Tince

You made a couple interesting points about how SAR demanding a trade is good for him, but you left out a couple key points.

If SAR went into this offseason acting like he loved Portland and was excited to play here, he's already increased his image from what it is now. Some teams will consider not going after SAR is they're not confident they won't have do deal with the same problem next year if they want to resign him.

Also, if SAR realized that Nash isn't one to pull the trigger if he wasn't getting "fair value" in return, then he would be smart to keep his mouth shut. SAR is just making it so Portland won't get as much in return and is decreasing his chance of getting traded. You mentioned that by doing this he'll just get traded to a team who has to give up less talent, which puts him on a more talented team. However, if his goal is to get out of Portland, then he's hurting himself. If his goal is to get on a championship contenter, then maybe you have a small point.

Right now SAR has some control in this situation, but if he keeps playing these games with Nash, it might end up biting him in the butt. Since Nash is somewhat new to Portland, he may bite the bullet with SAR, suspend and fine him for sitting out, just to prove to the rest of the league low-ball offers won't cut it when his players are unhappy. So not only would SAR lose this years 14 million dollar salary, but he'll have lost even more value in the free-agent market by the way he handle the situation.

When you look at it that way, SAR isn't doing himself much good now, and could certainly be hurting himself big time in the future.

Trader Ed

Beat you agin Howie... this time by 3 hours

http://basketballboards.net/forum/sh...6&pagenumber=1

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"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts..."

Heart, desire and hustle! Its the fire within that makes a champion.

DucknBlazer

Was it smart of Portland to trade Brian Grant for Shawn Kemp?

Sometimes trading a player just because he wants to be traded isnt the best move for the franchise.

Stevenson

This is both a desperate, and phony, tactic on the part of SAR and Goodwin. They have no cards to play, and so they threten to "hold out."

Give me a break.

So what if he doesn't report to camp? Big friggin deal. He will be suspended and fined. That will last a few days until he walks back in, value diminished, tail between his legs, in his CONTRACT YEAR.

It's not gonna happen, and even if it does, it doesn't force anyone's hand. I remember when Webber was traded to the then-sadsack Kings - he threatened to hold out too unless he was traded. Petrie said 'no way', and C Webb's "holdout" lasted 1 day.

There is too much money on the line for SAR to not play in the NBA.

I say, call his bluff.

Storyteller

Absolutely. There is one reason - and one reason only - why SAR and Goodwin are taking this issue to the press. Because the Blazers hold all the cards.

If SAR sits out of training camp, he gets fined. If he chooses not to show up after that, the Blazers can terminate his contract (see Section 16 of the Uniform Player Contract for specifics).

Of course SAR and Goodwin are taking it to the press - they don't have any other option. It's not a smart move, IMO, but other than sitting and waiting, it's the only move they've got. They're trying to "embarass" the front office into making a deal. But I don't think it will - or should - work.

We should also realize that we are 3 MONTHS away from the start of the season. That leaves a lot of time for changes to take place. Nash is smart to play a waiting game, because time is on his side at this point. If the end of September rolls around and things are still unresolved, that's one thing. To be sitting at the end of July with unresolved issues is a completely different situation.

ProudBFan

I wouldn't worry too much about a bad performance yet. You'd be surprised at how focused NBA players can be on the game once Fall camp and the season roll around. SAR may end up MIA, but the rest of the team won't miss him. They'll be too focused on working hard and trying to win to give much thought to an MIA SAR.

The only way I can see the Blazers performing badly this upcoming season is if they fail to land Hassell (they need his perimeter defense something fierce), fail to re-sign Miles (or some other capable starting SF), OR fail to fill the gaping hole they have behind Theo at Center (a HUGE concern right now).

PBF

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Playmaker0017

I haven't talked to him for awhile, but my last impression on the whole thing dealt with pride.

Not the type of pride you associate with idiots like Kobe ... who WANT it all. Not selfish pride.

Everyone is so quick to cast stones and call him a bad guy. You forget that he was promised that he would be released. Why did he want it?

It comes full circle to what I keep talking about. The team made it VERY uncomfortable for Shareef. Namely Zach Randolph and Coach Cheeks.

From what I understand - Reef went into Portland with players already up in arms. They didn't want the trade to begin with - and then you've got a player that can jockey for a starting position. It didn't help that Cheeks played Reef against Zach (the old shape up or else I'll start someone else routine). So a huge animosity grew up there - and Reef doesn't want to be a part of it.

This has very little to do with the "SF" position. (He doesn't want to take it from Miles, that's for sure) It has to do with the way he was treated and what he wants and envisions for himself AS A PERSON.

I stand behind him and look forward to seeing what's really going on right now.

REMEMBER: You only get part of a story when the media spins it out.

Play.

dkap

Kinda like all this time you've been rigorously supporting SAR, only now to reveal you actually know the guy. (First I've seen of it, at least.) Makes you a wee bit biased, no?

Dan

Playmaker0017

Don't confuse yourself - the Blazers will be lucky to break even this year.

They aren't playoff bound.

They are closer to the Hawks then the Spurs ... that's for sure.

He's better then Randolph, in my opinion, because they are the same talent offensively. Reef is less selfish on the court. He's more team oriented. He plays defense.

Zach has skill -- but he's missing a lot too.

As for being a good person ... sitting the bench last year was proof positive of his character. The fact that management is reneging on their deal is one of the driving factors. Part of Reef's character is his passivity - he didn't like the character clashes in Portland.

No he doesn't. That's a stretch. He's been offered the starting role - he's declining it.

Besides - Portland is pretty freaking losing. They aren't exactly the premiere team right now.

You want to point fingers at someone in that manner - look at Antoine Walker. There's a guy that is concerned about stats.

Play.

GO ahaed Reef. Watch for those Knees injurys. [/quote]

Playmaker0017

It's pretty apparent isn't it? I've never hidden anything or hidden my bias.

Most definitely. But, it also makes me quite informed about things.

Play.

trifecta

The way I see it is that there are four options for the Blazers.

In order of best to worst:

1. Put together a really nice package that helps the team.

2. Integrate Shareef into the offense where he can be successful and help the team.

3. Let him sit and rot and just have his salary come off the books next season.

4. Put together a panicked trade that moves Shareef but doesn't help the Blazers.
=============

What Shareef and agent need to realize is that options 1 through 3 are in reality very close in terms of preference to what the Blazer's game plan is. Option 4 - which is what Shareef seems to be pushing for - is not acceptable. It's far better for the Blazers to go with option 3.

It's easy to forget that by anyone's standards, had the team been able to play the entire season with the team that finished the season, Portland was definitely a playoff team - all without any positive contribution from Shareef.

Playmaker0017

You are definitely right .... he's not anywhere close to being better then Zach ....

he's FAR better than Zach.

Anyhow, your comment is pointless to the extreme. Not only is it completely debateable about who the better player is (both now and in the future) ... but if you are counting character ... then Reef wins in a landslide.

Play.

Playmaker0017

That's entirely untrue.

Portland was a borderline playoff team, at best. Take away Shareef's effective minutes and replace them with scrub#1 and over time it costs the team.

But, even if we assume that they get good production from scrub#1 ... they weren't playoff caliber. With the shakeups that have happened this past year --- they are one step further behind.

Play.

trifecta

I'm pretty sure it's entirely true if you simply look at the winning percentage after the Sheed trade. (Honestly I haven't looked it up but I'm pretty sure.)

If you want to believe Shareef helped last season then that's fine. I choose not to.

Backboard Cam