Here are some free agents that I thought were interesting to look at. I tried not to be unrealistic (D Will) and try to focus on guys I thought would be a good fit in Portland. Obviously, who we re-sign will dictate needs. (R) is restricted free agent, (U) is unrestricted, QO is qualifying offer, PO is player option. Tell me what guys spark your interest. If they were an unrestricted free agent I added what their last contract ended at.

PG:

A. Brooks (R) QO 3 mill

DJ Augustin (R) QO 4.4

George Hill (R) QO 3.1

G. Dragic (U) 2.1

R. Foye (U) 4.3

Mo Williams PO 8.5

SG:

E. Gordon (R) QO 5.1

M. Pietrus (U) 1.2

Courtney Lee (R) QO 3.2

Shannon Brown (U) 3.5

B. Rush (R) 4.1

SF:

J Green (R) QO 7.2

C. Budinger (team option) .9

PF:

B. Bass PO 4.3

Center:

R. Hibbert (R) QO 3.7

B. Lopez (R) QO 4.2

1)  I am a little worried about our outside shooting.  That was a concern last season, one that Nate often reffered to, and it seems like we have gotten rid of all our shooters since then.  Blake, Outlaw, Webster, (Rudy) are all out.  I doubt Luke B will be able to step in and although wesley made a good % from 3pt (38%) he didn't take too many (2 a game in 25 min.).  Compare Wesley's attempts next to Blake, Steve shot more than double the 3's while avg just over 3 more min. a game.  

      Where is our outside shooting going to come from or is it going to be another year with the same off. weaknesses?

2)  I had long thought KP & Co. very smart to draft players playing overseas and to use the foreign leagues as sort of a minor leagues.  The players would get a chance to keep developing without taking a roster spot or rotting at the end of the bench not playing.  However, I have to wonder if those players are ever going to make it to this side of the Atlantic.  I mean, is Koppenen and Freeland ever coming over?  Sergio and Rudy looked like great selections at the time but if we get a late first round pick at best for Rudy is that going backwards?  And if Rudy was the stud in Spain is Victor going to be able to crack our rotation in a few years... assuming he comes over?  

    As a whole, were our foreign draft picks a bust or a smart move by the Blazers?

One last question, (I know I put 2 in the title) I am in Indy on vacation, anyone know if Greg is in p-town or Indy right now?

Those of you who believe in jinxing people, stop reading now.

I think everyone can agree KP has done an amazing job, better than I thought would be possible.  Many writers have him as the favorite for the exec. of the yr.  KP if you are reading this... please accept my huge thanks for the job you have done... the friends that gave me crap for being a PTB fan a few years ago have season tickets this yr (no exaggeration). 

Here's the question: When will KP make his first mistake?  That is assuming, of course, that he will.  It seems like he has a lot of decisions on the middle of the road players this year ie. Trout, Web, Frye, etc.  He has been remarkable in the draft so far and it seems like the NBA draft (for everyone not named KP) is a crap shoot.  Is Bayless' attitude a good fit for the Blazers?  Is a pritchslap trade going to go the other way? We are freeing up that cap space and will we bring in the right player?  My feeling is that could be the easiest time to make a mistake... you have this cap space and the right guy isn't available and we look at the space and think 'well, we can't waste this space...'  or we think we just need the player with 'X' skill set and we overlook character thinking it will get us a ring and we implode.

So, what's your take... what situation is KP the most likely to make a mistake?

according to his website: http://www.josemanuelcalderon.com/indexEN.html

"As of today, the Raptors would like me to continue, however until the 1st of July we will not know anything about the possible renewal or other offers from teams interested in me for next season. What is clear is the fact that if I have to choose between a sports offer versus an economic offer, I will opt for the first. I want to be a starter and to be in a team that aspires for everything. Of course I will not be on a team in which I cannot be an important contributor nor if there is not a solid structure or if there are not options to be in the “Playoffs”."

