Portland - 2016 Offseason

[Billy]

Who else is excited to see whom Portland is rumored to want in the draft tonight only to see OKC draft them? Anybody

Regarding FA's and the prospect of paying for a cheaper alternative, it has it's pluses and it's minus's. Personally I think the thought of paying for 2 good players instead of one great one sounds good in the off-season, but when it's playoff time you tend to miss the big impact players. While Whiteside or D12 may cost more than Portland usually is willing to bid, I think either would be more useful than a 7+8th man off the bench.

[sabi]

Whiteside fills our biggest needs of interior scoring and defense and he is the most talented FA we would be legit contenders with plenty of potential

I do worry about his passing as he is a bit of a black hole on offense

I think as long as we keep our offense perimeter oriented and exploit the pick and roll with Lillard and Whiteside we would become much harder to stop.

[PDXKnight]

Whiteside fills our biggest needs of interior scoring and defense and he is the most talented FA we would be legit contenders with plenty of potential

I do worry about his passing as he is a bit of a black hole on offense

I think as long as we keep our offense perimeter oriented and exploit the pick and roll with Lillard and Whiteside we would become much harder to stop.

If you have a chance to add a player like whiteside you do it plain and simple

[Tim Lehrbach]

Regarding FA's and the prospect of paying for a cheaper alternative, it has it's pluses and it's minus's. Personally I think the thought of paying for 2 good players instead of one great one sounds good in the off-season, but when it's playoff time you tend to miss the big impact players. While Whiteside or D12 may cost more than Portland usually is willing to bid, I think either would be more useful than a 7+8th man off the bench.

Oh, no doubt. In my post on the last page I was only pointing out the silver lining if we're just not in the running for the top guys at all. We can strike out on the top targets and still come away with a great haul this summer. Not saying that's likely, either, but there are more possible positive outcomes this offseason than most.

[Tim Lehrbach]

I do worry about his passing as he is a bit of a black hole on offense

I think as long as we keep our offense perimeter oriented and exploit the pick and roll with Lillard and Whiteside we would become much harder to stop.

If you have a chance to add a player like whiteside you do it plain and simple

Man, I wish I could remember which Raptors free agent acquisition TurboZone made a hilarious signature about using this line. Probably Landry Fields.

[Wizenheimer]

I think as long as we keep our offense perimeter oriented and exploit the pick and roll with Lillard and Whiteside we would become much harder to stop.

If you have a chance to add a player like whiteside you do it plain and simple

Man, I wish I could remember which Raptors free agent acquisition TurboZone made a hilarious signature about using this line. Probably Landry Fields.

maybe when the Raptors 'stole' Hedo Turkoglu from Portland?

[Tim Lehrbach]

If you have a chance to add a player like whiteside you do it plain and simple

Man, I wish I could remember which Raptors free agent acquisition TurboZone made a hilarious signature about using this line. Probably Landry Fields.

maybe when the Raptors 'stole' Hedo Turkoglu from Portland?

No, because that was seen as a genuinely good signing, whereas even the perpetually pessimistic Raptors fans were just dumbfounded by the Fields signing.

There was a treasure trove of great Hedo sigs at TZ, though.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Ricky Rubio's defense and creativity could help the Blazers if the Wolves are really keen on moving him. Doubt the Blazers would give up anything Minnesota wants, but if the price is right...

[cibili]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

[DusterBuster]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

A couple of factors. Probably biggest of which was PR. That summer the Blazers lost their star in Alridge who'd be with the team for 6 or so years and they were gonna be losing every other FA on the team. They also wanted to show a commitment to the new face of the franchise. When you get an elite level talent like Lillard, you don't dick around with him. They knew they wanted him, they knew he wanted to be there.... why risk pissing him off by screwing around with his FA? If he's committed to the team, it'd be pretty crappy for the team not to be committed to him.

As for Varejao.... cause they didn't want him. And thank god. I'll gladly take that cap hit to not have that flopper wearing a Blazer jersey.

[cibili]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

A couple of factors. Probably biggest of which was PR. That summer the Blazers lost their star in Alridge who'd be with the team for 6 or so years and they were gonna be losing every other FA on the team. They also wanted to show a commitment to the new face of the franchise. When you get an elite level talent like Lillard, you don't dick around with him. They knew they wanted him, they knew he wanted to be there.... why risk pissing him off by screwing around with his FA? If he's committed to the team, it'd be pretty crappy for the team not to be committed to him.

