Fox posed an interesting question yesterday on the blog asking “Who do you see as the 2 most likely players on our team to be moved this off-season outside of the obvious”. First I am going to add Channing Frye to the “obvious departure list” Sorry Fox, I know you had dreams of having a talk radio show (or podcast so you could delve into a variety of seedy topics unabated) with Chan Frye. There is no denying, he’s not happy career wise here, and the Blazers don’t have a place for him the rotation. I have to commend Chan Frye for being a constant professional through what I am sure was the most challenging time in his career.
Getting back to the original question, I think Sergio is gone. Unless we make a big splash with a free agent or a trade, I don’t see anyone else leaving. But if I had to pick one I would say Blake. I believe that if we make a significant move that will affect any of our top 7 players in the rotation, it will be to upgrade PG. Then that leaves you with the dilemma of choosing who to give backup minutes to, Blake or Bayless. What you have to realize about Blake is this year was his ceiling. This is as good/efficient as Blake will ever be. Is that good enough? How will he fair against other western PG’s like CP3, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, and even Aaron Brooks to certain extent? I think this is obvious, and even though I do like Blake and I like what he has done for this team so far, I see him as kind of a “training wheels” type of point guard. He doesn’t take risks, he doesn’t turn the ball over, and he hits open shots. Now that this team is ready to take off though we need to take off the training wheels and let them ride.
Moving forward, another topic that has been up for popular debate 
this week is Greg Oden. News broke that Oden is going back to
Personally I think people are kind of blowing this out of proportion. Almost all NBA players go to their respective homes during the offseason. Last summer, the only players that were here the entire summer were Frye and Blake, both of whom call
Another counter I have to that argument is, I think we can all agree on the fact that Greg Oden is a physical specimen. What holds him back is the muscle between his ears (I don’t even know if the brain is considered a muscle, I just heard this phrase before so I thought I’d try it). If going back to OSU refreshes Oden, and gets his mind right to come back here ready for another season then more power to him. I 
think his physce needs more work right now then his physique.
What do you guys think? Do you care? Should he stay this summer because of how important his personal success is linked to our team success? Sound off!
i think that oden should be encouraged to go home.... he is under so much stress and scrutiny in portland that it is almost like a vacation workout session. He also needs to get some love from his home town, it can only help.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that Blake has hit his ceiling?
ReplyDeleteJT, I completely agree with you. It's almost as if Oden needs to wipe his mental slate clean. If that makes any sense?
ReplyDeleteSweet D, I could make a post unto itself to answer that question, but in short because of his lack of athleticism, the fact that the coaches don't ask him to do anything that is not one of his strength's, and the fact that this was a career year for him. But maybe I'll go into more detail later this summer!