Minstrel

I know it wasn't. In your post laying out how it was that Pritchard "stood pat," you said that the "draft was more important the deal."

The draft has been more important any non-draft deal every season Pritchard has been GM. Therefore, he's stood pat every season based on your logic.

__________________
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.

NateBishop3

I really don't think "standing pat" is going to be possible. We might be able to squeeze a couple more years out of the roster as it stands, but eventually all this young talent is going to bite us in the *** and we're going to have to make a trade. Young players can be patient, but they're not going to sit on a bench through the majority of their career if they feel they should be starting.

Travis Outlaw probably wants to start.
Martell Webster probably wants to start.
Rudy Fernandez probably wants to start.
Channing Frye probably wants to start.
Sergio Rodriguez probably wants to start.

If you can convince these guys to take a back seat in the hopes of winning a championship, awesome. If you can't then you have to make a trade. Consolidate some of this talent into a couple of key pieces that will solidy this roster. I really like Channings attitude and I think he would be willing to be a backup. I don't know Rudy's mindset coming into Portland though. He might be willing to accept a backup spot, he might not. I'm most concerned about Martell and Travis. I think eventually one of them will be traded.

I think guys like Ike Diogu and Steve Blake would be ok in a backup role. Ike probably just wants to chance to show what he can do. It's really only a matter of time before Bayless works his way into the starting lineup, but what do we do with Rudy? I think we might see some of this young talent go before next summer. If KP really wants to make a run at a free agent next summer he'll have to release Frye, Diogu, and Webster. Is it worth the tradeoff? I would like to hold onto Frye and I'm very curious to see what Diogu can bring to the table. Martell has one more year to show that he's not a waste of a roster spot. If he doesn't turn some heads this season I think he'll be gone.

Anyway, I think we'll either see some trades or the outright release of some of our young players at the end of this season.

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BlazerCaravan

Except for the Randolph deal -- which was a deal by the definition that it moved a major player out of our lineup -- we have indeed stood pat. We've let Roy develop. We've let Aldridge develop. We drafted Oden. We drafted Rudy. We drafted Bayless. We aren't going to pick up a new FA. We're going to stand pat.

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Minstrel

Perhaps by that writer's definition of standing pat, the Blazers have. In terms of actually making deals, the Blazers haven't been standing pat in any season under Pritchard, and didn't this season.

__________________
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.