As for Varejao.... cause they didn't want him. And thank god. I'll gladly take that cap hit to not have that flopper wearing a Blazer jersey.

So you think it was right thing to do?

[DusterBuster]

Knick fan here, just want to ask a semi ignorant question, feel free to ignore. Why did you guys rush to extend lillard, as I see it you could save some cap space by waiting a year? Also how much is varejao's cap hit around 3?

Always pleasure to watch you Blazers, I'm out.

A couple of factors. Probably biggest of which was PR. That summer the Blazers lost their star in Alridge who'd be with the team for 6 or so years and they were gonna be losing every other FA on the team. They also wanted to show a commitment to the new face of the franchise. When you get an elite level talent like Lillard, you don't dick around with him. They knew they wanted him, they knew he wanted to be there.... why risk pissing him off by screwing around with his FA? If he's committed to the team, it'd be pretty crappy for the team not to be committed to him.

As for Varejao.... cause they didn't want him. And thank god. I'll gladly take that cap hit to not have that flopper wearing a Blazer jersey.

So you think it was right thing to do?

Yeah, I don't have any problem with it. Portland's never been much of a FA destination anyway. It's maybe getting a tiny bit better, but with so many teams with cap space, it's gonna be a competitive market. I really don't see what much it would have helped.

[Downtown]

I see McCollum tweeted today to Bismack Biyombo "you look good in black and red".

So with him and Lillard supposedly also reaching out to Whiteside a little while ago you have to put two and two together that the teams two best players really want a good centre brought in.

And I also have to think that's why Olshey didn't take on any salary with the draft. Keep as much space open for a big contract.

Of course that's not to assume that he will land a big fish, just that he likely is going to try. I just hope that if he does strike out he doesn't get desperate and resort to a plan B of Greg Monroe. Did anyone else notice on the draft broadcast where Jalen Rose was asked about Milwaukee drafting Thon Maker and he said they should trade Monroe? That's not a good sign when a raw prospect like Maker gets props over you.

[DusterBuster]

Having cap space this year is kinda pointless honestly considering 3/4th the league will also be having max cap space. It's probably a bit of fools gold if I'm being realistic.

Blazers will probably get meetings with the agents for Howard, Whiteside and Biyombo. Howard and Whiteside likely will get max deals and their decisions will simply come down to what city do they want to play in. Whiteside stays in Miami, Howard probably goes to NY or Dallas if he doesn't want to move far (tho Dallas doesn't seem to have him high on their FA list if reports are to be believed). So that really only leave Biyombo and Monroe. The plus side about those two is that unlike Howard or Whiteside, they won't (or at least shouldn't) take all of Portland's cap space. Leaving room for Bazemore, who'll require a good chunk of change to get away from Atlanta.

[Waynearchetype]

I see McCollum tweeted today to Bismack Biyombo "you look good in black and red"..

Link? I'm not seeing this.

[Downtown]

I read it on hoops hype this morning.

[GreenRiddler]

I see McCollum tweeted today to Bismack Biyombo "you look good in black and red"..

Link? I'm not seeing this.

He said it to Bismack at Steve Nash's annual showdown in chinatown soccer event.

[Jsun947]

I like the idea of Portland signing Parsons but his injuries scare me.

The Blazers did one better and tried to draft Parsons last night. His name is Jake Layman. Both 6'9 210lb white guys. Their college stats, physical tools, and careers were strikingly similar. Parsons is a better passer and rebounder while Jake is a better shooter (particularly at the line) but over all very close.

[GreenRiddler]

I like the idea of Portland signing Parsons but his injuries scare me.

The Blazers did one better and tried to draft Parsons last night. His name is Jake Layman. Both 6'9 210lb white guys. Their college stats, physical tools, and careers were strikingly similar. Parsons is a better passer and rebounder while Jake is a better shooter (particularly at the line) but over all very close.

I liken him more to Ariza than Parsons.

[GreenRiddler]

Now someone is reporting the Wizards are indeed NOT gonna offer a max to Noah. I think I'll stay off the wire for a week till midnight. The rumor mill is gonna be crazy.