Kmurph

Why does POR need to address "a shooter" now though?

I mean if a good offer comes up, yes they should take it, but to make a trade for a "shooter" right now\this year..more than likely a veteran seems a little ridiculous to me...unless of course it is a lopsided deal for POR

What I found interesting was Nash acknowledging some of your observations ABM...

Perhaps Nash and Co. will adress the shooter in next year's draft? A kid like Adam Morrison, or even Bargnani come to mine...particularly Morrison....

What I would like to see happen is for POR to pry Milicic away from DET...dangling a combination of Miles\Ruben\Theo and Outlaw\Monia

How about Miles\Monia and a future 1st (lotto protect for 2? 3? yrs)

or Pattersen\Outlaw and a future 1st

for Milicic and Dale Davis (who would be cut)

Then POR drafts Morrison in 06' draft

Lets assume Pattersen, Outlaw and a 1st

PG - Telfair, Jack, Blake
SG - Webster, Dixon, Monia, Fernandez\Collins?
SF - Miles, Morrison, Khryapa
PF - Zach, Milicic
C - Pryzbilla (hope he stays), Theo, Ha

then you have 06' #30 pick & #35 pick...lets hope POR combines them to move up a few spots (or uses one or both to insure they get Morrison if they are not in position to do so)...

A guy like Rudy Fernandez, Mardy Collins or Brandon Roy would be good..both Fernandez and Collins are big (6'4 and 6'6) and have some PG abilities, making them a nice fit with a "scoring" PG like Telfair or with Dixon...

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Quit the Webster hate

Fork

I think they will address their needs in the off season too. Maybe in the draft. Maybe through a trade.

Morrison would NOT top my list of 'shooters' though. He shoots a high percentage, but so does Darius Miles. Neither are 'shooters.' Morrison is a pure scorer.

Bargnani is the guy I feel the Blazers really want - and need.

Morrison is shooting 40.6% (24 for 59) from three this year.

Bargnani is shooting 48.2% (27 for 56) from three (combining Euroleague and Italian league games)

Morrison is fools gold. Bargnani is the answer.

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2k

^^Are you insane? Patterson, Outlaw, and a future 1st round pick for Milicic and Dale Davis? Patterson for Milicic straight up might ride and even then there is a great chance the Pistons may get the better part of the deal. Portland should try to trade to either move up or stockpile lottery picks in the 07 draft.

Simply put the Blazers should save their trade chips for a big 07 draft pick or a player in 08 that can help them win when the youth movement is older.

Dan

Easy, one has 2 former Blazers on it, and the other has a guy who almost died after playing Portland.

duh ed.

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mook

I think Kmurph might have a decent idea there with Milicic. he's exactly the kind of kid a team on a youth movement should go after.

what the hell. if we are going to be a bottom feeder, we might as well snag up a guy like him who may just need the right opportunity.

how many chances do you get to land a 20 year old who was the second overall pick in a draft?

Masbee

Darko?

You do know he is a bust, so far, right?

If you are thinking he is a Jermaine O'Neal situation, realize, Jermaine showed a TON more game his first three years than Darko.

Darko may yet figure out how to stop embarassing himself so he can stay in the leauge, but I doubt at this point he makes such a huge leap as to become a good player.

Masbee

Oh by the way, everything you need to know about Darko and any supposed potential he has left is given away by circumstances.

If any team in the league can afford to wait on a slow developing post player to mature it is the Pistons with their win now, ageing front line of Wallace, Wallace and McDyess.

The Piston management are currently pimping Darko publicly and have him on the block. It appears as soon as they get an interesting offer they will dump him. And they will do this before they get Ben Wallace locked down with an extension.

Why if Darko has any real untapped potential?

mook

I'm not sure how circumstance points to Darko being a bust. I'd play Wallace, Wallace and McDyess before him any day of the week, just because I'm contending for a title.

the only real argument you have against Darko from a cirumstantial perspective is that Ben Wallace may not re-sign with them. I personally think it's pretty likely he will, and apparently so does Detroit management.

Detroit is pimping Darko because they're always looking for an extra piece that can give them an edge in beating San Antonio. Darko is the only tradeable commodity they have that they really wouldn't miss.

as for O'Neal, from a statistics standpoint, the only thing that really seperates the two is that Jermaine sucked a year longer (although Milicic may beat him yet in this department--he's only in his third season).

also, O'Neal got to play with teammates who spoke his own language.

Jermaine was reputed to have shown more in practices, though.

Blazer Ringbearer

Everybody criticized Dumars at the time for passing on Anthony, but I think he probably feels the worst about passing on Wade.

Masbee

I already said as much and agree.

So, why trade away your only leverage and your only insurance policy for losing your starting Center - assuming Darko qualifies as "leverage" and any sort of future as a starting Center - which he doesn't IMO.

Whaaaat???

If they are pimiping Darko now to build up his value in a possible trade so they can get the "extra piece" that can give them an edge over San Antonio, then:

1) Why didn't they just DRAFT that missing piece in Carmelo Anthony or Dwane Wade who were both known to be NBA ready at the time? Without even knowing how good each would be all the scouts knew they were both good enough to rock off the bench from year 1.

2) Why didn't they trade their #2 pick for a proven vet who was the "extra piece"?

3) And if Detroit changed their mind and decided they needed that extra piece the next season, why didn't they trade Darko then, when he still had a TON of trade value?

The reason they drafted Darko was because they were happy with all their starters and DID NOT feel they needed anything extra to match up against San Antonio. Thus they could take a chance long-term project, who if they panned out could be a future anchor on their front-line, which is staffed by 30 somethings.

If that was the plan, why change the plan now? There are only two good reasons:

1) They have lost a key player to FA or injury and they are willing to sacrifice the future (Darko) to maintain the window by trading for a replacement vet.

2) They have come to realize that Darko sucks, and is unlikely to ever amount to much. Thus, now is the time to dump when they still may be able to get something worthwhile back.

Since #1 doesn't currently apply, guess what we are left with?

Did you look at the stats of both? Darko's first 3 seasons make Jermaines first three years look all-star.

mook

hardly. here are the stats:
Jemaine
Darko .

Darko clearly doesn't look as good, but neither guy really did much noteworthy. both guys' stats are extremely forgettable.

I think you're ignoring a third possibility: maybe they realize (like everybody else does) that he wasn't worth the #2 pick (especially that year) and probably isn't a superstar player. if you have a guy who may one day be as good as Zach Randolph (good, but no superstar), you probably dump him in favor of going after a championship now. it doesn't mean he sucks and always will suck, though. just means he's not the next Kevin Garnett.

Darko just doesn't make sense for Detroit. for a cruddy team like our Blazers, however, I'm quite happy to pick up another guy who may be the next Zach Randolph (at least talent-wise). especially if I can get him for Ruben Patterson and change.

we need talent anywhere we can get it, if only to develop it for a few years and trade it for something that actually fits. I think Milicic still has potential to be a Jason Richardson/Zach Randolph/Rashard Lewis caliber of player. not a world-beater, but a solid second banana.

Masbee

In limited minutes Jermaine had a solid effective shooting percentage. If you extrapolate his first 3 seasons numbers to big minutes you could see decent production (bump minutes to 33mpg to 11.4pts on 47% 8.9reb). If you assume you start running some plays for him you can easily project more scoring. He just had to be consistent, stop making stupid mistakes (that don't show up in stats), stay out of foul trouble, learn team defense, how to pass out of double teams, blah, blah, blah, and if you are lucky, he can maintain production with increased minutes, (which doesn't always occur). His early stats per minute gave some hope he could.

Darko, on the other hand, his first 3 seasons, has a horrific effective shooting percentage. You can't extrapolate into big minutes because you can't run plays for a guy that can't put the ball in the hole. (at 33mpg you see 8.8pts on 31% and 6.7reb) Darko only managed to earn half the minutes of what Jermaine got on a team more deep than the current Pistons. Darko has a much further road to travel. The odds are very much against such a transformation at this very late date.

Man, if they thought he would turn into a Zach caliber player, there is no way they dump him now. I don't understand your thought on this.

And, even as much as I have trashed Darko, I would take him for Ruben. Jeesh, why not? The proposal below has us sending Darius Miles!!! and/or picks!! No way would I do that.

Kmurph

If any of you think DET is going to send Darko to POR for just Ruben Pattersen then you are kidding yourselves....

Hey, I wish that fairy tale could come true too, but it won't...

Pattersen\Outlaw would be a good exchange for Milicic IMO...

Pattersen can help DET now and has 1yr left and Outlaw is a young developing talent to replace one they are sending away...If POR can do w\o the future 1st then great, but IMO if POR wants Darko they are going to have to make DET an offer they can't easily pass...I don't think they are looking to dump him in the least..

Miles is off the board b\c of injury IMO

I like Outlaw's athletic potential but I seriously doubt he will ever put it all together in the mental dept to be anything more than a sometimes exciting but nonetheless average player

You bag on Milicic but the guy is an athletic 7'0 w\ inside\outside game...He may never be what many experts thought he could become (All Star), but I'd trade a 6'9 av