Sam Smith on Hawes, PTL, Magloire etc

[beav]

Posted by Casey Holdahl June 08, 2007 10:58AM

Categories: Trade rumors

Sam Smith answers a couple Blazer-related questions today. Chicago seems to be quite interested in Portland these days. Here goes:

I'm a UW Husky grad, fan, season ticket-holder. I can tell you that Spencer Hawes is a stud not unlike Brandon Roy. It hasn't been seen, because he was sick, lost a lot of weight, played alongside a rebounding machine in John Brockman and was forced to play an uptempo game. But when the ball was in his hands he delivered. He simply manhandled Aaron Gray of Pitt heads up and showed his range with a overtime forcing three-pointer against USC. He should be the third pick in the draft and the team that lands him will find a player much like Roy -- skilled, athletic and of high character. --Marc Taylor, Seattle

As long as you have no bias. I assume he's on the Bulls' radar, but he is awfully raw. At No. 9, he fits the profile of the kind of player the Bulls need, a potential low-post scorer. But I've heard he's exceptionally weak and obviously inexperienced and Aaron Gray is a second rounder, anyway. No one consults me on these things, but I'd pass since I think he is way too far away and given the Bulls' situation and the way the East is, I see the Bulls needing more immediate help.

This is barely has anything to do with the Blazers, but I thought it hilarious that someone would try to compare Spencer Hawes to Brandon Roy. Smith sniffs out the bunk pretty fast on this one, but I'll dispute some of Marc from Seattle's points as well:

-- If the word "stud" is now a synonym for "played at UW", then yes, both Hawes and Roy are studs. If it means anything else, then this statement is false.

-- Spencer Hawes is at least two years away from being able to contribute in the NBA. Brandon Roy was NBA-ready.

-- John Brockman might have been a "rebounding machine" but he's also a good FIVE INCHES SHORTER than Hawes. So if a guy who's almost half a foot shorter than you is a far better rebounder, what does that say about your skills? Not much.

-- No one, and I mean no one, would takes Hawes with the third pick. Nor should they. That's just foolishness.

-- Hawes may be skilled (at least in a 7-footer who plays away from the basket kind of way) and of high character, but he's not athletic, certainly not Brandon Roy athletic.

So basically if you want to give it up for Spencer Hawes, that's cool, but don't try to do it by comparing him to Brandon Roy. That husky won't hunt.

On to the next question.

The word out here is that Zach Randolph just needs to be surrounded by good people to behave and the Bulls might provide that. But my question is what do you think about the Bulls getting Przybilla instead? He plays hard, defends, can score when called upon and has a good attitude. Sure he's not a big scorer, but he might be the best 7-1 guy realistically available right now. -- Andrew Heckman, Portland, Ore.

Seems too injury prone to me. He was in Milwaukee out of college and always hobbled. He's making reasonably big money now and is a non-scoring center. The Bulls already have one of those.

That's pretty much right, except I don't know if I would call Joel's contract "reasonably big money." Joel is a tad bit injury prone and certainly not the offensive post-presences that the Bulls are looking for. Besides, I don't think the Blazers have any interest in trading Przybilla.

Next.

What happened to Jamaal Magloire? He used to be decent and now entering his prime (age wise) is dropping of? What about a trade of Carter for Kirilenko? And what exactly was the reason Viktor Khryapa has not gotten much playing time? -- Nick Hantke, Wurzburg, Germany

It seemed Magloire was more athletic at one time. Now he's an offensive black hole with mechanical moves around the basket -- too slow for the game these days. I don't fully know what happened with Khryapa, but he got on Skiles' bad side and never recovered. I do respect him for his professionalism all during the frustrating period. Vince is a free agent and while there can be a sign and trade, I doubt Utah is his choice destination. He could be going to Orlando as he's from Daytona Beach.

Watching Jamaal Magloire's appearance in the All-Star game really reminds you just how far Big Cat's fitness and general approach to the game have diminished. He did use to be athletic, relatively quick for a big guy and more or less fluid around the basket. Will he did step it up eventually, we never saw anything like that from Jamaal this year.

As far as Khryapa goes, if Skiles has beef with Viktor then that's on Skiles. It's not like he's a great player or anything, but he always plays hard, unselfishly and never complains. And it's not like Vik asked to go to Chicago, Chicago asked for Vik. If Skiles has a problem with that, he should take it up with Paxson.

Finally, since we're talking about Chicago, I thought I'd post a comment by "sickduck" that I thought was rather intuitive:

Hmm... The Bulls are working out Acie Law and Crittenton when they have Kurt, Duhon and Gordon? Those are two guys that won't work out for Portland that would definitely fit the PG need. I'm thinking Chicago is doing us a favor by bringing those guys in and that a trade to Chicago for the #9 and Nocioni(sp?) for Zach Randolph looks like it may be happening.

Interesting take. The Bulls could probably use another point guard, as everything I've heard and read indicates that Chris Duhon's days in the Windy City are numbered, but you figure they'd rather draft a big before picking a position that they've already got locked up.

[DrReality]

Are you the real Theodore Cleaver?

Good to have you on the other side of the country giving us the scoop.

[beav]

Quote:

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Are you the real Theodore Cleaver?

Good to have you on the other side of the country giving us the scoop.

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LOL! Naah just a wanna-be Theodore Cleaver. The really ironic thing is that I'm more of a Ducks fan than a Beavers fan.

I actually grew up a hawks fan and used to live in ATL, have been out here about 10 years though and learned to love the Blazers too.