Chad Ford, ESPN.com
Team Needs: Point guard, small forwardI'm a bit perplexed by the second part. Nicolas Batum is the "help" at the 3 and Travis Outlaw is a solid 3 who can play some 4. There are legitimate arguments to be made regarding our situation at small forward, but I don't think Ford's qualify.
The Skinny: The Blazers come into the summer still searching for their point guard of the future. Steve Blake is good. Sergio Rodriguez is OK. Last year's lottery pick, Jerryd Bayless, might be able to play the point someday. But they really lack that guy who can pull everything together.
The team also could use more help at the 3. Travis Outlaw is still getting better and Martell Webster is coming back from injury. But if the Blazers could land a solid 3 who could also play some 4, I think they'd grab him.
Kyle Nelson, Draft Express
There are some question marks, however, most notably in terms of their perimeter depth, as they lack a set rotation at the point guard and small forward positions, and could still stand to get tougher in the post. Brandon Roy desperately needs some help on the perimeter, as he is the focal point of the Blazers offense and was exposed at times by opposing defenses who took advantage of how heavy a role he’s forced to shoulder in one on one situations at the end of games.If Webster gets healthy and Batum gets a year older, both of which are solid assumptions, depth at the 3 is squared away.
Now perimeter defense? That's another story.
Jason Fleming, HoopsWorld
Immediate Needs in the DraftJason takes a different approach to the "What do they need?" argument, which, in my opinion, does a better job of addressing the reality of the situation. That said, whoever gets picked at No. 24 doesn't seem likely to end up a Trail Blazer. And I've started to lose count of all the point guards KP is supposedly targeting.
Since we don't know yet what General Manager Kevin Pritchard is going to pull off, let's assume Portland keeps the picks. Can they address a reserve big man, perhaps another swing scorer/defender, and another center?
The only player that looks remotely like a fit at #24 is Taj Gibson from USC – all the other top big men are off the board by then and none of the remaining scorers look like they could crack the rotation. When you make the commitment to a first-round pick, you better hope he can be in the group that gets regular run, otherwise why bother?
[snip]
Immediate Needs in Free Agency
There are two places Portland could address in free agency: power forward (reserve) and point guard. Why say "could"? Because this writer thinks you need to be patient and let Jerryd Bayless grow. There has been no indication Portland is willing to move him, so if they bring in someone like Andre Miller (who is reportedly tops on their free agent wish list), what does that mean? Miller will likely command at least a three-year contract at decent money and Bayless not only won't be content to sit back and wait, his growth will be stunted.
But back to you. I'd really like to know what it is you think the Trail Blazers should do throughout the course of the offseason, starting with Thursday's draft. Trade up? Trade out? Save cash for free agency? Go the trade route? Plenty of options, so let's hear 'em.
13 comments:
Trade up for either tyler (NC) for a backup PF and trade sergio blake and outlaw martell and batum are solid at the 3 or maybe trade up for ty lawson and give the ball to bayless and him and if they dont work out brandon can always run point which will give rudy more mins. Rudy is a star waiting to explode
I'd really like to see The Blazers bring in an old-school center to work with Oden. Give him some confidence to attack, and help develop a short hook or fade that will help him. Once his skills diversify a bit more, he'll be more comfortable being an aggressive post player. Why not call up Bill Walton? Maybe he'd be up to help develop someone at the end of the same criticisms he faced.
Move up in the draft slightly to get psycho T and we will have soolid backup for the next 10 years.
Bayless is the future PG of the blazers, do whatever it takes to get him ready.
The Blazers need an experienced point guard who can give Brandon some relief. A seasoned veteran with playoff experience could help the offense work more cohesively, instead of Brandon feeling the need to take it one-on-one.
We could also use some more physical presence at the 3 and 4 spots. Once again an established player would help this young team. Also, we need to make sure Greg is committed to the gym this summer, being coached on a consistent go-to move and working on how to play aggressive defense without giving up early and unnecessary fouls.
In order:
1) We need a Roy-esque type of a trade (expiring contracts for a high draft pick to be used on Ricky Rubio or a guy like Blair.
2) If that doesn't happen, we need to hope for a guy to slide to us (Blair or Lawson.)
3) If that doesn't happen trade out of the first round and pursue a vet point guard through a trade or free agency (Hinrich, Miller, Kidd and Bibby are more or less acceptable.)
4) None of the above will have as much an impact on next season as Oden showing progress on offense and his ability to limit his fouls.
Chris Paul. Do whatever it takes.
Steve Blake and Sergio are very bad!! they both cant score much at all. blake is too slow and gives the blazers a very slow pace!! Sergio just doesnt do anything, and way too many turnovers too! Thats why i consider we get someone fast who drives and dishes or just drives and scores who can give B-Roy some help! we need someone like RIcky Rubio or Tony Parker, and just keep bayless as off the bench. We also need some low post scoring, either Aldridge needs to learn to not shoot so much from outside or we need someone like Tim Duncan.
We do not need much tweaking. I'm assuming Sergio and Channing are gone. We need a veteran physical big to back-up Aldridge--McDyess, Bass, Smith, etc. A point guard either from draft or via trade to backup Blake and Bayless in case of injury. I could see Kidd or Nash for 2-3 years with Bayless as back-up, but price would probably be too high. You have to buy high to land Hedo or Ariza, so I would pass. We'll know after next year which of our 3's we'll have to do without. It's jumping the gun to ditch Travis, he's the only certified clutch shooter besides Roy so far.
Sergio is ok...... if you like seeing a parade of pgs getting to the rim, and Oden picking up stupid fouls.
What the Blazers need is a back up pf.
Not another sf. We've heard we needed a sf for so long people still want to believe it. The answer at sf is Webster/Batum.
KP go get Oberto, and trade Sergio PLEASE !!!!
Seeing the last few all-star games, Brandon Roy and Chris Paul have undeniable chemistry. I say trade Raef LaFrentz, Channing Frye, and Sergio Rodriguez to get the man they call CP3. It would be quite possibly the best backcourt this league has ever seen. CP3, B Roy, Webster, Aldridge and Oden in the middle would be a championship caliber starting lineup, then with Bayless, Fernandez, Outlaw, Batum and Przbilla COMING OFF THE BENCH...here we come LA
I think we should look for a solid back up at the power forward position. Also maybe in the second round pick a center who could be the future back up center. Or if pryzbilla or Oden goes down with an injury he could still keep size in the teams rotation. I think we should wait until after a couple weeks to decide on our point guard situation. Sergio showed great improvement toward the end of the season and maybe he will continue. Bayless is still young and could surprise next season. So I think a good PF and an extra C are what we need to address on draft day. The PG's are young and could have a big improvement this offseason.
The Blazers have too much depth. No one can ever get a rythm and were constantlly subbing in average players. The only players that we need to still be on the team after draft day are, Bayless, Roy, Fernandez, Webster, Aldridge, Prizbilla, Oden, Outlaw. We need to do what we can to trade up in the draft and get Rubio. He will have a huge impact. If we cant get him we need to trade our depth away and get a veteran PG or someone like Chris Paul who is young but very talented.
Channing Fry for Ronny Turiaf. Channing Fry deserves to go somewhere that he will fit in. Turiaf would give us the toughness we are lacking at PF.
Some other players that would make us better are: Andre Miller, Mickael Pietrus, Mike Miller,
Antwan Jamison, and Al Harrington.
Not sure how to aquire them. KP can figure that out.
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