Dwight Jaynes: Blazers Are Not Posting Up

July 10, 2012, 12:27 pm

It was just like old times Tuesday on The Morning Sports Page as Dwight Jaynes joined us to break down the Blazers’ next move now that Indiana has agreed to match Portland’s max offer for Roy Hibbert.

The Godfather acknowledges that the Blazers are in a pretty difficult situation in their search for a center.  They had pretty much put all their eggs in one basket with Roy Hibbert and hoped that the dominoes would fall into place with him.  Now that Hibbert is off the market, the top two center prospects are Javale McGee and Chris Kaman.  Neither of which look like guys the Blazers have any interest in.  He suggests that the Blazers may be just as well off renting someone for the season and then chasing after a big name next year.

Jaynes maintains that the Blazers are also in a tough spot with Nicolas Batum.  With no Roy Hibbert, there’s a much more likely chance that the Blazers will match whatever offer is made for Batum – which almost certainly means they will significantly overpay for the small forward. 

Jaynes asserts that the biggest problem with Batum is that in matching, the Blazers would be giving him close to 90 percent of his contract based on potential and ten percent based on production.  However, if they don’t match, they would be venturing into a free agency period where most quality players have already agreed to terms with their teams.  In addition, they run the risk of giving him away to a division rival who is probably already better than the Blazers.

In the interview, Chad claimed that it stings a bit that Batum wants to leave Portland to go play for one of the franchises former coaches.  Dwight’s simple response – It should sting.  He insists that Minnesota coach Rick Adelman is one of the best coaches in the NBA and Portland had numerous chances to bring him back, but failed to do so.  Everywhere Adelman has coached, he has helped turn around the franchise, and found ways to get his entire team involved in the action.  If Batum joins the Twolves, he thinks it will happen once again.

Ultimately, The Godfather thinks Batum will stay in Portland – but probably at a price that does not warrant the contract.  Take a listen as The Godfather gives the latest on all things Blazers and be sure to check out his blog at csnnw.com as he voices his concern over the franchise going forward.

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