Second chance at Jarrett Jack?

[beav]

Jack may be the odd man out?

Blake leaving Nuggets, has deal with Portland

* Nuggets lose Blake

* Atkins likely to sign today with Nuggets

* Magic sign Howard to 5-year extension

* Ex-Ram Smith signs with 76ers

* Wallace reaches agreement to remain with Bobcats

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

July 13, 2007

Steve Blake is heading to Portland, meaning he won't have to travel far to join his new team.

The free-agent point guard said today he has agreed to a three-year deal with the Trail Blazers. Though a Florida native, Blake and his family make their offseason home in Portland.

Blake averaged 8.3 points and 6.6 assists in 49 games with the Nuggets last season. He was willing to return to Denver but opted for Portland as the Nuggets were on the verge of finalizing a contract with guard Chucky Atkins.

"That's OK, if that's the direction they want to go," Blake said in a brief phone interview. "I just decided to go back to Portland."

Blake, 27, made $1.33 million last season and was seeking a starting salary close to the NBA's $5.35 million midlevel exception.

In addition to having a home in Portland, Blake is familiar with the local NBA franchise. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 assists for the Blazers in 2005-06.

[sturt]

Didn't see that one coming.... as if POR needs another point guard?

[djcorley]

What would the deal be...I think Chillz is too much to give up for Jarrett Jack...It would have to Jarrett Jack and Another piece...maybe a to 10 protected number one in 08' for Chillz...I think I would accept something like that...

What kinda deal could we put together for him and now that we've got Acie...Would we still want him?

I we got him we'd have to unload AJ and TLue..I think AJ is all but outta here anyway...

Jarrett back the Atlanta? How do we make it happen?

[DrReality]

Looks like they could use a two guard. How about we trade Chill and Salim for Jack and Pryz. Don't know if they would go for it. Gives us what we need.

[dakast]

How bout giving them the expiring contracts of T. Lue and A.J.?

That would give us Acie Law/ Speedy Claxton/ Jarrett Jack at the point guard position.

[DJlaysitup]

I would love that...I think we have to be a bit realistic about Acie as a rookie PG, he should be great but we need to see him for a 1/2 season or so before we really know. Speedy is a good initial starter but it might take the combo of Speedy and JJack due to Speedy's knees.

Speedy/JJack/Acie would be a great PG lineup to start the season with IMO - toss the other guys as best we can.

[cowa]

I've been preaching this on other blogs. The combo of Jack and Przybilla is exactly what this team needs. And Portland was/should have been looking to move Przybilla and his 4 contract years all along. But they have 3 1/2 PGs, they're probably not looking to bring back any. The best deal from their perspective is actually Chills & Lo Wright. Wright has an expiring contract and is a good locker room presence. Salaries work as well. Best thing to do would be to work in a 3 way to move a PG in the deal as well. If not, we'd be looking at Jack/Speedy/Lue/AJ/Law, as well as Salim part time at the point! Would add a lot of D though, and would give us a lot of tradeable assets.

On top of this, we could sign Jarvis Hayes into Chills slot and not have to worry about overpaying Chills come next year.

[Nicholasp27]

i'd like to get jack, but not at expense of Chill...

we need a 2/3 backup, and chill is one of best in league at that role...

too bad they won't want lue/aj/lo for jack...maybe a 3-way with a team that wants lue/aj/lo for vet presence and expiring contract

[beav]

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How bout giving them the expiring contracts of T. Lue and A.J.?

That would give us Acie Law/ Speedy Claxton/ Jarrett Jack at the point guard position.

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that would pretty much make zero sense as both contracts are more than Jack's (I think that he is making just over one mil per year) and neither player is half as good...

[DJlaysitup]

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...we need a 2/3 backup, and chill is one of best in league at that role...

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Not sure if I agree there. We have to remember that JChillz simply cannot get his shot off without a major kickout/setup. It's just a fact. Otherwise he does good stuff but if you need offense all you are gonna get from JC is hustle/garbage baskets if the other team is playing solid man defense.

