close, but you have the order mixed up. PG: Parsons SG: Howard SF: Lin PF: Beverley C: Harden They say "knowing is half the battle" (according to my recollection of saturday morning G.I.Joe cartoons, where I get all my tactical knowledge). So if you randomize your lineups, the enemy won't know where you are on the battlefield (neither will your troops, but that's besides the point). Give them randomized jersey numbers and put bags over their heads so that no one can recognize them (you may have to instruct the tall guys to hunch over and the shorter guys to stand on boxes, so that the enemy can't distinguish them by height.) The enemy won't know what the heck is happening. So if knowing is half the battle, your enemy is halfway to losing!
I still hope that Robinson gets it together and has a long/productive NBA career. His story and what he's been through is heartbreaking. Hard not to pull for him!!!
Don't get me wrong. We definitely got the best of the deal. It just would have been nice to see Robinson play side by side with Howard. You know, watch him come up with one of the best. But, i'll leave it alone. We ain't got no worries, Clutchfans. We got Jones.
Is it not true that TRob cannot be a beast while LMA is patrolling the 4? Neither is going to (effectively) slide over to the 5. BTW - - I may be in the great minority on this, but - - (while I like LMA) I do not believe this team is best served with Aldridge. But, who? (Give me a '13-'14 Buck Williams. OK?)
@WojYahooNBA Portland has exercised the third year options on Damian Lilliard, Meyers Leonard and Thomas Robinson.
Somewhat surprised that Portland extended Thomas Robinson. If he struggles again this season 3.6 mil next season will be pretty rough to swallow and hard to trade.
I haven't given up on Robinson becoming a productive player, but I still can't believe we got this much for him considering how badly we needed that cap space.
Not really with the new trade exception you have to pay someone are you get penalized. Sac paid Chuck Hayes to avoid the penalty as much as any reason. Better to give it to potential than to pay the penalty.
Did you see what they gave up to get him? At first sight, Robinson looked like a low risk gamble when the acquired him. Had it been Morey who acquired him, much like other second year gambles like T-Will, Jordan Hill, etc. he wouldn't have extended them out given where the franchise was at. Had Robinson still had been with the Rockets this year, I would be willing to bet that Morey still wouldn't have extended him beyond this year. I guess I just assumed that Robinson was a flyer they were taking instead of an actual real investment in his future which it looks like Paul Allen is making.... which I guess is a real positive for Thomas. I actually do hope that Robinson has a solid sophomore season this year. I think he's got solid potential to be a solid PF somewhere between a Carl Landry or Paul Millsap type. Also, if he looks promising, and Portland isn't going to be a playoff team, LaMarcus Aldridge could be made available that much sooner.
Are you referring to the salary floor? The Blazers have something like 65 mil guaranteed this year and next. They aren't going to go below the minimum unless they trade half their team for nothing in return.
If the Blazers didn't exercise Robinson's third-year option by the start of the regular season, then (a) Robinson would become an UNRESTRICTED free agent after this season and (b) Portland would be prohibited from offering Robinson a penny more than $3,678,360 (the amount of his third-year option salary). This means that if Robinson showed even a little promise--enough to make him worthwhile at $3.68M in 2014-15, with a team option for $4.66M in 2015-16--the Blazers would lose the guy for nothing. Given the situation, it was really a no-brainer for Portland. FWIW, making these announcements about exercising rookie options weeks before the deadline is a very un-Morey-like move. I'd expect the timing of the Rockets' (likely) exercising of the team options on the rookie scale contracts for Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas won't be until the final days leading up to the deadline.
How do you take a flyer on someone if you cut them (even if it takes a year before effective) before they have even seen training camp? Portland essentially gave up 4 second round picks for Robinson. Robinson is a project and one year of his services as a project is not worth 4 second round picks. I like Papanikolaou as he looks to be a highly effective 3 point shooter and projects to be able to fill the Delfino role as backup 3/4. I've not seen enough of Todorovic. Portland is already close enough to being capped out for next season already anyway so the option doesn't hurt them too much. They get the MLE which is basically what they would have had in cap space.
Bima just hit me with a little CBA knowledge about how Portland couldn't offer more than the 3.6 mil he was subject to make if he is made an UN-restricted free agent after this season. Makes more sense now that they would have to pick up his 3rd year option as there really wouldn't be too much of a point of picking up a high risk prospect unless you were really 100% committed to the investment. With Morey in the past, he's often been able to take flyers on players that he's going to have a chance at putting in their system for a little while before making the decision to extend beyond the present year. Which I guess is another reason why the offers for Thomas Robinson in trade must have and ended up being fairly poor. The timing sucked. The team trading for him had to view him as a 2 year commitment. Makes sense now.
