crowTrobot

he's 3.15 next year.

it's not so much that he's worth more than that - it's that he's very likely to be able to get that for 3-4 years from another team. have to assume that if we don't sign him to an extension he will opt out and look for a multi-year deal elsewhere.

dudleysghost

The comparison I see is Jason Kapono, who got (full?) MLE for 4 years from Toronto. I don't think Jones is quite the shooter Kapono is, despite what the stats say, but Jones is a better defender, and the guy I'd rather have on just about any team. That's the exception, but Jones would have as much a chance as anyone to score a big payday like that if some team out there is overpaying for a shooter. At the very least though, he gets a deal like James Posey's, 2 years/$6.6 mil, so the financial risk is low.

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Jeff Van Gundy to the Houston Chronicle: "Everybody gets excited about youth except the coach, because he knows youth means mistakes, mistakes mean losses, losses means you're fired."

Tortimer

You guys are probably right about Jones opt out next year. Even if he does I could see the Blazers maybe going 2-3 years on Jones. Especially if they think Outlaw and Jones are their SF's and they end up trading Webster. I'm not sure they will trade Webster but if it would take Webster plus picks and other players to get someone KP really wants they would trade him.

dudleysghost

It's tough if we really want cap space. We talk about it a lot, but I'm not a big fan, because it does force us to make choices like this. Can we pay to keep a guy like Jones who is playing and fitting in well? If we really want cap space, then it's probably no. Alternately we could let Webster go somehow, but only in a trade that doesn't get us any longer salary obligations in return, which makes it seem kind of pointless. To get that cap space, we have to ditch some of the talent we have now, and not get anything in return that has to be paid in 09 (which basically means we can't get anything good back), all in the hopes of finding a valuable free agent on the market in 2009 who will take our money. We'll see if that's the strategy we actaully use, and if it works out for us...

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Jeff Van Gundy to the Houston Chronicle: "Everybody gets excited about youth except the coach, because he knows youth means mistakes, mistakes mean losses, losses means you're fired."

Tortimer

I agree about the cap in 2009 but I just think if the right deal came up before 2009 KP and the Blazers would scrap that plan. I think they could still trade Webster, LaFrentz and our 1st round pick for someone KP really wanted we would forget about the cap space. We would at least forget about the 20+ million cap space. We still might end up with a small cap space in 2009 if we signed Jones and made a big trade. I just can't see letting pieces go that fit what we need and are playing well when you never know if we can get anything better in 2009 FA. I do think we would use the 2009 cap space more for a trade then actually signing a FA though.

Knick49

Before you guys get rid of Frye, consider this:

Right at this moment, following the Minnesota game, Frye is the #9 man on your team in terms of minutes played per game, 17.4, a good 4 minutes behind #8 Joel Przybilla who's at 21.5 mpg. Frye's averaging 7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and his efficiency is pegged at 9.04. These are the numbers for the the 2 guys currently just above Frye on the efficiency list and the 2 guys immediately below.

1) Desmond Mason, Mil. Efficiency = 9.2; PPG = 8.0; RPG = 3.9; 5th on the team in mpg with 26.1.

2) Jeff Green, Sea. Efficiency = 9.1; PPG = 8.4; RPG = 5.3; 7th on the team in mpg with 22.4.

3) Morris Peterson, NOH. Efficiency = 9.04; PPG = 9.2; RPG = 3.2; 5th on the team in mpg with 25.3.

4) Jerry Stackhouse, Dal. Efficiency = 9.03; PPG = 10.2; RPG = 2.7; 5th on the team in mpg with 25.5.

If Portland feels getting rid of Frye will contribute to its future success, so be it, but it looks to me that your #9 man is giving you as much as some other teams #5's in alot less minutes.

drexlersdad

nice post. i had been checking out the per #'s as well and frye has pulled out of his funk. if he can be consistent with these #'s i would be more than happy.

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Sug

Step One
The only two guys that need to go without compensation are Raef and Miles. That is a simple process of a buy-out. You bring in Rudy F and add him to an already strong young team.

Step Two
On draft day you pick an "under contract" international player that will not be available for two or three years. I don't care what position. You also do this with all of your second round picks. Why??? Look at the Spurs, every year they have done something similar and now they have a pipeline of talent that is being developed overseas and comes in NBA ready.

Step Three
James Jones gets 5 years 3mil to lock him up to age 32. He fits the team, city, and will play a major role in us winning it all. He is a mentor, a deadeye, and understands the value of passing on knowlegde after receiving the same from Reggie Miller. Guys like James Jones are very valuable to a young team, and 27 is not old.

Step Four
We need another year with this roster to see what it can do with Oden and Rudy added in. Now maybe you look to move Jack, but at the same time that guy brings a lot of energy. Besides what value does Jack have across the NBA? You might also look to use the MLE on a vet to be a teacher for the young guys.

Don't rush the process...let it grow.

alext42083

I wholeheartedly agree with that. This guy is way more valuable than people are giving him credit for. He should be a priority for the Blazers and be a part of the long term future.

This whole streak coincided with him coming back into the mix from injury. I'm not saying he's the sole reason, but since when did the Blazers ever have the top 3-point percentage shooter in the NBA?

Outside shooting is a premium in this league, and Martell Webster just isn't consistent enough to warrant being the main outside threat for this team.

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Boob-No-More

I definitely agree. As I said in my previous post, Frye is the PERFECT back-up for LaMarcus Aldridge. After, yet another, strong game last night his PER is now up to 15.52. 15.00 is considered an average NBA starter, and unlike some bench players, Frye has played enough minutes that his PER is not inflated due to a small sample size of only playing in garbage time. He has made very significant contributions during the winning streak and now has the 5th highest PER on the team (behind Roy, Aldridge, Jones and Outlaw).

Its funny, but about a month ago, when the Blazers were in that slump that led to 9 losses in 10 games, I was watching the PERs for our players and noticed we only had two guys, Roy and Aldridge, with PERs above 15. At one point, I think they were the only two above 13. I considered making a post at the time pointing out that we only had two guys on the roster that were average, or better, NBA starters. Well, that was before Jones came back from his injury and Travis and Channing started playing well. We now have five guys with PER>15 and five more with PER~12. That's five better than average starters and five solid back-ups.

So, to reiterate my earlier post, DON'T TRADE FRYE. He's the perfect back-up to Aldridge (for reasons previously stated) and a very solid contributor off the bench. He's young enough to peak at the right time and is still improving. His RbR, a very respectable 14.3, is now second on the team to Joel. He also seems to understand his role and seems comfortable coming off the bench. You don't need 10 stars to win a championship. You need a few stars (Roy, Aldridge and Oden) and a handful of solid guys who know their roles and fill them well without complaint. Frye is exactly that kind of guy (so is Jones).

Remember when Whitsitt blew up the team after the 2000 WCF loss? He took a team that was one bad shooting 4th quarter away from a championship and destroyed it. He loaded the roster two, and in some cases three, deep at each position with guys who were used to starting their whole careers. The team got worse instead of better. Why, because you had 12 guys who all thought they should be starters. There was NO team chemistry (correction, there was "chemistry all right, but it was the bad kind), guys grumbled about minutes and touches, player roles weren't clearly defined, and where they were guys didn't always accept their roles and buy into sacrificing their personal stats for the good of the team.

Point is, not everybody can be a starter. Every winning team needs guys who are willing to accept and embrace their roles. You need back-ups who are happy and productive being back-ups and not constantly moaning about minutes and touches. Frye is one of those guys. Keep him.

BNM