No Bayless in today's game against the Hornets. I guess his hand had a boo boo of the short term type - bruised or something like that. It allowed J. R. Pinnock time to show what he can do and he took full advantage. He has the ability to be a solid back-up 2 guard in the league because he has a pretty pure shot from deep.
The other Blazer Summer League player who impressed me today was Steven Hill - again. He contests ever shot at the rim and it felt like he blocked 10 and altered 20 more. He should be a hockey goalie. However, I don't think he'll make the Blazers because we waste the roster spot on a position we are solid at.
We have 2 spots available for people without contracts and I think we should give 1 to Petteri Koponen and keep the other one open - the open spot will let us take a look and see who gets cut after training camp - if there's anyone we feel we can't pass up then we could sign them then. If there's not then we have extra flexibility in our roster that could allow us to make a one-for-two trade. That may be needed come trade deadline time because our main trade bait, Raef LaFrentz, makes way more than he should and we would have to get similar salary back in trade... most likely two players would be needed to make up that big salary. I think Raef's big contract is up at the end of the year so teams will be looking to get him because that will free up a lot of salary room at the end of the year. Of course we could keep him until the end of the year and use that salary room for ourselves... and that's probably what we'll do. There are a couple good players we could use it for but the two I like best are Andre Miller and Carlos Boozer. Depending who well Greg Odom's knee holds up, Boozer might not be needed. But Andre Miller, on the other hand, is one of the most underrated point guards in the league over the past 4 years. Point guard is (and still will be) our weakest position and to add a guy like Andre Miller would easily elevate us to top 4 in the west status (along with the Hornets, Spurs, and Rockets - that's my west prediction for 2009-2010 season).
Back to summer... Batum looked OK on a few plays but still doesn't have the NBA ready game we need. Koponen also had a few good plays but didn't match the level of play he showed in the 1st two games. He's still good enough to keep though - sign him up!
On a personal note, it is my 39th birthday today and my wife invited a bunch of friends and family over for a BBQ. Man am I blessed to have such neat relationships in my life. Knowing that I'll be spending eternity with every single one of them is an unspoken joy that I wish everyone in the world could experience. God is underrated!
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