What's Next?

The next big decision the Blazers need to make is: what do we do with Nicolas Batum and Petteri Koponen?

In my strong opinion, I think it would be a complete waste of a roster spot to add Nicolas Batum this year because he would never get off the bench. He doesn’t appear to be nearly as self-driven or motivated as an NBA has to be. Without that quality, he will flounder on the bench and be an ineffective piece for us.

As for Petteri Koponen, while he didn’t have a strong finish (or is it Finnish?) at the summer league, he proved he can play with the big boys. He can direct a team and is a solid passer. I think he’s slightly better than Sergio Rodriguez and we should keep him for that reason alone. Any upgrade, no matter how slight, is still an upgrade. If we keep him then we’ll have no worries about throwing in Sergio along with LaFrentz in a mid-season trade if we need to.

The other big question that we need to address may come to light during the Olympic scrimmages. Jerryd Bayless will be part of the scrimmage team and I’m hoping they try him out at the Point Guard position. I am not sure if he had a fair chance to be graded on his passing ability because:

A: He was pushing himself to be the MVP of the Summer League, which means lots of scoring or no votes.
B. He was told by the coaching staff to shoot at will – at least during the first few games.
C. The ability of those around him was not as effective as an NBA or Olympic scrimmage team is. In other words, he didn’t trust that his teammates could score so he didn’t pass it to them.

Therein lies what I feel could be a huge issue down the road. At what point will he trust his teammates and quit being a ball-hog. If he doesn’t pass much during the Olympic scrimmages it will tell me a lot about his game. If he doesn’t, then why did we get him? The Blazers are at their best when they are humble and share the responsibility as a team (also true in business and society) - we don’t need ANY selfish players screwing it up. Jerryd…. I’ll be watching… you better pass the rock!