Site Admin
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
Posts: 122
  
Status: Offline
|
|
A cool, wide smile has crossed Kevin Pritchard’s face recently whenever the Portland Trail Blazers general manager talked about the team’s future.
It is the same look a poker player may give as he shows his hand, knowing he holds a royal flush. He has all the cards. The only decision is when to use them. Right away? Or wait patiently for a potentially richer score?
That is Pritchard’s desirable dilemma. He holds the cards: A roster loaded with young talent, four draft picks this summer and seven contracts set to expire after next season, potentially leaving the Blazers with at least $25 million in cap room to offer free agents. It’s a hand stuffed with tradeable assets and financial flexibility.
Now Pritchard just has to decide on his strategy: Do the Blazers allow their young team another year to develop and see if their weaknesses can be patched from within? Or do they start making moves immediately to round out a championship contender and give that group an extra year to grow together?
The answer will not be easily decided. The patient approach could slow the Blazers’ ascent and narrow their window of opportunity. But acting quickly and aggressively could reduce their financial flexibility in free-agency next summer, when two of the league’s best players — Utah’s Deron Williams and New Orleans’ Chris Paul — could hit the market.
“Could we make a deal right now to make us a 50-win team? No question,” Pritchard said. “Will that get us a championship? That’s what we always have to evaluate.”
The decision could be a defining moment for next season and beyond because the Blazers’ point guard and small forward positions currently offer no clear answers for the future.
None of the Blazers’ point guards this season made a convincing argument that they are capable of leading Portland to championship contention as a starter. In fact, two of those guards — Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez — had disappointing years. Jack’s knack for momentum-swinging turnovers was a constant problem, while Rodriguez’s development seemed to take a step backwards in terms of production and confidence.
Only Steve Blake, who started 78 games, had a satisfactory year, giving the Blazers exactly what they expected when they signed him as a free agent last summer: A solid, though not spectacular, 8.5 points, 5.1 assists and 41 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Over at small forward, Martell Webster gave the Blazers much to think about after posting the best season of his career while showing continued steady growth. He averaged a career-high 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and hit 42 percent of his shots — the highest percentage of his three-year career. But like Blake, it was solid and encouraging, yet not spectacular.
So it leaves the Blazers in a difficult quandary: The players at those positions are still developing, yet the Blazers are quickly getting out of the business of developing players.
“We’re at that point where the next step for us is to build to win,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. “The developing, we’ve done that for three years. As a team, we’re at that stage where we have to build to win. Where we expect to win.”
And that leaves Portland with an important question to answer: Do players like Jack and Webster have a major growth spurt ahead, the way Travis Outlaw showed this season, which can convince the Blazers to wait on them?
Can Blake, at age 28, find another level in his development? Can Jack settle down and grow out of his turnover-prone nature? Can Rodriguez find his rookie form again? And can Webster develop into a primary weapon?
The questions will play a tug-of-war this summer between the Blazers’ sensibilities and competitiveness. Pritchard and McMillan can sense that the team is ready to win on a high level now, and Pritchard is already setting the goal for next year at 50 wins. Making a trade this offseason, particularly for a veteran point guard, could ensure that short-term growth.
But will it deliver a championship?
That is where patience could yield its reward. Perhaps Rodriguez will emerge form his doldrums, or Webster will blossom as a multi-faceted offensive threat.
And if they fall short, the cap space will be waiting — between $25 million and $32 million, depending on whether the Blazers activate the contract options for Blake and Outlaw — to go out on the free agent market and buy the answer.
“It’s that challenge of saying, ‘Let’s make the team better right now,’ or, do we keep everybody in place and add a couple pieces down the line?” Pritchard said. “I look at it as, are we going to get seduced into a deal that we can’t say no to? That’s the bottom line.”
And the Blazers could get several tantalizing offers this offseason, simply because there are attractive trade components throughout their roster.
Consider one of the possibilities: Raef LaFrentz’s $12.7 million expiring contract could be viewed as a golden apple by teams hoping to rebuild or shed salary. Packaged with one of the Blazers’ young players — such as Jack or Webster — Portland could return an All-Star caliber player with a salary worth more than $15 million a year. That would allow the Blazers to swing a trade for a Baron Davis or Mike Bibby-level point guard.
But it would also ruin their options on the free agency market next summer because the projected cap space hinges on LaFrentz’s contract expiring. Taking on a similar contract for a longer term could leave Portland with half as much cap room, which could then be quickly spent simply by re-signing their own free agents (there could be as many as six).
Each step in either direction could reduce the Blazers’ options down the other path, so those benefits and consequences will have to be weighed as each possibility is considered.
And as the season ended this week, Blazers officials did not seem to know which path would hold the greatest benefits, simply because they did not know what would be offered.
But they are certain of one thing: There will be options to consider.
“Trust me. The season’s over with,” Pritchard said on Thursday. “My phone will ring tomorrow.
 |
|
|
| |
|
FAQ
Search
Register
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Sub-Forum
