SB Nation User Blog: JordanLeDoux

I have discovered something grave... David Stern is sexist... Behold... What's the slogan for the...

JordanLeDoux — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:02:14 -0000

I have discovered something grave... David Stern is sexist...

Behold...

What's the slogan for the NBA?

"Where amazing happens."

It's definitive and declarative. And emphatic. The WNBA?

"Expect great."

Not amazing, great. We can't guarantee it'll happen, just expect it to happen. The motto scream mediocrity and inferiority.

"Expect the women to be great. Really. You won't be disappointed again... please expect it..."

Compared to:

"See this? This is the N-B-A son. *THIS* is where amazing happens."

Conspiracy? I think so...

(This has been brought to you by the Hedo Turkoglu Fan-Strife Relief Coalition (tm). Have you relieved Hedo Turkoglu based fan-strife today?)

You have to choose between two PGs... which do you choose?

JordanLeDoux — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:30:39 -0000

Player A is 28, Player B is 34.
Player A is locked into $4 million next year, Player B wants a multi-year $10 million per deal.
Player A scored 11 ppg with 5 asts in the slowest pace and most efficient offense in the league, Player B scored 16 ppg with 6.5 asts in the 21st rated pace and 19th most efficient offense.
Player A shoots 39.2% from three on his career with 42.7% from three last season, Player B shoots 21.0% from three on his career with 28.3% from three last season.
Player A was TS%: 55.7%, eFG%: 53.6%, TOV%: 13.6%, Player B was TS%: 54.8%, eFG%: 48.0%, TOV%: 14.0%
Player A and Player B both have an individual defensive rating of 110.

Who you got?

Assuming we sign Hedo... roster clarification

JordanLeDoux — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:01:35 -0000

It's not an absolute necessity, but it's likely that we'll have to deal either Rudy or Batum if we sign Hedo. Just not enough minutes.

So what PG can we get with Blake + Outlaw + Webster + Rudy/Batum? I think that's enough to talk about Harris or Rondo...

Personally I think that Harris would be a good way to go after a signing like Hedo, and I think New Jersey would be interested in a package of Blake + Outlaw + Webster + Rudy/Batum...

Would we be asking for anything else back, or do you think that package isn't going to be worth an All-Star quality PG?

OT: Jail Time For JR Smith

JordanLeDoux — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:58:07 -0000

OT: Jail Time For JR Smith

Why Outlaw Must Be Traded

JordanLeDoux — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:00:10 -0000

This is not a post about how Outlaw isn't a good enough player, or similar garbage. Very simply, I would like to explain to people here why Portland really has no option other than to trade Outlaw before the draft next year.

To recap our current situation:

This draft Portland picked up Pendergraph, who might turn into a backup PF, Claver, who might be a wasted pick, and might be a future star... we now have the option to wait and see, as well as Cunningham, who like Outlaw can slide between the 3 and 4.

At PG we dumped Sergio and drafted Mills, who will probably play in SL, then play overseas or in the DL.

We'll be losing Frye, Shav, Raef and Ruffin. After dumping sergio and presumably giving roster spots to Pendergraph and Cunningham, we have three roster spaces left, and approximately $7.5 million in cap space.

Why Outlaw must be traded:

Put simply, Pritchard has almost no option but to trade Outlaw at this point. We have invested a lot of time into developing him, and he has turned into a fantastic scorer, with still more potential to round out his game. He's friendly and likeable, and gets along well with everyone on the team, all while doing what he is asked to.

But... but through developing him we have come to three very important realizations:

Outlaw plays signifigantly better at PF than at SF, where he can exploit his quickness without giving up length.
At SF we perform signifigantly better if we have a spot up shooter who is athletic and can play defense.
At PF we desperately need someone who can be physical and grab rebounds while providing weak side defense.

These three things together spell disaster for keeping Outlaw in Portland. Like Sergio, very little of the problem is talent. With Sergio we had problems with team role and commitment to defense, but no one would question his talent... the guy is a stellar passer and fairly good at not turning over the ball.

