3rd pick for Alridge straight up!!!

[SmooveTheFuture]

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Put it this way say we stay with our 3rd pick. Would you rather Have Brandon Wright who is a PF, Yi who is a SF/PF shooting big man or Conley who people think doesnt deserve to be picked at 3. Or would you rather LaMarcus alridge a 6-11 player who can play in the post and blocks shots me perssonally would take Alridge over any of these players because it fills a huge need at center. Alridge and Smith in the paint rebounding and blocking shots would make this team so much better.

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Aldridge is no more of a C than Al Horford.

He was a PF/C prospect just like Yi, Noah, and Horford are listed.

But all of a sudden he's some true center according to all of you.

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Your kidding right Alridge can and does play in the POST Yi plays on the outside he is a poor mans dirk who is a project he is not proven. Noah im not even begin to talk about this guy is the Next coming of Andreson Vareajo. You are comparting all of these guys to Alridge thats really funny. Alridge is like 6'11 7'0 who rebounds and blocks shots something centers do in this league. This Al Horford isnt even 6'9 and your telling me he can play center in the NBA HAH. This guy is Shelden Williams all over an unsized PF. Just look at this picture. Alridge is the real deal and is better then all these players you named hands down.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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Your kidding right Alridge can and does play in the POST Yi plays on the outside he is a poor mans dirk who is a project he is not proven. Noah im not even begin to talk about this guy is the Next coming of Andreson Vareajo. You are comparting all of these guys to Alridge thats really funny. Alridge is like 6'11 7'0 who rebounds and blocks shots something centers do in this league. This Al Horford isnt even 6'9 and your telling me he can play center in the NBA HAH. This guy is Shelden Williams all over an unsized PF. Just look at this picture. Alridge is the real deal and is better then all these players you named hands down.

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Well NBA scouts would disagree with your assessment.

You mention the Height of Aldridge but height doesn't make a C just like you guys always mention for Yi.

Fact of the matter is the way Horford plays in the post it makes his game closer to a C than Aldridge.

Aldridge has a finesse game in the post which is why Dickie V indirectly called him out for playing like he's 6'6-6'7.

Horford plays like a 7 footer and if he turns out to be 6'10 there really can't be any arguments made against his height and there certainly can't be any arguments against his strength because he's easily as strong as Aldridge if not more so.

Aldridge is a guy who's been labeled soft since HS. Horford has looked like a man amongst boys and he's a much better prospect than Shelden Williams and you know it.

Shelden wouldn't sniff the top 5 in this draft and neither would Aldridge.

[AtLaS]

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But all of a sudden he's some true center according to all of you. That is not even remotely true.

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Considering Aldridge played the majority of his minutes at the center position and was successful, I'd say he's a center.

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He surprised people with how he played this year in the league but no way would he have been taken 3rd overall.

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WTF does this matter? Boozer was taken in the 2nd round, are you saying someone wouldn't have traded a high 2nd for him the next year after an impressive rookie season? The bottom line is that Aldridge is RIGHT NOW worth a #3 pick.

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He wouldn't have even been drafted over Joakim Noah if Noah came out.

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Again, Aldridge's value LAST YEAR has nothing to do with now. What matters is his value RIGHT NOW.

It really doesn't matter though because Portland would never do it, ALL of their fans absolutely hate the idea of trading Aldridge for anything involving #3.

[Highpozt]

I agree --- Understanding that it is Portland that wants Conley we should milk as much as we can. In fact Hawks would be satisfied to keep Conley so the Portland deal has to be sweet for us to give him up --- at least the Hawks should not show their cards. If we get Aldridge then we still really don't have a true Center but with him and ZaZa we could be formidable in the front court. The 11th pick could then be used on

Acie Law.

A Law/Claxton/Salim

JJ/Child/Salim

MW/JC

JS/SW/SJ

Aldridge/ZaZa/Lo Wright

[SmooveTheFuture]

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I agree --- Understanding that it is Portland that wants Conley we should milk as much as we can. In fact Hawks would be satisfied to keep Conley so the Portland deal has to be sweet for us to give him up --- at least the Hawks should not show their cards. If we get Aldridge then we still really don't have a true Center but with him and ZaZa we could be formidable in the front court. The 11th pick could then be used on

Acie Law.

