I would pull the trigger in a heartbeat. Outlaw and pryzbilla for shane and hayes would also be a nice deal for the rockets.
Agreed. I would sign off on that the second it was offered. Shocking that their fans would feel otherwise, because Kevin Pritchard would never part with Bayless in a package for Battier. They don't seem to care much about Outlaw, but they're not giving up both him and Bayless.
That's why I keep coming back to Outlaw and Pryzbilla as the likely package. Or Outlaw and a future 1st. I think bayless has too much upside to get moved for an elite role player.
Living in Portland I can tell you that the general consensus on Bayless is not too great. He's a great athlete and I think he can make a name for himself in this league but he's realistically 2-3 years away, maybe even longer before he becomes a solid contributor. The best part about Bayless is his youth and the too often over used word "potential". On to Outlaw... He has all the ingredients to be a star except two major components. A brain and desire. I've followed Outlaw closely since his rookie year since he's quite the specimen at 6'9, lengthy, athletic freak and even goes by the nickname "T-Law" ... which reminded me of a former favorite player of mine. Overall, I think it's a more than fair trade considering the injury to Yao and our youth movement combined with Morey's obsession for athletic players and Portland's desire to add saavy, proven, veteran leadership evidenced by the signing of Andre Miller. Shane Battier would do them wonders and only adds to helping to contain Kobe, Jefferson, Melo etc. Who knows if Outlaw and Bayless will live up to their fullest potential. It is a gamble I'm more than willing to take. I am pretty certain that Battier is not going to help us win a Championship in the next 2-3 years. For Portland he gives them a great chance.
Interesting perspective. Outlaw has moments when he looks elite defensively (he gave an All-NBA McGrady absolute fits in '05) but like you said, is dumber than rocks. I would be interested in hearing your opinion on Bayless' upside though. How would he compare to Aaron Brooks?
All the Blazers fans want Outlaw traded. Same with Bayless he's shown nothing and the Rockets already have the better version in Aaron Brooks.
I am trying to figure out why everyone's so high on Bayless. The Blazers are so high on him that they retained the Steve Blake and spend $21 million signing 33 year old Andre Miller? He didn't even impress me that much during Vegas Summer League 2009.
Miller isn't that great, but Blake really sucks. Imagine Miller in place of Blake vs. the Rox last year, he would have performed alot better. Portland just upgraded their PG position from horrible to mediocre.
Well summer league performances should be thrown out, he was trying to be a pass first guy there, obviously he's not that. Bayless is a project, if he develops a jump shot he could be a real good scorer. I don't see him as a starting point guard because so few pass first guys can make the transition, but he can definitely be a rotation player/scorer off the bench if he develops that jumper.
This will be remembered as the move that messed up the Blazers. Miller is 33 YEARS OLD, will be 34 by March 2010. The guy is clearly past his prime and worse the Blazers are still a young, up and coming team who I think are still 2-3 years away from serious contention. They really need be patient and develop Oden first and work on Aldridge's game too. Roy is the only guy looking like he is at his peak and ready to play for a title right now, everyone else on the team lags far behind. So I am classifying this as a bad "win now" move. Should have waited and tried to unload Darius Miles' 9 million expiring contract combined with the 7 million in cap space and make a move near the trade deadline with in financial trouble willing to move good PG for some cap relief. Remember this will be the theme near the trade deadline, teams sacrificing good players in order to save money.
In that case, why not just pay Von Wafer $2 million and keep our guys? Wafer has a jumper already and did fine as a scorer off the bench. Why trade anything valuable for someone who can fit the Wafer role IF he developes a J.
Miles was waived his salary can't be traded to another team. Blazers weren't able to trade LaFrentz's insured expiring contract last season or get 1st and 2nd choice free agents with their cap space this offseason. If Pritchard waited he could be waiting for nothing.
I've been unimpressed with Bayless' game as well. And Outlaw is almost redundant now that we already have Ariza. Pritchard needs to stay away from Wizard Morey this season. That being said, if he wants to give up Aldridge then we can talk
They are set as a 50 win team now unless Roy gets injured. They can develop Oden and Aldridge and Fernandez with Miller on the floor, the only guy Miller blocks is Bayless.
I disagree. In fact, if denver wouldve kept him and stop taking the ball out his hands, they wouldn't have had to trade for chauncey. When did Miller become a bad defender? I disagree bigtime. Miller is a very,very good pg and have been for a while. He will make everyone better and that includes Roy. Roy can now become more scorerr than ball dominator. Oden,outlaw,fernandez, and aldridge will benefit big time playing with miller. Blake can only take you so far and bayless probably isn't ready. The way miller plays, he can be very productive for at least 4 more years like cassell. Great move and they are a huge threat to anyone especially the lakers.
