Blazer's Edge

Portland Trail Blazers Going After Roy Hibbert, Jeremy Lin, and Other Restricted Free Agents?

2012-05-17T05:00:03Z

Outside of Nicolas Batum questions and point guard dreams, the next most popular line of questioning lately deals with the Blazers acquiring other teams' restricted free agents. The two obvious targets are Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. Let's deal with some of those questions.

Would Lin or Hibbert be good pick-ups for the Blazers?

Hibbert would be about as good of a big man as the Blazers could hope to find on the market. He had a shaky start in the league but has developed defensively, is an adequate defensive rebounder, a very good shot blocker, and has great size at 7'2" and 280 lbs. He's not a great offensive player but he's developed here too. His biggest problem is foul trouble, staying on the court. The Blazers should be ecstatic if they could pull of this kind of acquisition.

Lin is more of a roll of the dice. You saw all the hype. You also saw the injuries and the decline in quality of play when Lin had to share the ball with Carmelo Anthony. If the Blazers want to pick up a point guard who craves the ball in his hands and freedom to create at any cost that point guard should probably be named Nash or Williams. Lin has no track record either. Some of the stats scream, "YES!" but the gut says, "Be careful."

Would their current teams let them go?

No.

How would Indiana replace Hibbert? Centers don't grow on trees. They have no other big men ready to take the starting role in the middle. They're a playoff team looking to get stronger, not start over. They should, and will, match any offer Hibbert gets.

New York may be on shakier ground with Lin but the dude generated so much attention that they can't afford to let him go. Look at that roster: Lin, Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, J.R. Smith. That team's not constructed to win championships. It exists for one purpose only: sell tickets and draw eyeballs. They're capped out and unable to acquire a prime point guard. Outside of one of the bigger names at the position, who will create more buzz than Lin? They're not going to let him go.

Could the Blazers make an offer anyway, maybe make it unattractive to those teams?

You can't make an offer unattractive to the Knicks. They're already over the cap...as ugly as it can get. The Pacers will have cap space. You could freak them out a little by offering the moon to Hibbert.

Here's the problem, though. Remember how we talked yesterday about the Blazers wanting to move fast with their free agent signings this summer? To maximize cap space they need to get business done before Nicolas Batum signs an offer sheet with another team. Once Batum inks that deal, they have 72 hours to complete deals or they lose part of their cap flexibility.

When you offer a contract to another team's restricted free agent that other team also has 72 hours to consider whether they want to match the offer or not. Though the proposed salary doesn't go on their cap until it's accepted, it goes on your cap, as the offering team, the minute you make the offer. This prevents a team from making offers to 20 restricted free agents at once when they're only able to follow through with one. If the other team matches the offer and retains their restricted free agent the salary then goes off your cap again, of course. But until they announce they're matching, you can't use the cap money you offered the guy.

So let's say it's a Monday in free agent land. The Blazers decide to take a flyer on Hibbert. They really want to mess with the Pacers, taking their best shot, so they offer $13 million per year...most of their available cap space. The Pacers now have 72 hours to decide whether to match the offer. In that time the Blazers cannot commit that $13 million anywhere else outside of the Hibbert deal. Technically they can ask to withdraw the offer, but Hibbert himself would have to consent to that. Since it's a high-dollar deal, that's unlikely. For all intents and purposes that cap space is committed for the next 72 hours.

So anyway, the $13 million offer is made on Monday and now it's Tuesday morning in free agent land. The Blazers wake up to the news that Nicolas Batum just signed an offer sheet with another team, starting Portland's own 72-hour deadline clock. In order to maximize their cap space they have three days to sign the folks they want before matching Batum's offer. But wait! The bulk of the cap room that the Blazers need in order to do their business is still tied up in the Hibbert offer. Until Indiana decides what they're going to do, that money is unavailable.

Keep in mind, too, that Indiana has no incentive to hurry their decision. First, they're trying to do the same thing Portland is: making all their deals before having to commit that $13 million in cap space to Hibbert. Second, why would they want to help out the Blazers? So they're going to take every tick of their three day clock to match that offer.

So here's Portland, pacing nervously for the next two days while Indiana dawdles. The Pacers will almost certainly match the offer. The Blazers are probably leaving this exchange empty handed. They've wasted two days of their three-day window, leaving them but 24 hours to sign free agents before the Batum offer goes on their books.

Because of the timing, I don't see the Blazers making offers to restricted free agents unless they lust after the guy and they suspect the opposing team won't match. I could imagine them taking a flyer on a guy, but the bar is higher for making an offer to restricted free agents than it would be making offers to unrestricted guys or making trades.

In short, trying to get Hibbert or Lin is almost certainly a waste of time in an off-season where time itself could prove critical to the Blazers' plans.

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)

Kennedy: Blazers Eyeing Knicks RFA G Jeremy Lin

2012-05-16T21:32:24Z

Kennedy: Blazers Eyeing Knicks RFA G Jeremy Lin

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com reports that the Portland Trail Blazers will be one of a number of suitors for New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.
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The Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets are among the teams eyeing Lin as free agency approaches, according to sources close to the situation.
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Lin, 23, rose to global stardom this season but missed the playoffs after undergoing surgery to fix torn meniscus in his left knee.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Richman: Blazers G Raymond Felton Took Too Much Blame

2012-05-16T21:25:23Z

Richman: Blazers G Raymond Felton Took Too Much Blame

Portland Trail Blazers guard Raymond Felton was savagely torn apart by a panel of writers in Wednesday's "You Be The GM" discussion on OregonLive.com.

