Andre Miller To Join The Blazers

[buzzy]

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/deep ... tland.html

[Martti.]

Hoped the Heat will sign him, but what you gonna do... This also means that Hinrich will stay put.

The Blazers are definitely stronger now, could make it to the second round of the Playoffs, maybe even further..

[Its_asdf]

Blake isn't that good, Bayless is looking a lot like a louis williams-lite and doesn't have the ability to run the point. They needed this signing.

[bee-boy]

good pickup by portland. they now have a stable point guard who can distribute and score.

[Mayerhendrix]

Do the Blazers really need another point guard? Last I checked, their point guards were upset about not getting enough playing time.

[Andrew]

Do the Blazers really need another point guard? Last I checked, their point guards were upset about not getting enough playing time.

It's not just a case of getting another point guard though since Miller is an upgrade on all other point guards currently on the roster (which in turn makes them expendable). I doubt they're looking to share the minutes equally between Miller, Blake and Bayless.

[bowdown]

Bayless will once again warm the bench and rightly so he has not shown any skills in PG that we would like.
Miller is a great inside shooter (sucks from 3) and great distributer. definitely better than blake. and with blake moving on to bench the bench is even more lethal.
Starters
Oden
Aldridge
Webster/Batum/Outlaw
B Roy
Miller

Bench
Przybilla
backup PF
Webster/Batum/Outlaw
R Fernandez
Blake

extremely deep

[Andrew]

All that remains to be seen is who that backup power forward will be.

[Calamaro]

Looks like they have a logjam at the small forward position. They could trade one of those guys for that much needed backup PF.

[jonthefon]

I'd be happy or more likely ecstatic if the Mavs were to relieve Bayless from the Blazers without costing too much. Dude's got too much upside and ability for you Blazers fans to be giving up on him already.

[Modifly]

I like it, Miller can still put up 15/7 or some sort of similar number easily. Blake is OK, but Miller is better. Miller's age and experience should be a valuable addition for the Blazers as well.

[The X]

I'd be happy or more likely ecstatic if the Mavs were to relieve Bayless from the Blazers without costing too much. Dude's got too much upside and ability for you Blazers fans to be giving up on him already.

I'd agree that Bayless is too talented to be wasted. I guess it might be a case where they won't trade him unless they can do it in a deal (with Outlaw & change) that gets them a starting SF.

Although Mavs don't deserve him either. This is a team that traded away Harris for Kidd. Mavs don't deserve any young talent either sorry as they will waste it too.

EDIT: I'm not sure if I like the Miller pickup or not. Still undecided. Double edged sword perhaps.

[Lamrock]

I love the signing. Gives them a decent point guard, another guy who can create his own shot and can get Oden the ball. I think having Miller to get him the ball, along with other factors will make him give Anthony Randolph a run for his money in the Most Improved race.

[shadowgrin]

Nooo. It means the Sixers now suck. Lou Williams better step his game up. Jamaal Tinsley? Gawd no. He'll eat up Jrue's minutes.

[Lamrock]

A lottery pick is better than losing in 6 in the first round every year. Everybody except RealGM, who perplexingly had him at third on their draft boards, thinks Jrue is mediocre, while Lou Williams is nothing special.

[The X]

I will admit that the 'Dre signing is a lot better than the attempted Hedo & Millsap signings....at least Miller fills a need & makes everybody else better....I think KP dodged a bullet with Hedo doing the bolt....still don't understand how you give Hedo a 5 year deal but won't give Roy one

[benji]

while Lou Williams is nothing special.

He's 22, cheaper, not terribly worse and good enough to start. No reason to copy the Hawks and overpay a guy who's only going to get worse, especially if you have a decade younger guy to replace him.

still don't understand how you give Hedo a 5 year deal but won't give Roy one

I don't understand why anyone would ever pay him $10 million a season. Let alone for five years.

[The X]

still don't understand how you give Hedo a 5 year deal but won't give Roy one

I don't understand why anyone would ever pay him $10 million a season. Let alone for five years.

Agreed. Don't understand either how he is worth 5 year, $50 million deal but David Lee isn't going to get a sniff near that. If Lee was from Europe, he'd play on the Raptors & already have a 5 year, $60 million deal

[Lamrock]

I prefer Millsap to Aldridge, and I would've loved for Utah to not match and the Blazers to trade LMA for a PG. Problem with Williams was his slight regression last season. Not sure if there were any other factors to consider, but he played almost the same minutes, but his shooting percentages went down... Also with a guy who plays backup minutes, you can never be certain how he'll hold up playing 30-35 a night, be it fatigue or injuries. Ben Gordon's MPG averages in his rookie year weren't in the twenties because Skiles didn't want to play him.

[benji]

To be honest, I do understand. He was on a Finals team, and the media in their rush to focus on two or three players anointed him a God, even though he was hurting the team in my opinion FROM WATCHING THE GAMES. (Statistically, I would say he hurt the team less, but then I watched a bunch of playoff games.) And some GMs are buying into his "cred" like Ben Gordon got even though both are basically just average players with a couple above average or exceptional skills. (While doing basically zero things outside of those.)

I mean you had people a year ago accrediting him for all of Dwight Howard's development. And now people are writing off Orlando due to swapping him for Carter, even though there's essentially zero that Turkoglu does better than Carter. Including passing and handling the ball.

Also with a guy who plays backup minutes, you can never be certain how he'll hold up playing 30-35 a night, be it fatigue or injuries.

Unless he's overweight and out of shape (Sweetney, Curry, etc.) or has some strange addiction to fouling everyone in the arena (Fortson) 96% of the time you can be.

[Lamrock]

Apparently there was a 97% chance Hedo Turkoglu was going to sign with the Blazers. You never know.

[benji]

But you should already know from my teachings that shooting percentages are the most volatile statistic and that you shouldn't project anything on it based on one season. Especially with a young player. Williams shot 51% last year compared to 52% the year before and for his career. Hardly a crisis. He more or less had the same season as a year prior. His possession usage rate changed gobs more than his shooting did.

[Lamrock]

It seems like if he got more possessions to use, his win shares would go up, not down. He had a slightly worse season than last, not a crisis, but there was no real reason for that to happen. Jameer Nelson went through something similar (but on a far larger scale) in his third season, and now he's an all-star. (albeit one make of glass) But yeah, point dropped. Hopefully for their sake they don't hit the panic button and sign Jamaal Tinsley.

[benji]

It seems like if he got more possessions to use, his win shares would go up, not down.

Not necessarily, especially when your team's defense drops two points. Williams season was shockingly unchanged from the year before. Which means:

but there was no real reason for that to happen

Other than shooting fluctuations which appears to explain entirely the difference, and as we know, means little on the players actual performance.

They could use a viable backup for him, and Tinsley of old would be alright especially if Williams implodes, but I suspect there's a number of cheaper options that will work as well.

We have to consider that Williams and Holiday are their future at the guard slots anyway. No reason not to play them. It's not like they can get a Billups or Rondo or Paul, nor the team contend anytime soon.

[Lamrock]

I honestly have no idea where the Sixers are going. I think the Elton Brand signing broke the team, because he eats up a quarter of the team's cap room for the next 4 years, but is clearly a poor fit and will be the only core player who isn't a young prospect. They could try to trade him, but the contract is looking more and more like Kenyon Martin's. If they can get say, JOEC (Jermaine O'Neal's underrated expiring contract) for Elton Brand and maybe Kapono or some other expendable player to match salaries, they should just go for it.

Not to mention their two perceived best players are both SF's. (Iguodala certainly isn't a 2, while Young at the 4 is a joke)