Ding Dong the witch is dead. D Miles is gone and the last of the foul stench that was the Jail Blazers has finally wafted away. Good ridance. Now we just have to hope that he doesn't sign elsewhere and play in 10 games (his money comes back on the cap if that happens). To memorialize the moment, I am posting some Blazers thoughts on my orphaned sports blog. Enjoy and feel free to note your agreement in the comments section.
Next year, the Blazers will need:
1. A starting lineup of:
PG - Jose Calderon - I'm a Jose Calderon fan and to a lesser degree an Andre Miller fan for this team, though it would be preferable to find a point that can actually shoot. Problem is there aren't many PGs in the league that are an upgrade over Blake and the ones that are could not be less available. The best PG who might be available is probably Baron Davis, but I don't think he fits with this team unless Nate could make him stop shooting 3s and I just don’t want him. So, I'm in favor of trading up to get Rose or trading the pick and pieces for Miller. But I think the best course of action is somehow to convince Toronto to part with Calderon. He is underrated and underutilized and somewhat tradeable for Toronto. Is there someone else who would be an upgrade that might be on the market? I don't want Arenas. I'm not sure Hinrich is an upgrade. It’s easy to say we need a better point guard, but making it happen is a different story. Good thing we had Telfair so we didn’t need to draft Paul.
SG - Roy - I still don't want him at the Point full time as it exposes his weaknesses (durability, speed) and limits his strengths (everything else), but I do want to see him at the point in the 4th quarter like Miami uses Wade when he's available. That brings into question how much you spend on a topflight PG if he might be on the bench during crunch time. Personally, I think you still go after the best PG you can and just try to find one who can shoot well enough to play off the ball.
SF - Hedo Turkoglu - Made a huge jump in production this year, but is still redundant of Lewis. They are about to find out that you can't win in the playoffs with two outside shooting small forwards and only your center left to rebound and bang inside. Hedo was actually better than Lewis this year, but Lewis is too expensive to move. I think Hedo is available for the right price. It is probably dreaming to think the Blazers could get both Calderon and Hedo, but it's worth a shot. He would be perfect for the Blazers. Good passer, spreads the floor, can actually be a playmaker on offense, isn't a prima donna, and has turned into a good closer. My one concern is Defense, but you can live with one guy on the floor who doesn't play much D especially when Oden is guarding the rim.
PF - Aldridge - I think he took a nice step forward this year, but he needs to get stronger and improve his rebounding. Still, he looks like he could occupy this spot for a decade.
C - Oden - Count me among those who don't think he will dominate this year, but could still be the difference in 5-10 wins.
2. A bench of:
PG – Blake – It wouldn’t kill me if he was the starter again so long as we had another shooter/scorer who could play in the 4th with Roy. Blake was good, but not great this year and while I think they need an upgrade here to go forward, I have no problem with Blake getting quality minutes off the bench. – Westbrook? – Of the draftable PGs without getting Rose, I like him the best – Taurean Green – Still don’t get why we traded him. Koponenenenen – Hopefully he’ll be ready for a few minutes here and there. Missing – Jack and Sergio – I was a huge Jack fan and while I still think he’s a solid NBA player, he is no longer looking like part of the future. He’s too much 2 and not enough 1 and not consistent enough. I still like him, but he’s a trade asset at this point. Sergio has no place on this team. Can’t shoot at all, can’t finish at the rim and can’t play D. Do we really want to put that on the floor just so we can see a sweet no look pass once every 4 turnovers? If the only way to get Rudy is to keep him, fine. But he gets no minutes and I would rather see what we could get for him…..don’t you think he would fit well with the Raptors uptempo style?.....hmmm….
SG – Say it with me now…Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! The Blazers sent a team over to Spain this week to try to convince him to come. He seems to hold it against Nate that Sergio sucks and he can make a ton more money over seas, but other than that, why wouldn’t he come? This is another test for KP. He found the talent, now he needs to land him. He immediately becomes the Blazer’s Manu. A 6th man that scores for the second unit and plays down the stretch for the first. He and Roy can both handle and the combination they could provide could be one of the league’s best. Not sure about Rudy’s D, but hopefully he can at least flop well. - Stephon Curry – Might he slide to the Blazers in the second? Who knows, but I’m thinking the Blazers look for someone like Curry or Eddie House who can come off the bench on any given night and go bezerk even if you know it won’t be every night. I also think Martel can play some 2. Missing – Von “illa” Wafer. Why is he on our team again? – J Jack – See above.
