Let's be Realistic about the trades

[WrxErik]

I still do not understand the Nazr trade unless it was, hey Nazr thanks for everything you have done so we will let you go play for a true contender. Other than that we saved maybe an extra 1 or 1.5 mill. But we lost our only other reliable center who on occasion will have a 20 20 game (Something Kwame has yet to do). So other than respect for Nazr and a money saving move it make 0 sense.

If you think the Wallace trade was a good trade then you believe that based on pure speculation. As of now it is a terrible trade and we got worse not better. You cannot trade your arguably best player for bench warmers, cash and picks and think you got better. No one will know if this trade is worth it until 2013-2015 after we have used the picks we got and the money we saved to sign players and see how the picks/players pan out. If we got a proven player in return then I would say it balances the loss of Wallace out, but anyone who says we came out on the better end is just being optimistic about the future. Going based off of our teams track record those picks will result in busts or an average NBA player. So I am not quite sure where the optimism is coming from. If either were top 5 picks it may increase our odds to land a solid player but guess what they are not top 5 picks.

For those who say Wallace was not going to make us a championship contender, this move just brought us even further away from that. So you think we are going to build through the draft and get lucky enough to get some mid round picks that help us compete against Mia, Nyk, Chi? Seriously? At least Wallace helped us make our first ever playoff appearance and but butts in seats. Now we have to put all of our faith in a second year guy to fill in for the Face of the franchise.

Look at NY for example. They have Billups, Melo, and Stat, and experts still say they are a best 4th 5th seed and 1st round exit. So even if we land 2 superstars we still have a lot of work to do.

This would not have been so terrible if the idea was to blow it up and we actually blew it up. Which would mean actually getting rid of bad contracts. (Diop, Carroll, Najera, etc.) I know it sucks that our teams is in such a mess to begin with but that is all on the front office so it is what it is. Also you can't look at Wallace and say his contract was bad based on just stats, His contract pays for itself because of the money he alone brings to the franchise.

In the end whether you agree with me or not this was nothing more than A money saving move by Jordan due to the future and uncertainty of the NBA.

[ohara831]

That is not realistic. That is pessimistic. Just give it the rest of this season to see how it plays out, and who we draft with the NOH pick. Not to mention you never know what the Blazers will be like come 2013 draft. Also, Crash has a lot of wear on his tires. Although I dont wish it on him at all, I would not be surprised to see him having some more health concerns over the next couple years. Some may disagree, but I think his best years were had by Charlotte already. I dont think the Blazers will get the player they think they got.

[Dcarnys]

Anyone Else think that Portland went through on this just to replace Brandon Roy??

[WrxErik]

Not pessimistic at all. It would be pessimistic if I said things like omg I will never watch this team again. Jordan is an idiot, we are going to suck forever, this franchise is doomed etc. I stated things that I would think people would find obvious. Yes there is a chance we could land some awesome players, But realistically, The odds are against that.

[TheGayKid]

Anyone Else think that Portland went through on this just to replace Brandon Roy??

*nods*

10char

[dnbman]

If you think the Wallace trade was a good trade then you believe that based on pure speculation.

There's truth in that statement in so far as obviously the draft is a gamble. However, given exactly what you mentioned-- the top teams in the East are now VERY strong-- I don't see us competing with Wallace this season or next. So, instead of forcing the issue, possibly losing him to injury, we trade him and his large salary for picks and a young contributor. That's o.k. by me. In fact, I think this is the type of trade we've needed to make in the past but never did because we wanted to win now. At this point, we have a lot of bloated contracts and little shot at making a serious playoff run. By 2013, several of our problems will be solved, and we'll be in a position to build a young team to compete after the current superpowers go over the hill.

[WrxErik]

Dnb While I agree to an extent with what you are saying if you wait till the offseason we would still have had a better shot than we do now to make the playoffs, and our expiring contracts would still come off the books. then after the season is over you can look to move players if you choose to. But since there is uncertainty about the future of the NBA we were not willing to wait until then. I know we also wanted to sell him while Wallace's stock was high but I do not view the draft picks as valuable as other do. We also took on a bunch of crap players just to cut them. That is why I believe this was purely based on money.

[dnbman]

Dnb While I agree to an extent with what you are saying if you wait till the offseason we would still have had a better shot than we do now to make the playoffs, and our expiring contracts would still come off the books. then after the season is over you can look to move players if you choose to. But since there is uncertainty about the future of the NBA we were not willing to wait until then. That is why I believe this was purely based on money.

Yeah, but we might not have been able to make such a trade in the offseason. Trades of veterans for picks are tricky because of having to match salary. Also, if you know that Wallace is not going to be around, why not trade him and give Henderson more room to play?

I guess I feel o.k. about the trade because I have no faith in us to make a meaningful playoff run. As I just told one of my buddies, we'd make it in the playoffs because the East is so weak after the top teams. I don't care if we sneak in this year, as I think we'd be road bump for the Celtics or Heat in a 7 game series.

I'd rather us do some trades like this to rid ourselves of some albatrosses and start making better decisions.

[WrxErik]

That's the thing we rid ourselves of one of our so/so contracts and an expiring. The horrible contracts are still sitting here and we will have to wait for them to expire with or without these trades.

[spectre]

Not pessimistic at all. It would be pessimistic if I said things like omg I will never watch this team again. Jordan is an idiot, we are going to suck forever, this franchise is doomed etc. I stated things that I would think people would find obvious. Yes there is a chance we could land some awesome players, But realistically, The odds are against that.

I'll call Jordan an idiot...no, how about a STUPID FUCKING IDIOT.

Our best player was making 10.5 million potentially...but 1 million of that was incentive (to make the all star game I think). Most likely he'd be due 9.5 million because of his injuries this year. That's not the type of salary you call excessive, nor is it the type you freaking DUMP for a guy who's threatening to retire and 2 mid to late 1st round picks!

We had a guy that WANTED to be here, a guy who was an all star last year and is only 28. Good luck finding a lot of that. Fucking Rudy Fernandez threatened to go to Spain if they traded him to us!

Quality traded for quantity almost always loses.

Jesus Christ. And to think I was pulling for that stupid SOB to buy the team.