Finally! one deal done and another player to help us win!

Ive been away from the blog for quite a while so I'm gonna do a lot of catching up. to start things off the biggest news is undoubtedly the signing of one Brandon Roy, most of you probably already know this, but its such a refreshing fact to know that we have BRoy inked to a 5 year deal, worth bout 80 million. Roy seemed to be relieved and eve said that he would have signed a 10 year deal if they had let him, an I am so glad that hes in the Rose City for quite some time. So know that he's locked up the Blazers still need to concentrate on Lamarcus, because as good as Brandon is, without Aldridge, the Blazers are prolly 10 wins worse than last year, he's essential, KP has until October 31 to get a deal before Lamarcus will become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2010. So lets cross our fingers and hope that gets done. Another blazers tidbit that you prolly all know by now, the Blazers signed Andre Miller. i was a little critical at first about this move but Ive had time to sit and ponder and I think he'll really help the squad, he likes to push the ball and run, which we could use a little bit of a fast break game, of course we'll still be a half court team but some running would be nice, hopefully with Dre and some of the athlete we have, we can get some of that. Not only that but Dre will be able to run the half court very nicely i think and even tho hes not a 3 point threat his mid range is pretty good and he should compliment brandon Roy well as he's able to get into the paint, and handle the ball alleviating some of the pressure Roy will be dealing with. miller is only 6'1'' making him our shortest player but he plays bigger than he is and even will occasionally post up gaurds, using his high basketball I.Q. Dre is exactly the kind of upgrade with veteran experience that the Blazers needed. and as for who to start, Blake or Miller? who cares? McMillan will figure out who works best with what unit but either way, we'll have one of the best point guard rotations in the league! ok so other than that, we just made it through august, the slowest month of the year in NBA terms, but we're out of that and its September, training camp wil start soon and then pre season, and before you know it, the season opener with Houston. The Blazers also signed Rookie Dante Cunningham to the squad, he proved himself valuable in the Vegas summer league, and the rumor is that Jeff Pendegraph will also be signed. the only other bit of news is that the Blazers are considering signing one or both, Juan Howard an Stromile Swift. Howard, is a big man who can bang down low or hit a mid range j, hes a little older but provides a solid back up and and veteran presence. Stromile swift, has been a Blazer killer for many years, and although he isnt all that great on the defensive end, he's long and athletic and can play on the offensive end. I'll keep you informed of that as word comes along. Other than that, i hope you feel you blazermania rising, the season is fast approaching and i get amped just thinking about it! hold on Blazers fans, not much longer! Go Blazers!

