They probably do want to move this pick. They already have a lot of good young players under contract, and they don't have any need for the #13 pick.
I like Batum too, and if I had to guess he will be there at 13. Barbosa is a horrible comparison though, maybe like a much more freakishly athletic Diaw meets Travis Outlaw. As far as the 13th pick goes, I see nobody they could grab that would REALLY improve their chances. Pritchard is wise to take note of the value gotten for high draft picks when traded for veterans in recent memory (Battier, Allen). Any of you willing to give Battier up for this though are crazy. Maybe Brooks will peak their interest.
Wow if we get the 13th pick that would be huge for us. These are the players who to look at around the 13th pick Russell Westbrook- Not really NBA ready, but has good size at the point guard position, very quick. Joe Alexander- Is climbing the boards becuase of his workouts. Extremly athletic and can shoot well. Eric Gordon- doubt he will be here, but could fall. Very athletic and very strong for a SG. A little undersized, a pretty good shooter. Chase Budinger- Very athletic, good shooter, good size at the SG poistion. Struggles defensivly. Darrell Arthur- good size at PF, great quickness for a PF, decent mid range jump shot, needs to add a little weight/get stronger. Nicolas Batum- 6-8 SG form France. Good size and athleticsim at the SG postion. High potential, very quick. Needs to gain weight/get stronger and improve jump shot. JaVale McGee - 7 ft center. great quickines for a big man, good defense, high potenial. Not really NBA ready. I left off DeAndre Jordan, IMO he is a bust in the making.
which is why Shane was in the deal. Aaron Brooks isn't an exceptional PG, or anything close, but would be a nice add in that market. Granted, if the point is that Shane is being traded for Travis Outlaw, so you're basically trading the #25 pick and Aaron Brooks for the #13 pick, you are correct. I noted that the trades seemed unlikely from Portland's perspective. But short of an outright buy of the pick, which seems highly unlikely if not absolutely not going to happen, the Rockets don't have anything to offer. Because you have to trade salary. The best you could offer would be Shane for Pryzbilla + #13 pick, which seems like a bad deal for both parties (not that the Blazers are or should be in love with Joel, but there's no guarantee Greg Oden is anything special yet; and the Rockets don't really need Pryzbilla and Battier for #13 doesn't make sense...if the pick was higher, maybe). Other than that, you're doing things like Aaron for Sergio Rodriguez with the draft pick in there somehow. Point being, the Rockets chance of acquiring the #13 pick seems very very low.
Rox should try to get an athletic backup that can create his own shot to backup Shane , instead of trading Shane
No. They...we...want to emulate the Lakers or Hornets or any team that actually has players who can score in transition and whose primary offensive move isn't running to the short corner arc.
Most of us feel that we need to get another scorer to help Yao/Tracy despite the promising play from Luis/Carl. If trading Battier can help us in this regard it would be acceptable to some like myself. On the other hand there are some who are highly opposed to it because of his defense,high IQ,team play. I for one acknowledge we can lose out on the things that he brings to the team but I feel it could be worth taking the risk if we can get a all-round athletic player who can score and defend. We lost the opportunity to get Brandon Roy by beating the Nuggets and then traded the 8th pick for Battier which was not enough IMO. Even Les Alexander said that publically.There are quite a few people who feel Battier's trade value is considerably high,but I'm not among them. Ideally I would like to add another SF/SG who can help both Battier and Tracy out but that is going to be hard as well.
He's our best trade bait in terms of return of value. He is an offensive liability. Losing Battier hurts our defense but not as much as some may think. Our team defense is pretty darn good.
Because some people live the concept of "the grass is always greener on the other side" and belittle his value to the team. Nuggs, would you take Battier for say... Kleiza? or how about for JR Smith? I bet you would in a heartbeat right?
Either of those guys straight up? Hell ya he would. We could probably have both Kleiza and JR Smith for Battier and Nuggs would probably still think thats a good trade for Nugs.
I have opposed trading for Artest because of his behavioral risks not only for Luis but also for Battier. I certainly wouldn't trade Battier for J.R.Smith. Kleiza for Battier doesn't help us out but pointing out Shane's obvious deficiencies doesn't mean I'm belittling him. I know he takes on the best offensive guard/forward on defense to help Tracy every night. That's not easy to replace but if you give up the chance to get a seriously talented player who isn't a headcase and plays hard on both ends even if he has less experience eg Brandon Roy you're not going to make much headway. In fact a team like Portland won't want to trade Roy for Battier despite all his smarts and defensive ability because Shane can't score as well as him.
Anyone else think JaVale McGee could pan out to be a decent backup center? I watched a few videos and if we can get #13, I think he might be worth a look.