SF – Webster/Jones – I still like this combination of shooting. Webster gets better doing other things every year and we can just ride whoever is hot or healthy. You can’t have too much shooting and maybe Webster has to go to make some of the above referenced trades happen and if so, ok, but otherwise, I still think the kid can play and gets better every year. He is secretly one of the best dunkers on the team. I also think Roy, Aldridge and Rudy can potentially play some minutes here as needed. If we got Hedo, Outlaw might be a better change of pace fit off the bench, but he’s actually better at the 4 and should be the prime trade bait. Missing – Outlaw – I appreciate the effort and the improvement, but like Jack he is probably needed more as a trade piece than a building block.
PF – Joel Freeman? Josh McRoberts? I like both of those guys, but what the Blazers really need is a rebounder. Suddenly Frye is a rebounding machine for the first time in his life with Prz on the IR. Where was that earlier in the season? If he can keep that up he can stay. Otherwise, he needs to go. He needs to go because his minutes need to be given by an Oakley/Kurt Thomas/PJ Brown/ power rebounder type. I don’t know who else might be out there in the league or in the draft in the second round or if Freeman could be this guy, but I think he’s a bit short. Blazers need someone with size that can get 10 boards and hit an open 8 footer and put in some tip ins. Sometimes you can find guys like that in the second round. Bottom line, this is one of the biggest areas of need for the Blazers. They have to upgrade at the 4 off the bench.
C – Prz – If he plays like he did this year, he probably becomes the best backup center in the league. He can’t score, but he does everything else you want and should mean that we have some flexibility on the bench since his defense improves the team D so much. We could still use some more size here which is why Fry would be a good fit to stay if he is willing to rebound, but otherwise, a guy who could play some tough minutes at the 4 and 5 and score a little and grab rebounds is essential. We need the next Turiaf or Verajao. Surely we can find that guy somewhere.
So, the keys for the Blazers as I see them are:
1. an upgrade at the point, though you don’t sell your soul here because Blake is solid
2. an upgrade to the 4 off the bench
3. an upgrade at the 3. Need a consistent scorer with some versatility without breaking the bank. Jamison might also look good in red, black and white.
4. a healthy GO
5. A stateside Rudy.
If even most of that happens, the Blazers win 50 next year and get the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed. I can’t wait.
Next year, the Blazers will need:
1. A starting lineup of:
PG - Jose Calderon - I'm a Jose Calderon fan and to a lesser degree an Andre Miller fan for this team, though it would be preferable to find a point that can actually shoot. Problem is there aren't many PGs in the league that are an upgrade over Blake and the ones that are could not be less available. The best PG who might be available is probably Baron Davis, but I don't think he fits with this team unless Nate could make him stop shooting 3s and I just don’t want him. So, I'm in favor of trading up to get Rose or trading the pick and pieces for Miller. But I think the best course of action is somehow to convince Toronto to part with Calderon. He is underrated and underutilized and somewhat tradeable for Toronto. Is there someone else who would be an upgrade that might be on the market? I don't want Arenas. I'm not sure Hinrich is an upgrade. It’s easy to say we need a better point guard, but making it happen is a different story. Good thing we had Telfair so we didn’t need to draft Paul.
SG - Roy - I still don't want him at the Point full time as it exposes his weaknesses (durability, speed) and limits his strengths (everything else), but I do want to see him at the point in the 4th quarter like Miami uses Wade when he's available. That brings into question how much you spend on a topflight PG if he might be on the bench during crunch time. Personally, I think you still go after the best PG you can and just try to find one who can shoot well enough to play off the ball.
SF - Hedo Turkoglu - Made a huge jump in production this year, but is still redundant of Lewis. They are about to find out that you can't win in the playoffs with two outside shooting small forwards and only your center left to rebound and bang inside. Hedo was actually better than Lewis this year, but Lewis is too expensive to move. I think Hedo is available for the right price. It is probably dreaming to think the Blazers could get both Calderon and Hedo, but it's worth a shot. He would be perfect for the Blazers. Good passer, spreads the floor, can actually be a playmaker on offense, isn't a prima donna, and has turned into a good closer. My one concern is Defense, but you can live with one guy on the floor who doesn't play much D especially when Oden is guarding the rim.
