We know the optimal strategy for this FA period is to sign whatever free agents we can as soon as possible, allowing us to make largest offers initially which will use up virtually all of our cap space, hopefully land a Star (or two?), then go over the cap as needed and resign Batum = Win/Win.

But what if Batum does get that "big" offer right at the beginning of FA, and now our 3-day-to-match clock is ticking. Lets assume the offer for Batum is for an amount that we really don't want to pay (say 10+ million) but we are willing to spend that kind of money on Deron Williams or Roy Hibbert and we make one of those guys a similiar offer. Lets assume that because of the timing of Batum's offer, we have to decide whether to match on Batum before we hear back from DWill or Hibbert's agents. Rather than let Batum walk for nothing (Bad decision) or overpay Batum early in FA , thereby eating up our cap space which would no longer allow us a chance at DWill or Hibbert (Bad decision), we decide to match on Batum and then turn around and trade him to NJ or Indiana for DWill or Hibbert? Can we even do that? I don't know if I'm making sense here or not, but I don't want to see us let Nic walk, and still miss out on a DWill or Hibbert and have nothing to show for it, when we could match on Batum (even if it is too pricey of an offer) but then use him as a trade chip.

There are probably holes in my theory so tell me what I missed and let me know what kind of opportunities a sign and trade might provide us (if any) to at least hedge our bets against losing Batum for nothing and then coming up empty in FA. Go.....

Poll

If it took a sign and trade of Batum to secure a player of Deron William's or Roy Hibbert's caliber, would it be worth it as opposed to overpaying Batum and miss out on DWill/Hibbert??

• Trade Batum if that what it take to land our PG or C of the future
• Kepp Batum, even if he is over-paid and it possibly costs us our PG or C of the future, we have no shot at those guys anyway)

  167 votes | Results

When the highly respected Greg Popovich "strategically" sat Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker against us earlier this year, despite jeopardising (and ultimately sacrificing) an 11(?) game winning streak, would you have called that tanking? Or would you feel more comfortable looking at it as a strategy for short-term loss vs. long-term gain? Coaches employ strategies like this all the time. Maybe they are trying to rest their players, or prevent injuring key guys in games that "don't mean anything" (define that how you will) I think in these cases, the coach/player/team is making a decision that will put them in the best position possible going forward, even if that means losing in the mean time. So if you want to call it "strategy" feel free, if you want to call it tanking, go right ahead, its merely a matter of semantics, but I think the purpose is the same either way. I can understand that people now are rooting for Caleb Canales, and many are excited about the things he's trying to do with this team, such as playing guys in spots where they want to be, putting new wrinkles in the offense, bringing enthusiasm back to the team, etc. But I think some of you are missing the point. With the exception of the feel-good game against the Bulls, we need to continue to lose games, we need to "TANK" the rest of the season! Now that we have cleaned house, there is zero sense in trying futily to win this year, I mean whats the point? so we can get into the playoffs!?! Even if we did, how would that benefit us next season? It wouldn't, in fact it would only hurt our rebuilding efforts by making our 1st round pick less valuable. We have no chance of getting the #1 pick with NJ's pick (which I still can't believe we were able to steal!) we need our own pick this year to be as high as possible, to give us the best chance at possibly winning the draft lottery and getting the #1 pick again. Wouldn't that be the sweetest bit of basketball karma ever if we landed the #1 pick after losing Greg and Roy? Absolutely! Therefore, it would be in our best interest to stop winning anymore games this season. If you had disagreed with this "strategy" before the incredible trade deadline house-cleaning, I might have been able to listen to your argument (even though I wouldnt agree) but now, NO WAY. Anyone who disagrees at this point is either ignorant, just plain crazy, or has a lot of money invested in season tickets this year and is understandably aggravated with the current situation (I truly do understand). So I say have fun watching Caleb experiment with the team, savor that one win vs the Bulls, but really root for the Blazers to LOSE the rest of our games this season. Now lets employ some long-term "strategy" and start tanking!

Poll

Do you understand and support the logic behind losing as many games as possible this season to improve our draft position this summer?

60%

Yes, absolutely and I can still enjoy the rest of the season knowing that losing now will actually help make us better moving forward.

86 votes

12%

No, l have too much $ invested in my season tickets, and want to see us win now even if its pointless

18 votes

27%

Its the term "tanking" and what it implies that I'm opposed to, but "strategic" moves that may cost us wins now I'm ok with.