I would prefer a player who can shoot at the apex of his jump and make them play him fairly on the wing. Don't get me wrong - JC is a solid pro - but maybe not what this team needs right now since we had the worst offense in the league last year. One of the main reasons JC has such a high shooting percentage is that he doesn't/can't shoot unless he is wide open.

Thanks to another poster we also realize that JC has one of the highest "getting his shot blocked" percentages in the league.

[Peoriabird]

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We have to remember that JChillz simply cannot get his shot off without a major kickout/setup. One of the main reasons JC has such a high shooting percentage is that he doesn't/can't shoot unless he is wide open.

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Very uninformed statement but I'll play. The above statement would imply that J Chill has never scored inside in traffic, driven the lane or posted up! Just total nonsense. But I guess this is the nature of Hawks message boards! Every player on the team has someone who doesn't like them and will make up stuff to try to make them look bad. Just last night when Law had a bad shooting, one poster started ranting that we waisted a 1st round pick on him and he would never be a starting point guard in the NBA based on one half of summer league play. But yet if he were on another team, the same poster might post a trade to get him to the Hawks. Negative thinking is a disease! Get help!

[DrReality]

Since Blake was signed there has been a lot of chatter on the Port blog on Realgm. They are talking about getting Turkoglu for Pryz.

I hate that we missed out on the trade for Jackie Butler. Houston didn't give that much.

[AtLaS]

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The above statement would imply that J Chill has never scored inside in traffic, driven the lane or posted up! Just total nonsense.

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That's not true at all. Childress doesn't post up, period. and he can't get his shot off by creating it for himself. I'm not bashing Childress, he's one of my favorite players on this team but he can't get his shot off. He's most effective by moving without the ball, hustling, driving to the basket, getting rebounds, and making open 3s from the corner. Creating his shot is not a strong point.

[Nicholasp27]

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...we need a 2/3 backup, and chill is one of best in league at that role...

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Not sure if I agree there. We have to remember that JChillz simply cannot get his shot off without a major kickout/setup. It's just a fact. Otherwise he does good stuff but if you need offense all you are gonna get from JC is hustle/garbage baskets if the other team is playing solid man defense.

I would prefer a player who can shoot at the apex of his jump and make them play him fairly on the wing. Don't get me wrong - JC is a solid pro - but maybe not what this team needs right now since we had the worst offense in the league last year. One of the main reasons JC has such a high shooting percentage is that he doesn't/can't shoot unless he is wide open.

Thanks to another poster we also realize that JC has one of the highest "getting his shot blocked" percentages in the league.

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a) it's great to have a 15ppg player who can get those 15ppg without having any plays ran for him; every player on the team can't get 20 shots/game

b) he doesn't need to be kicked-out-to or setup...he is the only one who moves without the ball and makes cuts under the basket for easy scores

c) he is also one of our best perimeter defenders; he gets to guard lebron so jj doesn't get worn out doing it and can do better on offense

d) he's a great rebounder and stealer and a good passer

e) he does the little things that get us wins; the WINS stat shows he's more valuable than iggy/deng in actually contributing to winning games

f) season before last, when uninjured, he lead the nba in 3pt%...so what if he doesn't take 5/game like some inefficient players...if we had 5 players who could take 2/game at 50%, then that'd be 15ppg in 10 possessions...we'd win a ton more games if that was the case

basically, it comes down to chill not being 'flashy' enough for some folks...his contribution to wins and his +/- and other things point to him being a good player...also noted is we went 4-1 to start season then lost 122343 in a row when he got injured after that

[DJlaysitup]

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....basically, it comes down to chill not being 'flashy' enough for some folks...

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No it doesn't - for crying out loud - I love JChillz effort and Glue-inis...but his outside shot is from the hip?? It simply is. A flaw in his game that should have been fixed by a Jr. High coach.

His inside game is good for a scrappy 3 but that's not what makes a good 2. JJ is a killer shooter with a high release, that's why he is getting $70M.

It's just reality....ask ex.