A couple weeks ago, after taking a bad, bad loss to Memphis on the road, Brandon Roy complained about his role and the team. Then, he apologized. Now, some think the Blazers should trade him away. Some think that the Blazers should move everyone else but Brandon, and reinforce the roster around him.
Yesterday, ESPN's Ric Bucher was on Primetime with Isaac Ropp and talked about some of what he's been hearing around the league regarding the Blazers. He said that the problems between Andre Miller and B-Roy are the reason why the Blazers want to get rid of one of them and make some moves. Bucher said:
"What I'm hearing, essentially, is that not only are teams calling Portland but that Portland is being very aggressive calling other teams. Not just with Brandon Roy, but basically saying, 'outside of Nicolas Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge everybody and anybody is available on that roster to make a deal.' They're not looking to tear it down as much as to rebuild it and solidify their situation, particularly making the playoffs, especially in light of what Phoenix has done, which most people look at and say that Phoenix has bolstered their chances of making the playoffs."Then he mentioned possibly making a deal with the Orlando Magic:
He then said something that sent chills down my spine as a Blazer fan. When asked about the freedom that GM Rich Cho has to pull off a deal, Bucher said, ""It remains to be seen just how much flexibility Rich Cho has as the GM, in terms of doing what he wants to do rather than doing what Paul Allen, Bert Kolde and the very top of the organization wants to do." Pretty much, Rich Cho is in charge of a whole lot of nothin'."One of the deals, just in discussing with GM's, Orlando obviously with the trades that they've made are looking for another big man. I don't know if they could unilaterally trade for a guy like Marcus Camby, but say if you put together a package of Jameer Nelson and Brandon Bass for Marcus Camby and Andre Miller, I believe the numbers work, I'd have to go back and look. I think JJ Redick's name was thrown in there. The feeling is that Jameer Nelson would actually operate better playing alongside Brandon Roy if you decide you're going to continue to go down that path. You'd resolve the issues between Andre Miller and Brandon Roy. You'd get some additional toughness on the front line with Brandon Bass. I don't know if that's necessarily ideal, but that's one of the type of deals that's out there."
Sooo that's awesome. Right? Let's all depend on the guy who fell in love with Darius Miles, and threw piles and piles of money at him, to allow the GM of the team to trade approved players to approved teams for approved players in return. It just doesn't seem like that is what's going to get Portland from a 5-8 seed in the Western Conference to a 1-4 seed.
As a fan, yes, I know that Paul Allen is a control freak, to put it mildly. But I also thought that he was hiring Rich Cho and bringing in some new blood so that the Blazers could, more or less, wheel and deal. I'm not saying trade everyone, but they have to trade someone right? Brandon, LaMarcus, Przybilla, Andre Miller, Batum. Someone. Anyone.
If you're looking to be smart, you would want to trade Brandon Roy instead of LaMarcus Aldridge. The simple fact is that B-Roy's knees aren't getting any better or younger. I don't know who they could get back in return, but whoever it is, he has to be able to blend with LaMarcus. Personally, I think LaMarcus' great play as of late has to be explored more.
I never thought I'd say it, but as a Blazer fan, I really don't care who they trade, just as long as it makes the team better and whoever they get has a great set of knees. I'm a little bit weary of the "waiting and maturing" stage this team has been in since Oden was drafted. In my mind, no one is off limits. I just want to see a deal get done.
[ BlazersEdge -- ESPN's Ric Bucher Talks Trades, Roy, Miller, Cho on 1080 AM ]
