Utah
18. 45.88 Toronto
19. 45.90 New Orleans
20. 45.95 Indiana
21. 45.99 LA Clippers
22. 46.27 New Jersey
23. 46.49 Golden State
24. 46.71 Portland
25. 46.92 Minnesota

ESPN stat

Larry Brown thinks we will be contending soon.

“They’ve done a marvelous job,” Brown said. “They have a great coaching staff. Nate is really special, and they have quality (coaches) sitting there. You can see the young guys are improving. Any time soon, they’re going to have as good a power forward as we have in our league, as good a center as we have in our league, and as good a 2 guard as we have in our league – if not now. And they have a lot of pretty good pieces.

“Kevin has done a wonderful job. I love where they are. If you ask any GM in the league, that’s as good a young group as you can have.”

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=123321369262908300

I have always respected Larry Brown. If he was coaching the Trailblazers, we will be in winning a championship within 3 years guaranteed.

Look at the second unit and everyone could guess what is the glaring weakness:

Channing Frye

Pryzbilla

Travis Outlaw

Rudy Fernandez

Sergio Rodriquez 

With the exception of Przbilla, all of them are jumpshooters. To make matters worse, Pryzbilla is hardly an offensive threat. He plays off others. The 2nd unit did well earlier on when other teams were figuring out how to play them. Now they are struggling because frankly, defending just jumpshooters is rather easy. What Nate nees to do is inject some aggressive inside threats. A lineup with Bayless and Diogu is much more potent.

Ike Diogu

Pryzbilla

Rudy Fernandez

Jerryd Bayless

Travis Outlaw

We have a driver in Bayless which spread the offensive out. He can draw defense inside and kick it out to the wing shooters. We have a constant inside threat in Diogu. In the limited amount of minutes he played, he has shown a nose for the ball. Unfortunately, Nate had a quick trigger when it comes pulling players because of a few layup misses. At least he got some offensive rebounds.

This is such an obvious move, I don't know why Nate is reluctant to at least experiment with this 2nd unit lineup for a week or two. Games are closer at home because NBA teams have figured out how to contain the 2nd unit. There is no sparks off the bench anymore. Defending a jumpshooting team with no inside threat is not that hard.