Good Point at TrueHoop, and What it Means in P-Town

Henry Abbott notes that the NBA is full of new talent, which means old talent now fades away.

As he puts it, "it's a zero-sum game" with a limited number of roster spots, 60 draftees entering the league, and thus some hard decisions coming.

On our team, he notes Ime Udoka may be a casualty. Steve Francis is widely expected to be bought out (and, according to the LA Times, is already planning ahead based on it, and in talks with the Clippers) . Many wonder if Taurean Green will be good enough to crack the roster this year, or if he'll spend the year in the NBDL.

I like Ime, but keeping him makes no sense. He's got old legs, marginal talent, and a big heart. But the big heart will end up taking a back seat to the old legs, and that's just life. He's 30 years old and just came off of surgery. He's spent all summer working out (forcing the team's trainer to lose 15 pounds while trying to keep up with him) and has been an absolute gym rat, but with all the tough roster choices to be made on this team, I don't know how Ime stays. I see him maybe catching onto another NBA roster, or else heading to Europe.

Luke Schenscher (or however you spell it) was a Blazer bench-warmer last year. Abbott mentions him as well. Luke really never showed much in the way of a reason to have him in the league. I imagine he'll be one of those guys who shows up on lots of teams on 10-day contracts and never quite pans out as anything more than a season-ending roster-filler on an injury-plagued team.

Steve Francis, of course, should never, ever be allowed in a Blazer uniform, so the fact that the Clippers will get him for next-to-free because he's pulling the long green from a Blazer buy-out doesn't concern me. We get cap relief for whatever another team throws at him, so here's hoping he tries to get a couple of teams into a bidding war. So long, Franchise. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

In other Blazer news, apparently Joel Przybilla is no longer a Base Year Compensation player. Not sure what that means, other than he's now more tradeable. I expect him and Jarrett Jack to be gone by the end of the summer league and before the teams start getting together to work out. The big question is which stud small forward we'll get in their place...