A Law/Claxton/Salim

JJ/Child/Salim

MW/JC

JS/SW/SJ

Aldridge/ZaZa/Lo Wright

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Again why are people in love with this Acie Law. The guy is a chucker, scorer and shooter. He is not a play maker or a true PG we need a guy who can a run the team at high level. I find it really hard to believe that Acie Law is that guy. This guy is Salim but a couple inches taller no thanks. He has a shoot 1st scorer type of mentality we do not need this on ball club. We need the mind site of guys like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd , Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Pgs who will find the open man at all costs and dont look to shoot 1st. Acie Law is not the guy for us folks.

[Guest Walter]

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I really think Alridge is enough because if Alridge was in the draft he would be 3rd player taken overall so its pretty much drafting him str8 up.

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I don't know about that. He was picked 2nd last year, but that draft had absolutely nothing up top. He'd be a mid to high-lotto pick this year, I think.

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Aldridge might have been the 3rd pick in this draft after another season but absolutely, definately no later than 5th.

[ncthompson11]

"Yep, only because I believe drafting him = losing Josh Smith.

... I need to make it bigger though."

I figured because of the huge ears.

[Peoriabird]

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We need the mind site of guys like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd , Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Pgs who will find the open man at all costs and dont look to shoot 1st. Acie Law is not the guy for us folks.

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You guys act like the Hawks players were not getting open shots last year. I review at least 15 random games from last year that revealed that the Hawks got plenty of open shots but just didn't make them especially Speedy Claxton. teams gave Claxton any shot he wanted but he couldn't make them. Teams gave Wright any shot he wanted! Teams gave Shelden any outside shot he wanted! Royal Ivey, Aj, Solo and the list goes on and on!! The only players that teams we told to guard closely on the Hawk's team were Joe, Marvin, Lue, and Stoudamire. Other teams encouraged Josh Smith to take outside shots. We need shooters period!

[sturt]

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I wonder if this is a possibility and with the 11th pick we get a pg.

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Same as I just said to Ex... you want $30,000 for your car, a guy offers you $15,000 for it... then, you walk away... it's just too far from the initial asking price.

Whether anyone here does or not, BK evidently places substantially greater value on the pick.

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And that's how you come to common ground that both sides can agree upon. Back and forth. And I wouldn't expect anything less from the first offer.

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I didn't mean to imply otherwise, though on re-reading, I see that I did a lousy job of finishing up what I meant to convey.

Indeed, you do go back and forth... but you're certainly going to look to end up closer to the middle than to the other guy's side...

Look, Aldridge has proven himself to be a decent lottery pick. He has NOT proven himself to be a sure-fire NBA All-Star. With the #3 pick, that potential that the pick could emerge as an All-Star practically always has to be a factor in any trade talks. Yi's presence in this draft, in particular, seems to be salient to the discussion.

That's why Aldridge, whose ceiling is better understood now, can be and should be valued less than the #3 pick.

[SmooveTheFuture]

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We need the mind site of guys like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd , Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Pgs who will find the open man at all costs and dont look to shoot 1st. Acie Law is not the guy for us folks.

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You guys act like the Hawks players were not getting open shots last year. I review at least 15 random games from last year that revealed that the Hawks got plenty of open shots but just didn't make them especially Speedy Claxton. teams gave Claxton any shot he wanted but he couldn't make them. Teams gave Wright any shot he wanted! Teams gave Shelden any outside shot he wanted! Royal Ivey, Aj, Solo and the list goes on and on!! The only players that teams we told to guard closely on the Hawk's team were Joe, Marvin, Lue, and Stoudamire. Other teams encouraged Josh Smith to take outside shots. We need shooters period!

