SB Nation User Blog: Devenex

Another use for cap room

Devenex — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:26:30 -0000

Judging from the Blazers offer to Hedo, they look to be exprecting around $8mil in cap space. But now that he is looking to become a Raptor what do we do?

No one else on the Market is a real fit, even Hedo was kind of a stretch with that offer. A lopsided trade is another option, but management has said that signing a player was part 1 of a 2 part plan. Now its possible that extending Roy and Aldridge was what they meant. It is also possible that something else has already been agreed upon with the players we're willing to trade.

So what to do if you can't sign a good fit or make a lopsided trade?

Well you can "buy" a future 1st rounder by taking on a bad contract of ~$8mil or less along with a pick in a trade. Its not unheard of, as Utah (another team that struggles to attract FA's) did just this a few years back.

Using Storyteller's excellent site I've listed out some possible fits that are not over $8mil/yr, not/little used on the court and expire no later than the '10/'11 season from teams that atleast consider costs.

Here they are with team, player, (millions salary '09/'10,millions salary '10/'11):

CHL: Nazr Mohammed ($6.5, $6.9)

CHI: Jerome James ($6.6)

IND: Jamaal Tinsley ($7.2, $7.5)

MEM: Marko Jaric ($7.1, $7.6)

MEM: Greg Buckner ($4.1, $4.3)

MIL: Dan Gadzuric ($6.7, $7.2)

MIN: Darius Songaila ($4.5, $4.8)

NOH: Antonio Daniels ($6.6)

NOH: Morris Peterson ($6.0, $6.4)

UTH: Matt Harpring ($6.5)

WAS: Mike James ($6.5)

Some notes:

I'm not saying these players ARE so valueless tthat their team will pay us to take them, but these are the probable suspects for such a deal and every team above has reasons. Also, each player has a different value to us as a guy like Tinsley would just be paid to go away whereas Nazr Mohommed can be an emergency big man and solid practice player, but thats neither here nor there as its the pick we'd be most interested in.

A player with two years owed would also (obviously) be more appealing for a team to deal away as its double the savings. For us there could be extra value as well as we'd get to have an expiring contract (always a hot commodity) to play around with after next season on top of a draft choice.

At its best we can get a bench riding vet which is good if you want experience, but bad if you want more experience out on the floor. Whatever second move is in place can still happen, and we go into a future draft with more options than a single late pick.

So would you make a trade where we took someone else's mess for a pick (probably with protections), or are we beyond this type of future-centric move and need to add talent now?

Poll

What type of cap use do you prefer the Blazers utilize?

Trade cap for contract +pick

6 votes

Sign Free Agent

4 votes

Lopsided trade to net talent

62 votes

Do nothing and keep costs down in the future

8 votes

80 votes | Poll has closed

Waiting for the homerun deal

Devenex — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:59:44 -0000

T Darkstar's great post (http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/6/26/927015/when-does-kp-use-the-cap-space) about how we actually have one full year open to use our cap flexibility got me thinking about what circumstances would need to take place for us to make a deal. This flexibility could be used this summer to sign Turkoglu or another free agent, ot it could be used in a lopsided trade.

Now it should be pretty clear that if KP wants to use it in a trade then he is sitting and waiting for his homerun (AKA Pau to L#kers trade) to come along. The Blazers have reportedly refused deals involving players such as Batum, Outlaw, and Bayless at last year's deadline, although there were never any players that seemed a perfect fit coming in (Richardson, Carter, Conley). So we aren't just content to spend more to upgrade a serviceable or developing player with more serviceable player nearing his twilight years or also another still unknown and developing player.

Now what does it take for these deals to occur:

1) A team must be losing money, but also be tired of it. Why make cost cutting moves if you're already running along at or under budget? No point in sacrificing talent for an unneeded benefit.

2) Have a player that is a significant upgrade at a starting position for us. As I said before, the Blazers are looking for a player that is an upgrade as a starter.

3) Either this player, or a completely useless one (ie "bad contract") must be highly paid enough to make the deal financialy appealing. Keep in mind you won't get a player like Brooke Lopez for taking on VC's salary, but you may have been able to Lopez IF he HAD VC's salary himself.

