If the mechanics just spent a solid year working on it and I can rent it indefinitely for super cheap like $200/month with no further financial obligation, heck yes I go get that ferrari.
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Source: Oden met with Mavs & Kings Monday n Vegas. scheduling future meeting with Pelicans. Still at least a week or more away from decision
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 16, 2013
My whole point is this , made simple....Are we looking for a "Starting" center? No...Everyone has been saying "we need someone for 10-15 mins a game, tops" ...Ok...My point is, people are jumping to agreement with whoever is reported N.O. is possibly interested in...A month ago, posters here were talking about Wright, posting his highlights...I actually wouldn't mind him playing here...The 5's today aren't really the 5's of old. Wright is more athletic and defensive minded, which is what we need..Smith has always said he's a "natural 4", but doesn't mind playing the 5.So, if I were making the decision, which Im not, Why not see if you could make a deal for a young athletic big that has NBA Game experience to fit into a rotation so you can work the new center you just got into NBA shape without having to depend on him? If Withey pans out, all of the Oden talk goes away. And I would love to see Wright off the bench at the 5, Smith at the 4, Morrow at the 3, Reke at the 2, and Jackson at the 1 outrunning all other teams second units...
So no......From my POV, No to Oden.
Dell and co are trying to create a "Super Team" with a young core. If Oden pans out, this team will be a monster for years to come. There is also a chance this experiment fails miserably, but you cannot fault them for trying.
No, but say I am a farmer and desperately needed a new work truck. Same scenario you posed, but instead of a Ferrari its 2013 Dodge Ram with everything I need to be immensely profitable as long it works some of the time. Its about utility and need. That truck will go a long way toward my bottom line.
I feel bad for Portland fans amongst all of this hoplaholla. They probably feel about this the same way we feel about Gordon and probably believe we are wasting time and money signing him.
It will be bittersweet if he pans out wherever he goes.
Well I'd say it's advantageous that we're last.
I think it's SUPER unlikely Oden is ever a force in the league again. And I think it's very unlikely he plays regular basketball again. He's gone through so many injuries. The only hope is in what a poster said earlier in the thread, and that is that Oden never relied on explosive athleticism, so he could still return to being a good NBA player. But his knees hold the answers.
After looking at his injury reports, he is literally made of glass. Its unbelievable that you can get hurt that easily.
They are bringing in Loomis? Wow, they are serious. Make it happen Loomis!!!
I look at it like this, the Pelicans are probably not signing him to start 82 games this year. If a guy with his potential can be the 10th guy on the roster without them sacrificing say our best 1-7 players, what's the harm.
The truth of the matter is that the team kept rushing him back from injury when he wasn't ready. He kept injuring the same knee, and his other injuries could also be chalked up to overcompensation (at least some of them). He has had 2 full years of rehab, so I think the knee should be solid when he tries to come back. It's just a matter of easing him back into it.
he's had multiple microfracture surgeries
if his knees come back "solid" he will be the first
that said, even if he cant run the floor he (was) is a defensive freak, and can likely help around the rim on offensive second chances (of which there will be many with gordan/evans/holiday)
3 million dollars in basketball money isn't much at all. guys throw away money on guys all the time with much lower ceilings. he'd be making greg stiemsma money, who averaged 4 pts and 3 rebounds last year. well worth the risk.
Now that you have mentioned the no back-to-back system they put in place for Gordon, I can't imagine them not going that rout for at least first month or two he plays. You need to put a stress test to gauge if he would even be capable of filling the 10-15 minute role we are all believing in.
Nene and Chandler were guys who were thought to be glassmen, but proved they could bounce back with good conditioning. Oden is an extreme case, but I think he has just as much of a chance as those two guys.
I'm not too optimistic on his chances of staying injury free. But having said that, I wouldn't mind him spending a season here to see what he CAN do.
The NBA is all about taking calculated risks. Role players matter, but the guys that are going to make a difference toward your team jumping up a level, then another and another are those legit top 50-ish guys.
Signing Oden, assuming its not to some crazy guarantee for multiple years, does nothing to hurt your long-term outlook if he fails. If he succeeds, he's got significant upside and perhaps provides one of the rarest commodities in the league, elite-very, very strong play at center (even if only for limited minutes per night).
The one thing I very much like about Demps is that he invests his resources in players that can reach a HIGH ceiling. He's not spending a lot of money on the Jarrett Jack's of the world while building his core. He's spending on guys that could be major difference makers. Even if Oden's only 15-20% to hit that, or even if he only does it for a year or so, it's a worthwhile investment if you don't have to break your back to do so.