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Guard Marvin closely? what are you smoking this guy was left wide open just about every game. You act like this guy is a good shooter what did he shoot on the year 43%. I remeber many games going 2-10 clanking shots left and right. I dont know what teams you are talking about that were told to guad Marvin Williams close because he is not a great shooter at all. Im pretty teams were told guard Joe Johnson tight let there other players beat you. Speedy Claxton cant shoot we all know that but cmon do you really want another shooting PG if he doesnt get his shots will throw fits like Stoudamire no thanks. We have alot of players who like to shoot the ball including our center Zaza we dont need any more esp. coming from the point guard spot.

[Peoriabird]

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You act like this guy is a good shooter what did he shoot on the year 43%. I remeber many games going 2-10 clanking shots left and right. I dont know what teams you are talking about that were told to guad Marvin Williams close because he is not a great shooter at all.

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At the end of training camp, Marvin broke a bone in his non shooting hand which affected his shooting percentage. Toward the end of the season, his shooting percentage improve. But that wasn't my point. My point is that as a whole, the Hawks are a poor shooting team from the perimeter which makes its easy to defend them. Just pack the middle, trap Joe and force the other players to shoot Jump shots. That usually forced the hawks to shoot a low percentage. If you can remember early in the season before Lue was injured the Hawks were very competitive. Once Lue got hurt in December, the season went down the toilet.

[sturt]

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And given what's been reported about BK's initial offer (#3 for Ald,Jack,#1-2008),

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That wasn't BK's initial offer anyway. The extra first round pick wasn't added until we added another player to the deal.

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Maybe there's a discrepency in sources here. Unfortunately, I was on vacation last week, and I can't go back in my history file to see where I read that... but if memory serves correctly, it was maybe a Yahoo story that referenced the LA Times story. What I do remember explicitly is that Jack was quoted in it.

Feel free to help me out if you know something I don't.

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Aldridge is easily better than anyone available at 3 (and BK believes this judging by the thread you quoted) so why would they give up Jack and a future 1st as well? That is ridiculous.

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(Ex, that sales job didn't work out for ya, eh?)

(Go figure.)

Whether Aldridge is better than Conley is just short of completely immaterial.

It's not even that complicated.

Whether Pritchard wants Conley more than having Aldridge, Jack, and his 2008 #1...

THAT is practially the whole enchilada consideration.

Now, why is it that and not your proposition that it's a matter of Aldridge's value vs. the #3?

Simple.

Knight holds more and better cards (read "options") than Pritchard.

Pritchard's absolute best shot at gaining Oden's sidekick is cooperating with Knight. In fact, it's the ONLY goof-proof way, short of convincing Seattle to work out something.

Knight can select Conley for his own.

Knight can deal the pick to any other team that enters the arena and covets Conley.

If Pritchard were simply dealing for the #3 pick, that would change that dynamic... but clearly he's not, so it's not changing.

Put another way, a "win" for BK in this situation isn't nearly so narrowly defined as it is for Pritchard... BK can go a number of routes, and end up with a booty worthy of optimism... if Pritchard chooses to pursue this, at least until BK's lieutenant hands his card to Stern on draft night, he has but one really good route... ie, to deal with BK.

Therefore, in contrast to the inclination of those who seem to castigate BK with all of the forethought that Mike Vick gave to dog fighting, BK is completely the prudent salesman to let the PTL bid come to him.

Hope this clarifies things.

I'm sure it will.

[Guest Walter]

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Knight holds more and better cards (read "options") than Pritchard.

Pritchard's absolute best shot at gaining Oden's sidekick is cooperating with Knight. In fact, it's the ONLY goof-proof way, short of convincing Seattle to work out something.

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1) I'm not sure Pritchard wants Conley. Pritchard may be just making it seem that way to get on the good side of Oden. "We tried real hard big fella. We offered a 24/10 player and Jack for him. I can't offer more without you and everyone paying for it. I'm sorry." Pritchard has 2, maybe 3 Pg prospects already. He doesn't want another and frankly Conley isn't all that. Pritchard knows that as well.

2) Any team with the #1 pick has the best cards.

