ABM

He's probably feeling a little bummed that his former team is on the verge of contending for another Title.

Interesting, when the Blazer pulverized the Spurs earlier this season, he was probably on cloud nine. How things change..................I feel kinda bad for him now. He ended up being a non-entity for the Blazers. (although, it may have been the same situation for him as a Spur, other than their team contending for a ring.)

I am really happy for Kerr, though. I hope he gets another ring. To be honest, I wish he were still a Blazer. Good for him, though, he isn't.

DA wanted out of there, so I have no feelings regarding him on the matter.

Ed O

AD demonstrated an unwillingness to play the 1 for the Spurs and they were worried that he was going to make waves in the lockerroom. It's POSSIBLE that they were imagining that as a possibility, but it seems that he had to have given some indications that he wasn't happy or else they wouldn't have traded him.

Ed O.

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"In the end, it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win -- if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last."

-- Sandy Koufax

Speed

AD wanted to leave Spurs and came to us happily.

Speed

furthermore, the Spurs haven't won anything yet

PorterIn2004

Maybe not, Speed, but they're at least still playing. Still, I agree he seemed to want out.

Speed

Yes. AD's first priority this season was not winning a championship but going somewhere where he could play SG. He didn't want to be the kind of point guard that SA needed him to be (i.e. dump it down low to Duncan, stand on perimeter, and wait to shoot three). While we were basically bring him to play PG for us, he made a comment about how the PG in Portland's system is different than in SA so he wouldn't mind.

Anyway, the real disaster is not whether or not AD is playing with the Spurs in the playoffs right now. The real disaster is that he was picked #4 in the draft, clearly has amazing athletic gifts, and rarely gets to play.

Go Blazers

PorterIn2004

Very, very nice points, Speed. My hat's off. I'd been sceptical about that very point when we got him and then somehow totally forgot about it -- what is it with guys who are good players but would rather play their "style" than play in a system with someone like Duncan and a clear shot at winning. Now, to be fair, the Spurs weren't looking like world (or Laker) beaters back when he made that decision and even now the Kings would likely be favored if Webber was playing but, I can't imagine the Blazers looked like "all that" either.

I get that there might have been other factors but, a common one (after the style of play) would be conflicts with teamates and how do you not like the Spurs? I dunno.... we'll never have the whole story, nor should we. Still, I feel ever so slightly less invested in keeping him. That's not to say that I want to get rid of him -- tactically speaking he does seem like a good fit for Mo, despite his lack of PT. And, it seems from here that he's got fewer locker room (or otherwise) "issues" than many currently on the team. Still....

dkap

I think part of it was that AD was going to be a free agent and was looking forward to the bigger contract, but S.A. was looking to pare down the payroll as much as possible for this summer and wasn't giving him the playing time necessary to showcase his abilities to other teams. I'm sure he knew playing time wouldn't be much better in Portland, but what better team to come to in hopes of financial reward? Of course, he came along a year or two too late for that...

Dan

FeloniusThunk

I feel sorry for him a bit because of what Chauncey Billups is doing. They are similar players taken next to each other in the draft, and both have changed teams left and right looking for a place to settle in. Billups finally has enough minutes and a prominent enough role to let loose a little. I think AD would produce similar results with a similar environment. I don't think Portland will ever have such a shortage of scoring guards and swingmen that they'll need AD for a role like that, unfortunately. Somebody like Memphis, Utah, Boston, or the constantly injured Hornets could use him in a bigger way.

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"When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty." -- George Bernard Shaw