So far the Nets and Bucks have shed salary this offseason, now I ask all of you who else has been losing money and who do they have that we would want? Try not to worry so much about the structure of the deal ( ___ for ___ ), and instead focus on the team's need to cut costs and who the players are that they would be willing to move/package.

In Honor of LmA

Devenex — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:54:00 -0000

He really carried the load tonight while having the game of his career (so far). As such, it only seems fair to give him a fanpost in recognition his game.

14-24, 35 Pts
18 Rebs, 2 Assists

Not bad, not bad at all!

Extra bonus was the fact that Roy could go easy on his sore knee tonight because of this.

My favorite moment was the "dream shake" that LmA hit Malik Rose with before hitting the midrange fall-away. Dudes got back to the basket moves! Bravo LmA!

What say you folks? Fav moments? Heaping praise? Lets hear it!

Poll

LaMarcus is the greatest thing since...

1977

135 votes

Sliced Bread

154 votes

The Big Bang

119 votes

408 votes | Poll has closed

Oden vs Shaq III (w/ Update)

Devenex — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:23:12 -0000

This matchup has been pretty one-sided so far as The Big ______ (I can't really keep up anymore, it changes too much) really seems to these games on his calendar. In OvS I he dominated with 19/17 on 75% shooting, but was quieter in OvS II with 19/6 with 64% shooting. Of course the real story of the last matchup was B-Roy going for 52 and showing the world how dominating a slow and unathletic SG can be (j/k).

Unfortunately Oden had more fouls (10) than rebounds (3) in these games. The only positive was he looked to be getting his legs against Shaq in the second matchup until getting saddled with early fouls.

Is tonight the night? Phoenix is still very alive in the playoff race, and the Diesel gets up for games against the young guys who are supposed to dethrone him (in his mind b/c in reality Howard owns him already). Working in Greg's favor is the fact that Shaq logged 34min yesterday in a closely won game against the Utah "make you hurt" Jazz. Greg also played very well in the Philly game as he stayed on the floor with 5 fouls through the 4th quarter and OT, while looking more explosive.

OK, so who do you think gets the better of this matchup?

UPDATE: To help prove my point about him still thinking he's the top center, here's an excerpt from Geoffrey C. Arnold's Oregonian article:

"I'm the CEO of centers in this league," O'Neal said. "I'm the shogun and the rest of the guys must go through the ninjas before they get to me."

He was pretty positive when asked about the young centers and said that Oden was just in need of a "go-to move" and that he should become a "great center."

Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2009/03/shaquille_oneal_critically_mas.html

Poll

Who gets the better of the matchup

Shaq

66 votes

Oden

71 votes

Przy-BALLA!

75 votes

Stalemate/Amundson <--LOL!

15 votes

227 votes | Poll has closed

Which playoff race is more exciting?

Devenex — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 05:48:57 -0000

The Eastern Conference has no less than 6 (CHI, MIL, NJN, NYK, CHA, and IND) teams battling it out for the 8th and final playoff spot, although they are all well below .500. The team in 8th seems to change almost nightly, and there is quite a bit of jockeying in the top and middle seeds as well. Numbers 1 though 3 (CLE, BOS, and ORL) are separated by four games, and 4 through 7 ( ATL, MIA, DET, and PHI) are separated by 5. Really the only two teams out of the playoff race are TOR and WAS, and everyone else is either in the fighting to be in or fighting for a better spot as nobody has a spot locked in.

I'm sure everyone here is most aware of the Western Conference playoff race, but I'll recap anyway. LAL have pretty much sealed the 1 spot, and hopefully they pull a Dallas in the first round for it! But after that it gets very murky as there are still 8 good teams fighting for the last 7 spots. Right now PHX is on the outside looking in while being 4 games over .500, but 5 games back of the 8th spot as they've been on a skid winning 3 of their last 10. DAL in 8th is only 4.5 games back from SAS who are in 2nd, so these standings will be very fluid right up until the end of the season in all liklihood. In addition to this a top 4 seed is guaranteed to the winner of the NW division, which is anything but decided as POR, DEN and UTA are within a half game of eachother (DEN and POR tied + play the final game of their seasons against eachother).