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Put another way, a "win" for BK in this situation isn't nearly so narrowly defined as it is for Pritchard... BK can go a number of routes, and end up with a booty worthy of optimism... if Pritchard chooses to pursue this, at least until BK's lieutenant hands his card to Stern on draft night, he has but one really good route... ie, to deal with BK.

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1) That's a big I-F. I don't believe Pritchard wants a 3rd to 4th Pg prospect that badly, is only putting on a show that won't cost him much, and wouldn't even know Conley existed were it not for Oden.

2) I think Pritchard has many good routes and they all involve waiting to see how the draft plays out. Oden isn't going to do anything if Pritchard doesn't get Conley. That's a booty worth of optimism. If Conley continues to struggle from the free throw line distance, his draft stock falls, and his price becomes reasonable, then Pritchard can get him and look like a hero to Oden. He's already "tried" with us. He already looks like the good guy. We made a ridiculous offer. Pritchard gets to walk away saying he tried. That's ALL he needed out of this. Not a single thing more.

W

[exodus]

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Whether Pritchard wants Conley more than having Aldridge, Jack, and his 2008 #1...

THAT is practially the whole enchilada consideration.

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That is nonsense. That is like asking us if we value smith more than the 21st pick. complete nonsense.

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Knight holds more and better cards (read "options") than Pritchard.

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Now i know you are completely lost. They have quality bigs and pgs. We have neigther unless you count Smith as a big. They have 2pgs better than anyone we have.

From what i have read from their camp Conley isn't even their main target. apparently they really want a good sf. If they can make a trade for a proven small forward and get Conley then that is a bonus.

They are also looking at trades with people drafting after us so the can get Green or Julian Wright.

Our leverage with them is NOT the 3rd pick.

First is because we have sf's with NBA experience who they know can produce.

Secondly they are probably well aware than Aldridges game probably won't mesh with Odens on offense. They also know that Randolph, who they want to trade, has a bad contract that will be tough to move. Also randolphs game would mesh better with Oden.

So the idea that they would give up so much just for the 3rd pick is complete nonsense.

[sturt]

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1) I'm not sure Pritchard wants Conley.

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I stopped right here, W.

Of course, that's because, if KP doesn't want Conley, then this whole discussion is moot.

If one wants to obtain Aldridge for #3 + five starters... Pritchard has to want Conley, or it's futile.

(Okay, I overstate the point to hyperbole, but surely the point is understood. The discussion in this thread is practically completely moot if KP isn't fishing for Conley.)

[sturt]

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Whether Pritchard wants Conley more than having Aldridge, Jack, and his 2008 #1...

THAT is practially the whole enchilada consideration.

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That is nonsense. That is like asking us if we value smith more than the 21st pick. complete nonsense.

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No, that is nonsense.

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Knight holds more and better cards (read "options") than Pritchard.

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Now i know you are completely lost. They have quality bigs and pgs. We have neigther unless you count Smith as a big. They have 2pgs better than anyone we have.

From what i have read from their camp Conley isn't even their main target. apparently they really want a good sf. If they can make a trade for a proven small forward and get Conley then that is a bonus.

They are also looking at trades with people drafting after us so the can get Green or Julian Wright.

Our leverage with them is NOT the 3rd pick.

First is because we have sf's with NBA experience who they know can produce.

Secondly they are probably well aware than Aldridges game probably won't mesh with Odens on offense. They also know that Randolph, who they want to trade, has a bad contract that will be tough to move. Also randolphs game would mesh better with Oden.

So the idea that they would give up so much just for the 3rd pick is complete nonsense.

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No, that is nonsense.

(Is this really all there is to debating you, Ex?... "nonsense" this, "nonsense" that?... It's like a Pee Wee Herman conversation... "I know you are so what am I?")

But seriously... there's no reason to get very serious with us at #3 if they're not targeting someone at #3... I'll grant you that it doesn't have to be Conley, but it does have to be someone that they, for some reason, aren't confident will be there at a lower pick... that's just... common sense.