H. Turkoglu? P. Milsap? What about effin B. Roy!?

So ive already told you about the botched offer to Hedo Turkoglu. Well after that fell through the Blazers signed Paul milsap from the Jazz to an offer sheet. I believe the deal was a 4 year contract worth about 32 million. Now Milsap was a restricted free agent so the jazz had to match our deal within a week to retain him. so what the Blazers did was make the contract 'toxic' pretty much meaning they front loaded it with a signing bonus and Milsap was going to get about 17 million dollars up front. speculation is that the Blazers knew the jazz were going to match this deal, which would have put them way over the luxury tax, having both Paul Milsap and carlos Boozer (both all star quality power forwards). So What the Blazers appeared to be doing is trying to hurt the Jazz, by making them keep Milsap or Boozer, not both, and if the jazz didnt sign, o well, u have an all star caliber player backing up Lamarcus. well heres where i have a problem. now people are talking about our front office like we're a bunch of bullies, and talking about KP like hes just a lousy cheat. see I seem to remember when the grizzlies decided to sign Darius Miles just to f**k with our cap space, people told Blazers fans to 'get over it, its all part of the game' and say that thats how the league works. well then why the hell do i have to hear all this talk about the Blazers being bullies and 'messing with people'. remember, its all part of the game dammit. anyways, so the Jazz matched the offer, so the Blazers didnt get Milsap, another free agent falls thru the cracks. however the Blazers are the best option with the most cash for either a lopsided trade or signing a free agent now. i personally think the Blazers will try to get a lopsided trade going rather than sign someone. there is a bit of chatter on L*kers free agent Lamar Odom, I know most Blazers fans roll their eyes at that, for my take on it you should read the post below. Now my real pet peeve tho. Brandon Roy specifically but lamarcus Aldridge as well, are up for contract extensions this year. now Lamarcus as much as i love him isnt a max money player, but he should definitely get at least 4 years. Brandon Roy however is the kind of player you slide a blank check across the desk and tell him to put any number he wants for. for some reason, contract talks have stalled with both. Speaking specifically about Brandon Roy, why the hell is this happening? your going to jerk around your best player? the one guy most responsible for taking your team from a laughing stock of the NBA to one of the best and most promising teams? the guy who does nothing but improve and carry your team? the guy who has done everything you ask on and off the court? bullshit. get the deal done, the negotiations shouldn't take longer than it takes for him to sign his name on the contract. and Lamarcus s a no brainer too. instead of focusing on the final piece right now, why don't we focus on the two players that got us close enough to look for a final piece? well that's my rant for the night, I'll keep you posted if anything big drops. and PS, visit signbrandon.com, sign up and voice your distaste with this bs. Go Blazers! LGKP!

Doc

o u son of a %&@#* mother ^*(#@!!! D*(#hole C&#k!!

well as you probably have heard, Hedo pulled an about face and after making a verbal commitment to the Blazers, took 3 million dollars more to go play in Toronto. hell if he really wants to go play on a perennially bad team that may be losing Chris Bosh, good riddance, have fun NOT winning a ring, ever. to be honest, as much as i was looking forward to having a big name player like Turk, I was never completely sold on the idea, 10 million a yea is a lot for a player whose best years are behind him, and besides, i don't want player who is here for money. I WISH we coulda landed artest, he took way less money than he could have pulled from the open market to play with the L*kers and try to win a ring. So regardless of whats happened, the question now is what will happen? where will the Blazers look to upgrade? well i think the Blazers need to exercise a bit of caution because there are no real big free agents that fit our team perfectly out there any more. So we could still make a run at a free agent,or we could work trades. Or we could do nothing and see how this team grows organically, which may set us back another year but it could help us in the long run too. What am i hearing on the subject tho? well strangely im hearing that the Blazers are pushing hard for David Lee. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE David Lee. I love his game, I think hes got a great personality and he would fit right in with the culture of the team. He also brings that toughness that we so desperately need and want. However, lets get real, he wants to get payed, and he wants to star, and he's not starting over Lamarcus. So even if we could talk him into playing a backup role, do you really want to pay a back up the 9 to 10 million it may take to land him? no, you don't, and I hope KP doesn't either. the only way this works is if he plays at the 3, but i have doubts about how effective that'll be. It would create match up problems as he's a good sized 3 but he also wouldn't be as quick as some of the other 3's in the league. The Andre Miller rumor is still circulating and getting some play I like Andre Miller, but i don't know if i like him enough for this team lol. i believe he shoots in the 20% range from the 3 point line, which is ridiculously low especially when you have someone like Brandon Roy who can drive and dish. He also has never really won anywhere he's gone, you cant hold that against him but its still something to think about. Another name Ive heard tossed around is Lamar Odom from the L*kers. my first thought is no. No effing way I want this p.o.s on my team. I'm gonna try to look at this from 'would he help the team' perspective. He plays the 3, which is an area we could use an upgrade in, and he is better than any of the 3's that we have currently. He's a big 3, so he could also play some of the backup 4 as well as providing some insane match up problems. He can be an excellent defender when he wants to be. he can be the 3rd scorer behind Aldridge and Roy, he would welcome that role with open arms because he doesn't always show up to play (which is an issue). he also probably wants a fairly good sized payday. it may work out much like it did for him in LA, with Roy and Aldridge taking the place of Pau and K*be. So is this a good fit? well it sounds like it may be, and it hurts me to say that lol, but really maybe he could help us, assuming of course that he's actually good and not just a product of system. And i know right now he's a l*ker but Ive always said this, i may not like him know, but you win a couple games for me and that may change. and quickly, I havent commented yet on the Pistons signing Ben Gordon to a 55 million dollar deal and Charlie Vilanaueva signing a 40 million dollar deal. I just have to say, is Joe Dumars out of his F*KING mind? wow, good job Detroit, great signings, you got a hell of a bargain... lol. anyways i will keep the site updated on any more news from trades or free agency, keep checking back in. Go Blazers! o and Lets Go Kevin Pritchard! make it happen buddy!

