Steve Francis bought out.

They cleared playing time for Channing Frye, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, which is the most promising frontcourt in the NBA right now. With Zach, they got a guy that puts up 20/10, but management is trying to change this teams image and Zach may be a bad influence on the young guys, despite his talent. He's no a good defender and has had injury troubles, not to mention he is a bit of a "black hole".

Which goes back to why I always said they should have drafted Durant. They could have had Aldridge, Randolph, and Durant in the front court along with Rodriguez, Webster (SF or SG?), Jack, and Roy in the backcourt.

That roster would have been championship ready in just a couple of years.
Character is important, but at what cost? The cost of having perhaps the most feared front court in years??? Even if you're dead set on getting rid of him, equal value is a must (contract i know... discuss that later on). Heck, the Pacers managed to get Peja for Artest. That is far better than what the Blazers got for Zebo who is a far less detriment. It's not as though having him on the team means he's going to infect the younger players. Rasheed helped the Pistons to a championship... Rodman helped the Bulls. etc. Plus I have the utmost confidence in Nate McMillian keeping things in check.

In terms of payroll.... They still have Magloire, Przybilla, LaFrentz, and Miles. They could have bought them out instead, or found a way to trade them rather than ditching Randolph.

I guess this puts me in the minority, but I don't like the route they went. It's still a very promising team, but I think could have had a team with a potential all-star at every position had they drafted Durant and kept Zebo.

Zach Randolph/LaMarcus Aldridge is hardly the most feared frontcourt in years. Both of them can score, but they don't do that much else. They rebound well, but they would have trouble defensively. It isn't much better than the Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani frontline at all.

They could have drafted Durant and kept Zach. That would still be a great team. But you can't overlook the contract. If they kept Zach, it's very likely that some of their young nucleus would be gone. Roy and Aldridge? Webster and Jack? It would be very tough to resign those guys, which means that their window for a championship would be relatively small, despite their age.

With that Zach Randolph trade, they cleared close to $32 million in salary for the 2009 offseason. That could be used on free agents and keeping their nucleus together.

I think the Zach Randolph trade was a great move by Kevin Pritchard. They may have given away a 20/10 guy, but they get to keep the most promising team in the NBA together and sign a big name free agent if they wanted to.

Zach Randolph/LaMarcus Aldridge is hardly the most feared frontcourt in years. Both of them can score, but they don't do that much else. They rebound well, but they would have trouble defensively. It isn't much better than the Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani frontline at all.

I was also including Kevin Durant as a part of the front line, which would make it one of the best. I think Aldridge does have the potential to be a good defender. He's pretty mobile for a big man. Zebo is a defensive liability, but they would be solid at most every other position, so I don't believe it would be a huge risk.

I just find it strange how you dismiss 20/10. It's not like there are a lot of them. He was one of 5 players last year to average 20/10.

One of the main reasons I think they should have drafted Durant is that I just don't have that much confidence in Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw. Will they develop? I don't see them being nearly as good as Durant. SF just seems to be more of a need than PF/C when you already have (had) Randolph and Aldridge.

I know contract is a big thing. They did clear up a lot of salary. But like I pointed out earlier, they had a lot of other players they could have got rid of who don't deserve half of what they're getting.

I know contract is a big thing. They did clear up a lot of salary. But like I pointed out earlier, they had a lot of other players they could have got rid of who don't deserve half of what they're getting.

Trading Pryzbilla, Miles, LaFrentz and Magloire wouldn't have done anything. If they trade those guys, they don't clear any cap space for themselves. Those guys clear cap space for their new teams.

Letting these guys contracts run through (wether on not they but these guys out, which wouldn't make that much sense) would give them nice gains in cap space each season, but no where near the gain they get from losing Randolph and Francis. They clear approximately $37.5 million in cap space space over the course of 5 years. Getting rid of Zach Randolph and aquiring the soon to expiring contract of Steve Francis clears out $32 million in one offseason.

