If thats the case, then Philly signs Head who then goes from a PROMISING YOUNG team to a PROMISING YOUNG team led by the blind at PG. Luther doesn't have the dribbling skills or passing skills OR mental skills needed to play PG in this league. And about playing SG? 6'3'' for crying out loud, hes no AI.
I like Miller's ability to run the team, but his shooting is a little suspect. May be able to free up Roy from having to dominate the ball, but I see teams sagging off him until he can consistently knock down the jumper.. a la Rafer.
Solid pass-first PG to set up the offense and feed the ball to their big scorers. Not to mention he's an efficient scorer himself. If they get him, I really think could put them in the championship talks. He may be that missing piece they need. If Oden can improve significantly, the Blazers are pretty set.
They still have no inside presence. Oden may become that or maybe Aldridge but right now he's a jumpshooting big.
Not offensively, but defense and rebounds they aren't bad. Pryz isn't awesome, Oden is often injured and not awesome, but they are a decent 1-2 punch on the boards and at defense. PG is a need for the Blazers, imo, and Miller would be a definitive upgrade. $14 million guaranteed seems a little high, given his age, but not ridiculously so.
I think because they're well aware of his shooting liability. This is why they first tried to get a different ball handler in Hedo, then explored a trade to land Hinrich. Even tried to get inside scoring in Milsap over much needed PG issues cause there was no one else out there. Now, after failing in each attempt, they get Miller, who was really not going anywhere this off season.
I doubt if Luther signs with Philly that he starts at PG, they are more likely to have Jrue Holiday play point (his natural position) before they hand over the reins to Luther I think Portland got a good player in Miller especially in a position where they really lacked talent, but they overpaid for him IMO especially at his age. No one out there was bidding for his services at all, they could have offered a 3 year MLE type deal and he would have accepted it the biggest rumor out there was the NYK MLE deal for 1 year. If that was the best he got why unnecessary go higher (in $) for that? Its amazing how teams bid against themselves like this.
Dre Miller would push Portland to at least 3rd best in the Western Conference. I was against Portland signing Hedo because he's repetitive since Blazers already have a playmaker/scorer in Roy, and 2 capable wings in Batum/Outlaw and a third in Webster coming back from injury. The replacement of Steve Blake from starting PG duties will be huge for Portland. When Blake is playing well Portland is nearly impossible to beat and when he plays bad (more often than not) the Blazers can't do anything. Blake was by far the worst PG in the league now that Rafer has rightfully been removed from starting duties.
Apparently a deal is close. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/deep-sixer/Miller_finalizing_deal_with_Portland.html Miller is definitely more talented than Blake, but Blake is a significantly better fit. Roy is the guy handling the ball all the time and creating on the perimeter, and Blake does well as a secondary ballhandler and a shooter. Miller is used to being primary ballhandler and range shooting is not a strength. I think Miller clashes with Roy a bit.
This is going to make things more difficult for Utah in regards to getting a decent trade for Boozer.
Wow Portland is stacked now! 1. Lakers 2. Spurs 3. Portland 4. Denver 5. Dallas 6. Houston 7. NO 8. Utah 9. Suns 10. Clippers
Dumb move. Everyone knows I'm a HUGE Dre Miller fan. Portland's probably my second favorite team. I just do not see how this makes them better. Portland already has Roy to "manage" the offense. They need a PG who can knock down open 3's. That's not Dre. Also, the biggest thing that Portland needed to address was their defense, not their offense (they had the #1 offensive efficiency last year). Dre is a horrid defender. Plus he's getting up there in years, and you have to wonder how much more he has left in him. This seems like they're spending just to spend. As a Nugs fan, I'm happy because I don't think it makes them a better team. As a fan who loved watching the Blazers late at night, I'm bummed.
Blake is a good fit for nobody. We can all thank Blake for sucking so bad thus letting us advance to the 2nd round this past season. Having Miller as the primary ballhandler will not make him clash with Roy but rather it will free up Roy to conserve energy and give him more scoring opportunities. To go further.... helping Roy to save energy in quarters 1-3 will help him in quarter 4 when the game is on the line and you can make him primary ballhandler if need be. This is also a blessing for Rudy Fernandez as he will have more scoring opportunities as well from now on. I'd much rather have Dre's penetration and solid overall game to Blakes outside shooting as outside shooting is something Portland already does well at. As a Rockets fan first and Blazers fan second I strongly approve of this move.
I agree with much of it. However, one thing I heard Portland want to do is to bring in another guy who can initiate the offense and create off the dribble so that Roy doesn't get drained so much-- and that was why they went after Hedo. Their offensive efficiency was great already, but in the playoffs, the Rockets wore down Roy and they could have used someone to share the burden. Miller can do that, but I do worry about his inability to knock down the 3. Does that make life much harder for Roy? Should be interesting to see.
Haha wow could our opinions be any more different? I'm excited to see how this move plays out for Portland.
Good point re: Roy, but Dre isn't the answer. They need a PG who can shoot 3's and run an offense. Dre can run an offense but is worthless outside of 18 feet. I thought the Hinrich rumors made more sense -- even if they had to give something up to get him. EDITED TO ADD -- One thing that will be interesting is that this will help LaMarcus and Oden's development. There is not a better alley-oop passer in the NBA than Dre, so their PPG totals should rise 3-4 ppg next season.