Doc

The draft and a side of turkey for free agency

So the draft came and went on the 25th of June, and it was relatively quiet i know. As any Blazers fan whose been with the team at least the last 3 years knows, this is a bit of a shocker. The Blazers have been pretty active on draft days as of late. Very active. As in the MOST active. but it was relatively calm on this draft day. the Blazers only made a few moves, one was the move up to the 22nd pick. The other was trading Sergio (yay!) and the 38th overall pick with cash considerations and our worst pick next year to the Kings for the number 31 pick. its a bit of a head scratcher but it all seems to make sense after a while. So with the 22nd pick KP surprised a lot of people and drafted Victor Claver from Spain, a 6'9'' power forward who received high praises from KP. Now the moves are starting to make sense. The Blazers can moved up just enough to land the guy they wanted for sure and drafted a Spanish player that they can stash over seas and not have to pay him, and they don't have to pay the other 2nd rounders if they don't want to plus they got out from Sergio's contract. They were clearing cap room, presumably to take a run at a high profile free agent, which was absolutely right. So they chose Jeff Pendegraph and Dante Cunningham at the 31 and 33 picks. Two forwards that can duke it out for the back up power forward spot, but i would be shocked if both made the team and even one of them could be a stretch. given the opportunity however both should be solid backups. The really interesting pick for me came at pick 55. As i watched the draft unfold, i noticed that at pick 50, Patrick 'patty' Mills was still available. Patty Mills is an undersized point guard at about 6'0'' but he's lightning quick and he intrigues the hell outta me. We all saw how well Aaron Brooks did for the Rockets did as an undersized lightning quick point guard. So imagine my delight when Peppermint Patty Mills (i saw that on Blazers edge and am now going to steal it lol) was still on the board at 55 and KP scooped him up, what a steal that late in the draft. and He's Australian so he could go play overseas somewhere if we don't want him right now. So today, July 1st is the first day teams are allowed to talk to free agents, and the Blazers wasted no time, they were the first to contact Hedo Turkoglu. We're taking a run at him and by all indications running pretty hard.So what do i think of this? well, I'm skeptical because the report is Hedo wants 5 years 50 million dollars, which is a lot to pay someone whose 30. As i rethought it tho, Turk is a 6'10 forward who can play 3 to 4 positions and is a WHIZ at the side pick and roll, which will really open things up for GO and if Lma can get his 3 pointer down, he could kill behind the arc because the double team on Greg will come most likely from the 4, leaving Lma open from distance. i started to get more and more sold on Turk, the stat that really did it for me was that he's got more playoff experience than all the current Blazers combined, which is something to be desired. i then heard that Rudy is unhappy about this pursuit of Hedo, actually the exact word Chris Sheridan from espn.com used was 'infuriated'. Now i haven't heard anything from Rudy directly yet, but i have some issues with this. the article says he's worried about playing time, and even if hedo wasn't coming over, Rudy will still be playing behind Roy, so he's not gonna make a killer amount of minutes, and it has very little to do with Turk. i heard that Rudy may go as far as to request a trade. and as much as I LOVE Rudy, if he wants a trade because of minutes, we may have to move him, because he cant play ahead of Brandon Roy, so his minutes will always be limited. so my thought is this; If we get Hedo, one of the small forwards is gone, Travis Outlaw more likely than the others. there's just not enough room at the 3 spot. so if Rudy demands a trade, we package Travis outlaw and Rudy Fernandez to pick up another quality player because word is that Rudy has got a fairly high market value and Travis has some suitors as well. All in all, i cant say I'm 100% confident in this move if we do sign Hedo, but i do know that im very intrigued because it has the potential to make us immensely better and possibly even... dare i say it? ... contenders? well we'll have to see. KP has improved the team every year since he's been here and I'm putting my trust in him, i believe that hes still got a couple other moves up his sleeve too after Turkoglu. It's all about waiting and seeing now. check back here I'll post anything as i hear it and keep an eye on Blazersedge.com too, one of my favorite sites, possibly the best Blazers fan site out there, and they'll get you the info as it happens! Get pumped Portland, this is an exciting time! Go Blazers!

