This has now become a real possibity in light of how well Towson is playing, along with how poorly the Terps are playing.

If they lose to Towson, it would see to be almost impossible to then go and beat a hot Georgia Tech team and their devastating offense at Tech. So then the Terps would be 1-4 with a bunch of tough teams yet teams to play.

If Edsall puts up a 1-11 or 2-10 or even a 3-9 season is he guaranteed to come back for at least another year? Remember the Terps are coming off a 9 win season with a blow out bowl victory and returning a supposedly ACC player of the year caliber QB.

 

If the Magic try to get the Lakers to give up too much for Howard, can't the Lakers just say we'll wait and sign Howard during free agency after next season, and we won't have to give up anything? 

 I mention this is because the Lakers have a TEAM opton for Bynum in 2012. So can't the Lakers choose to release Bynum after next season, and wouldn't that free up enough cap space to sign Howard in the summer of 2012?  Capologists please help!

The Lakers shouldn't gut the team for Howard. If after a trade with the Magic, if the Lakers are left with just an aging Kobe, Howard and some weak parts surrounding them that won't be enough to win big.

Championship teams generally do not lose four games in a row to the caliber of competition the Lakers have recently faced. 

Anyone expecting the return of Bynum to fix everthing is mistaken. It certainly will help, but not cure all. The Lakers problems are greater than missing one starter. The Rockets were missing two starters (who possibly are there two best players) and still beat the Lakers.

The ill advised strategy of overusing Gasol is already showing a negative effect. His hamstrings are flaring up again. Accordingly, his confidence and effectiveness have diminished. The Lakers would be better off losing and keeping Gasol's minutes down, rather than over playing him and still losing, as they are now.

Unless some drastic changes soon come about, it appears the Lakers are going to experience a period of suffering. Teams do not fear the Lakers. That's a bad thing. Confidence and intimidation are key in sports. When you start losing to the likes of the Grizz, Pacers, and Rockets (w/o Ming and Brooks), opponents start to see blood in the water.

Until the Lakers get some frontline help from Bynum or elsewhere and make some other corrections, there problems will continue.

One thing that might reduce the suffering is for the Lakers to share the ball more. Kobe and Gasol often force the issue when they should be relying more on their teammates. They should pass out of the double teams more often and more quickly. Brown, Blake, and Barnes can score if given a chance. They've shined, but they can shine even more if given more opportunities.

Even if Bynum comes back within three weeks -- and there is no guarantee at all that that time table will hold --  the Lakers will still need another big. 

Nobody knows when Ratliff will be back or how he will play. He certainly was underwhelming before the surgery. And he's 37. He may end up providing NOTHING this season.  Bottomline: You don't gamble a possible threepeat on someone in Ratliff's situation. 

Caracter is a rookie, undersized, chubby power forward.  It seems foolish to expect much from him this season.

Bynum could end up being Greg Oden lite. At this point nobody  knows for sure where his career is going with the injury issue.

By playing Odom and Gasol big minutes now, the Lakers could pay DEARLY later. Who knows what these minutes are doing to they body's of these thirty somethings. 

People are talking about money and cap, etc. The Lakers  need to protect their investment. By GAMBLING on the return of Bynum and Ratliff, the Lakers are gambling with their season. Just bite the bullet and pay for a big. The Lakers stand to lose a LOT more money if this gamble of waiting on Bynum and Ratliff doesn't pan out.

How about a first round knock out in the plays offs? How much money would that cost Buss? A few million to pay for respectable big seems like nothing when consider you consider some of the worst case scenarios. Yes, you can go with out home owners insurance but earthquakes, floods,etc. are humbling.

The main point is the Lakers are thin in the post regardless of when Bynum actually returns.

The signing of the 'Killer B's' has worked out great. But what about next year?

Blake is not an issue; he's locked up for 3 more seasons after this one. But Barnes and Brown both have a player option in their contracts, and there's little doubt both will exercise it and become free agents after this season. 

They both are underpaid for their contribution and skill level. Barnes is scheduled to make about 1.8 million next year, Brown about 2.5. On an open market, their salaries could easily double and possibly triple.

If their salary demands get to that level, will the Lakers have the money to re-sign them?

Until Pritch, Penn or their representives give some details on WHY all this happened, judgement should at least be partially with held on Allen.

Everbody is looking to Allen and his people for answers; how about hounding Pritch and Penn for answers?  Maybe Pritch and Penn will choose not to speak because it may jeopardize money that they may be owed by Allen. It's quite understandable if they choose to keep quiet for that reason. But if they elect to go that route, it would be unfair to go at Allen with guns blazing. For all we know Allen could be doing Pritch and Penn a favor by saying little. If Allen said more, maybe the WORSHIP of the recently departed wouldn't be so fervent. Again, nobody knows because nobody is saying anyhing.

Looking at Allen suspiciously at this point may not be wrong. But making final judgements on him, while Pritch and Penn remain silent, may be going too far. 

At the time, it seemed to many a reasonable decision to let him walk; in hindsight, the Blazers should have tried to have re-signed him.

This is particularly true when you consider that he signed with the Suns for just a little less than 2 million dollars. That's pennies for a player with his skills.

Would Fyre have been a long term answer for Portland? Maybe not. But every player signed is not necessarily a long term answer. He sure could have been a nice short term answer.

