About that mandate Paul Allen has given Kevin Pritchard
It says here that the Blazer owner has told his general manager to “go for it.”
So before this, they weren’t going for it? Who knew?
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | June 22, 2009
Dwight Jaynes, Kevin Pritchard, NBA Draft, Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers, The Oregonian
interesting article. just reinforces what we’ve always known about KP, strike when the time is right. with the mandate from paul allen i think that the door is open for a major move on this roster. im not so sure that the draft is the way to go although it is important to keep picking up some important young pieces to keep the “fridge stocked” so to speak. i think that the blazers will sign a huge free agent this year and pick up what they can in the draft to use as possible trade bait. this draft is not the deepest draft in the history of the league but there are some folks out there that might be able to help this team within a year or so. but i do think the “toughness” guy will come from free agency not through the draft this year. although this kid hansborough is tougher than boiled owl and might be able to help this squad right now. who knows what KP and the powers that be will do but i think nate is right we do need some veteran leadership on this team other than b-roy and lamarcus. im just all atwitter and can hardly wait for thursday!! mad dog mean baby! fangs and foam, fangs and foam!!
not much news in that article. on the bright side, at least it wasn’t a creepy father’s day tribute to cheri hansen.
Dwight, you’ve worked in journalism long enough to know a PR piece when you see one.
Either that, or its typical Blazer misdirection–expect the team to stand pat, and draft Hansborough or a Euro to be named later on draft day.
Ha ha, couldn’t help but break down in laughter on reading your post Dwight.
If Roy and LMA get extensions on July 1st, does that essentially mean we will see most/all of our player movement between now and then? Once they sign we’re over the cap, correct?
I like Quickâs take and his articles. But yea, this is just a white wash of things we have all already assumed. The one point that JQ made in the article that I think bears repeating. Would be the notion that a misstep or bad decision on the wrong free agent could hurt the team as much or more than any one player is likely to push them over the top. The team should be improved just by virtue of experience and paring down the roster rotations. Oden will be better next season. Batum should be improved. Martell should be back. Rudy more settled in and comfortable. Bayless too. This is still a very young team that mostly just needs to play. Look at the money the Hornets spent on Posey and what good did it do them?
I think those are great points, limelight. I’m sure the Blazer braintrust keeps those things in mind, but I would hate to see us overspend on a player thinking it’s the “missing piece” when in reality what’s missing is just a little more time for this young crew. One thing I don’t like about free agent acquisitions is that unless your team was really lacking, they mean you have some other personnel issues to iron out, in this case namely minutes for too many players. Getting a player like Turkoglu, for example, sounds great in terms of bringing in an experienced veteran at a position we’ve struggled to get offensive production from, but with Outlaw, Batum, and Webster all playing minutes there, where does that leave them? This is why I like trades – you can get talent while still keeping balance on your roster. Take the Lakers, for example, who added their missing piece last season through trade, not free agent acquisition. When Portland made their runs in the early 90′s, it was after acquiring Buck Williams in trade. When we almost made another run, it was after acquiring Scottie Pippen in trade. Free agency is where teams inevitably go to overspend on talent.
ItsMrHarris2u,
No. Any extensions for LMA or Roy don’t actually kick in until July 1, 2010, so they will have ZERO impact on our cap situation this summer.
The Blazers aren’t the only buyers out there right now and they aren’t the only ones with a big checkbook. Hopefully Pritchard has communicated this with the boss. Yes, Allen’s is the biggest, but even he has a limit to what he’s willing to pay, doesn’t he?
I would be curious to see how Ray Allen would fit with the team. He clearly has experience for the youngsters to learn from and he is not a trouble maker. A sharpshooter would be nice to have
I think they would love to get a PG and if they do it will be of blockbuster proportions
However, if that fails, then I believe their two targets will be David Lee and Hedo Turkoglu
and we probably won’t get any official word on most or all of this after july 1st
The other question is…who are we trading and letting go?
Antonio McDyess? I don’t think so.
This is much to do about nothing.