[MikeDC]

IMO, the Wiz have a couple too many young players to really fit in their rotation. They'd do well to maybe cash a couple of them in on a higher quality, more experienced player.

Hughes, Haywood, Knight, and Laettner for Rasheed Wallace and Vlad Stepania?

1- Arenas, Blake
2- Stackhouse, Dixon
3- Wallace, Hayes
4- Thomas, Jeffries
5- Kwame, Stepania

Bench: Butler, Braggs
IR: Whitney

In the longer run, we re-sign Sheed, we slide him to the 4 as Hayes and Jeffries show themselves capable of running the 3 full time. That would move Etan back as the primary backup behind Kwame and Sheed.

In the Off-season, we could look for a more experienced backup PG and C as first priorities, and I think we'd be in pretty good shape.

Would this trade be remotely interesting to the Blazers? I would be if I were them. Reportedly the offers they're getting aren't too hot for Rasheed. Antwan Jamison is nice, but do they really want to take on Tariq Abdul-Wahad's contract? I doubt it. A move like this would let them keep their cap flexibility and at the same time give them two young players that could really help them in Hughes and Haywood. As a short-term proposition it doesn't hurt much either since they've got no PG behind Damon Stoudamire and no real SG besides the always injured Derek Anderson. They get a new lineup of:

1- Damon, Knight
2- Hughes, Anderson
3- Miles, Woods
4- Randolph, Laettner
5- Davis, Haywood

Not great, I freely admit, but they aren't great now. But they will have a bunch of good young players and Damon and Laetter will both come off the books at the same time (not this summer but the next), a time when a player like Tracy McGrady may be a FA.

 

[twinz2gether]

thats actually a pretty good trade, usaully trades people say on bballboards are really stupid, but this is probably the most even one i have ever seen. I'm not sure if they want to get rid of hughes though, as a third option we'll se what he does.

 

[Ed O]

Hughes was starting to develop a nice little track record of production after looking like a poor-shooting waste of talent earlier in his career. But he's shooting sub-40% from the field this year... seemingly definitely to regress a bit with his shot selection. Part of that is him jacking up a LOT more 3's (with some success)... but not all of it.

At only 25 (as of last week), he's still got room to improve, though.

I guess it depends on whether Portland is committed to moving Rasheed and whether there are any deals that are superior. If we HAD to make a move, we could do worse, but I think we'd be better off hanging onto Rasheed and risking him leaving for nothing.

Taking in the realities of trading for Laettner, who was recently suspended for pot use (something no Blazer has been, for all of their problems) I don't see Portland being properly motivated to make this kind of deal.

Ed O.

 

[Storyteller]

IF Portland is committed to having as much cap room as possible in 2005 (not my favorite idea personally, but...) then this trade is a much better deal than the Jamison offer.

However, I think that Ed O. is right about Laettner. I doubt that the PR conscious front office goes for this one.

 

[MikeDC]

Originally posted by <b>Ed O</b>!
Hughes was starting to develop a nice little track record of production after looking like a poor-shooting waste of talent earlier in his career. But he's shooting sub-40% from the field this year... seemingly definitely to regress a bit with his shot selection. Part of that is him jacking up a LOT more 3's (with some success)... but not all of it.

At only 25 (as of last week), he's still got room to improve, though.

I guess it depends on whether Portland is committed to moving Rasheed and whether there are any deals that are superior. If we HAD to make a move, we could do worse, but I think we'd be better off hanging onto Rasheed and risking him leaving for nothing.

Taking in the realities of trading for Laettner, who was recently suspended for pot use (something no Blazer has been, for all of their problems) I don't see Portland being properly motivated to make this kind of deal.

Ed O.

Aww, come on, please!

Don't you wanna see Damon and L8ner light it up together?

OK, bad choice of words

But they'll be FAs at the same time, and give ya lots of cap room

 

[STOMP]

Originally posted by <b>Mikedc</b>!
But they'll (L8 and Damon) be FAs at the same time, and give ya lots of cap room

...or Portland could get more caproom by staying pat and letting Wallace come off of their cap. The net gain for Portland doing this hypothetical would be adding Hughes who would be the 3rd shooting guard on their roster (along with Woods and DA) and another short overpaid point, in exchange for one of the better bigs in the game. I see Haywood and Vlade as comparably mediocre talents.

Given Christian's drug suspension and Portland management's stated promise to avoid such players, I think that several 1sts would have to be added for them to consider that mess.

STOMP

 

[twinz2gether]

Let's bring Sheed back to the wiz!

 

[CP26]

Originally posted by <b>twinz2gether</b>!
Let's bring Sheed back to the wiz!

no:dead:

 

[twinz2gether]

why not? he just rejected the blazers offer on a contract extension. he's really intense and he's a good player, he's not a good fit right now on the blazers.

 

[AL9045]

Originally posted by <b>twinz2gether</b>!
why not? he just rejected the blazers offer on a contract extension. he's really intense and he's a good player, he's not a good fit right now on the blazers.

The thing I'm most concerned about is, his influence on the younger players, especially Kwame.

I don't want him to go back to being Kwame.