crzymdups wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

martin wrote:

EnySpree wrote:I'm confused with the "cone on" and "seriously" comments.... signing a cj mccullom is beneath you guys? Or is Mike Conley your one true love?

Cause Portland is gonna let him walk as much as the Knicks gonna let KP walk?

You think they'd match a contract that approaches the max?

Yes. Of course they would.

File this under whatever rock we put the "Golden State might not want to pay Draymond Green" threads some started last year at this time.

Yeah but how come we can't file Conley under the "he played his whole career in Memphis and they live him out there". There's always a possibility with anything. Maybe Portland is broke and would rather let him walk than go over the luxury tax. Wasn't that the genius behind all the deadline trades?

CJ is a fan favorite in Portland. He's a diamond in the rough, who alongside Lillard has made them into a playoffs team that just blew out the Warriors in a season they were predicted to win 20 games.

It's a guard-driven league. Portland got a gift. There is zero point zero chance they let him go.

You do know CJ Mccullom was a #10 overall pick? Hardly a diamond in the rough. You can make the same argument with Conley. Yeah Conley is unrestricted but like I said, Portland could cry broke. It's very possible.

newyorker4ever wrote:

EnySpree wrote:I'm confused with the "cone on" and "seriously" comments.... signing a cj mccullom is beneath you guys? Or is Mike Conley your one true love?

Well it seems like it would be pretty obvious that my Seriously has nothing to do with how good CJ is cause the kid is a beast and i'd love to have him, my Seriously had to do with the question of the thread which is if Portland would let him go in free agency which is a ridiculous question cause there's no way in hellz that any team would let a player like CJ walk in free agency.

Hey, Portland has let better go over the years, albeit through trade (see Zach Randolph, Jermaine O'neal and Drazen Petrovic). I'd never say never especially when you can throw $22 million per or so at a guy that only has one good season under his belt. An $8 million per contract made us give up on Linsanity, lol.

NardDogNation wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:At this point beggars can't be choosers. We've been settling for bottom barrel broken down point guards (Duhon, Toney Douglas, Bibby, BDiddy, Felton, Calderon) that any decent point guard in the top 15 to top 20 range is an immediate upgrade.

We seriously can't be picky at this point...any of these guys would suffice.

You make it sound like CJ is bottom of the barrell. "Decent" is not appropriate for him; the kid can actually play and has shown signs of that since coming into the league. He is by no means a traditional PG but that makes him deal for us and how we operate our team. Though he might not be able to quarterback an offense, he has consistently demonstrated an ability to move pretty well without the ball and get to key spots for shots. He has also shown the ability to create shots for himself off the dribble and get into the paint without necessarily pounding the ball. Those skills are steadily making him a pretty good scorer and a guy we should keep our eye on.

And one thing we should have learned by now: the Blazers (see Jermaine O'Neal, Zach Randolph, Drazen Petrovic, Nic Batum, Will Barton, etc.) and Suns (see Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Goran Dragic, etc.) have been havens for really good, hardly used young players that go on to have great careers when given the opportunity. Based on the strength of the former, I'd take a gamble on CJ being the real-deal instead of a one-hit wonder.

I like CJ McCullom, wasn't referencing him specifically.

I'm just alluding to the fact that many many many many guards would be an upgrade to what we currently have. So whether it's Conley, Rondo, Clarkson, Jennings, Vasquez...if you're the Knicks you take what you can get at this point.

Doesn't matter if we're still running the triangle, the octagon, the Spread PnR, the Princeton backdoor....we need real point guards that can play and most importantly...defend their man adequately.

fishmike wrote:Portland is a small market team with a big market budget. They don't let talent walk because of $$$$

Yea I agree, money isn't an issue there as long as Paul Allen is there. They gave Dame Lilliard $120m without batting an eye.

If the investment makes sense, they'll plunk down the cash. I'm pretty sure they'll re-up CJ.