There seems to be a log jam in Toronto.  I don't think either Ford and Calderon will be happy in a reserve role.  There has been a lot of talk about Jose playing with Rudy and the PTB but what about Ford?  According to Sportscity.com, Ford is signed through 2010 (8 mil, 8.5, 8.5).  What do you think?  If you want to see Jose in a Blazer uniform you gotta like that a "sports offer" is higher on his list than a "economic offer".

Marion         p 15.4      r 10.2      a 2.2      e 22.95  30
Lewis        p 18.3      r 5.4      a 2.4      e 17.75  29
J Smith    p 17.1      r 8.3      a 3.4      e 20.76  24
Iguodala    p 20      r 5.4      a 4.7      e 19.94  25
G Wallace    p 19.4      r 6      a 3.5      e 19.10  26
Butler        p 20.7       r 6.8      a 4.8      e 23.09  28
Redd        p 23.3      r 4.5      a 3.5      e 18.83  29
Jo Howard    p 20.3      r 7.1      a 2.2      e 19.35  28
J Richardson    p 21.3      r 5.2      a 3.1      e 18.77  27
M Miller    p 16.5      r 6.7      a 3.4      e 18.22  28
Kirilenko    p 11.1      r 4.8      a 4.1      e 16        27
Deng        p 16.9      r 6.5      a 2.5      e 16.75  23
Odom        p 14.2       r 10.5      a 3.6      e 21.93  29
Granger    p 19      r 5.9      a 2.1      e 18.13  25
R Jefferson    p 22.8      r 4.2      a 2.9      e 18.25  28
Gay        p 20.2      r 6.1      a 1.9      e 18.51  22
Battier        p 9.4       r 5.1      a 2       e 12.83  30
Childress    p 11.9      r 4.8      a 1.5      e 14.61  25
Prince        p 13.6      r 4.8      a 3.4      e 14.43  28
Korver        p 10.1      r 2.3       a 1.3      e 9.21        27
Q Richardson    p 8      r 4.8      a 1.8      e 8.6        28
Dunleavy    p 18.7      r 5.2      a 3.5      e 18.66  28
Turkoglu    p 19.7      r 5.9      a 4.9      e 19.61  29
Kapono    p 7.2      r 1.5      a 0.8      e 5.97    27
Webster    p 10.7      r 3.9      a 1.2      e 9.99        22

Continue reading this post »

Every team has players that will always be associated with them... Bird/Boston (I'll stop here it could get long).  For the Blazers, I think it is Clyde first and Walton second.  We have 3 potential super-stars budding in the near future... do you think they will be added to the list, will any bump Clyde?  Will they stay here long enough to be associated with us?  Even if players really exceed for years and then move to another team, that hurts their "All-Time Franchiseness"  Garnett has been the face of T-wolves since the beginning but he's going to have a lot of success in Bean town and so hurting his legacy or "A-T Fness".  I think both Oden and Roy could be potential #1 and #2.  You can pick multiple options in the poll.

Darius has been a problem in the past... big problems with Cheeks, mentioned in off-court episodes with Zbo, a me-first attitude, not what you would call hard-working, had to be removed from the practice facility last year, and ballooning over 250 lbs.
     He has had his high moments as well, there was the season (not sure which year but you probably know which one because there was such a difference) where he was playing well and trying to be the leader of this team and he did a great job of that for about a third of the season.
     Now there is talk about how he has slimmed down to under 225 and is working hard and wants to be part of this team.  Here lies my question: What would Darius have to do and how long would he have to do it before you would trust him and maybe even believe he is our answer to the missing 3 question?  If he did everything right, how long would he have to do that before you would stop expecting the Old Miles?

There has been a lot of talk about the Combine results and Oden being a freak of nature (in a good way) and Durant not being able to put up 185lbs on the bench press.  How much stock do you put into the numbers at the Combine and how well does that translate one the court?  Some things to think about...
Durant is supposed to be an amazingly hard worker and yet can't put up what most high school athletes can their junior year in high school.
LMA beat Durant in every stat his yr at the Combine but most were very, very close... and yet most of us think LMA is too slow to play the SF position...will Durant be too slow for SF and too weak for PF?
Or is all this hype just that... hype.  The player that shows they want it more and plays with passion will end up on top everytime.