Subscribe Feed (RSS)I have not been able to find too many people who believe Utah won’t match Portland’s offer. The Jazz have a week to trade Carlos Boozer — which means someone has a chance to pick up a pretty good power forward on the cheap.
The Blazers must know this, too. At the worst, they force the division-rival Jazz to weaken their roster by divesting themselves of Boozer. At best, they also force Utah into some sort of three-way deal that results in Portland getting a player it wants.
Tags: Carlos Boozer, Dwight Jaynes, Paul Millsap, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz
Is this the BIG acquisition that KP was advertising after allowing the trade deadline to pass without getting anything for Raef’s expiring contract?
no this is not the BIG acquisition. This is just a stepping stone. If Utah doesn’t match, the next date we have to look at is december 15, when Millsap can be traded. It also makes Przybilla and Outlaw expendable if they decide to keep Millsap.
The plot thickens. What do these guys have up their sleeves? We have to wait, unless you’re prescient.
I like your ‘at the worst’ scenario and the ‘at best’ could prove valuable. Who knows, maybe they’ll get Millsap, which I really like.
Dwight,
Any chance you think Portland really just wants Millsap on their roster? Love him, but I don’t see the fit.
I agree that Pritchard is at his best when it appears that he is fleecing another team…The term Pritchslapped seems to apply here very well. It would appear to be a win-win in a game of chess with Utah.
I have to admit though that I like the idea of Milsap starting alongside LA and Oden. I know that LA has a game that suits the SF spot, the question is can he defend faster SF’s? The length and size though of such a huge team defensively could create matchup nightmares for most teams. I foresee that if we sign Milsap that Travis is going to be moved. If you think of starting LA at SF then all of this makes sense.
KP can’t find the money to pay BRoy a max deal. He has LA’s contract extension looming as well as a decision on Oden’s contract in 2010, yet he finds 8 to 9 Million/year to pay Milsap? Sounds like a genius move to me!
One more thought- Pritchard has always said that he doesnt think in terms of PF, SF or SG…He likes to get the best players on the floor and see how they can fit. Milsap does not have to be a reserve nor does LA, to make this fit.
Let’s hope they don’t match the offer, Millsap would be a great pickup. I have a feeling we’ll end up offering Lee a similar package after Utah matches this one though.
Once this FA stuff settles itself, you’ll undoubtably see BRoy and LMA suddenly sign as well. All is well in Blazer land.
The thing that kills me is that noose is considering that by stalling the contract negotiations with BRoy and LA Portland is not tieing up its salary cap money. If we wait to resign them and grab Misap we can still offer them max contracts (if desired although 10-12 is good for LA) however if we do that prior to any trades or RA signings we lose our salary cap flexibility.
Ideal situation for me is to do a trade using our salary cap space, use the mid level exception THEN sign our guys….biggest bang for the buck IMO….
easy there, sod…Pryz is DEFINITELY not expendable even with Millsap around. No way Millsap can guard true centers IMHO. Although I am THRILLED KP made this move. kws is reading my mind…
Just from a working man’s side of it, I feel great for Millsap. You’ve got two big entities battling over you, so the result? They back up the truck and dump a huge pile of money on you – much more than you’d get if things didn’t break your way. We should all be so lucky.
They talk about lottery picks, but what you’re seeing here is a player winning the real NBA lottery.
Its not that the Blazers can’t afford Roy. Its that they have to make it look like they can’t so they aren’t forced to pay Aldridge a max deal. And then Oden, etc etc. Roy deserves the contract and will get it, but the other guys have to think its not going to come easily.
I like Milsap, but I think what will happen is a Utah trade involving Portland that gets Boozer out of Utah, and gets Portland someone they really want. But I would be happy with Milsap should it not work out that way.
More bad Blazer pub, mostly directed at Pritchard. Describes him as “agitated” and “panicked”. Not sure I blame him at this point. Check out the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-winnerslosers071109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns.
sod/dude is a bit clueless today when she states that Pryz is expendable… Who will play center when the Oden expirement is finally ended….
One way or another Millsap’s name easily morphs into slap.
id be shocked if they match it
Woj is clearly not a fan of Pritchard and this isn’t his first negative article about him either.
What we are seeing with Pritchard is a learning curve when it comes to dealing with free agency. This offseason has shown us that he has having to learn new skills when it comes to being a GM. The deal is that he is learning some hard lessons in a very public way.
Will McMillan leave Portland as Woj said? Maybe. Who cares, it happens to great teams all the time.
Is Woj right about our missed opportunity with Odom? No. We already have a player with the exact same set of skills as Odom, the same height as Odom and a better head than Odom who can play SF. His name is LaMarcus. Why is Odom a better SF than LA? He’s not.
Woj’s article is right when it concerns Pritchards need to develop as a GM. He is wrong about everything else.
Woj is a pretty smart guy. Sounds like he could be taking direction from Franklin.
I seem to recall the 2006 draft and a bunch of commentators wondering what the heck Portland was doing. Was Woj one of those?
If the TBers don’t do anything more this summer they are still in very good position for next season, just as KP says. He admitted that he got burned on the Hedo deal.
We’ll only know how well he did, after he’s done.
Hey sorry David, I should have worded that differently. Outlaw is expendable, and Przybilla could be had in the right deal. My bad on that one. My reasoning for that would be that you have Aldridge and Pendergraph who would be able to play some C to accomodate Millsap at the 4. However, that all really depends on Oden. If he’s really progressing like Bayno says he is, then I could certainly see it, especially if Przybilla is really thinking about opting out next summer like has been rumored. It doesn’t mean I want to get rid of the guy, not by any stretch, he’s one of my favorite guys on the team. I just think getting Millsap makes the roster more flexible for future changes.
I dunno if Pritchard has really done anything wrong here. He went after Turkoglu and the player verbally committed, then abruptly changed his mind. How is that Pritchard’s fault? If any blame should be pointed out it is at Hedo. He cost us a shot at Ariza and possibly other deals…
I don’t mind Turkoglu chose Toronto. I do mind that he strung us along and said he’s on board. That’s a crappy thing to do.
Outside of Ariza, Turkoglu, and Millsap there really isn’t anyone out who fits our team and worth our cap space. I am glad Pritchard and Mcmillain are wise enough to realize that.
Were a team that won 54 games last year. We can be selective now
The actual contract for Millsap that is being reported really isn’t that bad either with the exception of the first 7 days. 10.3 million up front (signing bonus and a % of the first year’s salary), followed by a salary starting at 6.2 million up to 7.2 million per. The signing bonus is really the only nasty part, otherwise it’s a decent salary for a good back up player.
Actually, NO — the Jazz have until the trade deadline to DUMP Carlos Boozer.
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>> The Jazz have a week to trade Carlos Boozer — which means someone has a chance to pick up a pretty good power forward on the cheap.