SB Nation User Blog: ggassen85

Is Luol Deng better then Outlaw?

ggassen85 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:24:53 -0000

I've been sitting around this summer looking at our team, and also looking a the avaliable free agents for the summer of 2009, and to tell you the truth I dont see anybody out there that would really be a big help to this team. However there is the possibility that Loul Deng could be a free agent since the only team with cap space left this summer is memphis and they are cutting cost and do not need a SF, so it looks like Deng might be signing a one year contract with the Bulls since the Bulls dont seem too interested in giving him the kind of contract that he wants.

To be truthful I have not seen him play that much, so I can only go off from what I have heard and what the stats tell me, but by looking at his stats he has been better then Outlaw in every category, is the same age, and has playoff experience. From my view I think Deng is a better player considering his stats and the fact that he was gotten significant playing time with playoff teams while Outlaw other than last year could barely get 20 mins a game on last place teams. The biggest factor in my mind is how good of a defender is Deng, since I really haven't seen him much I cant really know, but what I do know is that defense wins championships and its going to be key to have a good defender at the small forward position and I am just not sure Outlaw will be capable of doing that. The one down side to Deng is that he is not a three point shooter while Outlaw is more then capable of hitting that shot. My question to all of you is if Deng is avaliable do you think the Blazers should use there cap space and go after him which would also means having to let go of Outlaw? If you have seen Deng play please give us your thoughts on him since almost all of us know what Outlaw brings to the table.

Poll

One important aspect to this debate is who will be better at the end of the 2008-2009 season. So who do you think will be better at the end of the 2008-2009 Season

Travis Outlaw

57 votes

Luol Deng

116 votes

173 votes | Poll has closed

Make Roy NEXT!!!

ggassen85 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:14:48 -0000

ESPN the MAG is doing it's annual NEXT thing. I say that it is up the the Blazer Nation to make sure the Roy is on the cover of ESPN The MAG as the NEXT athlete. Go to this link and vote for Roy:

http://espn.go.com/mag/

You can vote over and over again, so if you want you could do it all day long. The only competition I really see is from Joba the Hutt, and thats only becasue he is a New York Yankee. So go out there and vote and make sure that our Blazer gurad Roy makes it on the cover of ESPN the MAG!

Should the Blazers go after Kobe?

ggassen85 — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:29:55 -0000

Should the blazers go after Kobe Bryant? This is a questions I've been asking my self since the middle of the summer when he first made it known that he would like to be traded. I have thought about many diffrent trade senarios and after hearing last night that the trade involving the Bulls and Kings gave me an idea for a trade that I think would work.
The trade involves the Blazers, Lakers, and Kings(since they have already shown interest). Know I did this on ESPN Trade Machine(which is pretty cool by the way), so i know the numbers work.
Blazers recieve: Kobe Bryant
Lakers receieve: Brandon Roy, Ron Artest, Brad Miller
Kings receieve: Martell Webster, Jarret Jack, and Raef LaFrentz

Now why this would be beneficial to all the teams involved:
Lakers: Lakers get 2007 ROY Brandon Roy, who has the talent to be an All Star player and a great leader. In Ron Artest they get an All Star calliber player who is still relativly young. In Brad Miller they get an ageing center but one who still produces and could fill the gap between now and the time that Bynum is ready to start. Also Miller style of play fits perfectly into the triangle offense. With this trade the Lakers stay competative in the west and could have a starting lineup of Roy, Artest at Guards, Walton and Odom at forwards, and Miller at center. This team would still compete for a playoff spot and would better off then any other trade they could make. Also they would have good young pieces to build around, so its a trade that i think they would go for.

Blazers: Blazers get the best player since MJ, and automaticly become a playoff team. Starting lineup would be Blake, Bryant at guards, Outlaw, LMA at forwards, and Prizy at center. Becasue of the trades blazers would be a little thin at some positions but they would open up two roster spots so they could add some players. With Bryant and LMA blazers would have a great inside outside game, and with Oden waiting on the side Kobe would have his shaq back, but this time Kobe would be the perenial all star and the man, so he would be cool with it. I feel Kobe's got about five years left as a top 5 player in the league, and when he starts decline in talent LMA and GO will be ready to pick up the slack. Kobe is easily the type of player that could play into his late 30's. I think overall this trade would make the blazers better in the short and long run. Blazers would be championship contenders within 3 years, and would stay championship contenders for 8 to 10 more years. Why would Kobe come here? Becasue he would realize that he could play the last 10 years of his career playing for a championship every year. To everyone who thinks that the Bulls would be champioship contender if they trade for Kobe and keep Deng, you dont know anything about basketball. You dont win without big men, and the bulls dont have any inside game what so ever. The only team that has ever won without big men was the MJ Bulls, and thats becasue MJ was the best player ever, and as good as Kobe is, he still aint close to MJ.

Kings: This is proably the biggest stretch since the Kings lose a ton of talent in this trade. The Kings are gonna suck so they should just start to rebuild. They get Webster who is showing why he was the 6th pick. You could pair him up with Kevin Martin, one play SG and the other SF, and you have a great outside shooting punch to go along with their rookie center Hawes from washington. They get a decent point gaurd in Jack who can play for Bibby while he is hurt and maybe be their future starter. LaFrentz is here just to make the numbers work, I believe he can still play and could possibly make up for the loss of Miller. Also his contract and Bibbys end in the same year (two summers from now) which means they would get 25 MILLION in cap space which they could use to get a couple of free agents. So this trade works well for the Kings.

This is my idea for a trade, I think its fair for all teams, or as fair as it's gonna get for the Lakers, and I think the Blazers would win a ton of rings with the trio of bryant, LMA and GO. Let me know what you guys think, especially you Dave since you seem to be the Blazer guru!