LeBron...

[sportscrazy]

I was just looking at different teams cap situations and is it actually a possibility that Portland could have Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Sergio Rodriguez either under contract or qualifying offer in the summer of 2010 and the Blazers would enough cap space to sign a MAX free agent? Isn't Nike located somewhere near Portland, too?

I just found it interesting seeing as how, big market or not, LeBron would jump right on board if the Cavaliers aren't as far along by then.

C-Greg Oden
PF-LaMarcus Aldridge
SF-LeBron James
SG-Brandon Roy
PG-Sergio Rodriguez

You're telling me that if a MAX contract is on the table with LeBron's competitiveness, he isn't signing with that team? Isn't this much more likely than him signing in New York or Brooklyn and doing the same thing he's trying to do in Cleveland right now only under more scrutinity in a bigger market? If Greg Oden's health is a non-factor and he turns out to be what he was expected to be and the other three starters keep developing at their current pace, then what year is this team not going to win the championship?

If this were to happen the Bynum/Gasol/Odom/Bryant Lakers will likely be meeting the Oden/Aldridge/James/Roy Blazers in the Western Conference Finals for many years to come, only that Lakers team peaks way earlier than that Blazers team who all have long careers ahead of them.

[DeezXXnutZ]

If this happened Blazers would have the chance of seriously going 82-0.....Worst case scenario would be 80-2......

[SinceClyde]

I'd actually probably put Lebron at point over sergio.

[Andre 2999]

That hurts my head

[SalemStoner]

It's a pipedream - a frighteningly glorious pipedream - but a pipedream nonetheless.

[mojomarc]

How could Portland be under the cap in 2010 after signing Brandon and Lamarcus to max deals or near-max deals? Even if we just let Raef expire, we'll still be $15m over the cap in 2010. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't think this is possible unless every one of our players outside the big three were to die in a freak snowmobiling accident so that the NBA gave us the rarely used "freak snowmobiling exception."

[Fitz303]

I believe the only chance we would have at making that happen is if we were to sign Roy and LMA to the QO in 09 and then sign LeBron before we sign those 2 in the summer of 2010

[mojomarc]

I believe the only chance we would have at making that happen is if we were to sign Roy and LMA to the QO in 09 and then sign LeBron before we sign those 2 in the summer of 2010

If LMA and Roy are looking to play out a year for the QO so they can become UFAs, KP and Nate should be fired and Paul should sell the team to someone who is willing to keep the players happy. What a nightmare scenario that would be.

[Wizenheimer]

I believe the only chance we would have at making that happen is if we were to sign Roy and LMA to the QO in 09 and then sign LeBron before we sign those 2 in the summer of 2010

the problem with that idea is that saying "we were to sign" ignores the fact that the signing/acceptance is done by the players. Roy and Aldridge could take all summer to 'accept' the QO's. Meanwhile, they would have cap-holds applied to the Blazer's salary base of somewhere around 29 million dollars.

[GoBlazersGo]

Yeah, I'm with mojo' here... unless the "freak snomobiling" scenario were to take place, I don't see any way for us to have the available cap space to sign someone like LeBron in 2010.

The somewhat-less-outlandish-but-still-not-bloody-likely-to-occur scenario, would be Kobe Bryant. I know, I know: Kobe ____ & Kobe ____... and Kobe eats infant babies like breakfast bars and blah, blah, blah. But, seriously, I think that's a much more realistic option, all things considered. Obviously, if they beat Boston in The Finals and are, again, serious contenders next year, then I doubt he'd be willing to "jump ship."

Hopefully The [F]akers get owned by Boston in The Finals and have a terribly disappointing year in '08-'09... 'cause GBG would be one happy camper if something along these lines were the result of our capspace next summer:

Roy / (Fernandez)
Kobe / Fernandez
Oden / Przybilla
Webster / (Outlaw)
Aldridge / Outlaw

I know I'm probably all by myself over here on "Kobe Island," but it's all good--my line-up would still kick your line-up's collective asses!

[sabi]

A guy who can take a team like the Cavs to the Finals could make the Blazers possibly one of the best teams of all times when everyone reaches their prime.

[Tim Lehrbach]

We're not getting LeBron. Or Kobe.

[d-train]

I believe any two of these players will win NBA championships:

Lebron James
Greg Oden
Brandon Roy

It would be nice to have all 3, but 2 will get the job done.

