chairman

Just playing devils advocate here.......What if we got Conley and for some reason he didn't end up playing as much as he thought he should. It happens all the time. Players get pissed off. But in this case we end up pissing off his dad, who is his agent, who is also someone elses agent. I know this is a stretch but you never know. I would hate to be in a situation where they felt obligated to kiss his a$$.

Headwound

Artest? Joke right? I don't think KP even knows how to spell Artest.

Minstrel

Best options (long-shot but not impossible): Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith

Realistic option: Josh Childress

Interesting experiment: Shaun Livingston

Chris Paul or Devin Harris would be the players I'd most love to see on Portland, but neither have any chance of hitting the market. Deng, Iguodala and Smith shouldn't either, but it is somewhat possible that one of their current employers won't be willing to pay them what they want and they hit the market. Most likely, they'd be traded first, but...I'm comfortable making these players the outer limits of my dreaming.

Josh Childress is both quite attainable and would be a very valuable player to Portland. As the "glue player" in the core, he'd be stellar. He's not the star to even partially carry a team, but he's exactly the sort of intelligent, multi-talented player with excellent defense that makes the ideal complimentary player. The only way he could be better is if he could stick the outside shot, but perfection is hard.

I concur with MrJayremmie that Livingston has a world of talent and potential if he can get and stay healthy. I'd compare him more t Penny Hardaway than Magic Johnson, but that is still lofty talent. Depending on his cost, I'd be quite interested in rolling the dice on him. Considering he entered the league at 18-19, he'll still be very young.

__________________
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

HKF

Devin Harris huh? That would be impossible because he signed an extension before this season with Dallas. His extension begins during the 2008-09 season, so you need to take him off the list.

If you're going to look at salaries, please use www.shamsports.com. Hoopshype is woefully inaccurate.

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My favorite NBA players: Deron Williams * Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman * Wilson Chandler

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (NYK)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

Anonymous Gambler

Unless, I'm missing something, I think Kobe's opt out would make him a free agent in 09/10.

I would target Kobe first. He's the best player available, both on offense and defense.

Would he come here? Probably not- but if he opts out, he'll be an unrestricted free agent and could probably force some kind of sign and trade to get the same money that he could get from the Lakers.

I think this would be a better supporting cast for Kobe than the Lakers currently are. Oden>Bynum Aldridge>Gasol (by that point) Roy>any one else they have and maybe by then Rudy and/or Webster/Outlaw are better.

MrJayremmie

I think when people talk about Harris, they aren't talkin' about aquiring him through FA because that is impossible with his extension. We are talkin' about trading for him.

NJ loves Outlaw, Jack and probably our 1st. Stuff like that, and we would be able to take a big contract off their books.


you are a smart man. Livingston has the possibility to easily be one of the best PGs in the NBA in a cuople years. His 6'7 size is what draws me to him. You watch highlights of him on YouTube and all you see are his amazing passes. The kid just likes to get the team involved and thats it. He finishes alley oops sometimes and can get to the rim at will with his speed and size, but he has amazing court vision. Someone who's price MIGHT go down with him missing all season. I think we would have enough pieces to trade for him from players that won't be in the rotation next year like maybe Jack, Frye, LaFrentz, 1st and etc...

I like Rose and Westbrook the most thoguh. Rose because he is overall amazing, and Westbrook because he is going to be one of the better players in the league.

Did anybody see Westbrook running the point yesterday? I think that should settle all questions about it... He showed defense, scoring from shooting and gettin' to the rim at will, speed, fast break, and ability to run the point. He single handedly carried his team (which had a horrible gameplan. They should have played through Love).

And what do you guys think about Kaponen vs. Sergio? Who has more upside? I want Koponen to become a really good above average defensive player. I don't see him gettin' time without becoming an above average defender.

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Jerryd Bayless

dudleysghost

Looking at that list, it reminds me how difficult it is to anticipate who will be available. Most of those guys who are any good will end up re-signing with their present team. It's not common that a team lets a good player walk. That's why I the whole idea of "targeting" a player years in advance, like Canzano claims we are or should be doing with Chris Paul, is kind of bogus. For any given player, it's pretty unlikely he will be available, even if we have free agent dollars to spend.

Devin Harris, Iguodala, Josh Smith and Chris Paul I can basically guarantee will not be available. The only time a good player becomes so is if he has unrealistic salary expectations, or the team just decides to torpedo itself to save money. I could imagine Luol Deng maybe fitting the former category, and Chicago possibly not matching (although I still bet CHI will pay him and possibly let Gordon and his inflated salary expectations walk). Guys like Childress, Livingston and maybe even Brand might be available, if the Hawks or Clips decide to go (back) to being very cheap and let talent walk. Even that's a big "if" though.

More likely, I think we will spend our cap space to make a lopsided salary trade, involving a combination of players that nobody has yet anticipated.

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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."

gogreen

I vote for Iggy and Gordon.

With the emergence of Thad Young i could see Philly hardballing Iggy. I love Iggys game and think he would fit in perfect with LA and GO on the front line. He is a hard-nosed player with a nasty streak. He is a good defender and an above average slasher/ finisher. Most of all i think he would add athlectism to a starting 5 that i don't think we have any of currently. When i think athletic i think Clyde, Jerome. Iggy is awesome on the break and can throw it down as good as anybody.

Gordon, say what you want, but we have only Roy and LA are the only ones that demand a double team. Having BG standing out there alone putting up big numbers fast is something this team lacks currently. Roy,Rudy and Gordon would be an insane threesome. Think of what the 90' Pistons were like with Zeke, Dumars and the Microwave. Any team that had to double team GO or LA would have to pay with either Rudy or BG alone nailing 3's. Blake would be a good 4th guard.

So this is my dream for the 09/10 season

GO/Pryz
LMA/Outlaw/Frye
Iggy/Webster
Rudy/Gordon
Broy/Blake/Serg