Not even a week into the offseason
and the Portland Trail Blazers have already been the front and center subject
for numerous rumors, hypotheticals, and the like. One thing is for sure, prized
power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is still rocking a Blazers uni and will
continue to do so for the forseeable future. Seeing as how the direction of
this team depends on the ability of Aldridge and fellow franchise player Damian
Lillard continue to gel and develop.
Not all
Blazers fans, writers and pundits are as optimistic going into the 2013 NBA
draft; Aldridge turns 28 in less than two months. Nicolas Batum, who was handed
quite a bit of money last offseason, continues to show up one game then
disappear completely the next. Wes Matthews is the one player (save for Aldridge),
who has improved his overall game each year, not to mention you know what you
get from him as a defender (solid as a ROCK!). Meyers Leonard, Will Barton and
Victor Claver showed some flashes last year, but their road is just beginning
as NBA talents.
Needless to
say, this could be a make or break offseason for the Blazers, beginning with
tonight’s Draft. This year’s class might be one of the least memorable in the
last decade, but with the ways the dominos could fall tomorrow there are plenty
of opportunities for Portland to strengthen their roster. The following is yet
another hypothetical; straight out of this writer’s noggin.
- POR sends 2013 1st rounder (#10), PF
Joel Freeland, SF Victor Claver to UTA
UTA sends 2013 1st rounder
(#14), 2013 1st rounder via GSW (#21)
- Why it makes
sense for POR: Consolidation of assets, maximize capspace (call it the Olshey
Roundabout). As previously mentioned, this is not a deep draft by any means,
which gives Portland the versatility to move their pick. Freeland and Claver
are role players at best, and dead weight in this hypothetical.
-
Why it makes sense for UTA: Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson will probably walk
this offseason and when they see Cody Zeller sitting there at ten they will not
be able to pass up the potential of a Zeller/Derrick Favors/Enes Kanter
frontcourt rotation. Add the fact that Freeland and Claver provide them warm
bodies (I think they have six players under contract next year?) and this is a
win for both sides.
- Pick #14: Shabazz Muhammad, SF/SG, UCLA. Boo this pick all
you want, Blazer fans, but if he slips this far there is every notion in my
mind that Olshey goes BPA in this situation. Muhammad’s scoring ability, youth,
versatility and athleticism gives him a high ceiling and Portland needs all the
rotational help it can get, which leads me to the next pick..
- Pick #21: Mason Plumlee, PF, Duke. Plumlee is a player
that just SCREAMS Rip City, but that’s one writer’s opinion. Athletic, hard
worker, high basketball I Q and comes
from a great pedigree of basketball as far as Duke is concerned. Think a poor
man’s JJ Hickson, which is perfect seeing as how Hickson will be commanding a
good amount of money this offseason; not the contract for this situation.
- Pick #39: Archie Goodwin, SG, Kentucky. A luxury pick of
sorts, Goodwin is the youngest player in the draft and a project kind of like
Elliot Williams was a few years ago. Due to an inconsistent freshman year the
jury is still out on Goodwin and what kind of upside his game brings. Skepticism
is Portland’s reward, as Goodwin could make a fine player one day given
development and patience.
- Pick #40: CJ “LezGod” Leslie, PF, North Carolina State.
The long, versatile three year starter could develop into a defensive weapon. A
6-9 SF could do damage in this league; Leslie has the quickness and ability to
slide to the 3. While his offensive game is fairly suspect there are players
that have come into the league with less and made a name based on their
defensive IQ.
- Pick #45: Peyton Siva, PG, Louisville. All Siva does is
win; a mantra that will help the atmosphere in Portland moving forward. The
most recent National Champ hit his ceiling his sophomore year when he became a
full-time starter, but his basketball IQ and court vision are two assets that
will make him an NBA player.
Now we move into free agency, which
begins July 1st. In this hypothetical the Blazers go into this
portion of the offseason with +/- $15M due to the Freeland/Claver deal with
Utah. This is not the star-laden free agent class that next summer’s will be;
but that’s not to say this class isn’t full of depth, talent and a couple
superstars.
- - Andrew Bynum, C, four years-$52M with all sorts
of yearly percentage increases, playing/performance bonuses and the like. I
fully expect to get ripped to shreds due to this idea, BUT: this is the sort of
deal that Blazers owner Paul Allen can afford to make, but in all fairness,
when recently, has this organization been known to take risks in free agency?
This is the sort of risk/reward scenario that could push a team to the brink of
contention or push their rebuild back a couple of years. There’s no disputing
what kind of effect a healthy Bynum can have on the game; with the firing of
long-time trainer Jay Jensen this writer feels the writing is on the wall as
far as a move like this is concerned. A new staff won’t fix the hurt that Greg
Oden and Brandon Roy’s knees have left, but optimism that a new training staff
will handle the players better can do wonders with the team moving forward.
- - Chauncey Billups, PG, one year-$2M. Lillard can
learn all sorts from a savvy veteran who has won championships and been on
several winning teams. This move would allow Billups to rotate in with Matthews
and Lillard, giving the Blazers a floor general for the second unit and a
player our youngsters can learn from this season.
- Bring in Euroleague MVP Kostas Papanikolaou (who we own the
rights to from last year’s draft) and BOOM! Your roster for the 2013-14 Trail
Blazers is completed. Now let us take a look at the potential depth chart after
this hypothetical is said and done:
PG: Damian
Lillard/Chauncey Billups/Peyton Siva
SG: Wesley
Matthews/Shabazz Muhammad/Archie Griffin
SF: Nicolas
Batum/Kostas Papanikolaou
PF:
LaMarcus Aldridge/Mason Plumlee/CJ Leslie
C: Andrew
Bynum/Meyers Leonard
If 100% healthy (basketball God’s willing), this team has
the upside of a #5, perhaps even a #4 seed out West if both the starting and
second units gel during the offseason, workouts and training camp. Lillard and
Aldridge will provide the scoring as the #1/#2 options and Batum, Matthews,
Bynum will lock down the perimeter and paint, respectively. Perhaps one day
this writer will be able to whisper ideas like this into a general manager’s
ear, but until that day comes I will continue to hypothesize and dream.
Merry Christmas, basketball fans!
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