39 votes

143 votes | Poll has closed

I've been watching twitter all morning and I'm reading some crazy and surprising scenerios! Wallace to NJ?, Crawford to Orlando?, Felton to....anybody, anybody? It will be awesome to see what happens when all is done, but one thing I think is for sure, any trade we make is going to involve draft picks. By the end of the day the Blazers may have stockpiled a number of good draft picks (ex. maybe NJs 1st this year!?!) and dumped a lot of salary we might have been stuck with next season (ex. Wallace opting in) The end result will be the Portland Trailblazers rebuild 2012-2013, and beyond. Of course by the time people comment on this all kinds of scenerios will probably have changed, but i am so excited I couldn't wait. Blow it up!

Holy smokes, it seems the 1st rnd pick we're getting from NJ for Wallace is only protected through the top 3! thats great!!! We just stole a major piece to the future of this franchise. We're going to look back on this deal as a major turning point for us, I feel it! Thanks NJ!!!!!!

today is starting to feel like Christmas to me - Now let's dump Crawford for another pick!

Poll

How many draft picks will the Blazers have by the end of the day?

6%

1

9 votes

29%

2

38 votes

29%

3

38 votes

35%

Enough to make the remainder of this season endurable as I look forward to the draft!

46 votes

131 votes | Poll has closed

That's it, I have had enough. No GM, Brandon retiring, the Oden drama continues, ahhhhhh!!! I am now officially "over" this team for this season and I think its time to blow it up. I think we need to amnesty Roy officially so his contract is gone and doesnt come back to haunt us like Darius Miles' did, then dump Oden b/c after his most recent "setback" I have lost all faith in him ever getting healthy again. We aren't going to go anywhere this season, except to another 1st round exit from the playoffs, so I say lets look to the future.

I say we keep Aldridge, Batum, and Felton as our core moving forward. Then we need to package Camby a/o Wallace and some young guys for a solid player, and finally plan to get a nice free agent with some fresh cap space in 2012/2013. Anyone else feel the same way?

Poll

Are you ready to embrace the notion of rebuilding this Blazers team?

50%

Yes, this season is shot, lets look towards next year

26 votes

13%

Yes again, this season is shot, lets look forward to next year

7 votes

35%

and finally Yes, this season is shot lets look forward to next year

18 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed

Nic Batum just tweeted that he will miss Joel, Dante and "Kiwi Marks". I knew about Joel and Dante going to CHA for Gerald Wallace (SWEET DEAL FOR US!) But didn't hear about Sean Marks, so why would we just cut him? Are we making room for TJ Ford to sign with us after Indy buys him out? He's a Texas boy and homies with LaMarcus and Camby. He could be a nice spark off the bench. What do you think?

I like the Russian, he makes things happen. Where are Allen's juevos? I'm not saying that we could have scored D-Will and I was mixed on Harris, but if we aren't making any moves, we will definately be a 1st round playoff exit again this year, and be in the same situation trying to make upgrades to the team next year, but likely under a far more restrictive CBA. Now I read that Cho is trying to make trades while Paul Allen is thinking our 6 game winning streak and BRoy's return is encouraging enough for us to stand pat!?! Without major changes, we will never be a serious contender, we need to make moves and Allen is sitting on his hands, I wish we had the Russian as an owner, he gets things done! Good luck to the Nets next year!

Oh yeah, now the Jazz have too many PFs again! Just so happens we could use a good PF, maybe an opportunity there, just sayin - c'mon Allen - DO SOMETHING!

Prokhorov = ProActive

Poll

In light of the D-Will acquisition, who would you rather have as an owner right now?

67%

Paul Allen

117 votes

32%

Mikhail Prokhorov

56 votes

173 votes | Poll has closed

I am of the mind that Brandon Roy will NEVER get back to the point where he will be a worthwhile basketball player, whether for the Blazers, or anybody else, whether he is paid $85 million or the league minimum, I jut think his career is over. Not a popular opinion I know, but If that actually turned out to be true and Brandon did retire, how would that affect:

  1) The ammount of $ we still owe him? Would we have to pay him the entire amount? and                                              2) What would the effect be on our salary cap space if he were to retire?

I would love it if someone with knowledge of these items could give me some accurate numbers. If it turned out that Brandon Roys retirement saved the team millions of dollars and freed up tremendous cap space to use rebuilding the team, how many of you would be open to the idea?