Doc

Twas the night before the draft

Ah! it is upon us! on more day and the draft day is here, the trades from the last blogs have been completed and even more have been reported. Jamal Crawford sound like he;s headed to the hawks, and a few more trades have been mentioned. Without a doubt tho. the big deal thus far is Shaq headed to Cleveland. all we're waiting for now is for the owners to finalize the deal, and for Shaq to pick out another ridiculous nickname. The Cavs got Shaq while giving up only Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovich. im curoius to see if this works out for the Cavs or if it backfires, the good thing is that they didnt give up much. So as you can see there are already trades being made and it looks like its gonna be a big day for trades tomorrow. The Blazers made a trade today as well, nothing big but they traded the 24th pick, the 56th pick and the worst pick of next years draft to the Mavs for the 22nd pick. Why would they do that? just two spots? well I feel this is gonna be a piece in a bigger puzzle, i would be surprised if the Blazers picked at 22, i think if they do they'll be picking for another team. Possibly Chicago? theres a lot of talk about Kirk Hinrich coming to Portland, and this rumor has been circulating for the last couple years tho. However, it does seem to have some extra push as of late, captain Kirk has actually been telling friends that he believes he'll be in Portland next year. is this the best way to go? I have to say, if you dont have to give up a terrible amount of talent for him, I like it. Especially if Steve Blake stays. I think Hinrich is a little more talented and athletic version of Steve Blake. to have Blake and Hinrich as 1a and 1b, i would be very pleased with that. So i will keep this updated on that for sure. so many possibilities and I can hardly wait! Keep your eyes peeled because you never know whats gonna happen when KP is pulling the trigger. Go Blazers!