Did he lack some of the meanness and toughness that you'd like from a big man? Probably. And so does LA. But Frye also had some other great qualities that make up for that. Height and youth definitely can't be taught. And near seven footers with tremendous 3 point range are extremely rare. And being a solid citizen is always a plus in the modern NBA. It pays to have valuable assets regardless if they are long term or not. 

 The bottom line: if all it would have taken to re-sign Frye was about 2 million dollars, that was a deal the Blazers should have made.

Frye has the choice to become a free agent this summer. If he chooses to take that option, he'll make probably 3 or4 times what he's making now.

Pritch's future is unclear. But Roy's injury could further muddy the waters.

Reportedly, one of the issues ownership had with Pritchard was the cave in to Roy for a max contract and the addition of another guaranteed year. Now, ownership may be wondering what they may have gotten themselves into with Roy and his shaky knees.

Right or wrong, Pritch may suffer the most.

No time is a good time to get an injury. But the timing on Roy's injury couldn't have been worse. Roy's is not to blame. He should have tried to get every guaranteed dollar he could from Allen. And injuries are the breaks of a sometimes cruel game.

So this brings us back to Pritch. Owners expect their GM's to be all seeing and all knowing. Pritch has almost fit the bill in that department. But in hindsight, giving Roy everything he wanted could turnout to be a costly decision.

A general manager should loathe to give tens of million of dollars of his bosses guaranteed money to ANYBODY, and particularly to someone who has questionable, multi-operated on knees, especially when the the duties required to earn that money include subjecting those knees to constant stresses. 

Allen ultimately had the final say on what to pay Roy, so it might seem a bit unfair to point the finger at Pritch. But Allen isn't going to fire himself. This goes back to a GM needing to be all knowing and all seeing. Allen could be thinking to himself, I'm paying you to see the down the road basketball wise. If you had advised me to stand up to Roy, I might not be sitting here right now wondering what the next several years hold with Roy and his questionable knees.

Hopefully this is the last knee operation Roy will need for the rest of his life. But going by his history and the nature of the game he plays, one can only wonder what the future holds for Roy -- and Pritchard.

If Pritch stays, I think it's likely Blake is re-signed.

I don't see many opporturities for starting positions around the league for Blake. Miami and Indiana are teams that may be looking for a starter. Miami has been rumored to have wanted Blake for years. Blake is a native of Miami. But most of the other teams seem to be set at point guard.

With Blake's love for the Portland area and few starting options available, the Blazers may be able to get him at very reasonable price. And since Miller has cemented the starter role, there won't be the same '' who should start?'' issues that the team dealt with this season. Hopefully Bayless will continue to develop, but the team needs 3 point guards, so why not Blake regardless of whether he's second or third string?

The Clips want to make a big splash this off season. But they could find themselves in a difficult situation. They want 'Bron or some other big name. But if they wait for a big name player to sort through his multitude of offers, they may miss out on other quality players who would be willing to sign if an offer was immediately forth coming.

Camby may fit into that situation. The Blazers aren't going to waste anytime looking at big names. They've already got them. They probably will come right out of the shoot with a top offer to Camby.  Camby is just one example, but this scenario could play itself out with a lot of other quality players. Once free agency begins, hopefully the Clips will QUICKLY and realistically assess their situation and then move forward.

If the Clips snag a top small forward in the draft, they really may not need to bothered with landing a big name player in free agency. They would only need to add complimentary players like Camby, Steve Blake, etc., and a top notch head coach.

 

Money talks and they'll be no shortage of people willing to take the job. But classy, intelligent coaches will take note of  the fact that Dunleavy wasn't told of his firing before the public was.

They'll also take note of the dismissal statement the Clips made regarding Dunleavy's firing, which was essentially a kick in Dunleavy's behind on his way out the door. A coach considering the Clips will wonder if that's how he'll be dealt with when his time is up. Well run organizations no how to end relationships with class and dignity.

To a lesser degree, but even free agent players who think beyond just dollars and cents will take note of the way the Clips handle relationships.

Tonigh's game showed how vulnerable they are in the post. Kaman was ejected and Jordan was in foul trouble. There was no one else to guard the paint.

Lopez killed the Clippers. And in turn the Clippers where unable to establish anything offensively in the post and had to rely on jump shots to try to stay in the game

The Clips have a roster spot open since the currently only have 14 players. Why not get a big from the NBDL or wherever!

He's a restricted free agent, but the Clips should still explore signing him. Small forward is the Clips biggest need. Outlaw may be able to fill that spot. That would be great, because he certainly would come cheaper than Gay.

Gay is the only premier small forward availble this free agency besides Lebron James. If the Clips scored him and added some other nice back up pieces like Steve Blake and Outlaw -- who can also backup at power forward -- the Clips would have a talented squad. That type of talent may be able to lure an Avery Johnson to coach.

On the surface, the trade does seem poor. But if Outlaw turns out to be the small forward of the future, and Blake is the reliable back up point guard of the future, and if one or both re-sign, and Camby re-signs -- this deal will be great. You add two solid fixtures and you get back the fixture you leased out. Dunleavy may know he has a good chance to re-sign Camby.

I 

This question probably becomes moot if Miller and Bayless play well. But if one or both of them falters, will this trade put the Blazers at a disadvantage in re-signing Blake this off season? I'm talking about cap space, Bird Rights and things like that.

Aldridge's and Roy's big contracts kick in next season. Will the Blazers, financially and cap space wise, be able to sign ANY free agents that are not currently on the team?