[eyejayem]

I'm so glad I stumbled onto Portland today.

So a pipedream huh?

No way. Whatever happened to the superstar paycut? Not your typical superstar, but your commercial superstar. Remember when Jordan cut his salary to help the Bulls salary issue so they could resign Rodman and Pippen.Or Shaq dropped from 25mil to 20mil in Miami(not as much as MJ but a cut nonethe less)? Your regular superstar cant do this like Carmelo or Bosh. But someone like Lebron, Jordan,Shaq, or Tiger Woods who's salaries in their sports is only a small percentage of that that they make in endorsements. Lebron is that person now. Kobe is not. Remember after the rape trial every endorser dropped him, and now that his image has been repaired, his contracts arent nearly what they were.

So whether you are over the cap or not, why wouldnt Lebron just sign a MLE wherever he has the best chance to be a leader and win? I would love it for Portland. Another great in black,red,and white.

[mojomarc]

Sorry, Eye. Still a pipedream. Lebron doesn't need the salary like Bosh, but that hardly means he doesn't want it.

[DeezXXnutZ]

Sorry, Eye. Still a pipedream. Lebron doesn't need the salary like Bosh, but that hardly means he doesn't want it.

Maybe Paul Allen could pay Lebron the rest of his salary through Nike...

[mojomarc]

-= original quote snipped =-



Maybe Paul Allen could pay Lebron the rest of his salary through Nike...

I'm sure the league would look on that about as favorably as they looked at the Joe Smith signing by the T-Wolves, and if Lebron signed for anything less than the max max, you can bet they would investigate it long and hard.

[candy for lunch]

We're not getting LeBron. Or Kobe.

Yeah. I was hoping we'd somehow magically be able to sign Kobe in 09 and have our own mini-Jordan, but it looks like that plan won't come to fruition

edit: posting as the biggest Kobe fan out of all the Blazer fans here

[UGotThrilled]

How could Portland be under the cap in 2010 after signing Brandon and Lamarcus to max deals or near-max deals? Even if we just let Raef expire, we'll still be $15m over the cap in 2010. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't think this is possible unless every one of our players outside the big three were to die in a freak snowmobiling accident so that the NBA gave us the rarely used "freak snowmobiling exception."

One of my favorite posts. Lol. Yea, I think that the original post was made under the assumption that we would be signing Roy and Aldridge to the QO, which I dont think we will do. I dont want to see them as unrestricted free agents, unless we were sure that we had Lebron, which we wont be. Maybe somehow KP could trade all of our players except for the big three for expiring contracts, sign lebron, and then fill in our roster with all stars who are signing for the minimum and willing to fill in as role players. Man we are so set for the future. In all honesty, I would the odds of us signing lebron are about the same as the odds of paul allen spending his fortune on inventing a time machine and bringing back michael jordan in his prime to play next to Roy.

[sportscrazy]

Maybe I'm still wrong, but it looks like Roy and Aldridge's Qualifying Offers will be in the summer that LeBron is a free agent. That means the Blazers could keep their rights at the price of the QO while they're still restricted free agents, sign LeBron James and then go over the cap to re-sign Roy and Aldridge afterwards all in that summer. I don't understand why every one thinks they would be unrestricted free agents, they wouldn't ever reach unrestricted free agency.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/portland.htm

Teams own the rights to their own free agents under the QO and are allowed to sign other free agents first then go over the cap to re-sign their qualifying offer players. Assuming the salary cap increases to around $58 Million by that summer, the Blazers could hold onto Aldridge, Roy, and Rodriguez's rights, have Przybilla and Oden under contract still and have $30 Million left. Let's assume Portland keeps all of their draft picks along the way and guys like Rudy Fernandez, Joel Freeland and Petteri Koponen. That leaves them with enough salary cap space to STILL sign LeBron James to an $18-20 Million first year salary.

They could sign LeBron as a free agent and then go over the cap to re-sign their own guys (Roy, Aldridge, and Rodriguez).

So that would be LeBron James, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Sergio Rodriguez with Joel Przybilla, Rudy Fernandez, Joel Freeland, Petteri Koponen and three first round draft picks (2008, 2009, and 2010) off the bench. Not too mention the veterans that would take pay cuts to fill out the roster if needed.

Maybe my math is off or something, but I still fail to see how this is a pipe dream?