I mean COME ON!

How good did our guys look last night in that fresh gear??

Last night was a test as to how the fans would react to new jerseys, and I say THEY WERE AWESOME!!! 

 Now I'm not saying those RIP CITY jerseys are the answer, I'm sure there are designs better than that, but the point is that THERE IS A BETTER DESIGN.  They should either go with a RETRO look or CUTTING EDGE/MODERN look!

Our current jerseys BELONG to the great teams from the late 80's and 90's.  Over the next ten years our new success should come with a new set of jerseys that this era's team can call its own!

With the new crop of guys, the change in culture, and the change in perception around the league, I can't under-state the awesomeness that would be if we got new jerseys THIS YEAR!!!  And after seeing them last night in those clean, white, fresh RIP CITY jerseys, LETS GET IT DONE!!!

It is a likely scenario that...

• Jazz will match

• Hinrich stays in Chi Town

• All other FA's decline our offers or use us as leverage

• No one trades with us this summer

Let's assume with our luck, those things do happen.

So what team can we take advantage of before the trade deadline?

This team should:

• Have a player that plays PG or SF that can come in and start for us

• Not be expected to make the playoffs

• Be over the Cap, the further the better

• Not be in our division, probably not even in the Western Conference


Try to follow these guidelines

Hopefully the included poll makes up for such a lame trade post.

As jscot cleverly pointed out in his highly rec'd post...WE DON'T HAVE A CLUE (OT question: Which fanpost holds the record for most recs on this site?).  All of KP's moves have come as a surprise.  I think this is great.  This eliminates most of the "I told you so" remarks from fans since more people tend to agree with a move after it is offical, compared to when it is being speulated upon. 

So how about we take another option off the table?  Let's discuss Jose Calderon.  I haven't heard much about him over the last couple weeks, so what do you got?

Some questions to ponder:

• Is he attainable?

• Does he fit on the team?

• What trade would make sense for both teams?

• Would the staff approve of him?

• Would the fans approve of him?

• Would the players (Roy) approve of him?

• How would Hedo impact Calderon's value to the Blazers?

Regarding his character, I found this little snippet on Wikipedia, take it for what it's worth...

" On 2 March 2007, the Raptors announced that Calderón was named as a Right To Play Athlete Ambassador.[28] Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.[28] As part of the program, Calderón pledged $1000 for every assist he recorded in a home game against the Chicago Bulls on 26 November 2007. He ended the game with 14 assists.[29] "

Not saying Calderon would be our first option, but if we get Hedo, here are my trade proposals...

1st offer: Blake, Webster, Outlaw & 2011 1st rounder for Calderon & Kris Humphries

2nd offer: Bayless, Webster, Outlaw for Calderon

1st unit: Calderon, Roy, Batum (minus crunch time), Aldridge, Oden

2nd unit: Bayless/Blake, Rudy, Hedo (plus crunch time), Mr. Whatever, Przybilla

Friday is here.

JD topic of the day...

What highschool did you go to and what year did you graduate?

I was an '02 graduate of Kelso High up in Washington.

Then it was UP for four years, back home for 3, and now I live in downtown Portland.

Also, my mind is finally made up....

My wishlist for the offseason:

1) Draft DeJuan Blair (Buy some picks and trade up, maybe trade sergio for a pick)

2) Trade Blake and Outlaw for Hinrich

3) Re-sign Nate

4) Draft a 3rd string PG and a few Euros

5) Do whatever else KP wants to do as long as we keep our other rotation players.

Lineup/expected minutes:

Looking at last year's roster, we missed a total of 1300 minutes to injuries (not including Martell, hopefully nobody is out this whole season) which is an extra 16 minutes per game combined for our other players.  Assuming we have a similar number of games missed this year due to injury, here's how I see the minute breakdown happening:

Hinrich (32)  Bayless (18)

Roy (36)  Rudy (26)

Batum (22) Webster (26)

Aldridge (38) Blair (12)

Oden (26) Przy (20)

NICE

I can't wait for the draft next Thursday, I took next Friday off about two months ago.

Have a good weekend

What would it take to get Nash?

Sorry if you don't like trade proposals from opposing teams' fans, but it's nice to get some fresh perspective.

Here's my trade proposal:

Nash   for   Blake + Outlaw + #24 + #32 + #55 + #56

Personally, I think Nash would fit great as starting PG on the Blazers for a couple years while mentoring Bayless.  Many Blazer fans think that Bayless would be need to be inserted for Blake in order for Phoenix to do a trade like this, but what do you think?  You have a lot of picks there that you could play with, and Blake and Outlaw have non-guaranteed 1 year deals at 4 Mil each, so they come at a good price.

From what I've read,, the Blazers would have to match $13.1Mil for this to work, and if I'm not mistaken we can overpay $3Mil in a trade?  So I think it'd look like this...

$4Mil + $4Mil + $1.1Mil + $7Mil (Cap Space) = $16.1Mil

So what do you think?

Just thought I'd see what the general consensus was around Blog a Bull about this trade proposal...

Kirk Hinrich and your #16 pick

for

Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and our #24 pick

I haven't double-checked the numbers, but if I'm right then it's something like:

(9.5) + (1.6) = 11.1 from Bulls

(4) + (4) + (1.1) = 9.1 from Blazers

125% of (9.1) = 11.4.......so it works

Hinrich over 3 years costs what, 26.5 Mil?  Blake and Outlaw have non-guaranteed 1 year 4 Mil contracts left I think.  That's saving quite a bit, but more importantly gives you flexibility.  But yes, we would get the better player out of the deal.

So do you like it?  Hate it?  If this was the best offer for Kirk you get would you do it?  Do you think you can get a better offer? 

Sorry if you don't like proposals from other teams' fans, just need some fresh perspective is all.

Good luck next year.