Poll

If Brandon Roy retiring from professional basketball would free up millions of dollars in cap space to use to rebuild the team, would you support the idea?

61%

Yes, retire already so we can rebuild with the salary cap savings

117 votes

7%

No, I want Brandon to stay even if he can't play and we cant trade him

15 votes

30%

No, Brandon will get his mojo back and this will all be a moot point

59 votes

191 votes | Poll has closed

Let me begin by saying that this isn't a post intended to critique Nate McMillian's style of play, or debate whether Brandon Roy needs to share the ball more so lets not comment on those topics. Instead I want to focus on something different.

There have been numerous posts/articles talking about how certain Trailblazers' skills aren't being fully utilized in Nate McMillian's slow it down, walk the ball up, half court style of play. Players like Andre Miller, Rudy Fernandez, and Nicolas Batum have been discussed as players that would be more effective in an up tempo system. With that in mind, it seems that every time I see a players name come up as a potential trade target for the Blazers (such as Melo, recently Josh Smith, etc. etc.) inevitably there is the comment that (that player) isn't a "good fit" for the Blazers. It is either a case of that player needing to handle the ball too much, thereby competing with Roy for touches, or that the player is more of a run 'n gun style player who would stagnate in Nate's system, or maybe they don't fit our "culture". Whatever the case may be I have to admit it gets pretty frustrating reading those type of comments over and over again. 

I think it is fair to say that the Blazers have the assets to make a trade for nearly anybody in the league if they really wanted to. We could put together an incredible package of the expiring contracts of Andre Miller, Joel Pryzbilla, young talent like Rudy, Dante, our rookies, or god-forbid Batum, as well as our 1st rnd pick and the one we just got from New Orleans. Let's assume that Oden and Joel come back strong and our center position is covered. I don't really want to talk about trading Oden or Aldridge, I want to keep our core intact, and I don't want to hear about getting LeBron or Chris Paul, lets try to be at least semi-realistic utilizing the assets I just mentioned.

I believe in Rich Cho's decision making and think a big trade is still to come, perhaps by the trade deadline, so it bears the question who actually IS a "good fit" for the blazers with our current system and core players in place. I want to know WHY this player(s) would be a good fit, how does their skill set make us better, and would they be worth what we would have to give up to get them. Who is the missing piece of our championship puzzle? Ready - Go!

I was lucky enough to snag seats in the first row right next to what would be the visitors bench during the regular season, and had an incredible vantage to enjoy Fan Fest. There are so many things I enjoyed about last night I hardly know where to start. Let me begin by saying that our team this year looks Really Really Good and I cannot wait for the season to start. Some highlights for me - Rudy getting more cheers than boos, LaMarcus taking the ball inside and bangin with Pendegraph, My man Elliot Williams nearly hitting his head on the rim dunking and grabbing rebounds over the bigs, Batum showing a lot of versatility offensively, Jerryd Bayless looking to pass and setting up the offense BEFORE he looks to score, and then there's Wesley Matthews - HELLO! My Dear Sweet Wesley looked like a freakin All-Star last night. He did a little bit of everything, of course tenacious defense, throwing down crazy dunks, fall away jumpers with a hand in  his face, I mean come on! I had a great time last night and I'm totally psyched for the season. I'd love to hear what you guys got out of last night and your impressions of the team going into the season.

P.S. Not offense to Ben G. but Elliot Williams needs to be called "EMail" - "fast twitch" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but if not, here's a heart warming story from bleacher report. I enjoy articles like this immensly because not only do they remind readers just how underrated we are, but they also put us ahead of OKC as the best future-of-the-league team on the rise. I for one am an OKC hater, not because they are bad, they are not, and I respect their organization and team for what they are, but because of all the sickening hype that team has gotten recently. The Thunder have yet to do anything more than the Blazers have, and they have NOT had to deal with any true adversity as yet. Maybe I'll have more respect for the team when they either win the Western Conference or win 50 games without Kevin Durant for a whole season - I can promise you, that won't happen! Anyway, here are a few of my favorite quotes from the article...

"It really is sad how little media attention Portland gets. Yes, it is a small market, but that doesn't mean they are bad. On the contrary, they are the complete opposite."