Mike Richman writes in defense of Felton.
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Felton probably shouldered too much of the blame for a difficult Blazers season. Gerald Wallace was awful for stretches, Crawford never really got it all together, Wesley Matthews struggled with his shot early and Nicolas Batum never had a defined role. Was it fair that most of the ridicule from fans and media alike seemed to be directed toward Felton? Nope. But with expectations as high as they were when Felton arrived he needed to at least tread water and get the team into the postseason, not be the catalyst -- real or perceived -- for a sinking ship.
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Martin: Blazers Take Barnes & Jones In 2012 NBA Mock Draft

2012-05-16T21:19:50Z

Martin: Blazers Take Barnes & Jones In 2012 NBA Mock Draft

Tom Martin of The Dream Shake has the Portland Trail Blazers selecting UNC forward Harrison Barnes and UK forward Terrence Jones in his 2012 NBA Mock Draft.
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6. Portland — Harrison Barnes, SF North Carolina

I'm going to assume up front that the Blazers plan on offering big bucks to Goran Dragic. If they do manage to find their point guard in free agency, this frees them up to go big with both their picks. Barnes is a solid score-first small forward at worst, and a potential star at best. But he's got a lot of work to do to get there.

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11. Portland — Terrence Jones, F Kentucky

What happens when you trade Gerald Wallace for a lottery pick? You use your other lottery pick to draft his pseudo-replacement as an aggressive, versatile wing.
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan Received 0 Executive Of The Year Votes

2012-05-16T18:23:30Z

The NBA has announced that Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird has been named 2011-2012 NBA Executive of the Year by a vote of a "panel of his fellow team executives throughout the NBA."

In all, 19 executives received at least one first, second or third place vote. Portland Trail Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan was not one of those 19, as he did not receive any votes.

Buchanan doesn't go home empty-handed, though, thanks to that second place vote from Mike Rice on Blazers.com.

Click through for the full vote totals.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Larry Bird, Indiana 12 8 4 -- 88
R.C. Buford, San Antonio 8 4 4 -- 56
Neil Olshey, L.A. Clippers 6 7 4 55
Gar Forman, Chicago 2 2 - 16
Kevin O’Connor, Utah - 2 4 10
Glen Grunwald, New York - 2 2 8
Pat Riley, Miami 1 - 2 7
Sam Presti, Oklahoma City 1 - - 5
Chris Wallace, Memphis - 1 2 5
David Kahn, Minnesota - 1 1 4
Rod Thorn, Philadelphia - 1 - 3
Dell Demps, New Orleans - 1 - 3
Rick Sund, Atlanta - 1 - 3
Danny Ainge, Boston - - 1 1
John Hammond, Milwaukee - - 1 1
Lon Babby, Phoenix - - 1 1
Mitch Kupchak, L.A. Lakers - - 1 1
Otis Smith, Orlando - - 1 1
Masai Ujiri, Denver - - 1 1

Fixler: The NBA's Disappearing Centers, Including Greg Oden

2012-05-16T16:53:29Z

Fixler: The NBA's Disappearing Centers, Including Greg Oden

Kevin Fixler investigates the disappearance of true centers in the NBA in a lengthy piece for The Atlantic. He asks "Where have all the centers gone?" and then comes up with a list of explanations that includes, of course, injuries.
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Part of the problem is that large bodies have shown themselves to be particularly prone to injury.

Greg Oden is a case in point. At seven feet and 285 pounds, the Portland Trail Blazers made him the first overall pick in 2007. Over the next five seasons, he spent more time sidelined by knee injuries than on the court. Since entering the NBA, Oden has played a total of one regular season's worth of games. After five knee surgeries—two on his right and three on his left—the Blazers cut him this past March.
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Other factors listed: players entering the NBA at a younger age, a lack of coaches equipped to teach big man skills, and the fact that it's easier for children to relate to (and be enthralled by) guards.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Bois: Analyzing NBA Slogans, Including Blazers' "Rise With Us"

2012-05-16T16:35:57Z

Bois: Analyzing NBA Slogans, Including Blazers' "Rise With Us"

Jon Bois at SBNation.com has a hilarious and deep analysis of the slogans NBA teams use to set the tone for their seasons. The Portland Trail Blazers' "Rise With Us" makes an appearance, filed under "Marxist Plot!!!!!"
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NBA teams are fond of this "we're all a team" thing. I meaaaaan ... I get how you could interpret the producer/consumer dynamic as a form of teamwork, but teammates don't hijack each other's tax money or charge each other 11 dollars for a beer. If this is the way you're gonna roll, I'm not really comfortable with you calling me your teammate. I'm just gonna buy your tickets with the same emotional gravitas I feel when I buy Pop-Tarts at the grocery store. Cool? Cool. Good talk, glad we had this talk.
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Eggers: Larry Miller Says New Blazers GM Still Weeks Away

2012-05-16T16:32:14Z

Eggers: Larry Miller Says New Blazers GM Still Weeks Away

Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune reports the latest from Portland Trail Blazers GM Larry Miller on his team's search for a new GM.
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"We’ve had a couple of candidates in front of Paul, and the goal is to get a couple of more in front of him in the near future — hopefully in the next couple of weeks," Miller says. "At that point, there’s a pretty good chance we will be ready to have someone named."
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"It would be great if we could make it happen in the next two weeks," he says, "but we want to make sure we get the right person. If it takes a little longer, that’s fine."
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Eggers writes that Hawks coach Larry Drew could be a candidate for Portland's open coaching job if his contract option is not picked up by Atlanta.

Finally, he notes that the Blazers plan to meet with 2006 Draft pick Joel Freeland in June when he travels to Houston for Great Britain's pre-Olympics exhibition tour.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter