What is Portland going to do

[corwin]

with all of these players? I just looked at Portland's roster & counted these players:

Raef LaFrentz
Darius Miles
Joel Przybilla
Greg Oden
LaMarcus Aldridge
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
Martel Webster
James Jones
Brrandon Roy
Channing Frye
Jarrett Jack
Sergio Rodriguez
Josh McRoberts
Taurean Green

In addition, you have 3 1st rounders stashed overseas in Rudy Fernandez, P Koponen, & Joel Freeland & a 1st & 3 2nd round picks in the upcoming draft. What a great situation but some pruning is going to have to be done. Who do you think will be moved?

[Flash3]

They'll probably package a few players plus that 1st rounder for a veteran SF, if one becomes available....

[ss-wiish!]

interesting....never noticed this.

they'll only have 1 roster space come this offseason

[MalReyn]

Well, Darius and Raef could both be bought out to make roster space.

For that matter, Green and McRoberts could also be cut, who've played a combined 39 minutes this season. Neither have shown yet that they'll be NBA players, and they could be forced to duke it out with next year's 2nd rounders' in the Summer League for a roster spot.

My guess is they make the trades to get rid of extra players for more talent. But even if they don't, not everyone on the roster is a keeper.

[NetsForce]

Trade for Shawnia Marion.

[Flash3]

^do you joke/provide comic relief just about EVERY TIME you post, seriously?

[risktaker91]

^do you joke/provide comic relief just about EVERY TIME you post, seriously?

He has to do something to take his mind off the Nets.

[NetsForce]

^do you joke/provide comic relief just about EVERY TIME you post, seriously?

I took your idea of the Blazers trading for a veteran SF and ran with the first thing that came to my mind after that...

[Spykes]

with all of these players? I just looked at Portland's roster & counted these players:

Raef LaFrentz
Darius Miles
Joel Przybilla
Greg Oden
LaMarcus Aldridge
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
Martel Webster
James Jones
Brandon Roy
Channing Frye
Jarrett Jack
Sergio Rodriguez
Josh McRoberts
Taurean Green

In addition, you have 3 1st rounders stashed overseas in Rudy Fernandez, P Koponen, & Joel Freeland & a 1st & 3 2nd round picks in the upcoming draft. What a great situation but some pruning is going to have to be done. Who do you think will be moved?

There are about 6 players on that list who all have potential to be moved. They are, in no particular order; Jack, Frye, Webster, Rodriguez, McRoberts and Green. I also believe there is a chance Portland could move their 1st round pick this season (if they make the playoffs). Outlaw has been mentioned in some rumors this year, but there is almost no chance the Blazers move him. He means too much to this team and is signed to a cheap contract.

Darius Miles is also a player Portland would obviously love to move. Even if they could just shave 1 year off his contract, they'd love to find a way to do it. But the chances of that are slim to none as everyone knows.

If Portland needs to make some quick roster space, McRoberts and/or Green will the ones bought out... not Miles or LaFrentz. McRob and Green both make less than a million per year, so they'd be the easiest to just waive. With Miles and LaFrentz, you're talking about huge multi-million dollar buyouts that need to be negotiated. And most importantly, LaFrentz will be a 13 million dollar expiring contract next season. Portland would be stupid to buy him out before exploring possible trades with that asset.

Now, as for Portland's overseas players, only 1 of the 3 there will be brought over next season. That's Rudy Fernandez. Koponen is a LONG way from being NBA ready and the same is still likely true for Freeland. So, there's no pressing need to make a ton of room for overseas players, just one spot for Rudy.

The final player on Portland's roster that will be up in the air is James Jones. The Blazers love Jones and he loves playing in Portland, so the Blazers will definitely make a hard push to bring him back.

Everyone else is likely staying put. Joel Pryzbilla is going to make a fantastic backup C for Oden, next summer. Travis will be there next year, as previously mentioned. Same with Rudy Fernandez. Obviously neither Roy or Aldridge will be going anywhere anytime soon. Blake will be back for at least one more year. Then of the 6 players I mentioned in my first paragraph, it's highly unlikely at all 6 will be moved in the summer, so some of them should be back. If Portland misses the playoffs, they'll likely have a rookie coming in as well. And of course, who can forget Darius Miles.

The bottom line of all of this is, Portland's roster concerns aren't a pressing as people here on the forums like to make them out to be. Yes, Portland will have to make some moved this summer, that's not in question. But Portland isn't going to be panicking over a slightly full roster. Kevin Pritchard loves to make draft day deals, and this summer shouldn't be any different in Portland. KP's targets will be as follows...

(again, in no particular order)

*A consistent SF. Webster has made some nice improvements, but still suffers from inconsistency. And Outlaw, to many peoples surprise, is not a SF. He's Portland's backup PF. Outlaw is not as good when he plays SF and he gets lost in the crowd when he's a starter for some reason. That's why he's Portland 6th man as a backup PF. It's the role he excels at, so it's where Portland is going to keep him. Portland will likely look to make a move to grab a nice SF this summer. If they can get that SF this year, they'll likely try and get one with their cap space in 09.

*A Future PG. While there's not much truth to the 3 way NJ rumor, you'd have to be crazy to think Portland isn't interested in Devin Harris. They obviously aren't interested in him to the point of giving up Outlaw and 2 other key players on the roster right now (Jack and Frye), but if Portland can find a way to get Harris without moving Outlaw, they'd do it. Harris aside, Portland will be looking for a PG this summer. It's one reason why they'll likely keep their pick if it's in the lottery. The Top 14 of this years draft is filled with PG's who can really help Portland. A scoring or defensive PG would look really nice next to Roy in the Blazers backcourt. If the Blazers come up empty for a PG this summer but gets their SF, then they'll likely try and target someone like Ben Gordon in the summer of 09 with their cap space.

*A enforcer at backup PF. The Blazers have a lot of finesse PF's right now in Aldridge and Outlaw. They should really should have a banger inside at the 4 who can play some backup minutes. Oden will shore up a lot of Portland's defensive and rebounding woes, but Portland could really use someone like David Lee, Paul Milsap or Glen Davis. This is probably the least of Portland's main needs and the Blazers could probably fill this need fairly easily via the draft by either buying a low 1st rounder or finding a gem with one of their many 2nd round picks.

Outside of that, Portland is pretty much ready to go. They have a nice deep bench and should be set at starting SG, PF and C for the next decade.

[HumbleBumbleBee]

I have a feeling they'll package a few and look to make a run at Calderon

[Spykes]

I have a feeling they'll package a few and look to make a run at Calderon

Portland would definitely be interested in Calderon, but they don't really have any cap space this summer, so any deal for him would have to be a S&T. The problem with that is the Raptors hold all the cards in that situation. They obviously will want to keep Calderon and will thus ask for a very high price (likely Outlaw) to S&T him to Portland.

As much as I'd like to see Calderon a Blazer, there seem to be too many obstacles to make that happen.

[wilt]

I could very well see the Blazers trying that. Assuming Oden eventually becomes a guy who commands double teams at least part of the time and with Aldridge next to him i don

[Spykes]

I think wilt made some more great points on why Calderon likely won't be coming to Portland. He's a really intriguing player for Portland, but his stats would likely drop a bit playing next to Roy. Roy controls Portland's offense quite a bit, so they'd have to learn to share that load. Then there's the situation with T.J. Ford... Too many obstacles.

Miles is technically healthy enough to play right now. His rehab is all done and he is doing full practices with the team. Miles and his agent have both done some light griping to management about him not being re-activated even though he's healthy enough to go.

That said, just because he's healthy enough to play, it doesn't mean he's ready to play. After not playing basketball for over a full year, he has reportedly look REALLY rusty and slow in practices.

If the Blazers were struggling at this point in the season and the year was show, they might throw him out there just to see what he can do. But since Portland is still in the thick of a playoff chase, they won't even consider playing him.

Best case scenario for Miles, the Blazers are out of the playoff hunt in late March - early April and they give him some charity minutes to see how he's recovered and see if he can get back the slightest bit of trade value entering the summer.

[BiggieSmalls]

i would love to get calderon for portland, he would fit in nicely with roy in the backcourt and he could drive the lane and basically take turns dishing to oden or aldridge for the dunk or kicking it out to martell and roy.

[Jsun947]

with all of these players? I just looked at Portland's roster & counted these players:

Raef LaFrentz
Darius Miles
Joel Przybilla
Greg Oden
LaMarcus Aldridge
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
Martel Webster
James Jones
Brrandon Roy
Channing Frye
Jarrett Jack
Sergio Rodriguez
Josh McRoberts
Taurean Green

In addition, you have 3 1st rounders stashed overseas in Rudy Fernandez, P Koponen, & Joel Freeland & a 1st & 3 2nd round picks in the upcoming draft. What a great situation but some pruning is going to have to be done. Who do you think will be moved?

C - Oden/Przybilla <-- For Sure
PF - Aldridge/Outlaw <--- For Sure
SF - ???/James Jones
SG - Roy/Rudy <--- For Sure
PG - Blake/Sergio <--- IMO

Personally I think these players will be shopped in this order this offseason..

1.) Miles
2.) Lafrentz
3.) Jack
4.) Webster <-- Only in talks resulting in a very good SF
6.) Frye
7.) 1st round pick
8.) Mcbob
9.) Green
10.) 3 2nd round picks
Portland will look to drastically upgrade the PG and SF spot.

[NetsForce]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Darius Miles shipped to New York for Jerome James and filler (Malik Rose?)... I'm not sure if the contracts work and to be honest I'd have to check contract lengths but it sounds like a New York trade if youknowwhati'msay'in...

[SactownHrtBrks8]

I think they will buy-out Raef Lafrentz in the off season sense he only has one year left on his contract. Although they might keep him just to trade that huge expiring

[mistatwo mayn]

Outlaw is gone next season; he's priced himself pretty high (of course unless Portland matches).

If you take Outlaw & Webster of the team, every perimeter player becomes easier to focus on; they need to resign Outlaw.

[Spykes]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Darius Miles shipped to New York for Jerome James and filler (Malik Rose?)... I'm not sure if the contracts work and to be honest I'd have to check contract lengths but it sounds like a New York trade if youknowwhati'msay'in...

James and Rose together make too much money. Neither James or Rose make enough to just do a straight up swap for Miles. So with both combined, the Blazers would have to add in something else, and I can't imagine Portland being excited about adding some else into a deal where we get back Jerome James and Malik Rose. The other problem is that Portland can't do a 1 for 2 trade since they have a full roster. Otherwise, something like James and Jones for Miles would work.

I think they will buy-out Raef Lafrentz in the off season sense he only has one year left on his contract. Although they might keep him just to trade that huge expiring

Portland will not buy out Raef LaFrentz. They would be absolutely stupid to do that just as he's becoming a expiring contract.

Outlaw is gone next season; he's priced himself pretty high (of course unless Portland matches).

If you take Outlaw & Webster of the team, every perimeter player becomes easier to focus on; they need to resign Outlaw.

Go check the Blazers salary at Hoopshype. Outlaw is signed for 2 more years after this one. He just resigned with the Blazers this past summer.

[amb1ent]

-= original quote snipped =-



He has to do something to take his mind off the Nets.

It's a lot better than posters (and a certain mod) who only post in the General board to orgasm over their respective teams

edit: not referring to anyone in this thread, yet