On the other side of the coin, I don't think anyone should question Outlaw's talent either. Like Sergio, he has flaws that are obvious, including his one dimensional play and his allergy to rebounding. But talent is not his problem. And it isn't our problem.

The problem is something we've discussed ad nauseum: fit.

Every team can use an Outlaw. Players like him a well regarded, especially one's as young as him. But NBA teams are built around stars, and our stars do not have complimentary talents to Outlaw.

Rather, the stars on our team have talents that are much more complimentary to players like Fernandez, Webster and Batum.

If you noticed, all three of those names can play SF, and given the three points we went over before, and the reality that we have the ability to sign a banger at PF, we are left with one simple reality: there is no room for Outlaw.

As a team, we perform best with a different skill set his positions.

Now this in itself does not always spell the end for a player and their team, but there are two other points that make trading him almost non-negotiable:

Outlaw is on a reasonable, expiring contract.
Outlaw has a fair amount of trade value.

To the right team, Outlaw is nearly the perfect player. He doesn't complain much, he's fearless, he can hit big shots, and he knows how to score. A team like the Celtics for instance would probably fall all over themsevles if they thought there was a way they could get him. (NOTE: I'm not implying we could get Rondo for Outlaw... be serious...)

The General Manager's job is to improve the team. To win a championship. And this year that wasn't Pritch, it was Mitch.

For KP, improving the team means making space for the kind of players that will improve our performance, and making space means getting back value for players that won't improve our performance. And that is quite simply Outlaw.

Yes, we will probably trade Blake as well, but his situation is much different. We are not trading him because he doesn't fit, we are trading him because he just isn't enough. With Outlaw, the question was never talent... with Blake, that is the question.

Does this mean we should focus on trading Outlaw? No... You don't focus on trading a player when their talent isn't in question. Instead you look for the player you want and figure out a deal that will send away the assets that don't help for those that do.

By no fault of his own, Outlaw is an asset that will not improve the team any more. And KP is not committed to maintaining the status quo.

Shawn Marion To Take MLE?

JordanLeDoux — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:22:39 -0000

Link

“They also have had positive feedback from Marion about the possibility of him returning to play small forward.

With a tight job market the Raptors are hopeful an offer in the range of three years for $21-million might be enough to keep him in Toronto.

“The indication is he wants to be here,” Colangelo said. “And the message we’ve given him is we’d like him back, he fits this roster and we’ll try to make it happen.”

I bet we could force them into a S&T that's cap neutral and slightly more than the MLE as I proposed in my comprehensive Blazer offseason

Since I went into some depth in my linked post, I'll recap it. Basically I cited the fact that I thought many Portland fans would have an irrational distaste for Marion, but that at ~$7-8 million for three years he was nearly an ideal choice for the team.

Some questioned his willingness to play third fiddle to Roy/Aldridge, but being positive about staying in Toronto clearly shows that he's not as self-centered in that respect as many here thought. He could get the MLE anywhere.

Some thought he couldn't be had that sheap, though clearly it looks like he's going to be had almost 30% cheaper.

And some thought he has character issues. Honestly, the only character issues I've seen are that he isn't very forgiving. He takes things personally and holds grudges. You know who else is like that? Lamarcus Aldridge. I don't see how anyone can say they wouldn't want him for under half what he got payed last season at a position of need simply because he has a trait that Aldridge has in spades.

Shaq responds to trade

JordanLeDoux — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:13:23 -0000

Shaq responds to trade

LOL!

Nate McMillian plays Bill Nye 1-on-1. (Yes, that Bill Nye.)

JordanLeDoux — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:22:15 -0000

Nate McMillian plays Bill Nye 1-on-1. (Yes, that Bill Nye.)

Rubio Will Refuse to Play in Memphis or OKC

JordanLeDoux — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:11:01 -0000

Rubio Will Refuse to Play in Memphis or OKC

Rubio's agent said he will simply stay in Spain if Memphis or OKC draft him and don't trade him...

