Post by Akomplice on May 3, 2011 14:39:05 GMT -5
Overall the past few years we have seen the contract year reaper strike against a few GM's and a few that have escaped the clutches of the reaper. For the Blazers the fear is starting to loom in because of the Joe Johnson curse. Looking back at it, it was extremely stupid to move Johnson. For a team that was getting bored of no offers for it's players and only being looked at as a team that had just one player those days were looking better. With Joe Johnson the Blazers were a lock to make the playoffs and they had a chance to build around him. However how long can you keep things stagnant in a franchise before you make a move?
Since trading Joe Johnson the Blazers have missed the playoffs two times despite it being by a few games each time. The Blazers are likely to lose one of their best players this free agency due to the Houston Rockets blunder many years ago. On top of that their prospects haven't been developing all that much. However when you look around the league patience is vital with prospects because a lot of players that have been given up on are making their former GM's regret that exhibiting more patience. The Blazers are really hoping this to be the case with one player, Michael Beasley. Sometimes you lose sight of how young these players really are, but with Beasley he will be entering his fourth year in the league and is still only 21 years old. He will also be looking for a new contract this year and so the Blazers are really hoping that he can break through to the next level.
However lets say the curse of Joe Johnson strikes and again he doesn't improve much and Torres does indeed bolt out of Portland. That would leave this franchise crippled and probably struggling to make the playoffs for the third straight year. Some GM's would sacrifice the future just to stay alive, however watching Afro go out like he did made me do some thinking. If my final year does indeed suck, I think I would probably build for the future and allow the next GM to come in and have a nice solid young squad to do what he wants. Lets face it, nobody likes to come to a team without their picks for the next four or five years. Besides the Blazers have started to already do that to themselves without having their own pick the next two years. Next years selection was traded in a deal for Thabeet and the year after that was for a retooling deal that now looking back went completely south.
That's why this draft and free agency is extremely important for the Blazers. Equipped with the 9th pick in a extremely talented draft the Blazers are sure to land a player that can contribute. However if a young prospect that is a project player falls into their laps, can they afford to take him? Can you sit around and wait two or three years for this one guy to develop? Before Afro I probably would have said no, but after the fact and I'm probably going to take that project player to pair with the young team that I have going forward. Besides at the end of the day talent is talent and you have to take the guy that has the chance to develop into something special. In free agency the Blazers will have around the MLE to work with and will have to get creative in order to create some cap space, they have explored the idea of dumping Blake who has been a great point guard in this league for years.
Anyway maybe all of this is premature, maybe the Blazers will be a breakthrough team next year or one that hands over a lottery pick to the Spurs this time next year. Either way you have to consider one thing, once the reaper sets his eyes on you, your probably screwed one way or another.
Since trading Joe Johnson the Blazers have missed the playoffs two times despite it being by a few games each time. The Blazers are likely to lose one of their best players this free agency due to the Houston Rockets blunder many years ago. On top of that their prospects haven't been developing all that much. However when you look around the league patience is vital with prospects because a lot of players that have been given up on are making their former GM's regret that exhibiting more patience. The Blazers are really hoping this to be the case with one player, Michael Beasley. Sometimes you lose sight of how young these players really are, but with Beasley he will be entering his fourth year in the league and is still only 21 years old. He will also be looking for a new contract this year and so the Blazers are really hoping that he can break through to the next level.
However lets say the curse of Joe Johnson strikes and again he doesn't improve much and Torres does indeed bolt out of Portland. That would leave this franchise crippled and probably struggling to make the playoffs for the third straight year. Some GM's would sacrifice the future just to stay alive, however watching Afro go out like he did made me do some thinking. If my final year does indeed suck, I think I would probably build for the future and allow the next GM to come in and have a nice solid young squad to do what he wants. Lets face it, nobody likes to come to a team without their picks for the next four or five years. Besides the Blazers have started to already do that to themselves without having their own pick the next two years. Next years selection was traded in a deal for Thabeet and the year after that was for a retooling deal that now looking back went completely south.
That's why this draft and free agency is extremely important for the Blazers. Equipped with the 9th pick in a extremely talented draft the Blazers are sure to land a player that can contribute. However if a young prospect that is a project player falls into their laps, can they afford to take him? Can you sit around and wait two or three years for this one guy to develop? Before Afro I probably would have said no, but after the fact and I'm probably going to take that project player to pair with the young team that I have going forward. Besides at the end of the day talent is talent and you have to take the guy that has the chance to develop into something special. In free agency the Blazers will have around the MLE to work with and will have to get creative in order to create some cap space, they have explored the idea of dumping Blake who has been a great point guard in this league for years.
Anyway maybe all of this is premature, maybe the Blazers will be a breakthrough team next year or one that hands over a lottery pick to the Spurs this time next year. Either way you have to consider one thing, once the reaper sets his eyes on you, your probably screwed one way or another.