Now my fine fellow bedgers, I ask which race would you find the most exciting if the Blazers were not competing for a playoff spot in one of them? (poll included but please feel free to elaborate below)

Poll

Which race would you find the most exciting if the Blazers were not competing for a playoff spot in one of them?

East: Almost everyone still alive, nothing set in stone

10 votes

West: 9 good teams + 8 spots = Awesome

51 votes

NCAA Tourney (MARCH MADNESS!!!)

20 votes

81 votes | Poll has closed

FACT: Rudy is our best defender

Devenex — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:30:22 -0000

FACT: Rudy is our best defender

Or atleast he found a website that says so, then has some fun with it. (Its under the stone-face-killer segment)

Enough Already!

Devenex — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:20:18 -0000

OK, did anyone watch the rookie/sophmore game? Yeah Durant 'broke records', but it wasn't exactly the NBA Finals out there. Basically Durant showed a great ability to:

A) Hit open shots

B) Drive around defenders who were already planning for the after party

Durant is looking to become a good player, maybe even more. But, and this is where people need to get things straight, Greg Oden is OUR guy. I don't care if you were cold calling KP in the middle of the night before that draft to whisper "Durant, pick Durant" into his sleepy ear, we made our choice. Its time to FAN UP!

Funny thing is at the time everybody seemed to fall into line and next thing you know people are predicting that he'll average something like 20-15-3-3 right off the bat. Now Durant is having a great sophmore season (statistically) while Oden is having a rough rookie campaign and suddenly we totally blew it. Anyone remember Durant's rookie season, also known as the year of 5 for 19? He's shown tremendous growth from last season to this season, but you know what else? Greg has shown tremendous growth thoughout this season as well, he just started a little rougher for reasons that have been discussed ad-nauseum.

Oden bumped knees w/ Flopghetti and has a small chip/fracture. He practiced THE next day after this injury and has several more off for rest/treatment. The worst thing to come out of this injury may prove to be the Craig Sager interview that took place at this EXHIBITION game. Compared to Bynum this is probably nothing, just one of the results of playing around the basket all game.

Now in closing I'd like to state that this is not a 'Durant sucks!' post. I just feel a need to put yesterdays performance (very fitting word) into perspective, as well as Greg's injury. Durant is a heck of a player, and we have yet to see his best in all liklihood, but Oden is our guy. Has everyone forgotten how much better we are at rebounding this season and what that has done for our offense? Oden is a huge part of that, and has had a a much larger impact than another perimeter shooter/scorer would have for us.

Drexlers top 10 dunks! Good mix, but I dont know how they missed the one where Drexler CARRIES...

Devenex — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:53:11 -0000

Drexlers top 10 dunks! Good mix, but I dont know how they missed the one where Drexler CARRIES Pippen through the air from just inside the freethrow line. IMO that was his greatest dunk ever, and I think it was in the finals even. Oh well.

Don't know if anyone has posted this here before or not, but you can never get enough of the...

Devenex — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:03:47 -0000

Don't know if anyone has posted this here before or not, but you can never get enough of the greatest passing bigman of all time, Arvydas "Rolling Thunder" Sabonis. We really should bring him in to coach Oden, I mean if he were to pick up just half of Sabonis' passing ability, he'd be an absolute MOnSTER!

Time to point out the obvious

Devenex — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:19:50 -0000

Like everyone else I was disappointed when we traded Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey for Batum, but then I realized something that actually becomes blatantly obvious...we were never going to get Arthur!

Houston was probably going to just pick him themselves until we made them our accomplices in hamburgling (oh yeah, I did just type that) San Antonio.

So there you have it. KP was not taken for a ride, in fact he just used the #33 to move up 2 spots and snag the prospect SF that he targeted. Unfortunately the players from those picks just so happened to be guys that BEdgers really wanted, making it hard to really look into what just happened.

Anyway it was a great draft, and I am already SO PUMPED about next season!