PF - Aldridge - I think he took a nice step forward this year, but he needs to get stronger and improve his rebounding. Still, he looks like he could occupy this spot for a decade.
C - Oden - Count me among those who don't think he will dominate this year, but could still be the difference in 5-10 wins.
2. A bench of:
PG – Blake – It wouldn’t kill me if he was the starter again so long as we had another shooter/scorer who could play in the 4th with Roy. Blake was good, but not great this year and while I think they need an upgrade here to go forward, I have no problem with Blake getting quality minutes off the bench. – Westbrook? – Of the draftable PGs without getting Rose, I like him the best – Taurean Green – Still don’t get why we traded him. Koponenenenen – Hopefully he’ll be ready for a few minutes here and there. Missing – Jack and Sergio – I was a huge Jack fan and while I still think he’s a solid NBA player, he is no longer looking like part of the future. He’s too much 2 and not enough 1 and not consistent enough. I still like him, but he’s a trade asset at this point. Sergio has no place on this team. Can’t shoot at all, can’t finish at the rim and can’t play D. Do we really want to put that on the floor just so we can see a sweet no look pass once every 4 turnovers? If the only way to get Rudy is to keep him, fine. But he gets no minutes and I would rather see what we could get for him…..don’t you think he would fit well with the Raptors uptempo style?.....hmmm….
SG – Say it with me now…Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! The Blazers sent a team over to Spain this week to try to convince him to come. He seems to hold it against Nate that Sergio sucks and he can make a ton more money over seas, but other than that, why wouldn’t he come? This is another test for KP. He found the talent, now he needs to land him. He immediately becomes the Blazer’s Manu. A 6th man that scores for the second unit and plays down the stretch for the first. He and Roy can both handle and the combination they could provide could be one of the league’s best. Not sure about Rudy’s D, but hopefully he can at least flop well. - Stephon Curry – Might he slide to the Blazers in the second? Who knows, but I’m thinking the Blazers look for someone like Curry or Eddie House who can come off the bench on any given night and go bezerk even if you know it won’t be every night. I also think Martel can play some 2. Missing – Von “illa” Wafer. Why is he on our team again? – J Jack – See above.
SF – Webster/Jones – I still like this combination of shooting. Webster gets better doing other things every year and we can just ride whoever is hot or healthy. You can’t have too much shooting and maybe Webster has to go to make some of the above referenced trades happen and if so, ok, but otherwise, I still think the kid can play and gets better every year. He is secretly one of the best dunkers on the team. I also think Roy, Aldridge and Rudy can potentially play some minutes here as needed. If we got Hedo, Outlaw might be a better change of pace fit off the bench, but he’s actually better at the 4 and should be the prime trade bait. Missing – Outlaw – I appreciate the effort and the improvement, but like Jack he is probably needed more as a trade piece than a building block.
PF – Joel Freeman? Josh McRoberts? I like both of those guys, but what the Blazers really need is a rebounder. Suddenly Frye is a rebounding machine for the first time in his life with Prz on the IR. Where was that earlier in the season? If he can keep that up he can stay. Otherwise, he needs to go. He needs to go because his minutes need to be given by an Oakley/Kurt Thomas/PJ Brown/ power rebounder type. I don’t know who else might be out there in the league or in the draft in the second round or if Freeman could be this guy, but I think he’s a bit short. Blazers need someone with size that can get 10 boards and hit an open 8 footer and put in some tip ins. Sometimes you can find guys like that in the second round. Bottom line, this is one of the biggest areas of need for the Blazers. They have to upgrade at the 4 off the bench.
C – Prz – If he plays like he did this year, he probably becomes the best backup center in the league. He can’t score, but he does everything else you want and should mean that we have some flexibility on the bench since his defense improves the team D so much. We could still use some more size here which is why Fry would be a good fit to stay if he is willing to rebound, but otherwise, a guy who could play some tough minutes at the 4 and 5 and score a little and grab rebounds is essential. We need the next Turiaf or Verajao. Surely we can find that guy somewhere.
So, the keys for the Blazers as I see them are:
1. an upgrade at the point, though you don’t sell your soul here because Blake is solid
2. an upgrade to the 4 off the bench
3. an upgrade at the 3. Need a consistent scorer with some versatility without breaking the bank. Jamison might also look good in red, black and white.
4. a healthy GO
5. A stateside Rudy.
If even most of that happens, the Blazers win 50 next year and get the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed. I can’t wait.
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