As to "what you (or anyone else) is 'hearing'"... pre-draft is, by nature and by conventional wisdom, a shell game. If PTL wants Conley, why on earth would they promote that... and same coin, different side, why wouldn't they work to promote any misinformation they could?

I have no wire taps, you have none... who knows for sure what they really want... except that, we do have confirmation of ONE conversation that centered on (1) Conley, (2) Jack, and (3) Aldridge.

Anything beyond that is but a rumor, put forward by someone who had an agenda for putting it forward.

And just to put a capper on that first "nonsense" comment: for PTL, it's about what the #3 pick is worth to the roster Pritchard is putting together in contrast to what he would be giving up... You can't debate that. It's just irrefutably and simply how it is. Everything else is but a smokescreen to that end-of-the-day analysis. Period.

Now, Pritchard is completely free to decide it's NOT worth it... and he may counter-offer... but he'll counter-offer according to what he considers to be a trade-off that will minimize the subtraction to his roster and maximize the addition. He may offer as a persuasive (sales) technique reasons to BK why he thinks the value is this or that... but just as Pritchard, BK, too will ultimately decide based on the impact to his roster, not on any convoluted calculation of the value of pick #3 in 2007 versus pick #2 in 2006.

[exodus]

I have to seriously question how much you know about basketball after that post.

Portland has quality young players at EVERY position EXCEPT sf. We have small forwards out the ass.

Their fans have been coming to us all year on the realgm board with trade proposals for our small forwards. And this excerpt from Fords blog in Orlando is further evidence that their main interest is the small forward position.

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Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard is the most popular guy in Orlando. He's been engaged in discussion after discussion all week.

No, he's not giving up the No. 1 pick in the draft, though I did hear from a good source that he's been offered two different All-Stars for the pick.

It appears he's trying to find a way to move a player (read: Zach Randolph) or two off the roster while simultaneously acquiring another draft pick.

His goal is most likely not point guard Mike Conley, but one of the draft's elite small forwards. Corey Brewer is at the top of the list, but Pritchard also likes Jeff Green, Julian Wright and Al Thornton.

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Their motivation is PRIMARILY to get a small forward and if they can upgrade their pg position in the deal and bring in Oden's sidekick then great. The reality is that they have the pg position fairly well covered with Jack/Sergio/Roy. Would Conley be an upgrade over Jack? Probably but not enough of an upgrade to give up Aldridge.

There is ZERO chance that they would trade Aldridge for the 3rd pick. Just like there is no chance that we would trade Josh Smith for the 21st pick.

The benefit to them dealing with us is that our small forwards have NBA experience so they know what they would be getting.

Portland has a roster loaded with young talent at the key positions yet somehow BK has better cards?

[hawk25]

Blazers Say There Is No Pursuit Of Conley Jr

30th May, 2007 - 7:24 am

The Oregonian -

The Portland Trail Blazers suspect most of the misinformation flying around about their phantom pursuit of Mike Conley Jr. is coming from Camp Conley, which is run by Mike Conley Sr, The Oregonian is reporting.

There is no pursuit, the Blazers said. They like Conley Jr., but they like their young nucleus even more.

While it's true, a team source said, that the Blazers had a conversation with the Atlanta Hawks about their No. 3 pick, it was a single conversation that went nowhere fast.

The Hawks apparently wanted two young Blazers (LaMarcus Aldridge and Jarrett Jack) along with Portland's first pick in 2008 as part of the trade.

[mrhonline]

I think we're seeing some serious posturing on both sides.

IMHO, the push from Oden's camp is real, as are the Hawks' out-of-this-world demands. But I also think the Hawks really WANT LaMarcus Aldridge more than any other available player in this year draft.

I still think a LMA/#3 deal can get done. And I hope it does.

[exodus]

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But I also think the Hawks really WANT LaMarcus Aldridge more than any other available player in this year draft.

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I agree, but it will take more than the 3rd pick to bring LMA here. LMA (or LMA/Jack) for the 3rd makes absolutely no sense from their pov.

I would say the best case scenario would be 3/Chill for Aldridge/Jack. And i seriously doubt they would do that.