"And yes they will win rings, not because of the overall team, but just because Brandon Roy is just THAT good"

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/457659-the-portland-trailblazers-not-the-okc-thunder-are-the-future-of-the-nba

First off, don't get me wrong, when I say I "hate" certain players, teams, etc, that doesn't mean I dont have respect for what they can do, it just means I can't freakin stand them, for whatever number of reasons. I usually direct most of my feelings towards western conference teams who are rivals, with the occasional east coast team. There are a number of individual players I just hate b/c of how they act on and off the court. I could go on and on but this post isnt about listing everyone I hate and why, I want to know who YOU love to hate and in particular, WHY? Again, this doesnt mean you necessarily dont respect their game (unless of course you really do, then tell me about it)

just to get things started, here are mere few examples from my own personal point of view:

The Lakers - I wont even mention my hatred for the Lakers b/c that which is understood need not be discussed. 

Boston - In the past few years I have hated the Celtics b/c I mostly hate KG and his cussing, bully smaller guys but shrink from a big dude, trash talkin, cuss some more, punk-ass-self. I am also tired of Boston having so many damn titles, time to share the wealth. 

Miami - Now with Miami's big 3 super team, my hatred has arisen. I used to really like Dwade but some of his recent quotes have really made me start to hate him. I was neutral on Bosh (at one point I wanted him as a Blazer) but now he's a superfriend. I've been a LeBron hater for awhile anyway because he acts like he is so entitled to be the greatest player of all time and win 100 titles and be a billionaire, blah, blah, blah  it makes me sick, not to mention his televised debacle of a move from Cleveland, that was just classless and rude. 

OKC - They are NOT the new western conference champions for years to come, they have not supplanted us as the best young up and coming team in the league, they left Seattle! and "Oden vs. Durant".... Ahhhhh I HATE OKC!

Charles freakin Barkley - 400lbs, loud mouth, no title winning idiot, I hate Barkely sooooo much.

OK, I'm getting kinda heated now (and it feels so good) but I'll give you guys a chance to vent, who do you hate and why - go for it!! 

According to ESPN.com Insider's NBA writer, John Hollinger, Paul could go to the Portland Trail Blazers for Brandon Roy and Joel Pryzbilla, and with Andre Miller going to a third team.

That looks like a very interesting deal.

And the Blazers are still good enough to reach the Finals. They have LaMarcus Aldridge there.

 

What is this new craziness? Could Paul take us to the promised land where brando could not? What do you think, would you do that deal?

According to the NYDailyNews, New York Knicks still covet Rudy Fernandez, but Portland isn't fond of Knicks roster ".
Ok, we all know the Knicks have been after Rudy for awhile now, so this is nothing new, but if they have some renewed interest as of late and want to make a deal for him, what shall we ask for in return? I think Wilson Chandler can play ball but he has some ZBo-like off the court issues (Not interested!) I have read that some fans would be happy with a first round draft pick, but thats not quite enough for me. I think Rudy is worth at least 2 pieces of the championship puzzle. After all, when he's happy and into the game he can be a real ninja shooting the ball. So if NY would make him happy, then lets trade him and l wish him well. As for the Blazers, I would definately ask for a first round draft pick AND maybe a young big body like, say - Jerome Jordan!?! He seems like he would be an inexpensive, all upside (since expectations would be limited but hopeful) BIG MAN. Yes he'd be a project but he could develop for a year or two learning from the best in Mr. Marcus Camby. Not to mention he'd be some nice insurance for any further big man injuries. What do you think, would NY take that deal? As a Blazer fan, would you?

I keep hearing over and over how whoever we get via free agency or through trades, they HAVE to have a killer jumpshot or be a 3pt threat (especially if they are a PG) and that the guys with suspect jumpers or limited 3pt range should not even be considered. I'm NOT saying shooting isnt important, obviously it is, but there are other ways to score besides shooting Js and 3pters. We've already got a lot of 3pt firepower as it is, more than most teams I'd say (Roy, Rudy, Blake, Webster, Travis, occasionally Batum and even LA) So is adding another jumpshooter/3pt threat an absolute necessity?  How many guys do we have (besides Brandon) who can regularly put the ball on the floor, drive to the basket, get fouled and convert the bucket? ...........exactly my point.

Does anyone else here recall how many times last year (and earlier) the criticism that the Blazers were solely a jump shooting team who rarely got to the free throw line? We've all heard the saying "live by the jumper, die by the jumper" well with the exception of Roy, we have been living and dying by the jumper for years. How many times would you watch in horror as Travis faded to the top of the key and hoisted up a wild, contested shot, the whole time screaming for us to "drive to the basket, drive to the basket" I know I did it several times a game, and not just with Travis.  