Would you rather:

A) Keep Zach Randolph, losing some key young players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, etc to free agency due to having no cap room. Contend for a couple years years before some of these guys become free agents (and theres no gaurantee they would be at a contending level in the West with this roster.)?

or

B) Draft Greg Oden and acquire what should be one of the best 6th men in the league in Frye, losing your 20/10 guy in the process. Losing him gives you more than enough cap room to keep this team together (and the ability to add good free agents). This means that the nucleus of LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and Brandon Roy would be kept in Portland for a very long time, well into the prime of their careers (not to mention keeping key players like Webster, Jack, Frye, etc.)?

I take B. You keep the team together longer and Oden replaces Zach nicely.

It's basically a choice of having this great young nucleus together for a very long time (having Aldridge, Oden, Webster, Roy, Jack and Frye all together during their primes is a scary team), or keeping a guy who will give you 20/10 and having a much smaller window of oppurtunity to win a championship, ultimately ending up in the loss of some of your key guys because you simply don't have the cap room to keep them together.

I wouldnt mind having steve francis on the cavs for a cheap price, which is very possible.

Which goes back to why I always said they should have drafted Durant. They could have had Aldridge, Randolph, and Durant in the front court along with Rodriguez, Webster (SF or SG?), Jack, and Roy in the backcourt.

That's something I agree 100% with. Would've made sense for both the Blazers and Sonics. Portland had a top 5 frontcourt in the league in Randolph and Aldridge...what they needed was a scorer. Brandon Roy is not a go-to scorer and he may never be, though he will certainly be solid, probably in the 22ppg range. Seattle, on the other hand, has looked for frontcourt help the past few years, drafting guys like Robert Swift, Johan Petro, and Saer Sene. They already had Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, so they needed absolutely no scoring help. Imagine a Portland lineup of:

Rodriguez (he's going to be special, can't believe Suns traded him...)
Roy
Durant
Randolph
Aldridge

And Seattle:

Ridnour
Allen
Lewis
Wilcox
Oden

Now THOSE are two playoff ready teams.

I think a big reason why Randolph was traded was because Portland has high hopes for Aldridge. Dude averaged 16 and 8 with 2 blocks in 32mpg in the month of March. Compare that with Amare who averaged 14 and 8 his rookie season, Dwight who averaged 12 and 10 and Yao who averaged 15 and 7...Aldridge is destined for greatness. When I think about it, there's no reason why Aldridge can't be as great as Oden statistically. He's not going to be the dominating presence on defense as Oden will be, but he's a 20 and 10 guy, easily. [/b]

You must also take into account that the 08 off seasons could possibly yield, (assuming everyone doesn't sign an extension and/or choose not to opt out) one of the biggest free agent pools in years, and 09 will bring the same. It's very good for the Blazers to stay under the cap in the coming year or two so that they can sign valuable pieces to add to their team.

Nate McMillan's a hard ass, he's one of the greatest coaches in the league, but trouble players will not fit into his system. Look at the guys who got playing time under his system: Jaret Jack, Brandon Roy, Joe Pryzbilla. Those are guys who will listen and not give McMillan any attitude. The reason Zach Randolph received playing time was because he was a necessary evil. The Blazers wanted to get rid of him all season, but they didn't want to get nothing in return because they knew that his numbers warranted some compensation.

Right now the Blazers don't need a 24/10 black hole. They aren't in dire need of front court production. They need leadership, chemistry, reliability, and cap space for the future. Zach Randolph brought none of those things to the table.

Steve Francis is considering the Rockets, Mavericks, Heat, Lakers and Clippers, according to the Houston Chronicle

To think the Rockets traded Francis for Mcgrady, and could get him back is pretty funny. I dont see how he would be good on the mavs, unless he is going to take those shots when dirk is hiding in the corner. Heat would be a nice fit , clippers maybe. Im guessing he goes to the Rockets or Miami.

i wish real life was like the nba. here is 30 mil, you are fired.

Not to mention further employment at around a million per year without so much as typing up a resume. Not a bad deal if you can manage your money.