Report: Blazers interested in Tyrus Thomas
By SJ
In case you missed this yesterday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that there are lot of teams inquiring about Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas. And as you all know by now it wouldn’t be a trade deadline article without mentioning the Blazers. Here’s Wojo’s word:
"“Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard made an offer they’ll have to improve upon to be taken seriously – one of his expiring contracts (Steve Blake or Travis Outlaw) and two future second-round draft picks”"
Brian T. Smith of The Columbian added some info today, with an article on the subject and multiple tweets. Here were some of his tweets from earlier:
"Cont.: Source says #Blazers are interested in #Bulls’ Thomas because of his youth and shot-blocking abilities.Cont.: Source also says #Bulls’ Thomas fits #Blazers’ timeline, and his restricted free agent status is key."
Every year, around this time we hear the Blazers attached with all sorts of names. This year has been way quieter than in years past, for many reasons including the fact that many of the rumored offers have been ridiculous. I can’t even think of the Wizards or Brendan Haywood without laughing and shaking my head. Seriously, if I tried to do that in 2K10 even my XBOX would be like ‘you’re kidding right?’. This one seems to have some legs, thus it gets a post. It seems to be a given that if (big if) Portland is going to make a move, it is going to be for a big man. In my eyes, the price is not too hefty. One thing this season has proven is that as much talent as we have, life can go on without them. And it has because everyone and their mom has gotten injured. I’ll be honest and say that even though I know Travis Outlaw can make this team better, especially when we need someone to score…I have not missed him as much as I thought I would. And Blake leaving would free Bayless off his chains for good. I’m not sure Portland has to make a deal unless it is just an absolute home run. KP has had this approach the last couple years as he got gun-shy near the deadline because it wasn’t a complete home run. With the roster in place, he’ll look to play it safer. I just don’t know if Tyrus Thomas is a piece that is going to take us over the top.
Now, I know he’s young and could give us a shot-blocking presence and a rebounder, something we obviously need. I know our front court depth is about as deep as VH1 would be without reality shows. I’m just iffy how much help he would us for 25 games. I could understand if the player in question was a veteran we were just using for the year that would obviously make us better and help our big men. I’m just not sold on Thomas. For one, he is near the definition of inconsistent. Some nights he looks like a double-double waiting to happen and a future All-Star, other nights he looks like he’ll fall out of the NBA when his deal is up. It’s not like he has a complete body of work that proves he will absolutely, positively have a positive impact on this team. He has the potential to do so, but he’s had the word potential tied with him for years. It’s the reason that Blazer fans have thanked goodness we ended up LaMarcus Aldridge instead of Tyrus Thomas. Seriously…imagine if we hadn’t made that deal. I know you just shuddered. Let me put it this way, I don’t want this guy anywhere near my FANTASY team why on earth would I want him on the Blazers?
In addition to the inconsistency, he has a horrible attitude. Now, granted that may have something to do with the Bulls organization and maybe he needs to move on and get a fresh start. I will give him that, sometimes when you have continued issues with the same people you stop caring. However, there is no denying there is an issue there. If everyone was going bonkers about Andre Miller…well let’s just say Thomas could be the Eddie Murphy of the 80s and Miller’s attitude will seem like the Eddie Murphy of the 2000s.(Sidenote: read Kelly Dwyer’s thoughts on Mr. Thomas. Good stuff)
Moving, what goes on past this year? The big man log jam becomes even more complicated. Granted he’s a restricted free agent, but let’s say somehow we keep him. That’s him, Aldridge, Oden, Przybilla, Cunningham and Pendergraph. Or as I like to say: WAY TOO MANY BIG MEN. Not to mention the European tag team of Freemen and Claver. I’d rather continue to see Dante Cunningham grow, seeing as how he’s obviously a part of our future. Ditto for Pendergraph. We stick Thomas in the fold, all of a sudden we have too many young bigs and not enough to time to develop them. Which means one of them we’ll probably end up pulling a Jermaine O’Neal and blowing up somewhere else. No bueno. Plus, old-man Juwan Howard just makes me smile way too much these days.
Thoughts? I’m looking to debate this, so if you can sell me on Tyrus Thomas congratulations. Can he help us? Would he hurt Cunningham?