In the NFL, Danario Alexander was a young receiver with a lot of talent that couldn't find a team simply because his knees were in such bad shape. Could barely practice. The Chargers took a flier on him last season and he turned in a dominating run in the second half of the season.
Alexander may never do it again. Or he may. But for almost nothing, the Chargers got pro bowl production from a guy who profiled pretty similarly to Oden last season.
Danario alexander didn't play 16 games in 6 years of career..oden is a completely unique case.
So, are we going to sign him for a 1 year-deal? If so..
A) He'll get injured, waived, bye bye
B) He'll magically play all the season, have good averages, and bolt for a team with better championship probability% next season (why should he not? Granted, the heat could use him if he actually managed to play 5 games without damaging an acl)
One year rent?
A) Then Stiesma, Withey or Smith (sp, again) becomes center rotation when Davis isn't there, as planned.
B) Then he gave us a good season, in a year we're supposed to be gunning for the playoffs. Such is the same for anyone on a 1-year contract. This is not a failure.
I have no idea how the cap works in the NBA but can we sign him and go over the cap or are we out of exemptions and exceptions? I think the latter is correct but just wondering. I don't think Benson would think twice about going over the cap or into luxury tax land but if we can't....we can't. They obviously have some plan in mind or they wouldn't waste their time.
Put it this way:
Worst case scenerio: We sign Oden. Heck, we sign Oden for 2 years and guarantee him $$. Demps takes a "crazy" risk. He comes in, fails. We then rely on the same crew at center we were planning to anyway. Our crunch time lineup still involves the 5 money guys. It might cost us a win, maybe 2 or 3, but ultimately you're about at the same level you were.
Best case scenario: Oden's given himself time to heal. He comes back and is 75-80% of what he was. Which was VERY good. You have one of the most feared frontcourt rotations in the NBA. Depending on how strong he returns, you may even build some championship equity. With Oden and Davis, you're dominating the boards and shutting down the lane.
Why not roll the dice on scenario two? Again, the roster you've built basically calls upon Davis to play at center down the stretch anyway. Swing for a difference maker, and if you strike out, it's not going to significantly damage your outlook.
oden is the new version of bill walton. injuried alot but when healthy prototypical big man
Make it happen Demps....and Loomis
I just realized that they're bringing in Loomis for an obvious reason - they're gonna try to sell Oden on being the New Brees. Signed after career-threatening injury, becomes NFL legend.
The more we research this, I think the best offer we can make is the league minimum. Don't see any other options. If he signs for that, great. But I am not getting my hopes up
I admittedly have no idea what is going on, but I think its interesting if Loomis is actually there too....
He's not going to tear the team apart, but if it comes down to moving one of the role players to create 3 mil or so, I think it's certainly possible.
And it very well might be agent-speak that's out there ... remember "Dell is going to BLOW THE KNICKS AWAY with his offer to Chris Copeland?" ... but I wouldn't rule out anything is all I'm saying. They might have a plan to offer as much as they need to. We might be last on Oden's list and getting used to drive up the price with teams he actually wants to go to. We won't know till it happens.
Benson is 86 so I seriously doubt he gives a damn about the luxury tax. Also in odens last season he averaged 18 points 13 rebounds and 4 blocks and he never relied on athleticism really he was just a hulk.
RT @Rotoworld_BK: Greg Oden's agent resumes talks with the Heat http://dlvr.it/3g8tXN
Btw those stats are per 36
Can we go over the lux to get Oden?
I didn't think that was a possibility.
It'd be more than role players. Not being able to S&T with Portland is a huge deal because it means getting $3 million under the cap when the team is currently about $3 million above the cap. So they need to cut $6 million to sign. The least destructive option would be to cut Roberts/Miller/Thomas on top of finding someone to take Jason Smith. That's worth it if you had any degree of certainty that Oden was healthy, but if that were the case then Oden could probably get more than $3 million.
If he takes the minimum for 1 year, can they use the full MLE on him next year? So basically tell him (no illegal Boozer promises): "If things work out, you will play for three years, get about 1 mil for year one and 5-6 mil for years 2 and 3, then we will have your Bird rights to bring you back for silly money after that."??
Didn't say that..I was responding to your question. In our case, as referenced in the latter posts in this topic, the P's are over the limit. Would have to cut 1 2 or 3 players, and trade Jason Smith, in short, blow up the roster.
As I have stated before, I have never been a fan of players of any sport, who when people refer to them they have to begin or end their sentences with
"When/As long as they are healthy...." True...There are exceptions to this rule...However the fail to success rate is exponentially higher..Why spend any money on a player who , in any sport, over the course of 6 seasons played a total equivalent to 1 full season. Potential or not, it makes no sense to me.
So again I say....No to G.O.