corwin wrote: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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