I don't think there have been enough (any?) mentions about the importance (and in the Blazers case lack of) drives to the hoop that result in fouls and us shooting free throws. This is one of the areas that the Blazers could definately improve upon  This is a way that we can diversify our half court offense and add valuable extra points/possesion. Not to mention drawing those fouls gets the opposition into the penalty quicker which leads us to more free throws and more points. Besides running the fastbreak for layups and dunks, this is the best way to get "easy" points.

So while I am NOT saying shooting is something we dont' need or couldn't use more of, what I AM saying is that we might want to give more consideration to the guys out there who make a living at the free throw line, can consistently drive to the rim and draw fouls. Adding a guy like that would be a great way to mix up our offense, make defenses sag off a bit and ultimately create more room for our existing shooters, not to mention the extra points we'd gain from fouls. Just a wrinkle that I think we haven't mentioned enough.

Now I'll let you discuss who we can attain that would bring this to the table

If you were to consider Lamarcus seeing some mintues next season playing the 3 spot, this opens up all kinds of possibilities for our roster (rotations, FA negotiations, etc.) Can he guard the 3? he did have to guard pgs at times last season and did a good job, so why not? He has great end-to-end speed for a 6'11" dude, and his length makes up for any lack of lateral quickness (not that he's lacking there) why not have him guard 3s (which could move Batum to guard 2guards - which would be awesome) Then we could have David Lee, or the Twin Towers play the front line. So many possibilities. What do you guys think?

SO with Toronto basically spending all their $ to acquire Turky-Glue, Detroit having made it's 2 acquisitions, and Oklahoma City apparently choosing to sit pat on their cap$ until 2010, that puts us in control of the remainder of the FA signing period, at least as far as teams having and willing to spend potentially $10mil on a free agent (which I DON'T recommend we do) So....

We can still address our need for a tough backup PF by going after Brandon Bass for the MLE(?), which I consider a Good Deal, or possibly Antonio McDyess (who seems to want to resign with Detroit - but who knows?) or even Joe Smith (for less then the MLE? - which I would consider a BARGAIN!) Forget about David Lee (whom I love, but not for $50mil/5yrs as a backup - same for Milsap if he would even consider it)

The other FA options would be at PG with J Kidd being an option, albeit unlikely, or perhaps RAMON SESSIONS. What do you think about him> I know he isn't the best outside shooter, but he can dish assists and drive to the rim (which we are lacking) plus his D isn't bad, plus he is young, could be had for relatively cheap and could blossom into a potential star (He has had a 20+ assist game AND has gone off for 40+pts - Has Blake done either!?!) Whjy not take the gamble on him?

SO, Bass AND Sessions, reasonable contracts that fill some of our needs, what do you think?

 

This post should address the notion of NOT trying to make a "HOME RUN" deal (because as far as free agents go, there isn't one - that includes Turkoglu when he was available) but rather being sensible with our Cap $ and either making some REASONABLE moves to address known weaknesses (playoff experience, tougness, 3rd scoring option, No backup PF) or my preference, make a lop-sided trade for someone who is NOT the "best of whats available" but a specific target that we want in order to address the aforementioned "weaknesses".

The idea of perhaps holding off on Free Agency and using our cap space for trades can be risky for a number of reasons, but unless we can sign 1 or 2 free agents for the MLE who address immediate needs (of which our options at this point are limited) I say be smart, take our time and perhaps hold back for now.

The reason I feel this way is because if you look at our roster as it is now, and are willing BELIEVE in 1) The development of Batum, Bayless, and Oden, and  2) The full recovery of Martell Webster, then the only thing we really need is a backup PF to help out LaMarcus.  

If we assume that Bayless can make the jump to starting PG, and Batum will blossom into a future superstar, and Oden becomes a fraction of the player we dreamed about before the knee surgery,  then we already have the making of a championship team right there, and i haven't even mentioned what a healthy Martell could add to the equation!

Its easy to get caught up in the push to try to win a championship right away, but if we keep our current guys (give or take 1 or 2  smart trades) we have the pieces we need to be championship contenters 2-3 years down the road.  The only pieces I would add would be REASONABLE FA contracts now, OR a big trade for a true stud that we could really use.

In short, I'm not saying let our Cap $ go to waste, but rather use it wisely and dont force an addition, but make the SMART choice(s) that wont haunt us for years to come when we are making our championship push or looking to repeat. What do you think?