OT: Bayless traded to New Orleans.

[The59Sound]

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired a conditional, future first round draft pick from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for guard Jerryd Bayless, it was announced on Saturday by General Manager Rich Cho.

“On behalf of the Trail Blazers organization, I want to thank Jerryd Bayless for his service to the team and wish him all the best for the future,” said Rich Cho.

Acquired by the Trail Blazers in a draft day trade, Bayless was originally selected by Indiana with the 11th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. The Arizona product and third-year pro has career averages of 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 127 games (11 starts).

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... z13JG69jGs

This was a surprising move, in my eyes. Bayless hadn't put it all together for them -- too many shots and primitive PG skills -- but he's a player with clear talent and a valuable guy to have at the ready on the bench. As a basketball move, this baffles me, just because of the Rudy Fernandez situation. You can't rely on Rudy from a basketball standpoint (talented player, but inconsistent and lethargic at times, especially when he's unhappy), or as a human being. It would be nice to have Bayless there, in case things go bad with Rudy.

Only explanation, to me, is that this is a money-saving move. If that's the case, then this is the direct result of the Matthews signing. I remember some Portland fans saying that it's all Monopoly money to Allen, and that he didn't care about the tax. But every owner cares about the tax.

I wouldn't mind this move for them if Rudy was 100% on the same page with the organization. He's clearly not, though.

[HammerDunk]

This may have to do with Portland lubing up NOH in hopes of landing CP3 on a trade and extension. This could also be a very nice pick, considering NOH looks like absolute trash right now.

[The59Sound]

The pick is pretty protected, as I understand it, which is the other thing I should've mentioned. So, there's a limit to how much NO's failures become Portland's fortunes.

[carrottop12]

Bayless sucks, and according to David Locke he really doesn't have a good grasp of the team environment or what Portland is trying to do. He's inefficient, and if he isn't scoring he isn't doing anything else either.

[The59Sound]

I wouldn't want Bayless on the Jazz, because he's not as team-minded as one would hope, but he certainly doesn't suck.

... and I don't really put much stock in what Locke says, because... well, he sucks.

[carrottop12]

Locke does have a ton of friends around the league as he's been in the business for several years in many different markets.

Despite what people may think of his personality, he almost never puts out bad information.

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

Bayless is a glorified Ronnie Price but he still has some awesome raw talent. This surprised me when I saw it, he seemed to be playing pretty well for them. I would have thought they would have tried to use him as piece in a blockbuster deal but perhaps all of those have passed by now. Surprising none the less.

[countrybama24]

This is a good trade for the blazers, and it's not about money. They don't care about the marginal cost of Bayless' salary, which is chump change for Paul Allen and the Blazers.

It just gives them another nice trade chip to pair with their other assets, and worst case scenario a mid-first round pick (9-14) to replace bayless with a cheaper, and probably better replacement.

Bayless is a terrible pure point (awful turnover:assist ratio), and an inefficient scorer (percentage wise). His one redeeming quality is he can run the break and draw fouls, and perhaps become a better three point shooter in time. The blazers don't really need those attributes much, and now have flexibility for trade / draft strategy. Good move.

[The59Sound]

It just gives them another nice trade chip to pair with their other assets, and worst case scenario a mid-first round pick (9-14) to replace bayless with a cheaper, and probably better replacement.

I'm not sure, again, what the protection is on the pick. Top 10, top 12, etc.

Anyway, fair enough on everyone's opinions on Bayless. He hadn't yet excelled in the PG role for them, but the kid's got an awful lot of talent, and now they'll be forced to play Wes, Rudy, and Roy at the PG spot if their new rookie back-up gets injured or doesn't pan out. I think Bayless is a better option than all of them in that role.

[ssfan4life]

It is a top 7 protected for 2011. Portland saw a really big squeeze for minutes at the gaurd spots with the way Wes/Rudy and even Armon have been playing. Bayless would not have been happy there with a diminished role from last season. He is better suited to a more up tempo offense anyway. It opened up a roster spot for Patty Mills who is good friends with Rudy and will be happy just to make the team and not complain about his minutes.