really does make sense on their part. You don't let a guy like Batum walk if you can help it. He does so many things very well.
really does make sense on their part. You don't let a guy like Batum walk if you can help it. He does so many things very well.
well, it appears AK47 has a deal in place with the brooklyn nets for 3 years. thank god.
@jerboat
Via HoopsHype.com:ceez wrote:
Wendell Maxey: spoke with two contacts in russia close to andrei kirilenko. say AK to brooklyn nets deal in place. plans to sign 3-year after euroleague. Twitter
Wendell Maxey: at this point, just verbal agreement in place with AK/nets. no contract in place, amount of deal on known but has been in works all season. Twitter
Let the Gerald Wallace banter begin.
*Just say, "NO!" to Gerald Wallace*
Would prefer Jeff Green(if fully healthy) at this point
jeff green doesn't really do any one thing well, i'd pass on him.
@jerboat
3 position really falls off after AK47 and Jeff Green for me.
@Chr1st1anL
I guess I would be OK with Gerald Wallace. I just don't like adding another player that can't shoot well next to DeMar. Didn't he leave 9.5 mill on table for next year? How much is he going to be asking for?
@Chr1st1anL
Michael Beasley anyone?
I know his red flags and all but we need scoring and shooting. I really believe that Casey can really bring the best out of him. His a career .355 three point shooter and shot .376 this year. It's a huge risk but really high reward. I know it's a long shot seeing the way Bryco runs things. Just putting it out there.
@Chr1st1anL
Beasley is intriguing, but I don't know if it's wise to add yet another "project" to this roster.
"I don't lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation." - Fox Mulder
Beasley - BC could have had him already, so I seriously doubt he'd take him now. He's a headcase. I say 0% chance.
Green - BC seems to stay away from players with health questions (Batum on draft day, Pietrus last offseason). I say 0% chance.
Batum - BC would love him, but I am willing to bet Portland matches just about any offer. I say 10% chance.
Wallace - BC has liked him in the past, so I could see some intererst there, especially with him now being a veteran player as well. I personally hope it doesn't happen, but I could certainly see BC targeting him. I say 50% chance.
Gay/Mayo - Bother players would be high impact and could conceivably be available, depending on the route (pre-July 1st trade or free agency overspending) BC chooses to go. I say 50% chance.
Wallace certainly not in the card and Beasley probably isn't either:
No need to worry because Gerald Wallace has said no to Toronto in the past and let it be known he wants nothing to do with this club.
Colangelo stays away from players with character issues.
http://portlandtribune.com/sports/st...01654827323400
• With somewhere between $12 million and $20 million in salary-cap room this summer, the Trail Blazers hope to sign either one maximum-salary free agent, or two at lesser amounts, interim general manager Chad Buchanan says.
Portland is targeting the point guard and center positions. Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Goran Dragic, Jameer Nelson, Andre Miller and Chauncey Billups are among the point guards available; Chris Kaman, Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez and Javale McGee are among the centers, though the latter three are restricted.
Team president Larry Miller says the Blazers are aiming big. I’m not sure how many of the top names will consider Portland, but it will be interesting to see what happens.
• Timing of the signing(s) will be critical. The Blazers must tender qualifying offers to restricted free agents Nicolas Batum ($5.4 million) and J.J. Hickson ($4.4 million) by June 30. After a 10-day moratorium, free agents can be signed on July 11. Portland holds Bird rights with Batum — meaning it can go over the salary cap and offer more money and a longer contract than other teams — but not with Hickson.
I had heard about Wallace not wanting to play for the Raptors so I did some research on that. Apparently 4 years ago Bruce Arthur from the National Post wrote an article and briefly mentioned that Wallace would not want to play for the Raptors. The reference came from left field and he stopped talking about Wallace there after. There was no direct quote from Wallace and no other source corroborated that story.
The article is no longer available on the National Post website, so I can't link to it unfortunately.
I don't know Bruce Arthur at all, but is he even a basketball guy? Is this a valid reference? If so where was the direct quote, and how come no other source followed up on it? I would imagine it would be a big news item (especially coming from a guy who was an all-star).
I personally don't buy it. Unless I can see a current quote from Wallace saying he would not want to play here, I don't trust it.
Now saying all this - I don't think he's the right guy for our team at this point, and I'd pass on him as well.
who knows i could see Wallace saying something like that. But we already have a guy who has potential to be as good or maybe better defensively than Wallace in James Johnson
The one thing we have to remember, is that a team like Toronto can't simply make an offer to Batum. He has to accept the formal offer.
If I'm the Portland GM, I share my plan of adding two impact players (imagine Hibbert and Williams/Billups/Nash) with Batum and Hickson, asking them to hold off looking elsewhere until we've signed those new players. Obviously adding two star players to Aldridge and Matthews would go a long way to convincing Batum and Hickson to stay in Portland.
The only way I see either of them (especially Batum) signing an offer sheet immediately, is if he has no intention of playing in Portland. At that point, if he has made it clear that he wants to leave, I think it's far more likely that Portland would try and work a S&T instead of letting him/them walk for nothing.
I think it's much more likely that Portland lands two free agents, then re-signs both Batum and Hickson. They'd have an excellent young core:
C: Hibbert
PF: Aldridge, Hickson
SF: Batum
SG: Matthews
PG: Williams/Billups/Nash/Dragic
+ 1 or possibly 2 lottery picks!
Should we be looking at Chris Kaman? How is he defensively? I don't know a whole lot about him short of Reggie feeling him up.
Gerald Wallace was an all-star, and on the all defensive team. I don't ever seeing James Johnson as an all-star or ever considered for an all defensive team, even with his potential to improve. JJ is also already 25 years old. His room for improvement is slipping as he continues to get older.
Wallace is on the downturn of his career.
I wouldn't want him either.. just don't think we should be comparing JJ to him.. but Wallace is actually only 29 years old. He still has a lot of gas in his tank I would think.
My issue with Wallace is his game is built on hustle and athleticism. Those two skills naturally deteriorate with age.
Jermaine O'Neal is the poster child for this in my opinion. Guys lacking fundamental skills who relied soley on athleticism have a rough time as they get older.
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