Comprehensive Blazer Offseason

JordanLeDoux — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:51:54 -0000

Alright, here we go:

Pre-June 30th

Step 1: The good old standby, with a minor tweek. We trade Blake and Sergio to Chicago for Hinrich. This saves Chicago a lot of money, and they get to fill their backup PG spot at the same time with a more reasonable contract. Now, I'd expect Chicago to waive Blake after this trade and keep Sergio, since Blake is payed $4 million and Sergio is payed ~$1 million.

EDIT:

I moved Travis Outlaw to this trade to give Chicago the same flexibility. This is slightly overpaying for Hinrich now, but it's under the assumption that Chicago plans to not guarantee Blake.

Roster Change:
- Steve Blake
- Sergio Rodrigez
- Travis Outlaw
- Cap Space
+ Kirk Hinrich

Post-July 1st

Step 2: Waive rights to Frye, LaFrenz, Ruffin, Shavalik. This clears our maximum realistic cap of about $9.2 million.

Roster Change:
- Channing Frye
- Shavalik Randolph
- Michael Ruffin
- Raef LaFrenz
+ Cap Space

Step 3: We use the #24 pick to draft a backup PF, something like Hansborough, Mullins, etc.

Roster Change:
+ Rookie PF

Step 4: We do a S&T with Toronto. Webster, Cap Space and a 2009 2nd for Marion. (I expect people from both parties won't like this trade, but I think it's a definite improvement, and helps both teams.) Marion's contract would be something like 3-4 years, $25 million (~$8.3 million per). The thing I like about this for Toronto is that it gives them flexibility, rounds out some corners, and gives them value. Webster is both a shooter and defender... both things Toronto lacks. We also give Toronto about $4 million in cap space.

Roster Change:
- Martell Webster
- 2009 2nd Rounder
- Cap Space
+ Shawn Marion

Step 5: Sign both Roy and Aldridge to extensions. Roy at the max (unless for some reason he wants to take less to give the team flexibility... which incidentally isn't something I'd hope for, he deserves to get paid), and Aldridge at about $10 million per. This effectively kills capspace in 2010, but really, who was Portland going to get instead of Roy or Aldridge in 2010 anyway?

Roster Change:
- 2010 Cap Space
+ 2010 Brandon Roy
+ 2010 Lamarcus Aldridge

Step 6: Use our remaining cap to re-sign the recently waived Steve Blake to a 3 year $4 million per contract, with the fourth year unguaranteed (like currently). This would mean that at age 32, we'd basically have a team option on Blake. I expect a lot of criticism for this move, especially since it depends on Chicago waiving him after the trade (although that seems like a no-brainer to me with the trade I proposed), but I think this is a great move with the remaining cap space that is guaranteed to not make us worse, and is likely to make us much better. After this trade, we no longer have appreciable cap space.

Roster Change:
- Cap Space
+ Steve Blake

Step 7: We bring Ime Udoka back for the vet min (which you can do regardless of your cap). Ime was a fan favorite while he was here, is at worst an average defender, has plenty of experience, and would help round out the 3 spot really well.

Roster Change:
- Cap Space
+ Ime Udoka

Step 8: We bring over Joel Freeland to play in the US and fill some minutes at PF if needed. Most likely he'd spend next season in the D-League, but he has been solid in Europe this last year, showing marked improvement, and this could be our last year to bring him over. Serviceable big men will always be valued in the league.

Final Position for 2009 - 2010 season: After this series of moves, none of which I feel are far fetched, Portland would be in prime position to push for the ring next year, and every year after for quite some time. It also positions Portland with a very high quality team at a very cheap price.

The two trades, Hinrich and Marion, have been talked about, although I don't think I've seen the scenarios I outlined tried. Regardless, I like the look of this roster:

PG: Hinrich/Blake/Bayless
SG: Roy/Rudy/Udoka
SF: Marion/Batum/Udoka
PF: Aldridge/Marion/Rookie PF/Freeland
C: Oden/Przybilla/Aldridge/Freeland

All for about $59 million in 2009 and about $69 million in 2010.

Well, fire away.

EDIT:

Corrected for contract realities and CBA quirks.