RealGM

As I watched the Blazers play the Kings tonight I was once again impressed with what a fine young team they are. One question that came to mind is, with so many good young players playing on thier rookie contract what happens when they all want to be paid? Seems like a lot of the rookie deals will expire over a couple year time period. If I am wrong here please set me straight.

KB

The Blazers need to consolidate the roster, and structure the contract hierarchy around the big three, ie., Roy, Aldridge, Oden. As of now, there are too many question marks to determine who stays and who goes, but I think the core is set. The "other" young players like Outlaw, Webster, etc., will most likely be role players to the team.

IMO, a good structure to follow is Detroit's.
~Sheed, Rip, Chauncey get $10+ million, analogous to Roy, LA, Oden.
~Prince gets 9, as our future PG probably will.
~McDyess gets MLE, like Joel Przybilla does already.
~Bench players all are on rookie/minimum contracts, .

I predict that some of the youth will be traded for a PG that is a caliber below the big three, and we'll fill out the roster with MLE player(s), and rookies/vets.

You might not want to take what you saw tonight into consideration when you're looking at portland's future. lol. Yeah, you're right on that a lot of our players are on rookie contracts and all but Oden have 1 and 2 years left. The Blazers aren't necessarily going to resign all of our young players (with the exception to Roy, LA, and Oden) and our 09' capspace plan is alive and well unless LaFrentz gets traded.

TradeMachine wrote:The Blazers need to consolidate the roster, and structure the contract hierarchy around the big three, ie., Roy, Aldridge, Oden. As of now, there are too many question marks to determine who stays and who goes, but I think the core is set. The "other" young players like Outlaw, Webster, etc., will most likely be role players to the team.

IMO, a good structure to follow is Detroit's.
~Sheed, Rip, Chauncey get $10+ million, analogous to Roy, LA, Oden.
~Prince gets 9, as our future PG probably will.
~McDyess gets MLE, like Joel Przybilla does already.
~Bench players all are on rookie/minimum contracts, .

I predict that some of the youth will be traded for a PG that is a caliber below the big three, and we'll fill out the roster with MLE player(s), and rookies/vets.

Hey TradeMachine, what you wrote makes a lot of sense. And using Detroit as a model is very, very good:) You see an upgrade at PG in the future and some of the young guys taking lesser deals.

KB

Oden2 wrote:You might now want to take what you saw tonight into consideration when you're looking at portland's future. lol. Yeah, you're right on that a lot of our players are on rookie contracts and all but Oden have 1 and 2 years left. The Blazers aren't necessarily going to resign all of our young players (with the exception to Roy, LA, and Oden) and our 09' capspace plan is alive and well unless LaFrentz gets traded.

I saw enough of the Young Blazers when they were on that hot streak earlier in the season to not judge them by tonights game With the addition of Oden and a PG as TradeMachine suggests the Blazers look to be the team to beat in a couple years with all the western power houses aging. I like the Blazers and wish them and their fans the best:)

KB

Thanks for the kind words.. Good luck to the kings in the future as well

King Baller wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I saw enough of the Young Blazers when they were on that hot streak earlier in the season to not judge them by tonights game With the addition of Oden and a PG as TradeMachine suggests the Blazers look to be the team to beat in a couple years with all the western power houses aging. I like the Blazers and wish them and their fans the best:)

KB

Thanks, and I wish Sacramento the best (except when the Blazers are playing them. : ) )!

So are you saying that Portland actually has a brighter future than Minnesota's? That's what we seem to think but I guess Minnesota fans are always right since their team has had such an amazing season.

I really like the Kings with the exceptions of Miller and Artest. If they manage to shed those guys, I'll certainly be rooting for them.