Have The Portland Trail Blazers Gone Nuts?
The city of roses. And power forwards.
Seriously, have they?
They have fifteen small forwards, a bunch of top quality back-up point guards, and a starting power forward angling for a contract extension. So why do you offer Paul Millsap a contract? A big one, at that. He’s an undersized power forward, and you’re going to lavish him with starter money. Why?
1. You want leverage when discussing a contract extension with LaMarcus Aldridge.
If this was the reason, it makes a perverse sense economically. Kind of. Sort of. They Blazers have established a strong argument for the semi-expendability of Aldridge, and it does mean they can low-ball him a little harder. But for that to appear logical, you’d have to ignore the $8m you’re potentially dishing out on a yearly basis to your back-up power forward.
Verdict? Makes No Sense.
2. You want to hurt the Jazz.
Portland and Utah share the same division. Perhaps Kevin Pritchard is aiming to injure his rival, either:
a) economically, by forcing them to match the Millsap offer. The contract offers an upfront payment of $10m, which could damage the cash-poor Jazz after having Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver recently re-up. Or:
b) in terms of talent, by taking a gritty, upside-heavy post banger away from the Jazz.
Verdict? Makes a tiny bit of sense.
3. You actually want Paul Millsap on your team.
The Blazers lucked out when Turkoglu fled north to the Raptors. They already have three talented small forwards on the roster (Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez, and Nicolas Batum), so offering such a lofty contract to to an aging small forward like Hedo seemed ill-advised at best, absolutely nuts at worst.
So, with that now-spare cash, they want to bring in Millsap, who’ll compete for minutes with LaMarcus Aldridge? Really?
You can’t play Millsap at the centre (he’s generously listed at 6′8″, putting him in the Luis Scola-range for big men), and he can’t switch to small forward. Aldridge seems like a terrible fit at the already stacked three spot. So, where will the minutes come from?
Millsap, you’d think, could command 24 a game, at best). Including some time with Aldridge manning the five-spot — where he’s too weak, and too poor a rebounder, to really work. In essence, the Blazers would be paying a prized free agent big bucks to play a Carl Landry role.
Verdict? Makes absolutely no sense.
So, why’d they do it?
Posted By: Anton
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Anton Trees
Alex Vitlin
James Wright
Brie Hague
Ben Toupein
Milsap or a player like him is needed for team depth and balance. While Outlaw can fill in if it is 10 minutes behind Aldridge, he does not fill the need. If LMA gets hurt (and he has before) or is just in early foul trouble, there are no other PFs available with Fyre gone.
Start Przybilla and Oden together if LMA is out and give up the offense plus in a domino effect there is no reserve at center and only Outlaw at PF.
Start Outlaw, if they do not trade him for a PG, and they give up way too much size. Troutlaw can not guard sharks like Gasol or Timmy.
Every other position they can fill from the existing bench or slide someone over and have a good rotation. They can make due with Blake and and and their bevy of SFs…besides Batum and outlaw they have Webster coming back at SF, but they need a good reserve PF.
Millsap, if they get him, fits that bill besides being the added toughness they needed with the second unit, and a player that they can reduce LMA’s minutes a little to save wear and tear and fill in when Nate plays smallball and uses LMA at center.
There is also the factor of LMAs extension. If there is even a small chance of losing him, Millsap would be there and that is a good negotiation point.
dekko said this on July 15, 2009 at 12:12 AM |
You say that Millsap is undersized. I disagree. No NBA player shoots or blocks or rebounds with their head. And he has a 7′1″ reach, with a heart to match. He led the NCAA in rebounding for 3 straight years!
Utah players want him instead of Boozer. Why? Because the guy can flat play. He could come in and spell LMA, Webster or even Oden in some situations. (You should see the block on Youtube he put on Shaq!) He’s very versatile.
Doesn’t matter anyway. We won’t be getting him as Utah sees his worth. They’ll pay him.
Don said this on July 15, 2009 at 3:56 PM |