Doc

Two days to go and all ready the fun begins

There are two days left until the NBA draft and i can hardly stand it. I love this time of year, especially lately as KP never seems to let down, he always seems to have some sort of draft day fun up his sleeve. This year Will be exceptionally interesting because its so wide open. The Clippers will select Blake Griffin first overall but after that, its open for debate. The Blazers hold the 24 pick but i would have a hard time believing that they stay there and make a pick. I think they'll either move up or move out of the draft entirely. I'm in favor of moving out of the draft unless a few things happen; of the Blazers can get up high enough in the lottery without sacrificing much, i would be intrigued by Ricky Rubio, he's a big point gaurd from Spain and he's said to have great court vision. i also would be interested to see if the Blazers took stephen Curry, the 6'3'' gaurd from Davidson with a lights out shot. the only problem with that is I think Bayless would go, its either one or the other i think. i wouldnt mind seeing the Blazers keep the 24th pick if a couple players slid down that far. i'd be happy with Tyler Hansbrough, the 6'8'' forward from North Carolina, he would play behind Aldridge and I like the toughness he brings, and the energy, he seems to just keep going, theres a reason they call him psycho T. and the other player if he fell that far that i would like is Hansbroughs teamate, Ty Lawson. Lawson is a pure point, he can attack the rim and his shot has improved. He 's got good court vision and he knows how to win. the only thing that bugs me about him is his size, he's 6'1'' and thats probably being generous. He'll have a hard time defending bigger guard in the NBA but im intrigued and i have a good feeling about Lawson, look for him to surprise people how well he plays in the league. What i want the Blazers to do however is use some of their Young pieces and cap room to gain a small forward or a backup power forward. I've heard a lot this off season on how teams that have monetary flexibility (i.e. the Blazers) can afford to take on some of the star players salaries that other teams are trying to shed. Pretty much meaning that we may be able to pull of the equivalent of the pau Gasol trade ( ya know, where the Lakers gave the Griz shit and got an all star in return). However, i hadnt heard anything like that going down yet, until today that is. The Spurs traded the expiring contract of Frabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen, and Kurt thomas to the bucks for star small forward Richard Jefferson. This is what i want the Blazers to do, trade some pieces they dont need to acquire a bigger pice to the puzzle, and seeing that its true, that some teams are going to be willing to give u star players for nothing more than salary cap space. makes me excited to think what the Blazers could do. Another trade also went down, the Wizards have traded Pechorov, Etan Thomas, songaila and the 5th pick to the timberwolves for Randy Foye and mike miller. i like what Minnesota did here, they already ahve the 6th pick and now have the 5th as well. this opens a lot of doors for them as they can now get high quality rookies, a big and a small perhaps to help Al Jefferson as they rebuild in Minnesota. this could also be good news for the Blazers if they feel theres a player they want and the 5th or 6th pick will be enough to attain them. with Minnesota having consecutive picks that high they may trade them to the Blazers or another willing team and get some young proven talent as well as a high lottery pick. there are so many things the Blazers could do, I believe that they're going to try to move up and if they cant for a reasonable Price they'll try to move out of the draft and trade for a veteran (which i like hearing and Im sure Nate McMillan does too!). Well in two days we'll see how it all goes down, make sure to check it out, its on ESPN at 4, and 95.5 the game will be covering the draft all day, and they usually break draft day news about the Blazers before ESPN does anyways. So sit back and enjoy this unpredictable ride, it could be an epic day in the lives of Blazers fans! Go Blazers!

Doc

Ah, Time Heals All Wounds

So its been quite a long while since my last post. after the Blazers lost game one, they went into the next game and won but then couldn't get a victory in Houston and came back to the RG down 3 games to 1. the Blazers manned up and took care of home court, beating the Rockets by double digits and sending the series back to Houston. that however, was all it took. I said all along that this was a horrible match up for the Blazers and it was, Houston dominated and went on to win the series 4 to 2. while its sad to watch the Blazers lose, lets look at this the right way, its a step in the right direction, they made the playoffs and they competed and competed well. the things that are on the way with this team are simply amazing. another bad piece of news, the L*kers ended up winning the finals, yuck, that's pretty gross to type. However, the season is over, and this is one of my favorite time of the off season; the lead up to the draft! the draft is happening on Thursday the 25th, the Blazers hold the number 24 pick and 3 second rounders. The reason i like this time of year is the rumors! there fun to think about and speculate on! and because the Blazers are always so active, their names always come up in a ton of rumors! already so far ive heard that we're trying to land Ramon Sessions, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Trevor Ariza, Ive heard were trying to trade up in the draft to land Stephen curry or Psycho T (tyler hansborough). Ive even heard were essentially giving away Sergio to the Knicks ( I'm actually in favor of this lol.) But my point is, its fun to speculate what KP and crew will do and to hear all the rumors, and the rumors will only increase as we get closer to Thursday. Soon ill write up a blog with all the rumors i have heard and list a few of the impressive draft workouts that the Blazers have had. I'll also try to get up a blog detailing what i think the Blazers should do, and what i think they will do, and what i wish the Blazers could do lol. So rejoice Blazers fans, last season, while the ending was sour, was a great ride and a fun memory as we move forward into the early stages of a new season and another promising season! Riiiiip Ciiiity baby!

Doc